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diff --git a/3600-h/3600-h.htm b/3600-h/3600-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cdaeb13 --- /dev/null +++ b/3600-h/3600-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,54584 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Essays of Michel de Montaigne</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Essays of Montaigne, Complete, by Michel de Montaigne</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Essays of Montaigne, Complete</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Michel de Montaigne</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: Charles Cotton</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May 28, 2001 [eBook #3600]<br /> +[Most recently updated: March 16, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESSAYS OF MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE ***</div> + + <h1> + ESSAYS OF <br /><br />MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Charles Cotton<br /><br /> Edited by William Carew Hazlitt<br /> + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + 1877 + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:80%;"> + <img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover” width=" /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>THE LETTERS OF MONTAIGNE</b> </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0003"> I. — </a>To Monsieur de MONTAIGNE <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II. — </a>To Monseigneur, Monseigneur de + MONTAIGNE. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III. — </a>To + Monsieur, Monsieur de LANSAC, <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> IV. + — </a>To Monsieur, Monsieur de MESMES, Lord of Roissy and + Malassize, Privy <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> V. — </a>To + Monsieur, Monsieur de L’HOSPITAL, Chancellor of France <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VI. — </a>To Monsieur, Monsieur de Folx, + Privy Councillor, to the Signory of Venice. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0009"> VII. — </a>To Mademoiselle de MONTAIGNE, my + Wife. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VIII. — </a> To + Monsieur DUPUY, <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> IX. — </a>To + the Jurats of Bordeaux. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> X. — + </a>To the same. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XI. — </a>To + the same. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XII. — </a> + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> XIII. — </a>To Mademoiselle + PAULMIER. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> XIV. — </a>To the + KING, HENRY IV. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> XV. — </a>To + the same. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> XVI. — </a>To the + Governor of Guienne. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> <b>BOOK THE + FIRST</b> — </a> <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I + — </a>THAT MEN BY VARIOUS WAYS ARRIVE AT THE SAME END. <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II — </a>OF SORROW <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III — </a>THAT OUR AFFECTIONS CARRY + THEMSELVES BEYOND US <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV + — </a>THAT THE SOUL EXPENDS ITS PASSIONS UPON FALSE OBJECTS <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V — </a>WHETHER THE GOVERNOR + HIMSELF GO OUT TO PARLEY <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI + — </a>THAT THE HOUR OF PARLEY DANGEROUS <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII — </a>THAT THE INTENTION IS + JUDGE OF OUR ACTIONS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII + — </a>OF IDLENESS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX + — </a>OF LIARS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X + — </a>OF QUICK OR SLOW SPEECH <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> + CHAPTER XI — </a>OF PROGNOSTICATIONS <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII — </a>OF CONSTANCY <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII — </a>THE CEREMONY OF THE + INTERVIEW OF PRINCES <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV + — </a>THAT MEN ARE JUSTLY PUNISHED FOR BEING OBSTINATE <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV — </a>OF THE PUNISHMENT OF + COWARDICE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI — </a>A + PROCEEDING OF SOME AMBASSADORS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> + CHAPTER XVII — </a>OF FEAR <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> + CHAPTER XVIII — </a>NOT TO JUDGE OF OUR HAPPINESS TILL AFTER + DEATH. <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX — </a>THAT + TO STUDY PHILOSOPY IS TO LEARN TO DIE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020"> + CHAPTER XX — </a>OF THE FORCE OF IMAGINATION <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI — </a>THAT THE PROFIT OF ONE MAN + IS THE DAMAGE OF ANOTHER <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER + XXII — </a>OF CUSTOM; WE SHOULD NOT EASILY CHANGE A LAW RECEIVED + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII — </a>VARIOUS + EVENTS FROM THE SAME COUNSEL <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER + XXIV — </a>OF PEDANTRY <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER + XXV — </a>OF THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER XXVI — </a>FOLLY TO MEASURE TRUTH + AND ERROR BY OUR OWN CAPACITY <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0027"> + CHAPTER XXVII — </a>OF FRIENDSHIP <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXVIII — </a>NINE AND TWENTY SONNETS + OF ESTIENNE DE LA BOITIE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER + XXIX — </a>OF MODERATION <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0030"> + CHAPTER XXX — </a>OF CANNIBALS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0031"> + CHAPTER XXXI — </a>THAT A MAN IS SOBERLY TO JUDGE OF THE DIVINE + ORDINANCES <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER XXXII — + </a>WE ARE TO AVOID PLEASURES, EVEN AT THE EXPENSE OF LIFE <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0033"> CHAPTER XXXIII — </a>FORTUNE IS OFTEN + OBSERVED TO ACT BY THE RULE OF REASON <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0034"> + CHAPTER XXXIV — </a>OF ONE DEFECT IN OUR GOVERNMENT <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0035"> CHAPTER XXXV — </a>OF THE CUSTOM OF WEARING + CLOTHES <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0036"> CHAPTER XXXVI — </a>OF + CATO THE YOUNGER <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0037"> CHAPTER XXXVII + — </a>THAT WE LAUGH AND CRY FOR THE SAME THING <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0038"> CHAPTER XXXVIII — </a> OF + SOLITUDE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0039"> CHAPTER XXXIX — </a>A + CONSIDERATION UPON CICERO <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0040"> CHAPTER XL + — </a>RELISH FOR GOOD AND EVIL DEPENDS UPON OUR OPINION <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0041"> CHAPTER XLI — </a>NOT TO COMMUNICATE A + MAN’S HONOUR <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0042"> CHAPTER XLII + — </a>OF THE INEQUALITY AMOUNGST US. <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0043"> CHAPTER XLIII — </a>OF SUMPTUARY LAWS <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0044"> CHAPTER XLIV — </a>OF SLEEP <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0045"> CHAPTER XLV — </a>OF THE BATTLE OF DREUX + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0046"> CHAPTER XLVI — </a>OF NAMES + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0047"> CHAPTER XLVII — </a>OF THE + UNCERTAINTY OF OUR JUDGMENT <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0048"> CHAPTER + XLVIII — </a>OF WAR HORSES, OR DESTRIERS <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0049"> CHAPTER XLIX — </a>OF ANCIENT CUSTOMS <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0050"> CHAPTER L — </a>OF DEMOCRITUS AND + HERACLITUS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0051"> CHAPTER LI — </a>OF + THE VANITY OF WORDS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0052"> CHAPTER LII + — </a>OF THE PARSIMONY OF THE ANCIENTS <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0053"> CHAPTER LIII — </a>OF A SAYING OF CAESAR + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0054"> CHAPTER LIV — </a>OF VAIN + SUBTLETIES <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0055"> CHAPTER LV — </a>OF + SMELLS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0056"> CHAPTER LVI — </a>OF + PRAYERS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0057"> CHAPTER LVII — </a>OF + AGE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0077"> <b>BOOK THE SECOND</b> — + </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0058"> CHAPTER I — </a>OF THE + INCONSTANCY OF OUR ACTIONS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0059"> CHAPTER + II — </a>OF DRUNKENNESS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0060"> + CHAPTER III — </a>A CUSTOM OF THE ISLE OF CEA <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0061"> CHAPTER IV — </a>TO-MORROW’S A NEW DAY + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0062"> CHAPTER V — </a>OF CONSCIENCE + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0063"> CHAPTER VI — </a>USE MAKES + PERFECT <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0064"> CHAPTER VII — </a>OF + RECOMPENSES OF HONOUR <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0065"> CHAPTER VIII + — </a>OF THE AFFECTION OF FATHERS TO THEIR CHILDREN <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0066"> CHAPTER IX — </a>OF THE ARMS OF THE + PARTHIANS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0067"> CHAPTER X — </a>OF + BOOKS <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0068"> CHAPTER XI — </a>OF + CRUELTY <br /><br /> <a href="#chap12"> CHAPTER XII — </a>APOLOGY + FOR RAIMOND SEBOND <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0069"> CHAPTER XIII + — </a>OF JUDGING OF THE DEATH OF ANOTHER <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0070"> CHAPTER XIV — </a>THAT OUR MIND HINDERS + ITSELF <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0071"> CHAPTER XV — </a>THAT + OUR DESIRES ARE AUGMENTED BY DIFFICULTY <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0072"> CHAPTER XVI — </a>OF GLORY <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0073"> CHAPTER XVII — </a>OF PRESUMPTION <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0074"> CHAPTER XVIII — </a>OF GIVING THE LIE + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0075"> CHAPTER XIX — </a>OF LIBERTY + OF CONSCIENCE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0076"> CHAPTER XX — + </a>THAT WE TASTE NOTHING PURE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0077"> + CHAPTER XXI — </a>AGAINST IDLENESS <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0078"> CHAPTER XXII — </a>OF POSTING <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0079"> CHAPTER XXIII — </a>OF ILL MEANS EMPLOYED TO + A GOOD END <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0080"> CHAPTER XXIV — </a>OF + THE ROMAN GRANDEUR <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0081"> CHAPTER XXV + — </a>NOT TO COUNTERFEIT BEING SICK <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0082"> CHAPTER XXVI — </a>OF THUMBS <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0083"> CHAPTER XXVII — </a>COWARDICE THE MOTHER OF + CRUELTY <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0084"> CHAPTER XXVIII — </a>ALL + THINGS HAVE THEIR SEASON <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0085"> CHAPTER + XXIX — </a>OF VIRTUE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0086"> CHAPTER + XXX — </a>OF A MONSTROUS CHILD <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0087"> + CHAPTER XXXI — </a>OF ANGER <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0088"> + CHAPTER XXXII — </a>DEFENCE OF SENECA AND PLUTARCH <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0089"> CHAPTER XXXIII — </a> THE + STORY OF SPURINA <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0090"> CHAPTER XXXIV + — </a>OBSERVATION ON A WAR ACCORDING TO JULIUS CAESAR <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0091"> CHAPTER XXXV — </a>OF THREE GOOD WOMEN + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0092"> CHAPTER XXXVI — </a>OF THE + MOST EXCELLENT MEN <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0093"> CHAPTER XXXVII + — </a>OF THE RESEMBLANCE OF CHILDREN TO THEIR FATHERS <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0114"> <b>BOOK THE THIRD</b> — </a><br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0094"> CHAPTER I — </a>OF PROFIT AND HONESTY + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0095"> CHAPTER II — </a>OF REPENTANCE + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0096"> CHAPTER III — </a>OF THREE + COMMERCES <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0097"> CHAPTER IV — </a>OF + DIVERSION <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0098"> CHAPTER V — </a>UPON + SOME VERSES OF VIRGIL <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0099"> CHAPTER VI + — </a>OF COACHES <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0100"> CHAPTER VII + — </a>OF THE INCONVENIENCE OF GREATNESS + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0101"> CHAPTER VIII — </a> OF + THE ART OF CONFERENCE <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0102"> CHAPTER IX + — </a>OF VANITY <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0103"> CHAPTER X + — </a>OF MANAGING THE WILL <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0104"> + CHAPTER XI — </a>OF CRIPPLES <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0105"> + CHAPTER XII — </a>OF PHYSIOGNOMY <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0106"> + CHAPTER XIII — </a>OF EXPERIENCE <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0128"> APOLOGY</a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0129"> + PROJECT GUTENBERG EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS</a> <br /> + </p> + + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + The present publication is intended to supply a recognised deficiency in + our literature—a library edition of the Essays of Montaigne. This + great French writer deserves to be regarded as a classic, not only in the + land of his birth, but in all countries and in all literatures. His + Essays, which are at once the most celebrated and the most permanent of + his productions, form a magazine out of which such minds as those of Bacon + and Shakespeare did not disdain to help themselves; and, indeed, as Hallam + observes, the Frenchman’s literary importance largely results from + the share which his mind had in influencing other minds, coeval and + subsequent. But, at the same time, estimating the value and rank of the + essayist, we are not to leave out of the account the drawbacks and the + circumstances of the period: the imperfect state of education, the + comparative scarcity of books, and the limited opportunities of + intellectual intercourse. Montaigne freely borrowed of others, and he has + found men willing to borrow of him as freely. We need not wonder at the + reputation which he with seeming facility achieved. He was, without being + aware of it, the leader of a new school in letters and morals. His book + was different from all others which were at that date in the world. It + diverted the ancient currents of thought into new channels. It told its + readers, with unexampled frankness, what its writer’s opinion was + about men and things, and threw what must have been a strange kind of new + light on many matters but darkly understood. Above all, the essayist + uncased himself, and made his intellectual and physical organism public + property. He took the world into his confidence on all subjects. His + essays were a sort of literary anatomy, where we get a diagnosis of the + writer’s mind, made by himself at different levels and under a large + variety of operating influences. + </p> + <p> + Of all egotists, Montaigne, if not the greatest, was the most fascinating, + because, perhaps, he was the least affected and most truthful. What he + did, and what he had professed to do, was to dissect his mind, and show + us, as best he could, how it was made, and what relation it bore to + external objects. He investigated his mental structure as a schoolboy + pulls his watch to pieces, to examine the mechanism of the works; and the + result, accompanied by illustrations abounding with originality and force, + he delivered to his fellow-men in a book. + </p> + <p> + Eloquence, rhetorical effect, poetry, were alike remote from his design. + He did not write from necessity, scarcely perhaps for fame. But he desired + to leave France, nay, and the world, something to be remembered by, + something which should tell what kind of a man he was—what he felt, + thought, suffered—and he succeeded immeasurably, I apprehend, beyond + his expectations. + </p> + <p> + It was reasonable enough that Montaigne should expect for his work a + certain share of celebrity in Gascony, and even, as time went on, + throughout France; but it is scarcely probable that he foresaw how his + renown was to become world-wide; how he was to occupy an almost unique + position as a man of letters and a moralist; how the Essays would be read, + in all the principal languages of Europe, by millions of intelligent human + beings, who never heard of Perigord or the League, and who are in doubt, + if they are questioned, whether the author lived in the sixteenth or the + eighteenth century. This is true fame. A man of genius belongs to no + period and no country. He speaks the language of nature, which is always + everywhere the same. + </p> + <p> + The text of these volumes is taken from the first edition of Cotton’s + version, printed in 3 vols. 8vo, 1685-6, and republished in 1693, 1700, + 1711, 1738, and 1743, in the same number of volumes and the same size. In + the earliest impression the errors of the press are corrected merely as + far as page 240 of the first volume, and all the editions follow one + another. That of 1685-6 was the only one which the translator lived to + see. He died in 1687, leaving behind him an interesting and little-known + collection of poems, which appeared posthumously, 8vo, 1689. + </p> + <p> + It was considered imperative to correct Cotton’s translation by a + careful collation with the ‘variorum’ edition of the original, + Paris, 1854, 4 vols. 8vo or 12mo, and parallel passages from Florin’s + earlier undertaking have occasionally been inserted at the foot of the + page. A Life of the Author and all his recovered Letters, sixteen in + number, have also been given; but, as regards the correspondence, it can + scarcely be doubted that it is in a purely fragmentary state. To do more + than furnish a sketch of the leading incidents in Montaigne’s life + seemed, in the presence of Bayle St. John’s charming and able + biography, an attempt as difficult as it was useless. + </p> + <p> + The besetting sin of both Montaigne’s translators seems to have been + a propensity for reducing his language and phraseology to the language and + phraseology of the age and country to which they belonged, and, moreover, + inserting paragraphs and words, not here and there only, but constantly + and habitually, from an evident desire and view to elucidate or strengthen + their author’s meaning. The result has generally been unfortunate; + and I have, in the case of all these interpolations on Cotton’s + part, felt bound, where I did not cancel them, to throw them down into the + notes, not thinking it right that Montaigne should be allowed any longer + to stand sponsor for what he never wrote; and reluctant, on the other + hand, to suppress the intruding matter entirely, where it appeared to + possess a value of its own. + </p> + <p> + Nor is redundancy or paraphrase the only form of transgression in Cotton, + for there are places in his author which he thought proper to omit, and it + is hardly necessary to say that the restoration of all such matter to the + text was considered essential to its integrity and completeness. + </p> + <p> + My warmest thanks are due to my father, Mr Registrar Hazlitt, the author + of the well-known and excellent edition of Montaigne published in 1842, + for the important assistance which he has rendered to me in verifying and + retranslating the quotations, which were in a most corrupt state, and of + which Cotton’s English versions were singularly loose and inexact, + and for the zeal with which he has co-operated with me in collating the + English text, line for line and word for word, with the best French + edition. + </p> + <p> + By the favour of Mr F. W. Cosens, I have had by me, while at work on this + subject, the copy of Cotgrave’s Dictionary, folio, 1650, which + belonged to Cotton. It has his autograph and copious MSS. notes, nor is it + too much to presume that it is the very book employed by him in his + translation. + </p> + <p> + W. C. H. + </p> + <p> + KENSINGTON, November 1877. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LIFE OF MONTAIGNE + </h2> + <p> + [This is translated freely from that prefixed to the ‘variorum’ + Paris edition, 1854, 4 vols. 8vo. This biography is the more desirable + that it contains all really interesting and important matter in the + journal of the Tour in Germany and Italy, which, as it was merely written + under Montaigne’s dictation, is in the third person, is scarcely + worth publication, as a whole, in an English dress.] + </p> + <p> + The author of the Essays was born, as he informs us himself, between + eleven and twelve o’clock in the day, the last of February 1533, at + the chateau of St. Michel de Montaigne. His father, Pierre Eyquem, + esquire, was successively first Jurat of the town of Bordeaux (1530), + Under-Mayor 1536, Jurat for the second time in 1540, Procureur in 1546, + and at length Mayor from 1553 to 1556. He was a man of austere probity, + who had “a particular regard for honour and for propriety in his + person and attire . . . a mighty good faith in his speech, and a + conscience and a religious feeling inclining to superstition, rather than + to the other extreme."[Essays, ii. 2.] Pierre Eyquem bestowed great care + on the education of his children, especially on the practical side of it. + To associate closely his son Michel with the people, and attach him to + those who stand in need of assistance, he caused him to be held at the + font by persons of meanest position; subsequently he put him out to nurse + with a poor villager, and then, at a later period, made him accustom + himself to the most common sort of living, taking care, nevertheless, to + cultivate his mind, and superintend its development without the exercise + of undue rigour or constraint. Michel, who gives us the minutest account + of his earliest years, charmingly narrates how they used to awake him by + the sound of some agreeable music, and how he learned Latin, without + suffering the rod or shedding a tear, before beginning French, thanks to + the German teacher whom his father had placed near him, and who never + addressed him except in the language of Virgil and Cicero. The study of + Greek took precedence. At six years of age young Montaigne went to the + College of Guienne at Bordeaux, where he had as preceptors the most + eminent scholars of the sixteenth century, Nicolas Grouchy, Guerente, + Muret, and Buchanan. At thirteen he had passed through all the classes, + and as he was destined for the law he left school to study that science. + He was then about fourteen, but these early years of his life are involved + in obscurity. The next information that we have is that in 1554 he + received the appointment of councillor in the Parliament of Bordeaux; in + 1559 he was at Bar-le-Duc with the court of Francis II, and in the year + following he was present at Rouen to witness the declaration of the + majority of Charles IX. We do not know in what manner he was engaged on + these occasions. + </p> + <p> + Between 1556 and 1563 an important incident occurred in the life of + Montaigne, in the commencement of his romantic friendship with Etienne de + la Boetie, whom he had met, as he tells us, by pure chance at some festive + celebration in the town. From their very first interview the two found + themselves drawn irresistibly close to one another, and during six years + this alliance was foremost in the heart of Montaigne, as it was afterwards + in his memory, when death had severed it. + </p> + <p> + Although he blames severely in his own book [Essays, i. 27.] those who, + contrary to the opinion of Aristotle, marry before five-and-thirty, + Montaigne did not wait for the period fixed by the philosopher of Stagyra, + but in 1566, in his thirty-third year, he espoused Francoise de + Chassaigne, daughter of a councillor in the Parliament of Bordeaux. The + history of his early married life vies in obscurity with that of his + youth. His biographers are not agreed among themselves; and in the same + degree that he lays open to our view all that concerns his secret + thoughts, the innermost mechanism of his mind, he observes too much + reticence in respect to his public functions and conduct, and his social + relations. The title of Gentleman in Ordinary to the King, which he + assumes, in a preface, and which Henry II. gives him in a letter, which we + print a little farther on; what he says as to the commotions of courts, + where he passed a portion of his life; the Instructions which he wrote + under the dictation of Catherine de Medici for King Charles IX., and his + noble correspondence with Henry IV., leave no doubt, however, as to the + part which he played in the transactions of those times, and we find an + unanswerable proof of the esteem in which he was held by the most exalted + personages, in a letter which was addressed to him by Charles at the time + he was admitted to the Order of St. Michael, which was, as he informs us + himself, the highest honour of the French noblesse. + </p> + <p> + According to Lacroix du Maine, Montaigne, upon the death of his eldest + brother, resigned his post of Councillor, in order to adopt the military + profession, while, if we might credit the President Bouhier, he never + discharged any functions connected with arms. However, several passages in + the Essays seem to indicate that he not only took service, but that he was + actually in numerous campaigns with the Catholic armies. Let us add, that + on his monument he is represented in a coat of mail, with his casque and + gauntlets on his right side, and a lion at his feet, all which signifies, + in the language of funeral emblems, that the departed has been engaged in + some important military transactions. + </p> + <p> + However it may be as to these conjectures, our author, having arrived at + his thirty-eighth year, resolved to dedicate to study and contemplation + the remaining term of his life; and on his birthday, the last of February + 1571, he caused a philosophical inscription, in Latin, to be placed upon + one of the walls of his chateau, where it is still to be seen, and of + which the translation is to this effect:—“In the year of + Christ . . . in his thirty-eighth year, on the eve of the Calends of + March, his birthday, Michel Montaigne, already weary of court employments + and public honours, withdrew himself entirely into the converse of the + learned virgins where he intends to spend the remaining moiety of the to + allotted to him in tranquil seclusion.” + </p> + <p> + At the time to which we have come, Montaigne was unknown to the world of + letters, except as a translator and editor. In 1569 he had published a + translation of the “Natural Theology” of Raymond de Sebonde, + which he had solely undertaken to please his father. In 1571 he had caused + to be printed at Paris certain ‘opuscucla’ of Etienne de la + Boetie; and these two efforts, inspired in one case by filial duty, and in + the other by friendship, prove that affectionate motives overruled with + him mere personal ambition as a literary man. We may suppose that he began + to compose the Essays at the very outset of his retirement from public + engagements; for as, according to his own account, observes the President + Bouhier, he cared neither for the chase, nor building, nor gardening, nor + agricultural pursuits, and was exclusively occupied with reading and + reflection, he devoted himself with satisfaction to the task of setting + down his thoughts just as they occurred to him. Those thoughts became a + book, and the first part of that book, which was to confer immortality on + the writer, appeared at Bordeaux in 1580. Montaigne was then fifty-seven; + he had suffered for some years past from renal colic and gravel; and it + was with the necessity of distraction from his pain, and the hope of + deriving relief from the waters, that he undertook at this time a great + journey. As the account which he has left of his travels in Germany and + Italy comprises some highly interesting particulars of his life and + personal history, it seems worth while to furnish a sketch or analysis of + it. + </p> + <p> + “The Journey, of which we proceed to describe the course simply,” + says the editor of the Itinerary, “had, from Beaumont-sur-Oise to + Plombieres, in Lorraine, nothing sufficiently interesting to detain us . . + . we must go as far, as Basle, of which we have a description, acquainting + us with its physical and political condition at that period, as well as + with the character of its baths. The passage of Montaigne through + Switzerland is not without interest, as we see there how our philosophical + traveller accommodated himself everywhere to the ways of the country. The + hotels, the provisions, the Swiss cookery, everything, was agreeable to + him; it appears, indeed, as if he preferred to the French manners and + tastes those of the places he was visiting, and of which the simplicity + and freedom (or frankness) accorded more with his own mode of life and + thinking. In the towns where he stayed, Montaigne took care to see the + Protestant divines, to make himself conversant with all their dogmas. He + even had disputations with them occasionally. + </p> + <p> + “Having left Switzerland he went to Isne, an imperial then on to + Augsburg and Munich. He afterwards proceeded to the Tyrol, where he was + agreeably surprised, after the warnings which he had received, at the very + slight inconveniences which he suffered, which gave him occasion to remark + that he had all his life distrusted the statements of others respecting + foreign countries, each person’s tastes being according to the + notions of his native place; and that he had consequently set very little + on what he was told beforehand. + </p> + <p> + “Upon his arrival at Botzen, Montaigne wrote to Francois Hottmann, + to say that he had been so pleased with his visit to Germany that he + quitted it with great regret, although it was to go into Italy. He then + passed through Brunsol, Trent, where he put up at the Rose; thence going + to Rovera; and here he first lamented the scarcity of crawfish, but made + up for the loss by partaking of truffles cooked in oil and vinegar; + oranges, citrons, and olives, in all of which he delighted.” + </p> + <p> + After passing a restless night, when he bethought himself in the morning + that there was some new town or district to be seen, he rose, we are told, + with alacrity and pleasure. + </p> + <p> + His secretary, to whom he dictated his Journal, assures us that he never + saw him take so much interest in surrounding scenes and persons, and + believes that the complete change helped to mitigate his sufferings in + concentrating his attention on other points. When there was a complaint + made that he had led his party out of the beaten route, and then returned + very near the spot from which they started, his answer was that he had no + settled course, and that he merely proposed to himself to pay visits to + places which he had not seen, and so long as they could not convict him of + traversing the same path twice, or revisiting a point already seen, he + could perceive no harm in his plan. As to Rome, he cared less to go there, + inasmuch as everybody went there; and he said that he never had a lacquey + who could not tell him all about Florence or Ferrara. He also would say + that he seemed to himself like those who are reading some pleasant story + or some fine book, of which they fear to come to the end: he felt so much + pleasure in travelling that he dreaded the moment of arrival at the place + where they were to stop for the night. + </p> + <p> + We see that Montaigne travelled, just as he wrote, completely at his ease, + and without the least constraint, turning, just as he fancied, from the + common or ordinary roads taken by tourists. The good inns, the soft beds, + the fine views, attracted his notice at every point, and in his + observations on men and things he confines himself chiefly to the + practical side. The consideration of his health was constantly before him, + and it was in consequence of this that, while at Venice, which + disappointed him, he took occasion to note, for the benefit of readers, + that he had an attack of colic, and that he evacuated two large stones + after supper. On quitting Venice, he went in succession to Ferrara, + Rovigo, Padua, Bologna (where he had a stomach-ache), Florence, &c.; + and everywhere, before alighting, he made it a rule to send some of his + servants to ascertain where the best accommodation was to be had. He + pronounced the Florentine women the finest in the world, but had not an + equally good opinion of the food, which was less plentiful than in + Germany, and not so well served. He lets us understand that in Italy they + send up dishes without dressing, but in Germany they were much better + seasoned, and served with a variety of sauces and gravies. He remarked + further, that the glasses were singularly small and the wines insipid. + </p> + <p> + After dining with the Grand-Duke of Florence, Montaigne passed rapidly + over the intermediate country, which had no fascination for him, and + arrived at Rome on the last day of November, entering by the Porta del + Popolo, and putting up at Bear. But he afterwards hired, at twenty crowns + a month, fine furnished rooms in the house of a Spaniard, who included in + these terms the use of the kitchen fire. What most annoyed him in the + Eternal City was the number of Frenchmen he met, who all saluted him in + his native tongue; but otherwise he was very comfortable, and his stay + extended to five months. A mind like his, full of grand classical + reflections, could not fail to be profoundly impressed in the presence of + the ruins at Rome, and he has enshrined in a magnificent passage of the + Journal the feelings of the moment: “He said,” writes his + secretary, “that at Rome one saw nothing but the sky under which she + had been built, and the outline of her site: that the knowledge we had of + her was abstract, contemplative, not palpable to the actual senses: that + those who said they beheld at least the ruins of Rome, went too far, for + the ruins of so gigantic a structure must have commanded greater + reverence-it was nothing but her sepulchre. The world, jealous of her, + prolonged empire, had in the first place broken to pieces that admirable + body, and then, when they perceived that the remains attracted worship and + awe, had buried the very wreck itself.—[Compare a passage in one of + Horace Walpole’s letters to Richard West, 22 March 1740 (Cunningham’s + edit. i. 41), where Walpole, speaking of Rome, describes her very ruins as + ruined.]—As to those small fragments which were still to be seen on + the surface, notwithstanding the assaults of time and all other attacks, + again and again repeated, they had been favoured by fortune to be some + slight evidence of that infinite grandeur which nothing could entirely + extingish. But it was likely that these disfigured remains were the least + entitled to attention, and that the enemies of that immortal renown, in + their fury, had addressed themselves in the first instance to the + destruction of what was most beautiful and worthiest of preservation; and + that the buildings of this bastard Rome, raised upon the ancient + productions, although they might excite the admiration of the present age, + reminded him of the crows’ and sparrows’ nests built in the + walls and arches of the old churches, destroyed by the Huguenots. Again, + he was apprehensive, seeing the space which this grave occupied, that the + whole might not have been recovered, and that the burial itself had been + buried. And, moreover, to see a wretched heap of rubbish, as pieces of + tile and pottery, grow (as it had ages since) to a height equal to that of + Mount Gurson,—[In Perigord.]—and thrice the width of it, + appeared to show a conspiracy of destiny against the glory and + pre-eminence of that city, affording at the same time a novel and + extraordinary proof of its departed greatness. He (Montaigne) observed + that it was difficult to believe considering the limited area taken up by + any of her seven hills and particularly the two most favoured ones, the + Capitoline and the Palatine, that so many buildings stood on the site. + Judging only from what is left of the Temple of Concord, along the ‘Forum + Romanum’, of which the fall seems quite recent, like that of some + huge mountain split into horrible crags, it does not look as if more than + two such edifices could have found room on the Capitoline, on which there + were at one period from five-and-twenty to thirty temples, besides private + dwellings. But, in point of fact, there is scarcely any probability of the + views which we take of the city being correct, its plan and form having + changed infinitely; for instance, the ‘Velabrum’, which on + account of its depressed level, received the sewage of the city, and had a + lake, has been raised by artificial accumulation to a height with the + other hills, and Mount Savello has, in truth, grown simply out of the + ruins of the theatre of Marcellus. He believed that an ancient Roman would + not recognise the place again. It often happened that in digging down into + earth the workmen came upon the crown of some lofty column, which, though + thus buried, was still standing upright. The people there have no recourse + to other foundations than the vaults and arches of the old houses, upon + which, as on slabs of rock, they raise their modern palaces. It is easy to + see that several of the ancient streets are thirty feet below those at + present in use.” + </p> + <p> + Sceptical as Montaigne shows himself in his books, yet during his sojourn + at Rome he manifested a great regard for religion. He solicited the honour + of being admitted to kiss the feet of the Holy Father, Gregory XIII.; and + the Pontiff exhorted him always to continue in the devotion which he had + hitherto exhibited to the Church and the service of the Most Christian + King. + </p> + <p> + “After this, one sees,” says the editor of the Journal, + “Montaigne employing all his time in making excursions bout the + neighbourhood on horseback or on foot, in visits, in observations of every + kind. The churches, the stations, the processions even, the sermons; then + the palaces, the vineyards, the gardens, the public amusements, as the + Carnival, &c.—nothing was overlooked. He saw a Jewish child + circumcised, and wrote down a most minute account of the operation. He met + at San Sisto a Muscovite ambassador, the second who had come to Rome since + the pontificate of Paul III. This minister had despatches from his court + for Venice, addressed to the ‘Grand Governor of the Signory’. + The court of Muscovy had at that time such limited relations with the + other powers of Europe, and it was so imperfect in its information, that + it thought Venice to be a dependency of the Holy See.” + </p> + <p> + Of all the particulars with which he has furnished us during his stay at + Rome, the following passage in reference to the Essays is not the least + singular: “The Master of the Sacred Palace returned him his Essays, + castigated in accordance with the views of the learned monks. ‘He + had only been able to form a judgment of them,’ said he, ‘through + a certain French monk, not understanding French himself’”—we + leave Montaigne himself to tell the story—“and he received so + complacently my excuses and explanations on each of the passages which had + been animadverted upon by the French monk, that he concluded by leaving me + at liberty to revise the text agreeably to the dictates of my own + conscience. I begged him, on the contrary, to abide by the opinion of the + person who had criticised me, confessing, among other matters, as, for + example, in my use of the word fortune, in quoting historical poets, in my + apology for Julian, in my animadversion on the theory that he who prayed + ought to be exempt from vicious inclinations for the time being; item, in + my estimate of cruelty, as something beyond simple death; item, in my view + that a child ought to be brought up to do everything, and so on; that + these were my opinions, which I did not think wrong; as to other things, I + said that the corrector understood not my meaning. The Master, who is a + clever man, made many excuses for me, and gave me to suppose that he did + not concur in the suggested improvements; and pleaded very ingeniously for + me in my presence against another (also an Italian) who opposed my + sentiments.” + </p> + <p> + Such is what passed between Montaigne and these two personages at that + time; but when the Essayist was leaving, and went to bid them farewell, + they used very different language to him. “They prayed me,” + says he, “to pay no attention to the censure passed on my book, in + which other French persons had apprised them that there were many foolish + things; adding, that they honoured my affectionate intention towards the + Church, and my capacity; and had so high an opinion of my candour and + conscientiousness that they should leave it to me to make such alterations + as were proper in the book, when I reprinted it; among other things, the + word fortune. To excuse themselves for what they had said against my book, + they instanced works of our time by cardinals and other divines of + excellent repute which had been blamed for similar faults, which in no way + affected reputation of the author, or of the publication as a whole; they + requested me to lend the Church the support of my eloquence (this was + their fair speech), and to make longer stay in the place, where I should + be free from all further intrusion on their part. It seemed to me that we + parted very good friends.” + </p> + <p> + Before quitting Rome, Montaigne received his diploma of citizenship, by + which he was greatly flattered; and after a visit to Tivoli he set out for + Loretto, stopping at Ancona, Fano, and Urbino. He arrived at the beginning + of May 1581, at Bagno della Villa, where he established himself, order to + try the waters. There, we find in the Journal, of his own accord the + Essayist lived in the strictest conformity with the regime, and henceforth + we only hear of diet, the effect which the waters had by degrees upon + system, of the manner in which he took them; in a word, he does not omit + an item of the circumstances connected with his daily routine, his habit + of body, his baths, and the rest. It was no longer the journal of a + traveller which he kept, but the diary of an invalid,—[“I am + reading Montaigne’s Travels, which have lately been found; there is + little in them but the baths and medicines he took, and what he had + everywhere for dinner.”—H. Walpole to Sir Horace Mann, June 8, + 1774.]—attentive to the minutest details of the cure which he was + endeavouring to accomplish: a sort of memorandum book, in which he was + noting down everything that he felt and did, for the benefit of his + medical man at home, who would have the care of his health on his return, + and the attendance on his subsequent infirmities. Montaigne gives it as + his reason and justification for enlarging to this extent here, that he + had omitted, to his regret, to do so in his visits to other baths, which + might have saved him the trouble of writing at such great length now; but + it is perhaps a better reason in our eyes, that what he wrote he wrote for + his own use. + </p> + <p> + We find in these accounts, however, many touches which are valuable as + illustrating the manners of the place. The greater part of the entries in + the Journal, giving the account of these waters, and of the travels, down + to Montaigne’s arrival at the first French town on his homeward + route, are in Italian, because he wished to exercise himself in that + language. + </p> + <p> + The minute and constant watchfulness of Montaigne over his health and over + himself might lead one to suspect that excessive fear of death which + degenerates into cowardice. But was it not rather the fear of the + operation for the stone, at that time really formidable? Or perhaps he was + of the same way of thinking with the Greek poet, of whom Cicero reports + this saying: “I do not desire to die; but the thought of being dead + is indifferent to me.” Let us hear, however, what he says himself on + this point very frankly: “It would be too weak and unmanly on my + part if, certain as I am of always finding myself in the position of + having to succumb in that way,—[To the stone or gravel.]—and + death coming nearer and nearer to me, I did not make some effort, before + the time came, to bear the trial with fortitude. For reason prescribes + that we should joyfully accept what it may please God to send us. + Therefore the only remedy, the only rule, and the sole doctrine for + avoiding the evils by which mankind is surrounded, whatever they are, is + to resolve to bear them so far as our nature permits, or to put an end to + them courageously and promptly.” + </p> + <p> + He was still at the waters of La Villa, when, on the 7th September 1581, + he learned by letter that he had been elected Mayor of Bordeaux on the 1st + August preceding. This intelligence made him hasten his departure; and + from Lucca he proceeded to Rome. He again made some stay in that city, and + he there received the letter of the jurats of Bordeaux, notifying to him + officially his election to the Mayoralty, and inviting him to return as + speedily as possible. He left for France, accompanied by young D’Estissac + and several other gentlemen, who escorted him a considerable distance; but + none went back to France with him, not even his travelling companion. He + passed by Padua, Milan, Mont Cenis, and Chambery; thence he went on to + Lyons, and lost no time in repairing to his chateau, after an absence of + seventeen months and eight days. + </p> + <p> + We have just seen that, during his absence in Italy, the author of the + Essays was elected mayor of Bordeaux. “The gentlemen of Bordeaux,” + says he, “elected me Mayor of their town while I was at a distance + from France, and far from the thought of such a thing. I excused myself; + but they gave to understand that I was wrong in so doing, it being also + the command of the king that I should stand.” This the letter which + Henry III. wrote to him on the occasion: + </p> + <p> + MONSIEUR, DE MONTAIGNE,—Inasmuch as I hold in great esteem your + fidelity and zealous devotion to my service, it has been a pleasure to me + to learn that you have been chosen mayor of my town of Bordeaux. I have + had the agreeable duty of confirming the selection, and I did so the more + willingly, seeing that it was made during your distant absence; wherefore + it is my desire, and I require and command you expressly that you proceed + without delay to enter on the duties to which you have received so + legitimate a call. And so you will act in a manner very agreeable to me, + while the contrary will displease me greatly. Praying God, M. de + Montaigne, to have you in his holy keeping. + </p> + <p> + “Written at Paris, the 25th day of November 1581. + </p> + <p> + “HENRI. + </p> + <p> + “A Monsieur de MONTAIGNE, Knight of my Order, Gentleman in Ordinary + of my Chamber, being at present in Rome.” + </p> + <p> + Montaigne, in his new employment, the most important in the province, + obeyed the axiom, that a man may not refuse a duty, though it absorb his + time and attention, and even involve the sacrifice of his blood. Placed + between two extreme parties, ever on the point of getting to blows, he + showed himself in practice what he is in his book, the friend of a middle + and temperate policy. Tolerant by character and on principle, he belonged, + like all the great minds of the sixteenth century, to that political sect + which sought to improve, without destroying, institutions; and we may say + of him, what he himself said of La Boetie, “that he had that maxim + indelibly impressed on his mind, to obey and submit himself religiously to + the laws under which he was born. Affectionately attached to the repose of + his country, an enemy to changes and innovations, he would have preferred + to employ what means he had towards their discouragement and suppression, + than in promoting their success.” Such was the platform of his + administration. + </p> + <p> + He applied himself, in an especial manner, to the maintenance of peace + between the two religious factions which at that time divided the town of + Bordeaux; and at the end of his two first years of office, his grateful + fellow-citizens conferred on him (in 1583) the mayoralty for two years + more, a distinction which had been enjoyed, as he tells us, only twice + before. On the expiration of his official career, after four years’ + duration, he could say fairly enough of himself that he left behind him + neither hatred nor cause of offence. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of the cares of government, Montaigne found time to revise + and enlarge his Essays, which, since their appearance in 1580, were + continually receiving augmentation in the form of additional chapters or + papers. Two more editions were printed in 1582 and 1587; and during this + time the author, while making alterations in the original text, had + composed part of the Third Book. He went to Paris to make arrangements for + the publication of his enlarged labours, and a fourth impression in 1588 + was the result. He remained in the capital some time on this occasion, and + it was now that he met for the first time Mademoiselle de Gournay. Gifted + with an active and inquiring spirit, and, above all, possessing a sound + and healthy tone of mind, Mademoiselle de Gournay had been carried from + her childhood with that tide which set in with sixteenth century towards + controversy, learning, and knowledge. She learnt Latin without a master; + and when, the age of eighteen, she accidentally became possessor of a copy + of the Essays, she was transported with delight and admiration. + </p> + <p> + She quitted the chateau of Gournay, to come and see him. We cannot do + better, in connection with this journey of sympathy, than to repeat the + words of Pasquier: “That young lady, allied to several great and + noble families of Paris, proposed to herself no other marriage than with + her honour, enriched with the knowledge gained from good books, and, + beyond all others, from the essays of M. de Montaigne, who making in the + year 1588 a lengthened stay in the town of Paris, she went there for the + purpose of forming his personal acquaintance; and her mother, Madame de + Gournay, and herself took him back with them to their chateau, where, at + two or three different times, he spent three months altogether, most + welcome of visitors.” It was from this moment that Mademoiselle de + Gournay dated her adoption as Montaigne’s daughter, a circumstance + which has tended to confer immortality upon her in a far greater measure + than her own literary productions. + </p> + <p> + Montaigne, on leaving Paris, stayed a short time at Blois, to attend the + meeting of the States-General. We do not know what part he took in that + assembly: but it is known that he was commissioned, about this period, to + negotiate between Henry of Navarre (afterwards Henry IV.) and the Duke of + Guise. His political life is almost a blank; but De Thou assures us that + Montaigne enjoyed the confidence of the principal persons of his time. De + Thou, who calls him a frank man without constraint, tells us that, walking + with him and Pasquier in the court at the Castle of Blois, he heard him + pronounce some very remarkable opinions on contemporary events, and he + adds that Montaigne had foreseen that the troubles in France could not end + without witnessing the death of either the King of Navarre or of the Duke + of Guise. He had made himself so completely master of the views of these + two princes, that he told De Thou that the King of Navarre would have been + prepared to embrace Catholicism, if he had not been afraid of being + abandoned by his party, and that the Duke of Guise, on his part, had no + particular repugnance to the Confession of Augsburg, for which the + Cardinal of Lorraine, his uncle, had inspired him with a liking, if it had + not been for the peril involved in quitting the Romish communion. It would + have been easy for Montaigne to play, as we call it, a great part in + politics, and create for himself a lofty position but his motto was, + ‘Otio et Libertati’; and he returned quietly home to compose a + chapter for his next edition on inconveniences of Greatness. + </p> + <p> + The author of the Essays was now fifty-five. The malady which tormented + him grew only worse and worse with years; and yet he occupied himself + continually with reading, meditating, and composition. He employed the + years 1589, 1590, and 1591 in making fresh additions to his book; and even + in the approaches of old age he might fairly anticipate many happy hours, + when he was attacked by quinsy, depriving him of the power utterance. + Pasquier, who has left us some details his last hours, narrates that he + remained three days in full possession of his faculties, but unable to + speak, so that, in order to make known his desires, he was obliged to + resort to writing; and as he felt his end drawing near, he begged his wife + to summon certain of the gentlemen who lived in the neighbourhood to bid + them a last farewell. When they had arrived, he caused mass to be + celebrated in apartment; and just as the priest was elevating the host, + Montaigne fell forward with his arms extended in front of him, on the bed, + and so expired. He was in his sixtieth year. It was the 13th September + 1592. + </p> + <p> + Montaigne was buried near his own house; but a few years after his + decease, his remains were removed to the church of a Commandery of St. + Antoine at Bordeaux, where they still continue. His monument was restored + in 1803 by a descendant. It was seen about 1858 by an English traveller + (Mr. St. John).’—[“Montaigne the Essayist,” by + Bayle St. John, 1858, 2 vols. 8vo, is one of most delightful books of the + kind.]— and was then in good preservation. + </p> + <p> + In 1595 Mademoiselle de Gournay published a new edition of Montaigne’s + Essays, and the first with the latest emendations of the author, from a + copy presented to her by his widow, and which has not been recovered, + although it is known to have been in existence some years after the date + of the impression, made on its authority. + </p> + <p> + Coldly as Montaigne’s literary productions appear to have been + received by the generation immediately succeeding his own age, his genius + grew into just appreciation in the seventeenth century, when such great + spirits arose as La Bruyere, Moliere, La Fontaine, Madame de Sevigne. + “O,” exclaimed the Chatelaine des Rochers, “what capital + company he is, the dear man! he is my old friend; and just for the reason + that he is so, he always seems new. My God! how full is that book of + sense!” Balzac said that he had carried human reason as far and as + high as it could go, both in politics and in morals. On the other hand, + Malebranche and the writers of Port Royal were against him; some + reprehended the licentiousness of his writings; others their impiety, + materialism, epicureanism. Even Pascal, who had carefully read the Essays, + and gained no small profit by them, did not spare his reproaches. But + Montaigne has outlived detraction. As time has gone on, his admirers and + borrowers have increased in number, and his Jansenism, which recommended + him to the eighteenth century, may not be his least recommendation in the + nineteenth. Here we have certainly, on the whole, a first-class man, and + one proof of his masterly genius seems to be, that his merits and his + beauties are sufficient to induce us to leave out of consideration + blemishes and faults which would have been fatal to an inferior writer. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + THE LETTERS OF MONTAIGNE. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.——To Monsieur de MONTAIGNE + </h2> + <p> + [This account of the death of La Boetie begins imperfectly. It first + appeared in a little volume of Miscellanies in 1571. See Hazlitt, ubi sup. + p. 630.]—As to his last words, doubtless, if any man can give good + account of them, it is I, both because, during the whole of his sickness + he conversed as fully with me as with any one, and also because, in + consequence of the singular and brotherly friendship which we had + entertained for each other, I was perfectly acquainted with the + intentions, opinions, and wishes which he had formed in the course of his + life, as much so, certainly, as one man can possibly be with those of + another man; and because I knew them to be elevated, virtuous, full of + steady resolution, and (after all said) admirable. I well foresaw that, if + his illness permitted him to express himself, he would allow nothing to + fall from him, in such an extremity, that was not replete with good + example. I consequently took every care in my power to treasure what was + said. True it is, Monseigneur, as my memory is not only in itself very + short, but in this case affected by the trouble which I have undergone, + through so heavy and important a loss, that I have forgotten a number of + things which I should wish to have had known; but those which I recollect + shall be related to you as exactly as lies in my power. For to represent + in full measure his noble career suddenly arrested, to paint to you his + indomitable courage, in a body worn out and prostrated by pain and the + assaults of death, I confess, would demand a far better ability than mine: + because, although, when in former years he discoursed on serious and + important matters, he handled them in such a manner that it was difficult + to reproduce exactly what he said, yet his ideas and his words at the last + seemed to rival each other in serving him. For I am sure that I never knew + him give birth to such fine conceptions, or display so much eloquence, as + in the time of his sickness. If, Monseigneur, you blame me for introducing + his more ordinary observations, please to know that I do so advisedly; for + since they proceeded from him at a season of such great trouble, they + indicate the perfect tranquillity of his mind and thoughts to the last. + </p> + <p> + On Monday, the 9th day of August 1563, on my return from the Court, I sent + an invitation to him to come and dine with me. He returned word that he + was obliged, but, being indisposed, he would thank me to do him the + pleasure of spending an hour with him before he started for Medoc. Shortly + after my dinner I went to him. He had laid himself down on the bed with + his clothes on, and he was already, I perceived, much changed. He + complained of diarrhoea, accompanied by the gripes, and said that he had + it about him ever since he played with M. d’Escars with nothing but + his doublet on, and that with him a cold often brought on such attacks. I + advised him to go as he had proposed, but to stay for the night at + Germignac, which is only about two leagues from the town. I gave him this + advice, because some houses, near to that where he was ping, were visited + by the plague, about which he was nervous since his return from Perigord + and the Agenois, here it had been raging; and, besides, horse exercise + was, from my own experience, beneficial under similar circumstances. He + set out, accordingly, with his wife and M. Bouillhonnas, his uncle. + </p> + <p> + Early on the following morning, however, I had intelligence from Madame de + la Boetie, that in the night he had fresh and violent attack of dysentery. + She had called in physician and apothecary, and prayed me to lose no time + coming, which (after dinner) I did. He was delighted to see me; and when I + was going away, under promise to turn the following day, he begged me more + importunately and affectionately than he was wont to do, to give him as + such of my company as possible. I was a little affected; yet was about to + leave, when Madame de la Boetie, as if she foresaw something about to + happen, implored me with tears to stay the night. When I consented, he + seemed to grow more cheerful. I returned home the next day, and on the + Thursday I paid him another visit. He had become worse; and his loss of + blood from the dysentery, which reduced his strength very much, was + largely on the increase. I quitted his side on Friday, but on Saturday I + went to him, and found him very weak. He then gave me to understand that + his complaint was infectious, and, moreover, disagreeable and depressing; + and that he, knowing thoroughly my constitution, desired that I should + content myself with coming to see him now and then. On the contrary, after + that I never left his side. + </p> + <p> + It was only on the Sunday that he began to converse with me on any subject + beyond the immediate one of his illness, and what the ancient doctors + thought of it: we had not touched on public affairs, for I found at the + very outset that he had a dislike to them. + </p> + <p> + But, on the Sunday, he had a fainting fit; and when he came to himself, he + told me that everything seemed to him confused, as if in a mist and in + disorder, and that, nevertheless, this visitation was not unpleasing to + him. “Death,” I replied, “has no worse sensation, my + brother.” “None so bad,” was his answer. He had had no + regular sleep since the beginning of his illness; and as he became worse + and worse, he began to turn his attention to questions which men commonly + occupy themselves with in the last extremity, despairing now of getting + better, and intimating as much to me. On that day, as he appeared in + tolerably good spirits, I took occasion to say to him that, in + consideration of the singular love I bore him, it would become me to take + care that his affairs, which he had conducted with such rare prudence in + his life, should not be neglected at present; and that I should regret it + if, from want of proper counsel, he should leave anything unsettled, not + only on account of the loss to his family, but also to his good name. + </p> + <p> + He thanked me for my kindness; and after a little reflection, as if he was + resolving certain doubts in his own mind, he desired me to summon his + uncle and his wife by themselves, in order that he might acquaint them + with his testamentary dispositions. I told him that this would shock them. + “No, no,” he answered, “I will cheer them by making out + my case to be better than it is.” And then he inquired, whether we + were not all much taken by surprise at his having fainted? I replied, that + it was of no importance, being incidental to the complaint from which he + suffered. “True, my brother,” said he; “it would be + unimportant, even though it should lead to what you most dread.” + “For you,” I rejoined, “it might be a happy thing; but I + should be the loser, who would thereby be deprived of so great, so wise, + and so steadfast a friend, a friend whose place I should never see + supplied.” “It is very likely you may not,” was his + answer; “and be sure that one thing which makes me somewhat anxious + to recover, and to delay my journey to that place, whither I am already + half-way gone, is the thought of the loss both you and that poor man and + woman there (referring to his uncle and wife) must sustain; for I love + them with my whole heart, and I feel certain that they will find it very + hard to lose me. I should also regret it on account of such as have, in my + lifetime, valued me, and whose conversation I should like to have enjoyed + a little longer; and I beseech you, my brother, if I leave the world, to + carry to them for me an assurance of the esteem I entertained for them to + the last moment of my existence. My birth was, moreover, scarcely to so + little purpose but that, had I lived, I might have done some service to + the public; but, however this may be, I am prepared to submit to the will + of God, when it shall please Him to call me, being confident of enjoying + the tranquillity which you have foretold for me. As for you, my friend, I + feel sure that you are so wise, that you will control your emotions, and + submit to His divine ordinance regarding me; and I beg of you to see that + that good man and woman do not mourn for my departure unnecessarily.” + </p> + <p> + He proceeded to inquire how they behaved at present. “Very well,” + said I, “considering the circumstances.” “Ah!” he + replied, “that is, so long as they do not abandon all hope of me; + but when that shall be the case, you will have a hard task to support + them.” It was owing to his strong regard for his wife and uncle that + he studiously disguised from them his own conviction as to the certainty + of his end, and he prayed me to do the same. When they were near him he + assumed an appearance of gaiety, and flattered them with hopes. I then + went to call them. They came, wearing as composed an air as possible; and + when we four were together, he addressed us, with an untroubled + countenance, as follows: “Uncle and wife, rest assured that no new + attack of my disease, or fresh doubt that I have as to my recovery, has + led me to take this step of communicating to you my intentions, for, thank + God, I feel very well and hopeful; but taught by observation and + experience the instability of all human things, and even of the life to + which we are so much attached, and which is, nevertheless, a mere bubble; + and knowing, moreover, that my state of health brings me more within the + danger of death, I have thought proper to settle my worldly affairs, + having the benefit of your advice.” Then addressing himself more + particularly to his uncle, “Good uncle,” said he, “if I + were to rehearse all the obligations under which I lie to you, I am sure + that I never should make an end. Let me only say that, wherever I have + been, and with whomsoever I have conversed, I have represented you as + doing for me all that a father could do for a son; both in the care with + which you tended my education, and in the zeal with which you pushed me + forward into public life, so that my whole existence is a testimony of + your good offices towards me. In short, I am indebted for all that I have + to you, who have been to me as a parent; and therefore I have no right to + part with anything, unless it be with your approval.” + </p> + <p> + There was a general silence hereupon, and his uncle was prevented from + replying by tears and sobs. At last he said that whatever he thought for + the best would be agreeable to him; and as he intended to make him his + heir, he was at liberty to dispose of what would be his. + </p> + <p> + Then he turned to his wife. “My image,” said he (for so he + often called her, there being some sort of relationship between them), + “since I have been united to you by marriage, which is one of the + most weighty and sacred ties imposed on us by God, for the purpose of + maintaining human society, I have continued to love, cherish, and value + you; and I know that you have returned my affection, for which I have no + sufficient acknowledgment. I beg you to accept such portion of my estate + as I bequeath to you, and be satisfied with it, though it is very + inadequate to your desert.” + </p> + <p> + Afterwards he turned to me. “My brother,” he began, “for + whom I have so entire a love, and whom I selected out of so large a + number, thinking to revive with you that virtuous and sincere friendship + which, owing to the degeneracy of the age, has grown to be almost unknown + to us, and now exists only in certain vestiges of antiquity, I beg of you, + as a mark of my affection to you, to accept my library: a slender + offering, but given with a cordial will, and suitable to you, seeing that + you are fond of learning. It will be a memorial of your old companion.” + </p> + <p> + Then he addressed all three of us. He blessed God that in his extremity he + had the happiness to be surrounded by those whom he held dearest in the + world, and he looked upon it as a fine spectacle, where four persons were + together, so unanimous in their feelings, and loving each other for each + other’s sake. He commended us one to the other; and proceeded thus: + “My worldly matters being arranged, I must now think of the welfare + of my soul. I am a Christian; I am a Catholic. I have lived one, and I + shall die one. Send for a priest; for I wish to conform to this last + Christian obligation.” He now concluded his discourse, which he had + conducted with such a firm face and with so distinct an utterance, that + whereas, when I first entered his room, he was feeble, inarticulate in his + speech, his pulse low and feverish, and his features pallid, now, by a + sort of miracle, he appeared to have rallied, and his pulse was so strong + that for the sake of comparison, I asked him to feel mine. + </p> + <p> + I felt my heart so oppressed at this moment, that I had not the power to + make him any answer; but in the course of two or three hours, solicitous + to keep up his courage, and, likewise, out of the tenderness which I had + had all my life for his honour and fame, wishing a larger number of + witnesses to his admirable fortitude, I said to him, how much I was + ashamed to think that I lacked courage to listen to what he, so great a + sufferer, had the courage to deliver; that down to the present time I had + scarcely conceived that God granted us such command over human + infirmities, and had found a difficulty in crediting the examples I had + read in histories; but that with such evidence of the thing before my + eyes, I gave praise to God that it had shown itself in one so excessively + dear to me, and who loved me so entirely, and that his example would help + me to act in a similar manner when my turn came. Interrupting me, he + begged that it might happen so, and that the conversation which had passed + between us might not be mere words, but might be impressed deeply on our + minds, to be put in exercise at the first occasion; and that this was the + real object and aim of all philosophy. + </p> + <p> + He then took my hand, and continued: “Brother, friend, there are + many acts of my life, I think, which have cost me as much difficulty as + this one is likely to do; and, after all, I have been long prepared for + it, and have my lesson by heart. Have I not lived long enough? I am just + upon thirty-three. By the grace of God, my days so far have known nothing + but health and happiness; but in the ordinary course of our unstable human + affairs, this could not have lasted much longer; it would have become time + for me to enter on graver avocations, and I should thus have involved + myself in numberless vexations, and, among them, the troubles of old age, + from which I shall now be exempt. Moreover, it is probable that hitherto + my life has been spent more simply, and with less of evil, than if God had + spared me, and I had survived to feel the thirst for riches and worldly + prosperity. I am sure, for my part, that I now go to God and the place of + the blessed.” He seemed to detect in my expression some inquietude + at his words; and he exclaimed, “What, my brother, would you make me + entertain apprehensions? Had I any, whom would it become so much as + yourself to remove them?” + </p> + <p> + The notary, who had been summoned to draw up his will, came in the + evening, and when he had the documents prepared, I inquired of La Boetie + if he would sign them. “Sign them,” cried he; “I will do + so with my own hand; but I could desire more time, for I feel exceedingly + timid and weak, and in a manner exhausted.” But when I was going to + change the conversation, he suddenly rallied, said he had but a short time + to live, and asked if the notary wrote rapidly, for he should dictate + without making any pause. The notary was called, and he dictated his will + there and then with such speed that the man could scarcely keep up with + him; and when he had done, he asked me to read it out, saying to me, + “What a good thing it is to look after what are called our riches.” + ‘Sunt haec, quoe hominibus vocantur bona’. As soon as the will + was signed, the chamber being full, he asked me if it would hurt him to + talk. I answered, that it would not, if he did not speak too loud. He then + summoned Mademoiselle de Saint Quentin, his niece, to him, and addressed + her thus: “Dear niece, since my earliest acquaintance with thee, I + have observed the marks of, great natural goodness in thee; but the + services which thou rendered to me, with so much affectionate diligence, + in my present and last necessity, inspire me with high hopes of thee; and + I am under great obligations to thee, and give thee most affectionate + thanks. Let me relieve my conscience by counselling thee to be, in the + first place, devout, to God: for this doubtless is our first duty, failing + which all others can be of little advantage or grace, but which, duly + observed, carries with it necessarily all other virtues. After God, thou + shouldest love thy father and mother—thy mother, my sister, whom I + regard as one of the best and most intelligent of women, and by whom I beg + of thee to let thy own life be regulated. Allow not thyself to be led away + by pleasures; shun, like the plague, the foolish familiarities thou seest + between some men and women; harmless enough at first, but which by + insidious degrees corrupt the heart, and thence lead it to negligence, and + then into the vile slough of vice. Credit me, the greatest safeguard to + female chastity is sobriety of demeanour. I beseech and direct that thou + often call to mind the friendship which was betwixt us; but I do not wish + thee to mourn for me too much—an injunction which, so far as it is + in my power, I lay on all my friends, since it might seem that by doing so + they felt a jealousy of that blessed condition in which I am about to be + placed by death. I assure thee, my dear, that if I had the option now of + continuing in life or of completing the voyage on which I have set out, I + should find it very hard to choose. Adieu, dear niece.” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle d’Arsat, his stepdaughter, was next called. He said to + her: “Daughter, you stand in no great need of advice from me, + insomuch as you have a mother, whom I have ever found most sagacious, and + entirely in conformity with my own opinions and wishes, and whom I have + never found faulty; with such a preceptress, you cannot fail to be + properly instructed. Do not account it singular that I, with no tie of + blood to you, am interested in you; for, being the child of one who is so + closely allied to me, I am necessarily concerned in what concerns you; and + consequently the affairs of your brother, M. d’Arsat, have ever been + watched by me with as much care as my own; nor perhaps will it be to your + disadvantage that you were my step-daughter. You enjoy sufficient store of + wealth and beauty; you are a lady of good family; it only remains for you + to add to these possessions the cultivation of your mind, in which I + exhort you not to fail. I do not think necessary to warn you against vice, + a thing so odious in women, for I would not even suppose that you could + harbour any inclination for it—nay, I believe that you hold the very + name in abhorrence. Dear daughter, farewell.” + </p> + <p> + All in the room were weeping and lamenting; but he held without + interruption the thread of his discourse, which was pretty long. But when + he had done, he directed us all to leave the room, except the women + attendants, whom he styled his garrison. But first, calling to him my + brother, M. de Beauregard, he said to him: “M. de Beauregard, you + have my best thanks for all the care you have taken of me. I have now a + thing which I am very anxious indeed to mention to you, and with your + permission I will do so.” As my brother gave him encouragement to + proceed, he added: “I assure you that I never knew any man who + engaged in the reformation of our Church with greater sincerity, + earnestness, and single-heartedness than yourself. I consider that you + were led to it by observing the vicious character of our prelates, which + no doubt much requires setting in order, and by imperfections which time + has brought into our Church. It is not my desire at present discourage you + from this course, for I would have no one act in opposition to his + conscience; but I wish, having regard to the good repute acquired by your + family from its enduring concord—a family than which none can be + dearer to me; a family, thank God! no member of which has ever been guilty + of dishonour —in regard, further, to the will of your good father to + whom you owe so much, and of your, uncle, I wish you to avoid extreme + means; avoid harshness and violence: be reconciled with your relatives; do + not act apart, but unite. You perceive what disasters our quarrels have + brought upon this kingdom, and I anticipate still worse mischiefs; and in + your goodness and wisdom, beware of involving your family in such broils; + let it continue to enjoy its former reputation and happiness. M. de + Beauregard, take what I say in good part, and as a proof of the friendship + I feel for you. I postponed till now any communication with you on the + subject, and perhaps the condition in which you see me address you, may + cause my advice and opinion to carry greater authority.” My brother + expressed his thanks to him cordially. + </p> + <p> + On the Monday morning he had become so ill that he quite despaired of + himself; and he said to me very pitifully: “Brother, do not you feel + pain for all the pain I am suffering? Do you not perceive now that the + help you give me has no other effect than that of lengthening my + suffering?” + </p> + <p> + Shortly afterwards he fainted, and we all thought him gone; but by the + application of vinegar and wine he rallied. But he soon sank, and when he + heard us in lamentation, he murmured, “O God! who is it that teases + me so? Why did you break the agreeable repose I was enjoying? I beg of you + to leave me.” And then, when he caught the sound of my voice, he + continued: “And art thou, my brother, likewise unwilling to see me + at peace? O, how thou robbest me of my repose!” After a while, he + seemed to gain more strength, and called for wine, which he relished, and + declared it to be the finest drink possible. I, in order to change the + current of his thoughts, put in, “Surely not; water is the best.” + “Ah, yes,” he returned, “doubtless so;—(Greek + phrase)—.” He had now become, icy-cold at his extremities, + even to his face; a deathly perspiration was upon him, and his pulse was + scarcely perceptible. + </p> + <p> + This morning he confessed, but the priest had omitted to bring with him + the necessary apparatus for celebrating Mass. On the Tuesday, however, M. + de la Boetie summoned him to aid him, as he said, in discharging the last + office of a Christian. After the conclusion of Mass, he took the + sacrament; when the priest was about to depart, he said to him: “Spiritual + father, I implore you humbly, as well as those over whom you are set, to + pray to the Almighty on my behalf; that, if it be decreed in heaven that I + am now to end my life, He will take compassion on my soul, and pardon me + my sins, which are manifold, it not being possible for so weak and poor a + creature as I to obey completely the will of such a Master; or, if He + think fit to keep me longer here, that it may please Him to release my + present extreme anguish, and to direct my footsteps in the right path, + that I may become a better man than I have been.” He paused to + recover breath a little; priest was about to go away, he called him back + and proceeded: “I desire to say, besides, in your hearing this: I + declare that I was christened and I have lived, and that so I wish to die, + in the faith which Moses preached in Egypt; which afterwards the + Patriarchs accepted and professed in Judaea; and which, in the course of + time, has been transmitted to France and to us.” He seemed desirous + of adding something more, but he ended with a request to his uncle and me + to send up prayers for him; “for those are,” he said, “the + best duties that Christians can fulfil one for another.” In the + course of talking, his shoulder was uncovered, and although a man-servant + stood near him, he asked his uncle to re-adjust the clothes. Then, turning + his eyes towards me, he said, “Ingenui est, cui multum debeas, ei + plurimum velle debere.” + </p> + <p> + M. de Belot called in the afternoon to see him, and M. de la Boetie, + taking his hand, said to him: “I was on the point of discharging my + debt, but my kind creditor has given me a little further time.” A + little while after, appearing to wake out of a sort of reverie, he uttered + words which he had employed once or twice before in the course of his + sickness: “Ah well, ah well, whenever the hour comes, I await it + with pleasure and fortitude.” And then, as they were holding his + mouth open by force to give him a draught, he observed to M. de Belot: + “An vivere tanti est?” + </p> + <p> + As the evening approached, he began perceptibly to sink; and while I + supped, he sent for me to come, being no more than the shadow of a man, + or, as he put it himself, ‘non homo, sed species hominis’; and + he said to me with the utmost difficulty: “My brother, my friend, + please God I may realise the imaginations I have just enjoyed.” + Afterwards, having waited for some time while he remained silent, and by + painful efforts was drawing long sighs (for his tongue at this point began + to refuse its functions), I said, “What are they?” “Grand, + grand!” he replied. “I have never yet failed,” returned + I, “to have the honour of hearing your conceptions and imaginations + communicated to me; will you not now still let me enjoy them?” + “I would indeed,” he answered; “but, my brother, I am + not able to do so; they are admirable, infinite, and unspeakable.” + We stopped short there, for he could not go on. A little before, indeed, + he had shown a desire to speak to his wife, and had told her, with as gay + a countenance as he could contrive to assume, that he had a story to tell + her. And it seemed as if he was making an attempt to gain utterance; but, + his strength failing him, he begged a little wine to resuscitate it. It + was of no avail, for he fainted away suddenly, and was for some time + insensible. Having become so near a neighbour to death, and hearing the + sobs of Mademoiselle de la Boetie, he called her, and said to her thus: + “My own likeness, you grieve yourself beforehand; will you not have + pity on me? take courage. Assuredly, it costs me more than half the pain I + endure, to see you suffer; and reasonably so, because the evils which we + ourselves feel we do not actually ourselves suffer, but it certain + sentient faculties which God plants in us, that feel them: whereas what we + feel on account of others, we feel by consequence of a certain reasoning + process which goes on within our minds. But I am going away” —That + he said because his strength was failing him; and fearing that he had + frightened his wife, he resumed, observing: “I am going to sleep. + Good night, my wife; go thy way.” This was the last farewell he took + of her. + </p> + <p> + After she had left, “My brother,” said he to me, “keep + near me, if you please;” and then feeling the advance of death more + pressing and more acute, or else the effect of some warm draught which + they had made him swallow, his voice grew stronger and clearer, and he + turned quite with violence in his bed, so that all began again to + entertain the hope which we had lost only upon witnessing his extreme + prostration. + </p> + <p> + At this stage he proceeded, among other things, to pray me again and + again, in a most affectionate manner, to give him a place; so that I was + apprehensive that his reason might be impaired, particularly when, on my + pointing out to him that he was doing himself harm, and that these were + not of the words of a rational man, he did not yield at first, but + redoubled his outcry, saying, “My brother, my brother! dost thou + then refuse me a place?” insomuch that he constrained me to + demonstrate to him that, as he breathed and spoke, and had his physical + being, therefore he had his place. “Yes, yes,” he responded, + “I have; but it is not that which I need; and, besides, when all is + said, I have no longer any existence.” “God,” I replied, + “will grant you a better one soon.” “Would it were now, + my brother,” was his answer. “It is now three days since I + have been eager to take my departure.” + </p> + <p> + Being in this extremity, he frequently called me, merely to satisfy him + that I was at his side. At length, he composed himself a little to rest, + which strengthened our hopes; so much so, indeed, that I left the room, + and went to rejoice thereupon with Mademoiselle de la Boetie. But, an hour + or so afterwards, he called me by name once or twice, and then with a long + sigh expired at three o’clock on Wednesday morning, the 18th August + 1563, having lived thirty-two years, nine months, and seventeen days. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.——To Monseigneur, Monseigneur de MONTAIGNE. + </h2> + <p> + [This letter is prefixed to Montaigne’s translation of the “Natural + Theology” of Raymond de Sebonde, printed at Paris in 1569.] + </p> + <p> + In pursuance of the instructions which you gave me last year in your house + at Montaigne, Monseigneur, I have put into a French dress, with my own + hand, Raymond de Sebonde, that great Spanish theologian and philosopher; + and I have divested him, so far as I could, of that rough bearing and + barbaric appearance which you saw him wear at first; that, in my opinion, + he is now qualified to present himself in the best company. It is + perfectly possible that some fastidious persons will detect in the book + some trace of Gascon parentage; but it will be so much the more to their + discredit, that they allowed the task to devolve on one who is quite a + novice in these things. It is only right, Monseigneur, that the work + should come before the world under your auspices, since whatever + emendations and polish it may have received, are owing to you. Still I see + well that, if you think proper to balance accounts with the author, you + will find yourself much his debtor; for against his excellent and + religious discourses, his lofty and, so to speak, divine conceptions, you + will find that you will have to set nothing but words and phraseology; a + sort of merchandise so ordinary and commonplace, that whoever has the most + of it, peradventure is the worst off. + </p> + <p> + Monseigneur, I pray God to grant you a very long and happy life. From + Paris, this 18th of June 1568. Your most humble and most obedient son, + </p> + <p> + MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.——To Monsieur, Monsieur de LANSAC, + </h2> + <p> + —[This letter appears to belong to 1570.]—Knight of the King’s + Order, Privy Councillor, Sub-controller of his Finance, and Captain of the + Cent Gardes of his Household. + </p> + <p> + MONSIEUR,—I send you the OEconomics of Xenophon, put into French by + the late M. de la Boetie,—[Printed at Paris, 8vo, 1571, and + reissued, with the addition of some notes, in 1572, with a fresh + title-page.]—a present which appears to me to be appropriate, as + well because it is the work of a gentleman of mark,—[Meaning + Xenophon.]—a man illustrious in war and peace, as because it has + taken its second shape from a personage whom I know to have been held by + you in affectionate regard during his life. This will be an inducement to + you to continue to cherish towards his memory, your good opinion and + goodwill. And to be bold with you, Monsieur, do not fear to increase these + sentiments somewhat; for, as you had knowledge of his high qualities only + in his public capacity, it rests with me to assure you how many endowments + he possessed beyond your personal experience of him. He did me the honour, + while he lived, and I count it amongst the most fortunate circumstances in + my own career, to have with me a friendship so close and so intricately + knit, that no movement, impulse, thought, of his mind was kept from me, + and if I have not formed a right judgment of him, I must suppose it to be + from my own want of scope. Indeed, without exaggeration, he was so nearly + a prodigy, that I am afraid of not being credited when I speak of him, + even though I should keep much within the mark of my own actual knowledge. + And for this time, Monsieur, I shall content myself with praying you, for + the honour and respect we owe to truth, to testify and believe that our + Guienne never beheld his peer among the men of his vocation. Under the + hope, therefore, that you will pay him his just due, and in order to + refresh him in your memory, I present you this book, which will answer for + me that, were it not for the insufficiency of my power, I would offer you + as willingly something of my own, as an acknowledgment of the obligations + I owe to you, and of the ancient favour and friendship which you have + borne towards the members of our house. But, Monsieur, in default of + better coin, I offer you in payment the assurance of my desire to do you + humble service. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur, I pray God to have you in His keeping. Your obedient servant, + MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.——To Monsieur, Monsieur de MESMES, Lord of Roissy and + Malassize, Privy + </h2> + <p> + Councillor to the King. + </p> + <p> + MONSIEUR,—It is one of the most conspicuous follies committed by + men, to employ the strength of their understanding in overturning and + destroying those opinions which are commonly received among us, and which + afford us satisfaction and content; for while everything beneath heaven + employs the ways and means placed at its disposal by nature for the + advancement and commodity of its being, these, in order to appear of a + more sprightly and enlightened wit, not accepting anything which has not + been tried and balanced a thousand times with the most subtle reasoning, + sacrifice their peace of mind to doubt, uneasiness, and feverish + excitement. It is not without reason that childhood and simplicity have + been recommended by holy writ itself. For my part, I prefer to be quiet + rather than clever: give me content, even if I am not to be so wide in my + range. This is the reason, Monsieur, why, although persons of an ingenious + turn laugh at our care as to what will happen after our own time, for + instance, to our souls, which, lodged elsewhere, will lose all + consciousness of what goes on here below, yet I consider it to be a great + consolation for the frailty and brevity of life, to reflect that we have + the power of prolonging it by reputation and fame; and I embrace very + readily this pleasant and favourable notion original with our being, + without inquiring too critically how or why it is. Insomuch that having + loved, beyond everything, the late M. de la Boetie, the greatest man, in + my judgment, of our age, I should think myself very negligent of my duty + if I failed, to the utmost of my power, to prevent such a name as his, and + a memory so richly meriting remembrance, from falling into oblivion; and + if I did not use my best endeavour to keep them fresh. I believe that he + feels something of what I do on his behalf, and that my services touch and + rejoice him. In fact, he lives in my heart so vividly and so wholly, that + I am loath to believe him committed to the dull ground, or altogether cast + off from communication with us. Therefore, Monsieur, since every new light + I can shed on him and his name, is so much added to his second period of + existence, and, moreover, since his name is ennobled and honoured by the + place which receives it, it falls to me not only to extend it as widely as + I can, but to confide it to the keeping of persons of honour and virtue; + among whom you hold such a rank, that, to afford you the opportunity of + receiving this new guest, and giving him good entertainment, I decided on + presenting to you this little work, not for any profit you are likely to + derive from it, being well aware that you do not need to have Plutarch and + his companions interpreted to you—but it is possible that Madame de + Roissy, reading in it the order of her household management and of your + happy accord painted to the life, will be pleased to see how her own + natural inclination has not only reached but surpassed the theories of the + wisest philosophers, regarding the duties and laws of the wedded state. + And, at all events, it will be always an honour to me, to be able to do + anything which shall be for the pleasure of you and yours, on account of + the obligation under which I lie to serve you. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur, I pray God to grant you a long and happy life. From Montaigne, + this 30th April 1570. Your humble servant, MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V.——To Monsieur, Monsieur de L’HOSPITAL, Chancellor of + France + </h2> + <p> + MONSEIGNEUR,—I am of the opinion that persons such as you, to whom + fortune and reason have committed the charge of public affairs, are not + more inquisitive in any point than in ascertaining the character of those + in office under you; for no society is so poorly furnished, but that, if a + proper distribution of authority be used, it has persons sufficient for + the discharge of all official duties; and when this is the case, nothing + is wanting to make a State perfect in its constitution. Now, in proportion + as this is so much to be desired, so it is the more difficult of + accomplishment, since you cannot have eyes to embrace a multitude so large + and so widely extended, nor to see to the bottom of hearts, in order that + you may discover intentions and consciences, matters principally to be + considered; so that there has never been any commonwealth so well + organised, in which we might not detect often enough defect in such a + department or such a choice; and in those systems, where ignorance and + malice, favouritism, intrigue, and violence govern, if any selection + happens to be made on the ground of merit and regularity, we may doubtless + thank Fortune, which, in its capricious movements, has for once taken the + path of reason. + </p> + <p> + This consideration, Monseigneur, often consoled me, when I beheld M. + Etienne de la Boetie, one of the fittest men for high office in France, + pass his whole life without employment and notice, by his domestic hearth, + to the singular detriment of the public; for, so far as he was concerned, + I may assure you, Monseigneur, that he was so rich in those treasures + which defy fortune, that never was man more satisfied or content. I know, + indeed, that he was raised to the dignities connected with his + neighbourhood—dignities accounted considerable; and I know also, + that no one ever acquitted himself better of them; and when he died at the + age of thirty-two, he enjoyed a reputation in that way beyond all who had + preceded him. + </p> + <p> + But for all that, it is no reason that a man should be left a common + soldier, who deserves to become a captain; nor to assign mean functions to + those who are perfectly equal to the highest. In truth, his powers were + badly economised and too sparingly employed; insomuch that, over and above + his actual work, there was abundant capacity lying idle which might have + been called into service, both to the public advantage and his own private + glory. + </p> + <p> + Therefore, Monseigneur, since he was so indifferent to his own fame (for + virtue and ambition, unfortunately, seldom lodge together), and since he + lived in an age when others were too dull or too jealous to witness to his + character, I have it marvellously at heart that his memory, at all events, + to which I owe the good offices of a friend, should enjoy the recompense + of his brave life; and that it should survive in the good report of men of + honour and virtue. On this account, sir, I have been desirous to bring to + light, and present to you, such few Latin verses as he left behind. + Different from the builder, who places the most attractive, portion of his + house towards the street, and to the draper, who displays in his window + his best goods, that which was most precious in my friend, the juice and + marrow of his genius, departed with him, and there have remained to us but + the bark and the leaves. + </p> + <p> + The exactly regulated movements of his mind, his piety, his virtue, his + justice, his vivacity, the solidity and soundness of his judgment, the + loftiness of his ideas, raised so far above the common level, his + learning, the grace which accompanied his most ordinary actions, the + tender affection he had for his miserable country, and his supreme and + sworn detestation of all vice, but principally of that villainous traffic + which disguises itself under the honourable name of justice, should + certainly impress all well-disposed persons with a singular love towards + him, and an extraordinary regret for his loss. But, sir, I am unable to do + justice to all these qualities; and of the fruit of his own studies it had + not entered into his mind to leave any proof to posterity; all that + remains, is the little which, as a pastime, he did at intervals. + </p> + <p> + However this may be, I beg you, sir, to receive it kindly; and as our + judgment of great things is many times formed from lesser things, and as + even the recreations of illustrious men carry with them, to intelligent + observers, some honourable traits of their origin, I would have you form + from this, some knowledge of him, and hence lovingly cherish his name and + his memory. In this, sir, you will only reciprocate the high opinion which + he had of your virtue, and realise what he infinitely desired in his + lifetime; for there was no one in the world in whose acquaintance and + friendship he would have been so happy to see himself established, as in + your own. But if any man is offended by the freedom which I use with the + belongings of another, I can tell him that nothing which has been written + or been laid down, even in the schools of philosophy, respecting the + sacred duties and rights of friendship, could give an adequate idea of the + relations which subsisted between this personage and myself. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, sir, this slender gift, to make two throws of one stone at the + same time, may likewise serve, if you please, to testify the honour and + respect which I entertain for your ability and high qualities; for as to + those gifts which are adventitious and accidental, it is not to my taste + to take them into account. + </p> + <p> + Sir, I pray God to grant you a very happy and a very long life. From + Montaigne, this 30th of April 1570.—Your humble and obedient + servant, + </p> + <p> + MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE. <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI.——To Monsieur, Monsieur de Folx, Privy Councillor, and + Ambassador of His Majesty to the Signory of Venice. + </h2> + <h3> + —[ Printed before the ‘Vers Francois’ of Etienne de la + Boetie, 8vo, Paris, 1572.] + </h3> + <p> + SIR,—Being on the point of commending to you and to posterity the + memory of the late Etienne de la Boetie, as well for his extreme virtue as + for the singular affection which he bore to me, it struck me as an + indiscretion very serious in its results, and meriting some coercion from + our laws, the practice which often prevails of robbing virtue of glory, + its faithful associate, in order to confer it, in accordance with our + private interests and without discrimination, on the first comer; seeing + that our two principal guiding reins are reward and punishment, which only + touch us properly, and as men, through the medium of honour and dishonour, + forasmuch as these penetrate the mind, and come home to our most intimate + feelings: just where animals themselves are susceptible, more or less, to + all other kinds of recompense and corporal chastisement. Moreover, it is + well to notice that the custom of praising virtue, even in those who are + no longer with us, impalpable as it is to them, serves as a stimulant to + the living to imitate their example; just as capital sentences are carried + out by the law, more for the sake of warning to others, than in relation + to those who suffer. Now, commendation and its opposite being analogous as + regards effects, we cannot easily deny the fact, that although the law + prohibits one man from slandering the reputation of another, it does not + prevent us from bestowing reputation without cause. This pernicious + licence in respect to the distribution of praise, has formerly been + confined in its area of operations; and it may be the reason why poetry + once lost favour with the more judicious. However this may be, it cannot + be concealed that the vice of falsehood is one very unbecoming in + gentleman, let it assume what guise it will. + </p> + <p> + As for that personage of whom I am speaking to you, sir he leads me far + away indeed from this kind of language; for the danger in his case is not, + lest I should lend him anything, but that I might take something from him; + and it is his ill-fortune that, while he has supplied me, so far as ever a + man could, with just and obvious opportunities for commendation, I find + myself unable and unqualified to render it to him —I, who am his + debtor for so many vivid communications, and who alone have it in my power + to answer for a million of accomplishments, perfections, and virtues, + latent (thanks to his unkind stars) in so noble a soul. For the nature of + things having (I know not how) permitted that truth, fair and acceptable—as + it may be of itself, is only embraced where there are arts of persuasion, + to insinuate it into our minds, I see myself so wanting, both in authority + to support my simple testimony, and in the eloquence requisite for lending + it value and weight, that I was on the eve of relinquishing the task, + having nothing of his which would enable me to exhibit to the world a + proof of his genius and knowledge. + </p> + <p> + In truth, sir, having been overtaken by his fate in the flower of his age, + and in the full enjoyment of the most vigorous health, it had been his + design to publish some day works which would have demonstrated to + posterity what sort of a man he was; and, peradventure, he was indifferent + enough to fame, having formed such a plan in his head, to proceed no + further in it. But I have come to the conclusion, that it was far more + excusable in him to bury with him all his rare endowments, than it would + be on my part to bury also with me the knowledge of them which I had + acquired from him; and, therefore, having collected with care all the + remains which I found scattered here and there among his papers, I intend + to distribute them so as to recommend his memory to as many persons as + possible, selecting the most suitable and worthy of my acquaintance, and + those whose testimony might do him greatest honour: such as you, sir, who + may very possibly have had some knowledge of him during his life, but + assuredly too slight to discover the perfect extent of his worth. + Posterity may credit me, if it chooses, when I swear upon my conscience, + that I knew and saw him to be such as, all things considered, I could + neither desire nor imagine a genius surpassing his. + </p> + <p> + I beg you very humbly, sir, not only to take his name under your general + protection, but also these ten or twelve French stanzas, which lay + themselves, as of necessity, under shadow of your patronage. For I will + not disguise from you, that their publication was deferred, upon the + appearance of his other writings, under the pretext (as it was alleged + yonder at Paris) that they were too crude to come to light. You will + judge, sir, how much truth there is in this; and since it is thought that + hereabout nothing can be produced in our own dialect but what is barbarous + and unpolished, it falls to you, who, besides your rank as the first house + in Guienne, indeed down from your ancestors, possess every other sort of + qualification, to establish, not merely by your example, but by your + authoritative testimony, that such is not always the case: the more so + that, though ‘tis more natural with the Gascons to act than talk, + yet sometimes they employ the tongue more than the arm, and wit in place + of valour. + </p> + <p> + For my own part; sir, it is not in my way to judge of such matters; but I + have heard persons who are supposed to understand them, say that these + stanzas are not only worthy to be presented in the market-place, but, + independently of that, as regards beauty and wealth of invention, they are + full of marrow and matter as any compositions of the kind, which have + appeared in our language. Naturally each workman feels himself more strong + in some special part his art, and those are to be regarded as most + fortunate, who lay hands on the noblest, for all the parts essential to + the construction of any whole are not equally precious. We find elsewhere, + perhaps, greater delicacy phrase, greater softness and harmony of + language; but imaginative grace, and in the store of pointed wit, I do not + think he has been surpassed; and we should take the account that he made + these things neither his occupation nor his study, and that he scarcely + took a pen in his hand more than once a year, as is shown by the very + slender quantity of his remains. For you see here, sir, green wood and + dry, without any sort of selection, all that has come into my possession; + insomuch that there are among the rest efforts even of his boyhood. In + point of fact, he seems to have written them merely to show that he was + capable of dealing with all subjects: for otherwise, thousands of times, + in the course of ordinary conversation, I have heard things drop from him + infinitely more worthy of being admired, infinitely more worthy of being + preserved. + </p> + <p> + Such, sir, is what justice and affection, forming in this instance a rare + conjunction, oblige me to say of this great and good man; and if I have at + all offended by the freedom which I have taken in addressing myself to you + on such a subject at such a length, be pleased to recollect that the + principal result of greatness and eminence is to lay one open to + importunate appeals on behalf of the rest of the world. Herewith, after + desiring you to accept my affectionate devotion to your service, I beseech + God to vouchsafe you, sir, a fortunate and prolonged life. From Montaigne, + this 1st of September 1570.—Your obedient servant, + </p> + <p> + MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE. <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII.——To Mademoiselle de MONTAIGNE, my Wife. + </h2> + <p> + —[Printed as a preface to the “Consolation of Plutarch to his + Wife,” published by Montaigne, with several other tracts by La + Boetie, about 1571.] + </p> + <p> + MY WIFE,—You understand well that it is not proper for a man of the + world, according to the rules of this our time, to continue to court and + caress you; for they say that a sensible person may take a wife indeed, + but that to espouse her is to act like a fool. Let them talk; I adhere for + my part the custom of the good old days; I also wear my hair as it used to + be then; and, in truth, novelty costs this poor country up to the present + moment so dear (and I do not know whether we have reached the highest + pitch yet), that everywhere and in everything I renounce the fashion. Let + us live, my wife, you and I, in the old French method. Now, you may + recollect that the late M. de la Boetie, my brother and inseparable + companion, gave me, on his death-bed, all his books and papers, which have + remained ever since the most precious part of my effects. I do not wish to + keep them niggardly to myself alone, nor do I deserve to have the + exclusive use of them; so that I have resolved to communicate them to my + friends; and because I have none, I believe, more particularly intimate + you, I send you the Consolatory Letter written by Plutarch to his Wife, + translated by him into French; regretting much that fortune has made it so + suitable a present you, and that, having had but one child, and that a + daughter, long looked for, after four years of your married life it was + your lot to lose her in the second year of her age. But I leave to + Plutarch the duty of comforting you, acquainting you with your duty + herein, begging you to put your faith in him for my sake; for he will + reveal to you my own ideas, and will express the matter far better than I + should myself. Hereupon, my wife, I commend myself very heartily to your + good will, and pray God to have you in His keeping. From Paris, this 10th + September 1570.—Your good husband, + </p> + <p> + MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE. <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII.——To Monsieur DUPUY, + </h2> + <p> + —[This is probably the Claude Dupuy, born at Paris in 1545, and one + of the fourteen judges sent into Guienne after the treaty of Fleix in + 1580. It was perhaps under these circumstances that Montaigne addressed to + him the present letter.]—the King’s Councillor in his Court + and Parliament of Paris. + </p> + <p> + MONSIEUR,—The business of the Sieur de Verres, a prisoner, who is + extremely well known to me, deserves, in the arrival at a decision, the + exercise of the clemency natural to you, if, in the public interest, you + can fairly call it into play. He has done a thing not only excusable, + according to the military laws of this age, but necessary and (as we are + of opinion) commendable. He committed the act, without doubt, unwillingly + and under pressure; there is no other passage of his life which is open to + reproach. I beseech you, sir, to lend the matter your attentive + consideration; you will find the character of it as I represent it to you. + He is persecuted on this crime, in a way which is far worse than the + offence itself. If it is likely to be of use to him, I desire to inform + you that he is a man brought up in my house, related to several + respectable families, and a person who, having led an honourable life, is + my particular friend. By saving him you lay me under an extreme + obligation. I beg you very humbly to regard him as recommended by me, and, + after kissing your hands, I pray God, sir, to grant you a long and happy + life. From Castera, this 23d of April 1580. Your affectionate servant, + MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX.——To the Jurats of Bordeaux. + </h2> + <p> + —[Published from the original among the archives of the town of + Bordeaux, M. Gustave Brunet in the Bulletin du Bibliophile, July 1839.] + </p> + <p> + GENTLEMEN,—I trust that the journey of Monsieur de Cursol will be of + advantage to the town. Having in hand a case so just and so favourable, + you did all in your power to put the business in good trim; and matters + being so well situated, I beg you to excuse my absence for some little + time longer, and I will abridge my stay so far as the pressure of my + affairs permits. I hope that the delay will be short; however, you will + keep me, if you please, in your good grace, and will command me, if the + occasion shall arise, in employing me in the public service and in yours. + Monsieur de Cursol has also written to me and apprised me of his journey. + I humbly commend myself to you, and pray God, gentlemen, to grant you long + and happy life. From Montaigne, this 21st of May 1582. Your humble brother + and servant, MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X.——To the same. + </h2> + <h3> + —[The original is among the archives of Toulouse.] + </h3> + <p> + GENTLEMEN,—I have taken my fair share of the satisfaction which you + announce to me as feeling at the good despatch of your business, as + reported to you by your deputies, and I regard it as a favourable sign + that you have made such an auspicious commencement of the year. I hope to + join you at the earliest convenient opportunity. I recommend myself very + humbly to your gracious consideration, and pray God to grant you, + gentlemen, a happy and long life. From Montaigne, this 8th February 1585. + Your humble brother and servant, MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XI.——To the same. + </h2> + <p> + GENTLEMEN,—I have here received news of you from M. le Marechal. I + will not spare either my life or anything else for your service, and will + leave it to your judgment whether the assistance I might be able to render + by my presence at the forthcoming election, would be worth the risk I + should run by going into the town, seeing the bad state it is in, —[This + refers to the plague then raging, and which carried off 14,000 persons at + Bordeaux.]—particularly for people coming away from so fine an air + as this is where I am. I will draw as near to you on Wednesday as I can, + that is, to Feuillas, if the malady has not reached that place, where, as + I write to M. de la Molte, I shall be very pleased to have the honour of + seeing one of you to take your directions, and relieve myself of the + credentials which M. le Marechal will give me for you all: commending + myself hereupon humbly to your good grace, and praying God to grant you, + gentlemen, long and happy life. At Libourne, this 30th of July 1585. Your + humble servant and brother, MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XII. + </h2> + <p> + —[“According to Dr. Payen, this letter belongs to 1588. Its + authenticity has been called in question; but wrongly, in our opinion. See + ‘Documents inedits’, 1847, p. 12.”—Note in ‘Essais’, + ed. Paris, 1854, iv. 381. It does not appear to whom the letter was + addressed.] + </p> + <p> + MONSEIGNEUR,—You have heard of our baggage being taken from us under + our eyes in the forest of Villebois: then, after a good deal of discussion + and delay, of the capture being pronounced illegal by the Prince. We dared + not, however, proceed on our way, from an uncertainty as to the safety of + our persons, which should have been clearly expressed on our passports. + The League has done this, M. de Barrant and M. de la Rochefocault; the + storm has burst on me, who had my money in my box. I have recovered none + of it, and most of my papers and cash—[The French word is hardes, + which St. John renders things. But compare Chambers’s “Domestic + Annals of Scotland,” 2d ed. i. 48.]—remain in their + possession. I have not seen the Prince. Fifty were lost . . . as for the + Count of Thorigny, he lost some ver plate and a few articles of clothing. + He diverged from his route to pay a visit to the mourning ladies at + Montresor, where are the remains of his two brothers and his grandmother, + and came to us again in this town, whence we shall resume our journey + shortly. The journey to Normandy is postponed. The King has despatched MM. + De Bellieure and de la Guiche to M. de Guise to summon him to court; we + shall be there on Thursday. + </p> + <p> + From Orleans, this 16th of February, in the morning [1588-9?].—Your + very humble servant, MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIII.——To Mademoiselle PAULMIER. + </h2> + <p> + —[This letter, at the time of the publication of the variorum + edition of 1854, appears to have been in private hands. See vol. iv. p. + 382.] + </p> + <p> + MADEMOISELLE,—My friends know that, from the first moment of our + acquaintance, I have destined a copy of my book for you; for I feel that + you have done it much honour. The courtesy of M. Paulmier would deprive me + of the pleasure of giving it to you now, for he has obliged me since a + great deal beyond the worth of my book. You will accept it then, if you + please, as having been yours before I owed it to you, and will confer on + me the favour of loving it, whether for its own sake or for mine; and I + will keep my debt to M. Paulmier undischarged, that I may requite him, if + I have at some other time the means of serving him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIV.——To the KING, HENRY IV. + </h2> + <p> + —[The original is in the French national library, in the Dupuy + collection. It was first discovered by M. Achille Jubinal, who printed it + with a facsimile of the entire autograph, in 1850. St. John gives the date + wrongly as the 1st January 1590.] + </p> + <p> + SIRE, It is to be above the weight and crowd of your great and important + affairs, to know, as you do, how to lend yourself, and attend to small + matters in their turn, according to the duty of your royal dignity, which + exposes you at all times to every description and degree of person and + employment. Yet, that your Majesty should have deigned to consider my + letter, and direct a reply to be made to it, I prefer to owe, less to your + strong understanding, than to your kindness of heart. I have always looked + forward to your enjoyment of your present fortune, and you may recollect + that, even when I had to make confession of itto my cure, I viewed your + successes with satisfaction: now, with the greater propriety and freedom, + I embrace them affectionately. They serve you where you are as positive + matters of fact; but they serve us here no less by the fame which they + diffuse: the echo carries as much weight as the blow. We should not be + able to derive from the justice of your cause such powerful arguments for + the maintenance and reduction of your subjects, as we do from the reports + of the success of your undertaking; and then I have to assure your + Majesty, that the recent changes to your advantage, which you observe + hereabouts, the prosperous issue of your proceedings at Dieppe, have + opportunely seconded the honest zeal and marvellous prudence of M. the + Marshal de Matignon, from whom I flatter myself that you do not receive + day by day accounts of such good and signal services without remembering + my assurances and expectations. I look to the next summer, not only for + fruits which we may eat, but for those to grow out of our common + tranquillity, and that it will pass over our heads with the same even + tenor of happiness, dissipating, like its predecessors, all the fine + promises with which your adversaries sustain the spirits of their + followers. The popular inclinations resemble a tidal wave; if the current + once commences in your favour, it will go on of its own force to the end. + I could have desired much that the private gain of the soldiers of your + army, and the necessity for satisfying them, had not deprived you, + especially in this principal town, of the glorious credit of treating your + mutinous subjects, in the midst of victory, with greater clemency than + their own protectors, and that, as distinguished from a passing and + usurped repute, you could have shown them to be really your own, by the + exercise of a protection truly paternal and royal. In the conduct of such + affairs as you have in hand, men are obliged to have recourse to unusual + expedients. It is always seen that they are surmounted by their magnitude + and difficulty; it not being found easy to complete the conquest by arms + and force, the end has been accomplished by clemency and generosity, + excellent lures to draw men particularly towards the just and legitimate + side. If there is to be severity and punishment, let it be deferred till + success has been assured. A great conqueror of past times boasts that he + gave his enemies as great an inducement to love him, as his friends. And + here we feel already some effect of the favourable impression produced + upon our rebellious towns by the contrast between their rude treatment, + and that of those which are loyal to you. Desiring your Majesty a + happiness more tangible and less hazardous, and that you may be beloved + rather than feared by your people, and believing that your welfare and + theirs are of necessity knit together, I rejoice to think that the + progress which you make is one towards more practicable conditions of + peace, as well as towards victory! + </p> + <p> + Sire, your letter of the last of November came to my hand only just now, + when the time which it pleased you to name for meeting you at Tours had + already passed. I take it as a singular favour that you should have + deigned to desire a visit from so useless a person, but one who is wholly + yours, and more so even by affection than from duty. You have acted very + commendably in adapting yourself, in the matter of external forms, to your + new fortunes; but the preservation of your old affability and frankness in + private intercourse is entitled to an equal share of praise. You have + condescended to take thought for my age, no less than for the desire which + I have to see you, where you may be at rest from these laborious + agitations. Will not that be soon at Paris, Sire? and may nothing prevent + me from presenting myself there!—Your very humble and very obedient + servant and subject, MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + From Montaigne, this 18th of January 1590. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XV.——To the same. + </h2> + <p> + —[ This letter is also in the national collection, among the Dupuy + papers. It was first printed in the “Journal de l’Instruction + Publique,” 4th November 1846.] + </p> + <p> + SIRE,—The letter which it pleased your majesty to write to me on the + 20th of July, was not delivered to me till this morning, and found me laid + up with a very violent tertian ague, a complaint very common in this part + of the country during the last month. Sire, I consider myself greatly + honoured by the receipt of your commands, and I have not omitted to + communicate to M. the Marshal de Matignon three times most emphatically my + intention and obligation to proceed to him, and even so far as to indicate + the route by which I proposed to join him secretly, if he thought proper. + Having received no answer, I consider that he has weighed the difficulty + and risk of the journey to me. Sire, your Majesty dill do me the favour to + believe, if you please, that I shall never complain of the expense on + occasions where I should not hesitate to devote my life. I have never + derived any substantial benefit whatever from the bounty of kings, which I + have neither sought nor merited; nor have I had any recompense for the + services which I have performed for them: whereof your majesty is in part + aware. What I have done for your predecessors I shall do still more + readily for you. I am as rich, Sire, as I desire to be. When I shall have + exhausted my purse in attendance on your Majesty at Paris, I will take the + liberty to tell you, and then, if you should regard me as worthy of being + retained any longer in your suite, you will find me more modest in my + claims upon you than the humblest of your officers. + </p> + <p> + Sire, I pray God for your prosperity and health. Your very humble and very + obedient servant and subject, MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + From Montaigne, this 2d of September 1590. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVI.——To the Governor of Guienne. + </h2> + <p> + MONSEIGNEUR,—I have received this morning your letter, which I have + communicated to M. de Gourgues, and we have dined together at the house of + M.[the mayor] of Bourdeaux. As to the inconvenience of transporting the + money named in your memorandum, you see how difficult a thing it is to + provide for; but you may be sure that we shall keep as close a watch over + it as possible. I used every exertion to discover the man of whom you + spoke. He has not been here; and M. de Bordeaux has shown me a letter in + which he mentions that he could not come to see the Director of Bordeaux, + as he intended, having been informed that you mistrust him. The letter is + of the day before yesterday. If I could have found him, I might perhaps + have pursued the gentler course, being uncertain of your views; but I + entreat you nevertheless to feel no manner of doubt that I refuse to carry + out any wishes of yours, and that, where your commands are concerned, I + know no distinction of person or matter. I hope that you have in Guienne + many as well affected to you as I am. They report that the Nantes galleys + are advancing towards Brouage. M. the Marshal de Biron has not yet left. + Those who were charged to convey the message to M. d’Usee say that + they cannot find him; and I believe that, if he has been here, he is so no + longer. We keep a vigilant eye on our gates and guards, and we look after + them a little more attentively in your absence, which makes me + apprehensive, not merely on account of the preservation of the town, but + likewise for your oven sake, knowing that the enemies of the king feel how + necessary you are to his service, and how ill we should prosper without + you. I am afraid that, in the part where you are, you will be overtaken by + so many affairs requiring your attention on every side, that it will take + you a long time and involve great difficulty before you have disposed of + everything. If there is any important news, I will despatch an express at + once, and you may conclude that nothing is stirring if you do not hear + from me: at the same time begging you to bear in mind that movements of + this kind are wont to be so sudden and unexpected that, if they occur, + they will grasp me by the throat, before they say a word. I will do what I + can to collect news, and for this purpose I will make a point of visiting + and seeing men of every shade of opinion. Down to the present time nothing + is stirring. M. de Londel has seen me this morning, and we have been + arranging for some advances for the place, where I shall go to-morrow + morning. Since I began this letter, I have learnt from Chartreux that two + gentlemen, describing themselves as in the service of M. de Guise, and + coming from Agen, have passed near Chartreux; but I was not able to + ascertain which road they have taken. They are expecting you at Agen. The + Sieur de Mauvesin came as far as Canteloup, and thence returned, having + got some intelligence. I am in search of one Captain Rous, to whom . . . + wrote, trying to draw him into his cause by all sorts of promises. The + rumour of the two Nantes galleys ready to descend on Brouage is confirmed + as certain; they carry two companies of foot. M. de Mercure is at Nantes. + The Sieur de la Courbe said to M. the President Nesmond that M. d’Elbeuf + is on this side of Angiers, and lodges with his father. He is drawing + towards Lower Poictou with 4000 foot and 400 or 500 horse, having been + reinforced by the troops of M. de Brissac and others, and M. de Mercure is + to join him. The report goes also that M. du Maine is about to take the + command of all the forces they have collected in Auvergne, and that he + will cross Le Foret to advance on Rouergue and us, that is to say, on the + King of Navarre, against whom all this is being directed. M. de Lansac is + at Bourg, and has two war vessels, which remain in attendance on him. His + functions are naval. I tell you what I learn, and mix up together the more + or less probable hearsay of the town with actual matter of fact, that you + may be in possession of everything. I beg you most humbly to return + directly affairs may allow you to do so, and assure you that, meanwhile, + we shall not spare our labour, or (if that were necessary) our life, to + maintain the king’s authority throughout. Monseigneur, I kiss your + hands very respectfully, and pray God to have you in His keeping. From + Bordeaux, Wednesday night, 22d May (1590-91).—Your very humble + servant, + </p> + <p> + MONTAIGNE. + </p> + <p> + I have seen no one from the king of Navarre; they say that M. de Biron has + seen him. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + THE AUTHOR TO THE READER. +</pre> + <p> + —[Omitted by Cotton.]— + </p> + <p> + READER, thou hast here an honest book; it doth at the outset forewarn thee + that, in contriving the same, I have proposed to myself no other than a + domestic and private end: I have had no consideration at all either to thy + service or to my glory. My powers are not capable of any such design. I + have dedicated it to the particular commodity of my kinsfolk and friends, + so that, having lost me (which they must do shortly), they may therein + recover some traits of my conditions and humours, and by that means + preserve more whole, and more life-like, the knowledge they had of me. Had + my intention been to seek the world’s favour, I should surely have + adorned myself with borrowed beauties: I desire therein to be viewed as I + appear in mine own genuine, simple, and ordinary manner, without study and + artifice: for it is myself I paint. My defects are therein to be read to + the life, and any imperfections and my natural form, so far as public + reverence hath permitted me. If I had lived among those nations, which + (they say) yet dwell under the sweet liberty of nature’s primitive + laws, I assure thee I would most willingly have painted myself quite fully + and quite naked. Thus, reader, myself am the matter of my book: there’s + no reason thou shouldst employ thy leisure about so frivolous and vain a + subject. Therefore farewell. + </p> + <p> + From Montaigne, the 12th June 1580—[So in the edition of 1595; the + edition of 1588 has 12th June 1588] + </p> + <p> + From Montaigne, the 1st March 1580. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[See Bonnefon, Montaigne, 1893, p. 254. The book had been + licensed for the press on the 9th May previous. The edition of 1588 + has 12th June 1588;]— +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ESSAYS OF MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Charles Cotton + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Edited by William Carew Hazlitt + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + 1877 + </h3> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I——THAT MEN BY VARIOUS WAYS ARRIVE AT THE SAME END. + </h2> + <p> + The most usual way of appeasing the indignation of such as we have any way + offended, when we see them in possession of the power of revenge, and find + that we absolutely lie at their mercy, is by submission, to move them to + commiseration and pity; and yet bravery, constancy, and resolution, + however quite contrary means, have sometimes served to produce the same + effect.—[Florio’s version begins thus: “The most vsuall + waie to appease those minds wee have offended, when revenge lies in their + hands, and that we stand at their mercie, is by submission to move them to + commiseration and pity: Nevertheless, courage, constancie, and resolution + (means altogether opposite) have sometimes wrought the same effect.”—] + [The spelling is Florio’s D.W.] + </p> + <p> + Edward, Prince of Wales [Edward, the Black Prince. D.W.] (the same who so + long governed our Guienne, a personage whose condition and fortune have in + them a great deal of the most notable and most considerable parts of + grandeur), having been highly incensed by the Limousins, and taking their + city by assault, was not, either by the cries of the people, or the + prayers and tears of the women and children, abandoned to slaughter and + prostrate at his feet for mercy, to be stayed from prosecuting his + revenge; till, penetrating further into the town, he at last took notice + of three French gentlemen,—[These were Jean de Villemure, Hugh de la + Roche, and Roger de Beaufort.—Froissart, i. c. 289. {The city was + Limoges. D.W.}]—who with incredible bravery alone sustained the + power of his victorious army. Then it was that consideration and respect + unto so remarkable a valour first stopped the torrent of his fury, and + that his clemency, beginning with these three cavaliers, was afterwards + extended to all the remaining inhabitants of the city. + </p> + <p> + Scanderbeg, Prince of Epirus, pursuing one of his soldiers with purpose to + kill him, the soldier, having in vain tried by all the ways of humility + and supplication to appease him, resolved, as his last refuge, to face + about and await him sword in hand: which behaviour of his gave a sudden + stop to his captain’s fury, who, for seeing him assume so notable a + resolution, received him into grace; an example, however, that might + suffer another interpretation with such as have not read of the prodigious + force and valour of that prince. + </p> + <p> + The Emperor Conrad III. having besieged Guelph, Duke of Bavaria,—[In + 1140, in Weinsberg, Upper Bavaria.]—would not be prevailed upon, + what mean and unmanly satisfactions soever were tendered to him, to + condescend to milder conditions than that the ladies and gentlewomen only + who were in the town with the duke might go out without violation of their + honour, on foot, and with so much only as they could carry about them. + Whereupon they, out of magnanimity of heart, presently contrived to carry + out, upon their shoulders, their husbands and children, and the duke + himself; a sight at which the emperor was so pleased, that, ravished with + the generosity of the action, he wept for joy, and immediately + extinguishing in his heart the mortal and capital hatred he had conceived + against this duke, he from that time forward treated him and his with all + humanity. The one and the other of these two ways would with great + facility work upon my nature; for I have a marvellous propensity to mercy + and mildness, and to such a degree that I fancy of the two I should sooner + surrender my anger to compassion than to esteem. And yet pity is reputed a + vice amongst the Stoics, who will that we succour the afflicted, but not + that we should be so affected with their sufferings as to suffer with + them. I conceived these examples not ill suited to the question in hand, + and the rather because therein we observe these great souls assaulted and + tried by these two several ways, to resist the one without relenting, and + to be shook and subjected by the other. It may be true that to suffer a + man’s heart to be totally subdued by compassion may be imputed to + facility, effeminacy, and over-tenderness; whence it comes to pass that + the weaker natures, as of women, children, and the common sort of people, + are the most subject to it but after having resisted and disdained the + power of groans and tears, to yield to the sole reverence of the sacred + image of Valour, this can be no other than the effect of a strong and + inflexible soul enamoured of and honouring masculine and obstinate + courage. Nevertheless, astonishment and admiration may, in less generous + minds, beget a like effect: witness the people of Thebes, who, having put + two of their generals upon trial for their lives for having continued in + arms beyond the precise term of their commission, very hardly pardoned + Pelopidas, who, bowing under the weight of so dangerous an accusation, + made no manner of defence for himself, nor produced other arguments than + prayers and supplications; whereas, on the contrary, Epaminondas, falling + to recount magniloquently the exploits he had performed in their service, + and, after a haughty and arrogant manner reproaching them with ingratitude + and injustice, they had not the heart to proceed any further in his trial, + but broke up the court and departed, the whole assembly highly commending + the high courage of this personage.—[Plutarch, How far a Man may + praise Himself, c. 5.] + </p> + <p> + Dionysius the elder, after having, by a tedious siege and through + exceeding great difficulties, taken the city of Reggio, and in it the + governor Phyton, a very gallant man, who had made so obstinate a defence, + was resolved to make him a tragical example of his revenge: in order + whereunto he first told him, “That he had the day before caused his + son and all his kindred to be drowned.” To which Phyton returned no + other answer but this: “That they were then by one day happier than + he.” After which, causing him to be stripped, and delivering him + into the hands of the tormentors, he was by them not only dragged through + the streets of the town, and most ignominiously and cruelly whipped, but + moreover vilified with most bitter and contumelious language: yet still he + maintained his courage entire all the way, with a strong voice and + undaunted countenance proclaiming the honourable and glorious cause of his + death; namely, for that he would not deliver up his country into the hands + of a tyrant; at the same time denouncing against him a speedy chastisement + from the offended gods. At which Dionysius, reading in his soldiers’ + looks, that instead of being incensed at the haughty language of this + conquered enemy, to the contempt of their captain and his triumph, they + were not only struck with admiration of so rare a virtue, but moreover + inclined to mutiny, and were even ready to rescue the prisoner out of the + hangman’s hands, he caused the torturing to cease, and afterwards + privately caused him to be thrown into the sea.—[Diod. Sic., xiv. + 29.] + </p> + <p> + Man (in good earnest) is a marvellous vain, fickle, and unstable subject, + and on whom it is very hard to form any certain and uniform judgment. For + Pompey could pardon the whole city of the Mamertines, though furiously + incensed against it, upon the single account of the virtue and magnanimity + of one citizen, Zeno,—[Plutarch calls him Stheno, and also Sthemnus + and Sthenis]—who took the fault of the public wholly upon himself; + neither entreated other favour, but alone to undergo the punishment for + all: and yet Sylla’s host, having in the city of Perugia —[Plutarch + says Preneste, a town of Latium.]—manifested the same virtue, + obtained nothing by it, either for himself or his fellow-citizens. + </p> + <p> + And, directly contrary to my first examples, the bravest of all men, and + who was reputed so gracious to all those he overcame, Alexander, having, + after many great difficulties, forced the city of Gaza, and, entering, + found Betis, who commanded there, and of whose valour in the time of this + siege he had most marvellous manifest proof, alone, forsaken by all his + soldiers, his armour hacked and hewed to pieces, covered all over with + blood and wounds, and yet still fighting in the crowd of a number of + Macedonians, who were laying on him on all sides, he said to him, nettled + at so dear-bought a victory (for, in addition to the other damage, he had + two wounds newly received in his own person), “Thou shalt not die, + Betis, as thou dost intend; be sure thou shall suffer all the torments + that can be inflicted on a captive.” To which menace the other + returning no other answer, but only a fierce and disdainful look; “What,” + says Alexander, observing his haughty and obstinate silence, “is he + too stiff to bend a knee! Is he too proud to utter one suppliant word! + Truly, I will conquer this silence; and if I cannot force a word from his + mouth, I will, at least, extract a groan from his heart.” And + thereupon converting his anger into fury, presently commanded his heels to + be bored through, causing him, alive, to be dragged, mangled, and + dismembered at a cart’s tail.—[Quintus Curtius, iv. 6. This + act of cruelty has been doubted, notwithstanding the statement of Curtius.]—Was + it that the height of courage was so natural and familiar to this + conqueror, that because he could not admire, he respected it the less? Or + was it that he conceived valour to be a virtue so peculiar to himself, + that his pride could not, without envy, endure it in another? Or was it + that the natural impetuosity of his fury was incapable of opposition? + Certainly, had it been capable of moderation, it is to be believed that in + the sack and desolation of Thebes, to see so many valiant men, lost and + totally destitute of any further defence, cruelly massacred before his + eyes, would have appeased it: where there were above six thousand put to + the sword, of whom not one was seen to fly, or heard to cry out for + quarter; but, on the contrary, every one running here and there to seek + out and to provoke the victorious enemy to help them to an honourable end. + Not one was seen who, however weakened with wounds, did not in his last + gasp yet endeavour to revenge himself, and with all the arms of a brave + despair, to sweeten his own death in the death of an enemy. Yet did their + valour create no pity, and the length of one day was not enough to satiate + the thirst of the conqueror’s revenge, but the slaughter continued + to the last drop of blood that was capable of being shed, and stopped not + till it met with none but unarmed persons, old men, women, and children, + of them to carry away to the number of thirty thousand slaves. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II——OF SORROW + </h2> + <p> + No man living is more free from this passion than I, who yet neither like + it in myself nor admire it in others, and yet generally the world, as a + settled thing, is pleased to grace it with a particular esteem, clothing + therewith wisdom, virtue, and conscience. Foolish and sordid guise! + —[“No man is more free from this passion than I, for I neither + love nor regard it: albeit the world hath undertaken, as it were upon + covenant, to grace it with a particular favour. Therewith they adorne age, + vertue, and conscience. Oh foolish and base ornament!” Florio, 1613, + p. 3] —The Italians have more fitly baptized by this name—[La + tristezza]— malignity; for ‘tis a quality always hurtful, + always idle and vain; and as being cowardly, mean, and base, it is by the + Stoics expressly and particularly forbidden to their sages. + </p> + <p> + But the story—[Herodotus, iii. 14.]—says that Psammenitus, + King of Egypt, being defeated and taken prisoner by Cambyses, King of + Persia, seeing his own daughter pass by him as prisoner, and in a wretched + habit, with a bucket to draw water, though his friends about him were so + concerned as to break out into tears and lamentations, yet he himself + remained unmoved, without uttering a word, his eyes fixed upon the ground; + and seeing, moreover, his son immediately after led to execution, still + maintained the same countenance; till spying at last one of his domestic + and familiar friends dragged away amongst the captives, he fell to tearing + his hair and beating his breast, with all the other extravagances of + extreme sorrow. + </p> + <p> + A story that may very fitly be coupled with another of the same kind, of + recent date, of a prince of our own nation, who being at Trent, and having + news there brought him of the death of his elder brother, a brother on + whom depended the whole support and honour of his house, and soon after of + that of a younger brother, the second hope of his family, and having + withstood these two assaults with an exemplary resolution; one of his + servants happening a few days after to die, he suffered his constancy to + be overcome by this last accident; and, parting with his courage, so + abandoned himself to sorrow and mourning, that some thence were forward to + conclude that he was only touched to the quick by this last stroke of + fortune; but, in truth, it was, that being before brimful of grief, the + least addition overflowed the bounds of all patience. Which, I think, + might also be said of the former example, did not the story proceed to + tell us that Cambyses asking Psammenitus, “Why, not being moved at + the calamity of his son and daughter, he should with so great impatience + bear the misfortune of his friend?” “It is,” answered + he, “because only this last affliction was to be manifested by + tears, the two first far exceeding all manner of expression.” + </p> + <p> + And, peradventure, something like this might be working in the fancy of + the ancient painter,—[Cicero, De Orator., c. 22 ; Pliny, xxxv. 10.]— + who having, in the sacrifice of Iphigenia, to represent the sorrow of the + assistants proportionably to the several degrees of interest every one had + in the death of this fair innocent virgin, and having, in the other + figures, laid out the utmost power of his art, when he came to that of her + father, he drew him with a veil over his face, meaning thereby that no + kind of countenance was capable of expressing such a degree of sorrow. + Which is also the reason why the poets feign the miserable mother, Niobe, + having first lost seven sons, and then afterwards as many daughters + (overwhelmed with her losses), to have been at last transformed into a + rock— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Diriguisse malis,” + + [“Petrified with her misfortunes.”—Ovid, Met., vi. 304.] +</pre> + <p> + thereby to express that melancholic, dumb, and deaf stupefaction, which + benumbs all our faculties, when oppressed with accidents greater than we + are able to bear. And, indeed, the violence and impression of an excessive + grief must of necessity astonish the soul, and wholly deprive her of her + ordinary functions: as it happens to every one of us, who, upon any sudden + alarm of very ill news, find ourselves surprised, stupefied, and in a + manner deprived of all power of motion, so that the soul, beginning to + vent itself in tears and lamentations, seems to free and disengage itself + from the sudden oppression, and to have obtained some room to work itself + out at greater liberty. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et via vix tandem voci laxata dolore est.” + + [“And at length and with difficulty is a passage opened by grief for + utterance.”—AEneid, xi. 151.] +</pre> + <p> + In the war that Ferdinand made upon the widow of King John of Hungary, + about Buda, a man-at-arms was particularly taken notice of by every one + for his singular gallant behaviour in a certain encounter; and, unknown, + highly commended, and lamented, being left dead upon the place: but by + none so much as by Raisciac, a German lord, who was infinitely enamoured + of so rare a valour. The body being brought off, and the count, with the + common curiosity coming to view it, the armour was no sooner taken off but + he immediately knew him to be his own son, a thing that added a second + blow to the compassion of all the beholders; only he, without uttering a + word, or turning away his eyes from the woeful object, stood fixedly + contemplating the body of his son, till the vehemency of sorrow having + overcome his vital spirits, made him sink down stone-dead to the ground. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Chi puo dir com’ egli arde, a in picciol fuoco,” + + [“He who can say how he burns with love, has little fire” + —Petrarca, Sonetto 137.] +</pre> + <p> + say the Innamoratos, when they would represent an ‘insupportable + passion. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Misero quod omneis + Eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te, + Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi, + Quod loquar amens. + Lingua sed torpet: tenuis sub artus + Flamma dimanat; sonitu suopte + Tintinant aures; gemina teguntur + Lumina nocte.” + + [“Love deprives me of all my faculties: Lesbia, when once in thy + presence, I have not left the power to tell my distracting passion: + my tongue becomes torpid; a subtle flame creeps through my veins; my + ears tingle in deafness; my eyes are veiled with darkness.” + Catullus, Epig. li. 5] +</pre> + <p> + Neither is it in the height and greatest fury of the fit that we are in a + condition to pour out our complaints or our amorous persuasions, the soul + being at that time over-burdened, and labouring with profound thoughts; + and the body dejected and languishing with desire; and thence it is that + sometimes proceed those accidental impotencies that so unseasonably + surprise the lover, and that frigidity which by the force of an immoderate + ardour seizes him even in the very lap of fruition. —[The edition of + 1588 has here, “An accident not unknown to myself.”]— + For all passions that suffer themselves to be relished and digested are + but moderate: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Curae leves loquuntur, ingentes stupent.” + + [“Light griefs can speak: deep sorrows are dumb.” + —Seneca, Hippolytus, act ii. scene 3.] +</pre> + <p> + A surprise of unexpected joy does likewise often produce the same effect: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut me conspexit venientem, et Troja circum + Arma amens vidit, magnis exterrita monstris, + Diriguit visu in medio, calor ossa reliquit, + Labitur, et longo vix tandem tempore fatur.” + + [“When she beheld me advancing, and saw, with stupefaction, the + Trojan arms around me, terrified with so great a prodigy, she + fainted away at the very sight: vital warmth forsook her limbs: she + sinks down, and, after a long interval, with difficulty speaks.”— + AEneid, iii. 306.] +</pre> + <p> + Besides the examples of the Roman lady, who died for joy to see her son + safe returned from the defeat of Cannae; and of Sophocles and of Dionysius + the Tyrant,—[Pliny, vii. 53. Diodorus Siculus, however (xv. c. 20), + tells us that Dionysius “was so overjoyed at the news that he made a + great sacrifice upon it to the gods, prepared sumptuous feasts, to which + he invited all his friends, and therein drank so excessively that it threw + him into a very bad distemper.”]—who died of joy; and of + Thalna, who died in Corsica, reading news of the honours the Roman Senate + had decreed in his favour, we have, moreover, one in our time, of Pope Leo + X., who upon news of the taking of Milan, a thing he had so ardently + desired, was rapt with so sudden an excess of joy that he immediately fell + into a fever and died.—[Guicciardini, Storia d’Italia, vol. + xiv.]—And for a more notable testimony of the imbecility of human + nature, it is recorded by the ancients—[Pliny, ‘ut supra’]—that + Diodorus the dialectician died upon the spot, out of an extreme passion of + shame, for not having been able in his own school, and in the presence of + a great auditory, to disengage himself from a nice argument that was + propounded to him. I, for my part, am very little subject to these violent + passions; I am naturally of a stubborn apprehension, which also, by + reasoning, I every day harden and fortify. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III——THAT OUR AFFECTIONS CARRY THEMSELVES BEYOND US. + </h2> + <p> + Such as accuse mankind of the folly of gaping after future things, and + advise us to make our benefit of those which are present, and to set up + our rest upon them, as having no grasp upon that which is to come, even + less than that which we have upon what is past, have hit upon the most + universal of human errors, if that may be called an error to which nature + herself has disposed us, in order to the continuation of her own work, + prepossessing us, amongst several others, with this deceiving imagination, + as being more jealous of our action than afraid of our knowledge. + </p> + <p> + We are never present with, but always beyond ourselves: fear, desire, + hope, still push us on towards the future, depriving us, in the meantime, + of the sense and consideration of that which is to amuse us with the + thought of what shall be, even when we shall be no more.[1]— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [1]Compare [Rousseau, <i>Emile</i>, livre ii.] + + “Calamitosus est animus futuri auxius.” + + [“The mind anxious about the future is unhappy.” + —Seneca, Epist., 98.] +</pre> + <p> + We find this great precept often repeated in Plato, “Do thine own + work, and know thyself.” Of which two parts, both the one and the + other generally, comprehend our whole duty, and do each of them in like + manner involve the other; for who will do his own work aright will find + that his first lesson is to know what he is, and that which is proper to + himself; and who rightly understands himself will never mistake another + man’s work for his own, but will love and improve himself above all + other things, will refuse superfluous employments, and reject all + unprofitable thoughts and propositions. As folly, on the one side, though + it should enjoy all it desire, would notwithstanding never be content, so, + on the other, wisdom, acquiescing in the present, is never dissatisfied + with itself. —[Cicero, Tusc. Quae., 57, v. 18.]—Epicurus + dispenses his sages from all foresight and care of the future. + </p> + <p> + Amongst those laws that relate to the dead, I look upon that to be very + sound by which the actions of princes are to be examined after their + decease.—[Diodorus Siculus, i. 6.]— They are equals with, if + not masters of the laws, and, therefore, what justice could not inflict + upon their persons, ‘tis but reason should be executed upon their + reputations and the estates of their successors—things that we often + value above life itself. ‘Tis a custom of singular advantage to + those countries where it is in use, and by all good princes to be desired, + who have reason to take it ill, that the memories of the wicked should be + used with the same reverence and respect with their own. We owe subjection + and obedience to all our kings, whether good or bad, alike, for that has + respect unto their office; but as to esteem and affection, these are only + due to their virtue. Let us grant to political government to endure them + with patience, however unworthy; to conceal their vices; and to assist + them with our recommendation in their indifferent actions, whilst their + authority stands in need of our support. But, the relation of prince and + subject being once at an end, there is no reason we should deny the + expression of our real opinions to our own liberty and common justice, and + especially to interdict to good subjects the glory of having reverently + and faithfully served a prince, whose imperfections were to them so well + known; this were to deprive posterity of a useful example. And such as, + out of respect to some private obligation, unjustly espouse and vindicate + the memory of a faulty prince, do private right at the expense of public + justice. Livy does very truly say,—[xxxv. 48.]— “That + the language of men bred up in courts is always full of vain ostentation + and false testimony, every one indifferently magnifying his own master, + and stretching his commendation to the utmost extent of virtue and + sovereign grandeur.” Some may condemn the freedom of those two + soldiers who so roundly answered Nero to his beard; the one being asked by + him why he bore him ill-will? “I loved thee,” answered he, + “whilst thou wert worthy of it, but since thou art become a + parricide, an incendiary, a player, and a coachman, I hate thee as thou + dost deserve.” And the other, why he should attempt to kill him? + “Because,” said he, “I could think of no other remedy + against thy perpetual mischiefs.” —[Tacitus, Annal., xv. 67.]—But + the public and universal testimonies that were given of him after his + death (and so will be to all posterity, both of him and all other wicked + princes like him), of his tyrannies and abominable deportment, who, of a + sound judgment, can reprove them? + </p> + <p> + I am scandalised, that in so sacred a government as that of the + Lacedaemonians there should be mixed so hypocritical a ceremony at the + interment of their kings; where all their confederates and neighbours, and + all sorts and degrees of men and women, as well as their slaves, cut and + slashed their foreheads in token of sorrow, repeating in their cries and + lamentations that that king (let him have been as wicked as the devil) was + the best that ever they had;—[Herodotus, vi. 68.]—by this + means attributing to his quality the praise that only belongs to merit, + and that of right is due to supreme desert, though lodged in the lowest + and most inferior subject. + </p> + <p> + Aristotle, who will still have a hand in everything, makes a ‘quaere’ + upon the saying of Solon, that none can be said to be happy until he is + dead: “whether, then, he who has lived and died according to his + heart’s desire, if he have left an ill repute behind him, and that + his posterity be miserable, can be said to be happy?” Whilst we have + life and motion, we convey ourselves by fancy and preoccupation, whither + and to what we please; but once out of being, we have no more any manner + of communication with that which is, and it had therefore been better said + by Solon that man is never happy, because never so, till he is no more. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quisquam + Vix radicitus e vita se tollit, et eicit; + Sed facit esse sui quiddam super inscius ipse, + Nec removet satis a projecto corpore sese, et + Vindicat.” + + [“Scarcely one man can, even in dying, wholly detach himself from + the idea of life; in his ignorance he must needs imagine that there + is in him something that survives him, and cannot sufficiently + separate or emancipate himself from his remains” + —Lucretius, iii. 890.] +</pre> + <p> + Bertrand de Guesclin, dying at the siege of the Castle of Rancon, near + unto Puy, in Auvergne, the besieged were afterwards, upon surrender, + enjoined to lay down the keys of the place upon the corpse of the dead + general. Bartolommeo d’Alviano, the Venetian General, happening to + die in the service of the Republic in Brescia, and his corpse being to be + carried through the territory of Verona, an enemy’s country, most of + the army were inclined to demand safe-conduct from the Veronese; but + Theodoro Trivulzio opposed the motion, rather choosing to make his way by + force of arms, and to run the hazard of a battle, saying it was by no + means fit that he who in his life was never afraid of his enemies should + seem to apprehend them when he was dead. In truth, in affairs of the same + nature, by the Greek laws, he who made suit to an enemy for a body to give + it burial renounced his victory, and had no more right to erect a trophy, + and he to whom such suit was made was reputed victor. By this means it was + that Nicias lost the advantage he had visibly obtained over the + Corinthians, and that Agesilaus, on the contrary, assured that which he + had before very doubtfully gained over the Boeotians.—[Plutarch, + Life of Nicias, c. ii.; Life of Agesilaus, c. vi.] + </p> + <p> + These things might appear strange, had it not been a general practice in + all ages not only to extend the concern of ourselves beyond this life, + but, moreover, to fancy that the favour of Heaven does not only very often + accompany us to the grave, but has also, even after life, a concern for + our ashes. Of which there are so many ancient examples (to say nothing of + those of our own observation), that it is not necessary I should longer + insist upon it. Edward I., King of England, having in the long wars + betwixt him and Robert, King of Scotland, had experience of how great + importance his own immediate presence was to the success of his affairs, + having ever been victorious in whatever he undertook in his own person, + when he came to die, bound his son in a solemn oath that, so soon as he + should be dead he should boil his body till the flesh parted from the + bones, and bury the flesh, reserving the bones to carry continually with + him in his army, so often as he should be obliged to go against the Scots, + as if destiny had inevitably attached victory, even to his remains. John + Zisca, the same who, to vindication of Wicliffe’s heresies, troubled + the Bohemian state, left order that they should flay him after his death, + and of his skin make a drum to carry in the war against his enemies, + fancying it would contribute to the continuation of the successes he had + always obtained in the wars against them. In like manner certain of the + Indians, in their battles with the Spaniards, carried with them the bones + of one of their captains, in consideration of the victories they had + formerly obtained under his conduct. And other people of the same New + World carry about with them, in their wars, the relics of valiant men who + have died in battle, to incite their courage and advance their fortune. Of + which examples the first reserve nothing for the tomb but the reputation + they have acquired by their former achievements, but these attribute to + them a certain present and active power. + </p> + <p> + The proceeding of Captain Bayard is of a better composition, who finding + himself wounded to death with an harquebuss shot, and being importuned to + retire out of the fight, made answer that he would not begin at the last + gasp to turn his back to the enemy, and accordingly still fought on, till + feeling himself too faint and no longer able to sit on his horse, he + commanded his steward to set him down at the foot of a tree, but so that + he might die with his face towards the enemy, which he did. + </p> + <p> + I must yet add another example, equally remarkable for the present + consideration with any of the former. The Emperor Maximilian, + great-grandfather to the now King Philip,—[Philip II. of Spain.]—was + a prince endowed throughout with great and extraordinary qualities, and + amongst the rest with a singular beauty of person, but had withal a humour + very contrary to that of other princes, who for the despatch of their most + important affairs convert their close-stool into a chair of State, which + was, that he would never permit any of his bedchamber, how familiar + soever, to see him in that posture, and would steal aside to make water as + religiously as a virgin, shy to discover to his physician or any other + whomsoever those parts that we are accustomed to conceal. I myself, who + have so impudent a way of talking, am, nevertheless, naturally so modest + this way, that unless at the importunity of necessity or pleasure, I + scarcely ever communicate to the sight of any either those parts or + actions that custom orders us to conceal, wherein I suffer more constraint + than I conceive is very well becoming a man, especially of my profession. + But he nourished this modest humour to such a degree of superstition as to + give express orders in his last will that they should put him on drawers + so soon as he should be dead; to which, methinks, he would have done well + to have added that he should be blindfolded, too, that put them on. The + charge that Cyrus left with his children, that neither they, nor any + other, should either see or touch his body after the soul was departed + from it,—[Xenophon, Cyropedia, viii. 7.]—I attribute to some + superstitious devotion of his; for both his historian and himself, amongst + their great qualities, marked the whole course of their lives with a + singular respect and reverence to religion. + </p> + <p> + I was by no means pleased with a story, told me by a man of very great + quality of a relation of mine, and one who had given a very good account + of himself both in peace and war, that, coming to die in a very old age, + of excessive pain of the stone, he spent the last hours of his life in an + extraordinary solicitude about ordering the honour and ceremony of his + funeral, pressing all the men of condition who came to see him to engage + their word to attend him to his grave: importuning this very prince, who + came to visit him at his last gasp, with a most earnest supplication that + he would order his family to be there, and presenting before him several + reasons and examples to prove that it was a respect due to a man of his + condition; and seemed to die content, having obtained this promise, and + appointed the method and order of his funeral parade. I have seldom heard + of so persistent a vanity. + </p> + <p> + Another, though contrary curiosity (of which singularity, also, I do not + want domestic example), seems to be somewhat akin to this, that a man + shall cudgel his brains at the last moments of his life to contrive his + obsequies to so particular and unusual a parsimony as of one servant with + a lantern, I see this humour commended, and the appointment of Marcus. + Emilius Lepidus, who forbade his heirs to bestow upon his hearse even the + common ceremonies in use upon such occasions. Is it yet temperance and + frugality to avoid expense and pleasure of which the use and knowledge are + imperceptible to us? See, here, an easy and cheap reformation. If + instruction were at all necessary in this case, I should be of opinion + that in this, as in all other actions of life, each person should regulate + the matter according to his fortune; and the philosopher Lycon prudently + ordered his friends to dispose of his body where they should think most + fit, and as to his funeral, to order it neither too superfluous nor too + mean. For my part, I should wholly refer the ordering of this ceremony to + custom, and shall, when the time comes, accordingly leave it to their + discretion to whose lot it shall fall to do me that last office. “Totus + hic locus est contemnendus in nobis, non negligendus in nostris;”—[“The + place of our sepulture is to be contemned by us, but not to be neglected + by our friends.”—Cicero, Tusc. i. 45.]— and it was a + holy saying of a saint, “Curatio funeris, conditio sepultura: pompa + exequiarum, magis sunt vivorum solatia, quam subsidia mortuorum.”—[“The + care of death, the place of sepulture, the pomps of obsequies, are rather + consolations to the living than succours to the dead.” August. De + Civit. Dei, i. 12.]—Which made Socrates answer Crito, who, at death, + asked him how he would be buried: “How you will,” said he. + “If I were to concern myself beyond the present about this affair, I + should be most tempted, as the greatest satisfaction of this kind, to + imitate those who in their lifetime entertain themselves with the ceremony + and honours of their own obsequies beforehand, and are pleased with + beholding their own dead countenance in marble. Happy are they who can + gratify their senses by insensibility, and live by their death!” + </p> + <p> + I am ready to conceive an implacable hatred against all popular + domination, though I think it the most natural and equitable of all, so + oft as I call to mind the inhuman injustice of the people of Athens, who, + without remission, or once vouchsafing to hear what they had to say for + themselves, put to death their brave captains newly returned triumphant + from a naval victory they had obtained over the Lacedaemonians near the + Arginusian Isles, the most bloody and obstinate engagement that ever the + Greeks fought at sea; because (after the victory) they followed up the + blow and pursued the advantages presented to them by the rule of war, + rather than stay to gather up and bury their dead. And the execution is + yet rendered more odious by the behaviour of Diomedon, who, being one of + the condemned, and a man of most eminent virtue, political and military, + after having heard the sentence, advancing to speak, no audience till then + having been allowed, instead of laying before them his own cause, or the + impiety of so cruel a sentence, only expressed a solicitude for his judges’ + preservation, beseeching the gods to convert this sentence to their good, + and praying that, for neglecting to fulfil the vows which he and his + companions had made (with which he also acquainted them) in acknowledgment + of so glorious a success, they might not draw down the indignation of the + gods upon them; and so without more words went courageously to his death. + </p> + <p> + Fortune, a few years after, punished them in the same kind; for Chabrias, + captain-general of their naval forces, having got the better of Pollis, + Admiral of Sparta, at the Isle of Naxos, totally lost the fruits of his + victory, one of very great importance to their affairs, in order not to + incur the danger of this example, and so that he should not lose a few + bodies of his dead friends that were floating in the sea, gave opportunity + to a world of living enemies to sail away in safety, who afterwards made + them pay dear for this unseasonable superstition:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quaeris, quo jaceas, post obitum, loco? + Quo non nata jacent.” + + [“Dost ask where thou shalt lie after death? + Where things not born lie, that never being had.”] + Seneca, Tyoa. Choro ii. 30. +</pre> + <p> + This other restores the sense of repose to a body without a soul: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neque sepulcrum, quo recipiatur, habeat: portum corporis, ubi, + remissa human, vita, corpus requiescat a malis.” + + [“Nor let him have a sepulchre wherein he may be received, a haven + for his body, where, life being gone, that body may rest from its + woes.”—Ennius, ap. Cicero, Tusc. i. 44.] +</pre> + <p> + As nature demonstrates to us that several dead things retain yet an occult + relation to life; wine changes its flavour and complexion in cellars, + according to the changes and seasons of the vine from whence it came; and + the flesh of—venison alters its condition in the powdering-tub, and + its taste according to the laws of the living flesh of its kind, as it is + said. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV——THAT THE SOUL EXPENDS ITS PASSIONS UPON FALSE + OBJECTS, WHERE THE TRUE ARE WANTING + </h2> + <p> + A gentleman of my country, marvellously tormented with the gout, being + importuned by his physicians totally to abstain from all manner of salt + meats, was wont pleasantly to reply, that in the extremity of his fits he + must needs have something to quarrel with, and that railing at and + cursing, one while the Bologna sausages, and another the dried tongues and + the hams, was some mitigation to his pain. But, in good earnest, as the + arm when it is advanced to strike, if it miss the blow, and goes by the + wind, it pains us; and as also, that, to make a pleasant prospect, the + sight should not be lost and dilated in vague air, but have some bound and + object to limit and circumscribe it at a reasonable distance. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ventus ut amittit vires, nisi robore densa + Occurrant sylvae, spatio diffusus inani.” + + [“As the wind loses its force diffused in void space, unless it in + its strength encounters the thick wood.”—Lucan, iii. 362.] +</pre> + <p> + So it seems that the soul, being transported and discomposed, turns its + violence upon itself, if not supplied with something to oppose it, and + therefore always requires an object at which to aim, and whereon to act. + Plutarch says of those who are delighted with little dogs and monkeys, + that the amorous part that is in us, for want of a legitimate object, + rather than lie idle, does after that manner forge and create one false + and frivolous. And we see that the soul, in its passions, inclines rather + to deceive itself, by creating a false and fantastical a subject, even + contrary to its own belief, than not to have something to work upon. After + this manner brute beasts direct their fury to fall upon the stone or + weapon that has hurt them, and with their teeth a even execute revenge + upon themselves for the injury they have received from another: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pannonis haud aliter, post ictum saevior ursa, + Cui jaculum parva Lybis amentavit habena, + Se rotat in vulnus, telumque irata receptum + Impetit, et secum fugientem circuit hastam.” + + [“So the she-bear, fiercer after the blow from the Lybian’s thong- + hurled dart, turns round upon the wound, and attacking the received + spear, twists it, as she flies.”—Lucan, vi. 220.] +</pre> + <p> + What causes of the misadventures that befall us do we not invent? what is + it that we do not lay the fault to, right or wrong, that we may have + something to quarrel with? It is not those beautiful tresses you tear, nor + is it the white bosom that in your anger you so unmercifully beat, that + with an unlucky bullet have slain your beloved brother; quarrel with + something else. Livy, speaking of the Roman army in Spain, says that for + the loss of the two brothers, their great captains: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Flere omnes repente, et offensare capita.” + + [“All at once wept and tore their hair."-Livy, xxv. 37.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis a common practice. And the philosopher Bion said pleasantly of + the king, who by handsful pulled his hair off his head for sorrow, “Does + this man think that baldness is a remedy for grief?”—[Cicero, + Tusc. Quest., iii. 26.]—Who has not seen peevish gamesters chew and + swallow the cards, and swallow the dice, in revenge for the loss of their + money? Xerxes whipped the sea, and wrote a challenge to Mount Athos; Cyrus + employed a whole army several days at work, to revenge himself of the + river Gyndas, for the fright it had put him into in passing over it; and + Caligula demolished a very beautiful palace for the pleasure his mother + had once enjoyed there. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[Pleasure—unless ‘plaisir’ were originally ‘deplaisir’—must be + understood here ironically, for the house was one in which she had + been imprisoned.—Seneca, De Ira. iii. 22]— +</pre> + <p> + I remember there was a story current, when I was a boy, that one of our + neighbouring kings—[Probably Alfonso XI. of Castile]—having + received a blow from the hand of God, swore he would be revenged, and in + order to it, made proclamation that for ten years to come no one should + pray to Him, or so much as mention Him throughout his dominions, or, so + far as his authority went, believe in Him; by which they meant to paint + not so much the folly as the vainglory of the nation of which this tale + was told. They are vices that always go together, but in truth such + actions as these have in them still more of presumption than want of wit. + Augustus Caesar, having been tossed with a tempest at sea, fell to defying + Neptune, and in the pomp of the Circensian games, to be revenged, deposed + his statue from the place it had amongst the other deities. Wherein he was + still less excusable than the former, and less than he was afterwards + when, having lost a battle under Quintilius Varus in Germany, in rage and + despair he went running his head against the wall, crying out, “O + Varus! give me back my legions!” for these exceed all folly, + forasmuch as impiety is joined therewith, invading God Himself, or at + least Fortune, as if she had ears that were subject to our batteries; like + the Thracians, who when it thunders or lightens, fall to shooting against + heaven with Titanian vengeance, as if by flights of arrows they intended + to bring God to reason. Though the ancient poet in Plutarch tells us— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Point ne se faut couroucer aux affaires, + Il ne leur chault de toutes nos choleres.” + + [“We must not trouble the gods with our affairs; they take no heed + of our angers and disputes.”—Plutarch.] +</pre> + <p> + But we can never enough decry the disorderly sallies of our minds. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V——WHETHER THE GOVERNOR OF A PLACE BESIEGED OUGHT + HIMSELF TO GO OUT TO PARLEY + </h2> + <p> + Quintus Marcius, the Roman legate in the war against Perseus, King of + Macedon, to gain time wherein to reinforce his army, set on foot some + overtures of accommodation, with which the king being lulled asleep, + concluded a truce for some days, by this means giving his enemy + opportunity and leisure to recruit his forces, which was afterwards the + occasion of the king’s final ruin. Yet the elder senators, mindful + of their forefathers’ manners, condemned this proceeding as + degenerating from their ancient practice, which, they said, was to fight + by valour, and not by artifice, surprises, and night-encounters; neither + by pretended flight nor unexpected rallies to overcome their enemies; + never making war till having first proclaimed it, and very often assigned + both the hour and place of battle. Out of this generous principle it was + that they delivered up to Pyrrhus his treacherous physician, and to the + Etrurians their disloyal schoolmaster. This was, indeed, a procedure truly + Roman, and nothing allied to the Grecian subtlety, nor to the Punic + cunning, where it was reputed a victory of less glory to overcome by force + than by fraud. Deceit may serve for a need, but he only confesses himself + overcome who knows he is neither subdued by policy nor misadventure, but + by dint of valour, man to man, in a fair and just war. It very well + appears, by the discourse of these good old senators, that this fine + sentence was not yet received amongst them. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dolus, an virtus, quis in hoste requirat?” + + [“What matters whether by valour or by strategem we overcome the + enemy?”—Aeneid, ii. 390] +</pre> + <p> + The Achaians, says Polybius, abhorred all manner of double-dealing in war, + not reputing it a victory unless where the courage of the enemy was fairly + subdued: + </p> + <p> + “Eam vir sanctus et sapiens sciet veram esse victoriam, quae, salva + fide et integra dignitate, parabitur.”—[“An honest and + prudent man will acknowledge that only to be a true victory which shall be + obtained saving his own good faith and dignity.”—Florus, i. + 12.]—Says another: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vosne velit, an me, regnare hera, quidve ferat, + fors virtute experiamur.” + + [“Whether you or I shall rule, or what shall happen, let us + determine by valour.”—Cicero, De Offic., i. 12] +</pre> + <p> + In the kingdom of Ternate, amongst those nations which we so broadly call + barbarians, they have a custom never to commence war, till it be first + proclaimed; adding withal an ample declaration of what means they have to + do it with, with what and how many men, what ammunitions, and what, both + offensive and defensive, arms; but also, that being done, if their enemies + do not yield and come to an agreement, they conceive it lawful to employ + without reproach in their wars any means which may help them to conquer. + </p> + <p> + The ancient Florentines were so far from seeking to obtain any advantage + over their enemies by surprise, that they always gave them a month’s + warning before they drew their army into the field, by the continual + tolling of a bell they called Martinella.—[After St. Martin.] + </p> + <p> + For what concerns ourselves, who are not so scrupulous in this affair, and + who attribute the honour of the war to him who has the profit of it, and + who after Lysander say, “Where the lion’s skin is too short, + we must eke it out with a bit from that of a fox”; the most usual + occasions of surprise are derived from this practice, and we hold that + there are no moments wherein a chief ought to be more circumspect, and to + have his eye so much at watch, as those of parleys and treaties of + accommodation; and it is, therefore, become a general rule amongst the + martial men of these latter times, that a governor of a place never ought, + in a time of siege, to go out to parley. It was for this that in our + fathers’ days the Seigneurs de Montmord and de l’Assigni, + defending Mousson against the Count of Nassau, were so highly censured. + But yet, as to this, it would be excusable in that governor who, going + out, should, notwithstanding, do it in such manner that the safety and + advantage should be on his side; as Count Guido di Rangone did at Reggio + (if we are to believe Du Bellay, for Guicciardini says it was he himself) + when the Seigneur de l’Escut approached to parley, who stepped so + little away from his fort, that a disorder happening in the interim of + parley, not only Monsieur de l’Escut and his party who were advanced + with him, found themselves by much the weaker, insomuch that Alessandro + Trivulcio was there slain, but he himself follow the Count, and, relying + upon his honour, to secure himself from the danger of the shot within the + walls of the town. + </p> + <p> + Eumenes, being shut up in the city of Nora by Antigonus, and by him + importuned to come out to speak with him, as he sent him word it was fit + he should to a greater man than himself, and one who had now an advantage + over him, returned this noble answer. “Tell him,” said he, + “that I shall never think any man greater than myself whilst I have + my sword in my hand,” and would not consent to come out to him till + first, according to his own demand, Antigonus had delivered him his own + nephew Ptolomeus in hostage. + </p> + <p> + And yet some have done very well in going out in person to parley, on the + word of the assailant: witness Henry de Vaux, a cavalier of Champagne, who + being besieged by the English in the Castle of Commercy, and Bartholomew + de Brunes, who commanded at the Leaguer, having so sapped the greatest + part of the castle without, that nothing remained but setting fire to the + props to bury the besieged under the ruins, he requested the said Henry to + come out to speak with him for his own good, which he did with three more + in company; and, his ruin being made apparent to him, he conceived himself + singularly obliged to his enemy, to whose discretion he and his garrison + surrendered themselves; and fire being presently applied to the mine, the + props no sooner began to fail, but the castle was immediately blown up + from its foundations, no one stone being left upon another. + </p> + <p> + I could, and do, with great facility, rely upon the faith of another; but + I should very unwillingly do it in such a case, as it should thereby be + judged that it was rather an effect of my despair and want of courage than + voluntarily and out of confidence and security in the faith of him with + whom I had to do. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI——THAT THE HOUR OF PARLEY DANGEROUS + </h2> + <p> + I saw, notwithstanding, lately at Mussidan, a place not far from my house, + that those who were driven out thence by our army, and others of their + party, highly complained of treachery, for that during a treaty of + accommodation, and in the very interim that their deputies were treating, + they were surprised and cut to pieces: a thing that, peradventure, in + another age, might have had some colour of foul play; but, as I have just + said, the practice of arms in these days is quite another thing, and there + is now no confidence in an enemy excusable till the treaty is finally + sealed; and even then the conqueror has enough to do to keep his word: so + hazardous a thing it is to entrust the observation of the faith a man has + engaged to a town that surrenders upon easy and favourable conditions, to + the licence of a victorious army, and to give the soldier free entrance + into it in the heat of blood. + </p> + <p> + Lucius AEmilius Regillus, the Roman praetor, having lost his time in + attempting to take the city of Phocaea by force, by reason of the singular + valour wherewith the inhabitants defended themselves, conditioned, at + last, to receive them as friends to the people of Rome, and to enter the + town, as into a confederate city, without any manner of hostility, of + which he gave them all assurance; but having, for the greater pomp, + brought his whole army in with him, it was no more in his power, with all + the endeavour he could use, to restrain his people: so that, avarice and + revenge trampling under foot both his authority and all military + discipline, he there saw a considerable part of the city sacked and ruined + before his face. + </p> + <p> + Cleomenes was wont to say, “that what mischief soever a man could do + his enemy in time of war was above justice, and nothing accountable to it + in the sight of gods and men.” And so, having concluded a truce with + those of Argos for seven days, the third night after he fell upon them + when they were all buried in sleep, and put them to the sword, alleging + that there had no nights been mentioned in the truce; but the gods + punished this subtle perfidy. + </p> + <p> + In a time of parley also; and while the citizens were relying upon their + safety warrant, the city of Casilinum was taken by surprise, and that even + in the age of the justest captains and the most perfect Roman military + discipline; for it is not said that it is not lawful for us, in time and + place, to make advantage of our enemies’ want of understanding, as + well as their want of courage. + </p> + <p> + And, doubtless, war has naturally many privileges that appear reasonable + even to the prejudice of reason. And therefore here the rule fails, + “Neminem id agere ut ex alte rius praedetur inscitia.”—[“No + one should preys upon another’s folly.”—Cicero, De + Offic., iii. 17.]—But I am astonished at the great liberty allowed + by Xenophon in such cases, and that both by precept and by the example of + several exploits of his complete emperor; an author of very great + authority, I confess, in those affairs, as being in his own person both a + great captain and a philosopher of the first form of Socrates’ + disciples; and yet I cannot consent to such a measure of licence as he + dispenses in all things and places. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur d’Aubigny, besieging Capua, and after having directed a + furious battery against it, Signor Fabricio Colonna, governor of the town, + having from a bastion begun to parley, and his soldiers in the meantime + being a little more remiss in their guard, our people entered the place at + unawares, and put them all to the sword. And of later memory, at Yvoy, + Signor Juliano Romero having played that part of a novice to go out to + parley with the Constable, at his return found his place taken. But, that + we might not scape scot-free, the Marquess of Pescara having laid siege to + Genoa, where Duke Ottaviano Fregosa commanded under our protection, and + the articles betwixt them being so far advanced that it was looked upon as + a done thing, and upon the point to be concluded, the Spaniards in the + meantime having slipped in, made use of this treachery as an absolute + victory. And since, at Ligny, in Barrois, where the Count de Brienne + commanded, the emperor having in his own person beleaguered that place, + and Bertheville, the said Count’s lieutenant, going out to parley, + whilst he was capitulating the town was taken. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fu il vincer sempremai laudabil cosa, + Vincasi o per fortuna, o per ingegno,” + + [“Victory is ever worthy of praise, whether obtained by valour or + wisdom.”—Ariosto, xv. I.] +</pre> + <p> + But the philosopher Chrysippus was of another opinion, wherein I also + concur; for he was used to say that those who run a race ought to employ + all the force they have in what they are about, and to run as fast as they + can; but that it is by no means fair in them to lay any hand upon their + adversary to stop him, nor to set a leg before him to throw him down. And + yet more generous was the answer of that great Alexander to Polypercon who + was persuading him to take the advantage of the night’s obscurity to + fall upon Darius. “By no means,” said be; “it is not for + such a man as I am to steal a victory, ‘Malo me fortunae poeniteat, + quam victoria pudeat.’”—[“I had rather complain of + ill-fortune than be ashamed of victory.” Quint. Curt, iv. 13]— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Atque idem fugientem baud est dignatus Oroden + Sternere, nec jacta caecum dare cuspide vulnus + Obvius, adversoque occurrit, seque viro vir + Contulit, haud furto melior, sed fortibus armis.” + + [“He deigned not to throw down Orodes as he fled, or with the darted + spear to give him a wound unseen; but overtaking him, he confronted + him face to face, and encountered man to man: superior, not in + stratagem, but in valiant arms.”—AEneid, x. 732.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII——THAT THE INTENTION IS JUDGE OF OUR ACTIONS + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis a saying, “That death discharges us of all our + obligations.” I know some who have taken it in another sense. Henry + VII., King of England, articled with Don Philip, son to Maximilian the + emperor, or (to place him more honourably) father to the Emperor Charles + V., that the said Philip should deliver up the Duke of Suffolk of the + White Rose, his enemy, who was fled into the Low Countries, into his + hands; which Philip accordingly did, but upon condition, nevertheless, + that Henry should attempt nothing against the life of the said Duke; but + coming to die, the king in his last will commanded his son to put him to + death immediately after his decease. And lately, in the tragedy that the + Duke of Alva presented to us in the persons of the Counts Horn and Egmont + at Brussels, —[Decapitated 4th June 1568]—there were very + remarkable passages, and one amongst the rest, that Count Egmont (upon the + security of whose word and faith Count Horn had come and surrendered + himself to the Duke of Alva) earnestly entreated that he might first mount + the scaffold, to the end that death might disengage him from the + obligation he had passed to the other. In which case, methinks, death did + not acquit the former of his promise, and that the second was discharged + from it without dying. We cannot be bound beyond what we are able to + perform, by reason that effect and performance are not at all in our + power, and that, indeed, we are masters of nothing but the will, in which, + by necessity, all the rules and whole duty of mankind are founded and + established: therefore Count Egmont, conceiving his soul and will indebted + to his promise, although he had not the power to make it good, had + doubtless been absolved of his duty, even though he had outlived the + other; but the King of England wilfully and premeditately breaking his + faith, was no more to be excused for deferring the execution of his + infidelity till after his death than the mason in Herodotus, who having + inviolably, during the time of his life, kept the secret of the treasure + of the King of Egypt, his master, at his death discovered it to his + children.—[Herod., ii. 121.] + </p> + <p> + I have taken notice of several in my time, who, convicted by their + consciences of unjustly detaining the goods of another, have endeavoured + to make amends by their will, and after their decease; but they had as + good do nothing, as either in taking so much time in so pressing an + affair, or in going about to remedy a wrong with so little dissatisfaction + or injury to themselves. They owe, over and above, something of their own; + and by how much their payment is more strict and incommodious to + themselves, by so much is their restitution more just meritorious. + Penitency requires penalty; but they yet do worse than these, who reserve + the animosity against their neighbour to the last gasp, having concealed + it during their life; wherein they manifest little regard of their own + honour, irritating the party offended in their memory; and less to their + the power, even out of to make their malice die with them, but extending + the life of their hatred even beyond their own. Unjust judges, who defer + judgment to a time wherein they can have no knowledge of the cause! For my + part, I shall take care, if I can, that my death discover nothing that my + life has not first and openly declared. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII——OF IDLENESS + </h2> + <p> + As we see some grounds that have long lain idle and untilled, when grown + rich and fertile by rest, to abound with and spend their virtue in the + product of innumerable sorts of weeds and wild herbs that are + unprofitable, and that to make them perform their true office, we are to + cultivate and prepare them for such seeds as are proper for our service; + and as we see women that, without knowledge of man, do sometimes of + themselves bring forth inanimate and formless lumps of flesh, but that to + cause a natural and perfect generation they are to be husbanded with + another kind of seed: even so it is with minds, which if not applied to + some certain study that may fix and restrain them, run into a thousand + extravagances, eternally roving here and there in the vague expanse of the + imagination— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sicut aqua tremulum labris ubi lumen ahenis, + Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine lunae, + Omnia pervolitat late loca; jamque sub auras + Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti.” + + [“As when in brazen vats of water the trembling beams of light, + reflected from the sun, or from the image of the radiant moon, + swiftly float over every place around, and now are darted up on + high, and strike the ceilings of the upmost roof.”— + AEneid, viii. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + —in which wild agitation there is no folly, nor idle fancy they do + not light upon:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Velut aegri somnia, vanae + Finguntur species.” + + [“As a sick man’s dreams, creating vain phantasms.”— + Hor., De Arte Poetica, 7.] +</pre> + <p> + The soul that has no established aim loses itself, for, as it is said— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quisquis ubique habitat, Maxime, nusquam habitat.” + + [“He who lives everywhere, lives nowhere.”—Martial, vii. 73.] +</pre> + <p> + When I lately retired to my own house, with a resolution, as much as + possibly I could, to avoid all manner of concern in affairs, and to spend + in privacy and repose the little remainder of time I have to live, I + fancied I could not more oblige my mind than to suffer it at full leisure + to entertain and divert itself, which I now hoped it might henceforth do, + as being by time become more settled and mature; but I find— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Variam semper dant otia mentem,” + + [“Leisure ever creates varied thought.”—Lucan, iv. 704] +</pre> + <p> + that, quite contrary, it is like a horse that has broke from his rider, + who voluntarily runs into a much more violent career than any horseman + would put him to, and creates me so many chimaeras and fantastic monsters, + one upon another, without order or design, that, the better at leisure to + contemplate their strangeness and absurdity, I have begun to commit them + to writing, hoping in time to make it ashamed of itself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX——OF LIARS + </h2> + <p> + There is not a man living whom it would so little become to speak from + memory as myself, for I have scarcely any at all, and do not think that + the world has another so marvellously treacherous as mine. My other + faculties are all sufficiently ordinary and mean; but in this I think + myself very rare and singular, and deserving to be thought famous. Besides + the natural inconvenience I suffer by it (for, certes, the necessary use + of memory considered, Plato had reason when he called it a great and + powerful goddess), in my country, when they would say a man has no sense, + they say, such an one has no memory; and when I complain of the defect of + mine, they do not believe me, and reprove me, as though I accused myself + for a fool: not discerning the difference betwixt memory and + understanding, which is to make matters still worse for me. But they do me + wrong; for experience, rather, daily shows us, on the contrary, that a + strong memory is commonly coupled with infirm judgment. They do, me, + moreover (who am so perfect in nothing as in friendship), a great wrong in + this, that they make the same words which accuse my infirmity, represent + me for an ungrateful person; they bring my affections into question upon + the account of my memory, and from a natural imperfection, make out a + defect of conscience. “He has forgot,” says one, “this + request, or that promise; he no more remembers his friends; he has forgot + to say or do, or conceal such and such a thing, for my sake.” And, + truly, I am apt enough to forget many things, but to neglect anything my + friend has given me in charge, I never do it. And it should be enough, + methinks, that I feel the misery and inconvenience of it, without branding + me with malice, a vice so contrary to my humour. + </p> + <p> + However, I derive these comforts from my infirmity: first, that it is an + evil from which principally I have found reason to correct a worse, that + would easily enough have grown upon me, namely, ambition; the defect being + intolerable in those who take upon them public affairs. That, like + examples in the progress of nature demonstrate to us, she has fortified me + in my other faculties proportionably as she has left me unfurnished in + this; I should otherwise have been apt implicitly to have reposed my mind + and judgment upon the bare report of other men, without ever setting them + to work upon their own force, had the inventions and opinions of others + been ever been present with me by the benefit of memory. That by this + means I am not so talkative, for the magazine of the memory is ever better + furnished with matter than that of the invention. Had mine been faithful + to me, I had ere this deafened all my friends with my babble, the subjects + themselves arousing and stirring up the little faculty I have of handling + and employing them, heating and distending my discourse, which were a + pity: as I have observed in several of my intimate friends, who, as their + memories supply them with an entire and full view of things, begin their + narrative so far back, and crowd it with so many impertinent + circumstances, that though the story be good in itself, they make a shift + to spoil it; and if otherwise, you are either to curse the strength of + their memory or the weakness of their judgment: and it is a hard thing to + close up a discourse, and to cut it short, when you have once started; + there is nothing wherein the force of a horse is so much seen as in a + round and sudden stop. I see even those who are pertinent enough, who + would, but cannot stop short in their career; for whilst they are seeking + out a handsome period to conclude with, they go on at random, straggling + about upon impertinent trivialities, as men staggering upon weak legs. + But, above all, old men who retain the memory of things past, and forget + how often they have told them, are dangerous company; and I have known + stories from the mouth of a man of very great quality, otherwise very + pleasant in themselves, become very wearisome by being repeated a hundred + times over and over again to the same people. + </p> + <p> + Secondly, that, by this means, I the less remember the injuries I have + received; insomuch that, as the ancient said,—[Cicero, Pro Ligar. c. + 12.]—I should have a register of injuries, or a prompter, as Darius, + who, that he might not forget the offence he had received from those of + Athens, so oft as he sat down to dinner, ordered one of his pages three + times to repeat in his ear, “Sir, remember the Athenians”;—[Herod., + v. 105.]—and then, again, the places which I revisit, and the books + I read over again, still smile upon me with a fresh novelty. + </p> + <p> + It is not without good reason said “that he who has not a good + memory should never take upon him the trade of lying.” I know very + well that the grammarians—[Nigidius, Aulus Gellius, xi. ii; Nonius, + v. 80.]— distinguish betwixt an untruth and a lie, and say that to + tell an untruth is to tell a thing that is false, but that we ourselves + believe to be true; and that the definition of the word to lie in Latin, + from which our French is taken, is to tell a thing which we know in our + conscience to be untrue; and it is of this last sort of liars only that I + now speak. Now, these do either wholly contrive and invent the untruths + they utter, or so alter and disguise a true story that it ends in a lie. + When they disguise and often alter the same story, according to their own + fancy, ‘tis very hard for them, at one time or another, to escape + being trapped, by reason that the real truth of the thing, having first + taken possession of the memory, and being there lodged impressed by the + medium of knowledge and science, it will be difficult that it should not + represent itself to the imagination, and shoulder out falsehood, which + cannot there have so sure and settled footing as the other; and the + circumstances of the first true knowledge evermore running in their minds, + will be apt to make them forget those that are illegitimate, and only, + forged by their own fancy. In what they, wholly invent, forasmuch as there + is no contrary impression to jostle their invention there seems to be less + danger of tripping; and yet even this by reason it is a vain body and + without any hold, is very apt to escape the memory, if it be not well + assured. Of which I had very pleasant experience, at the expense of such + as profess only to form and accommodate their speech to the affair they + have in hand, or to humour of the great folks to whom they are speaking; + for the circumstances to which these men stick not to enslave their faith + and conscience being subject to several changes, their language must vary + accordingly: whence it happens that of the same thing they tell one man + that it is this, and another that it is that, giving it several colours; + which men, if they once come to confer notes, and find out the cheat, what + becomes of this fine art? To which may be added, that they must of + necessity very often ridiculously trap themselves; for what memory can be + sufficient to retain so many different shapes as they have forged upon one + and the same subject? I have known many in my time very ambitious of the + repute of this fine wit; but they do not see that if they have the + reputation of it, the effect can no longer be. + </p> + <p> + In plain truth, lying is an accursed vice. We are not men, nor have other + tie upon one another, but by our word. If we did but discover the horror + and gravity of it, we should pursue it with fire and sword, and more + justly than other crimes. I see that parents commonly, and with + indiscretion enough, correct their children for little innocent faults, + and torment them for wanton tricks, that have neither impression nor + consequence; whereas, in my opinion, lying only, and, which is of + something a lower form, obstinacy, are the faults which are to be severely + whipped out of them, both in their infancy and in their progress, + otherwise they grow up and increase with them; and after a tongue has once + got the knack of lying, ‘tis not to be imagined how impossible it is + to reclaim it whence it comes to pass that we see some, who are otherwise + very honest men, so subject and enslaved to this vice. I have an honest + lad to my tailor, whom I never knew guilty of one truth, no, not when it + had been to his advantage. If falsehood had, like truth, but one face + only, we should be upon better terms; for we should then take for certain + the contrary to what the liar says: but the reverse of truth has a hundred + thousand forms, and a field indefinite, without bound or limit. The + Pythagoreans make good to be certain and finite, and evil, infinite and + uncertain. There are a thousand ways to miss the white, there is only one + to hit it. For my own part, I have this vice in so great horror, that I am + not sure I could prevail with my conscience to secure myself from the most + manifest and extreme danger by an impudent and solemn lie. An ancient + father says “that a dog we know is better company than a man whose + language we do not understand.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut externus alieno pene non sit hominis vice.” + + [“As a foreigner cannot be said to supply us the place of a man.” + —Pliny, Nat. Hist. vii. I] +</pre> + <p> + And how much less sociable is false speaking than silence? + </p> + <p> + King Francis I. vaunted that he had by this means nonplussed Francesco + Taverna, ambassador of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, a man very famous + for his science in talking in those days. This gentleman had been sent to + excuse his master to his Majesty about a thing of very great consequence, + which was this: the King, still to maintain some intelligence with Italy, + out of which he had lately been driven, and particularly with the duchy of + Milan, had thought it convenient to have a gentleman on his behalf to be + with that Duke: an ambassador in effect, but in outward appearance a + private person who pretended to reside there upon his own particular + affairs; for the Duke, much more depending upon the Emperor, especially at + a time when he was in a treaty of marriage with his niece, daughter to the + King of Denmark, who is now dowager of Lorraine, could not manifest any + practice and conference with us without his great interest. For this + commission one Merveille, a Milanese gentleman, and an equerry to the + King, being thought very fit, was accordingly despatched thither with + private credentials, and instructions as ambassador, and with other + letters of recommendation to the Duke about his own private concerns, the + better to mask and colour the business; and was so long in that court, + that the Emperor at last had some inkling of his real employment there; + which was the occasion of what followed after, as we suppose; which was, + that under pretence of some murder, his trial was in two days despatched, + and his head in the night struck off in prison. Messire Francesco being + come, and prepared with a long counterfeit history of the affair (for the + King had applied himself to all the princes of Christendom, as well as to + the Duke himself, to demand satisfaction), had his audience at the morning + council; where, after he had for the support of his cause laid open + several plausible justifications of the fact, that his master had never + looked upon this Merveille for other than a private gentleman and his own + subject, who was there only in order to his own business, neither had he + ever lived under any other aspect; absolutely disowning that he had ever + heard he was one of the King’s household or that his Majesty so much + as knew him, so far was he from taking him for an ambassador: the King, in + his turn, pressing him with several objections and demands, and + challenging him on all sides, tripped him up at last by asking, why, then, + the execution was performed by night, and as it were by stealth? At which + the poor confounded ambassador, the more handsomely to disengage himself, + made answer, that the Duke would have been very loth, out of respect to + his Majesty, that such an execution should have been performed by day. Any + one may guess if he was not well rated when he came home, for having so + grossly tripped in the presence of a prince of so delicate a nostril as + King Francis. + </p> + <p> + Pope Julius II. having sent an ambassador to the King of England to + animate him against King Francis, the ambassador having had his audience, + and the King, before he would give an answer, insisting upon the + difficulties he should find in setting on foot so great a preparation as + would be necessary to attack so potent a King, and urging some reasons to + that effect, the ambassador very unseasonably replied that he had also + himself considered the same difficulties, and had represented them to the + Pope. From which saying of his, so directly opposite to the thing + propounded and the business he came about, which was immediately to incite + him to war, the King of England first derived the argument (which he + afterward found to be true), that this ambassador, in his own mind, was on + the side of the French; of which having advertised his master, his estate + at his return home was confiscated, and he himself very narrowly escaped + the losing of his head.—[Erasmi Op. (1703), iv. col. 684.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X——OF QUICK OR SLOW SPEECH + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Onc ne furent a touts toutes graces donnees.” + + [“All graces were never yet given to any one man.”—A verse + in one of La Brebis’ Sonnets.] +</pre> + <p> + So we see in the gift of eloquence, wherein some have such a facility and + promptness, and that which we call a present wit so easy, that they are + ever ready upon all occasions, and never to be surprised; and others more + heavy and slow, never venture to utter anything but what they have long + premeditated, and taken great care and pains to fit and prepare. + </p> + <p> + Now, as we teach young ladies those sports and exercises which are most + proper to set out the grace and beauty of those parts wherein their + chiefest ornament and perfection lie, so it should be in these two + advantages of eloquence, to which the lawyers and preachers of our age + seem principally to pretend. If I were worthy to advise, the slow speaker, + methinks, should be more proper for the pulpit, and the other for the bar: + and that because the employment of the first does naturally allow him all + the leisure he can desire to prepare himself, and besides, his career is + performed in an even and unintermitted line, without stop or interruption; + whereas the pleader’s business and interest compels him to enter the + lists upon all occasions, and the unexpected objections and replies of his + adverse party jostle him out of his course, and put him, upon the instant, + to pump for new and extempore answers and defences. Yet, at the interview + betwixt Pope Clement and King Francis at Marseilles, it happened, quite + contrary, that Monsieur Poyet, a man bred up all his life at the bar, and + in the highest repute for eloquence, having the charge of making the + harangue to the Pope committed to him, and having so long meditated on it + beforehand, as, so they said, to have brought it ready made along with him + from Paris; the very day it was to have been pronounced, the Pope, fearing + something might be said that might give offence to the other princes’ + ambassadors who were there attending on him, sent to acquaint the King + with the argument which he conceived most suiting to the time and place, + but, by chance, quite another thing to that Monsieur de Poyet had taken so + much pains about: so that the fine speech he had prepared was of no use, + and he was upon the instant to contrive another; which finding himself + unable to do, Cardinal du Bellay was constrained to perform that office. + The pleader’s part is, doubtless, much harder than that of the + preacher; and yet, in my opinion, we see more passable lawyers than + preachers, at all events in France. It should seem that the nature of wit + is to have its operation prompt and sudden, and that of judgment to have + it more deliberate and more slow. But he who remains totally silent, for + want of leisure to prepare himself to speak well, and he also whom leisure + does noways benefit to better speaking, are equally unhappy. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis said of Severus Cassius that he spoke best extempore, that he + stood more obliged to fortune than to his own diligence; that it was an + advantage to him to be interrupted in speaking, and that his adversaries + were afraid to nettle him, lest his anger should redouble his eloquence. I + know, experimentally, the disposition of nature so impatient of tedious + and elaborate premeditation, that if it do not go frankly and gaily to + work, it can perform nothing to purpose. We say of some compositions that + they stink of oil and of the lamp, by reason of a certain rough harshness + that laborious handling imprints upon those where it has been employed. + But besides this, the solicitude of doing well, and a certain striving and + contending of a mind too far strained and overbent upon its undertaking, + breaks and hinders itself like water, that by force of its own pressing + violence and abundance, cannot find a ready issue through the neck of a + bottle or a narrow sluice. In this condition of nature, of which I am now + speaking, there is this also, that it would not be disordered and + stimulated with such passions as the fury of Cassius (for such a motion + would be too violent and rude); it would not be jostled, but solicited; it + would be roused and heated by unexpected, sudden, and accidental + occasions. If it be left to itself, it flags and languishes; agitation + only gives it grace and vigour. I am always worst in my own possession, + and when wholly at my own disposition: accident has more title to anything + that comes from me than I; occasion, company, and even the very rising and + falling of my own voice, extract more from my fancy than I can find, when + I sound and employ it by myself. By which means, the things I say are + better than those I write, if either were to be preferred, where neither + is worth anything. This, also, befalls me, that I do not find myself where + I seek myself, and I light upon things more by chance than by any + inquisition of my own judgment. I perhaps sometimes hit upon something + when I write, that seems quaint and sprightly to me, though it will appear + dull and heavy to another.—But let us leave these fine compliments; + every one talks thus of himself according to his talent. But when I come + to speak, I am already so lost that I know not what I was about to say, + and in such cases a stranger often finds it out before me. If I should + make erasure so often as this inconvenience befalls me, I should make + clean work; occasion will, at some other time, lay it as visible to me as + the light, and make me wonder what I should stick at. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI——OF PROGNOSTICATIONS + </h2> + <p> + For what concerns oracles, it is certain that a good while before the + coming of Jesus Christ they had begun to lose their credit; for we see + that Cicero troubled to find out the cause of their decay, and he has + these words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cur isto modo jam oracula Delphis non eduntur, + non modo nostro aetate, sed jam diu; ut nihil + possit esse contemptius?” + + [“What is the reason that the oracles at Delphi are no longer + uttered: not merely in this age of ours, but for a long time past, + insomuch that nothing is more in contempt?” + —Cicero, De Divin., ii. 57.] +</pre> + <p> + But as to the other prognostics, calculated from the anatomy of beasts at + sacrifices (to which purpose Plato does, in part, attribute the natural + constitution of the intestines of the beasts themselves), the scraping of + poultry, the flight of birds— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aves quasdam . . . rerum augurandarum + causa natas esse putamus.” + + [“We think some sorts of birds are purposely created to serve + the purposes of augury.”—Cicero, De Natura Deor., ii. 64.] +</pre> + <p> + claps of thunder, the overflowing of rivers— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Multa cernunt Aruspices, multa Augures provident, + multa oraculis declarantur, multa vaticinationibus, + multa somniis, multa portentis.” + + [“The Aruspices discern many things, the Augurs foresee many things, + many things are announced by oracles, many by vaticinations, many by + dreams, many by portents.”—Cicero, De Natura Deor., ii. 65.] +</pre> + <p> + —and others of the like nature, upon which antiquity founded most of + their public and private enterprises, our religion has totally abolished + them. And although there yet remain amongst us some practices of + divination from the stars, from spirits, from the shapes and complexions + of men, from dreams and the like (a notable example of the wild curiosity + of our nature to grasp at and anticipate future things, as if we had not + enough to do to digest the present)— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cur hanc tibi, rector Olympi, + Sollicitis visum mortalibus addere curam, + Noscant venturas ut dira per omina clades?... + Sit subitum, quodcumque paras; sit coeca futuri + Mens hominum fati, liceat sperare timenti.” + + [“Why, ruler of Olympus, hast thou to anxious mortals thought fit to + add this care, that they should know by, omens future slaughter?... + Let whatever thou art preparing be sudden. Let the mind of men be + blind to fate in store; let it be permitted to the timid to hope.” + —Lucan, ii. 14] + + “Ne utile quidem est scire quid futurum sit; + miserum est enim, nihil proficientem angi,” + + [“It is useless to know what shall come to pass; it is a miserable + thing to be tormented to no purpose.” + —Cicero, De Natura Deor., iii. 6.] +</pre> + <p> + yet are they of much less authority now than heretofore. Which makes so + much more remarkable the example of Francesco, Marquis of Saluzzo, who + being lieutenant to King Francis I. in his ultramontane army, infinitely + favoured and esteemed in our court, and obliged to the king’s bounty + for the marquisate itself, which had been forfeited by his brother; and as + to the rest, having no manner of provocation given him to do it, and even + his own affection opposing any such disloyalty, suffered himself to be so + terrified, as it was confidently reported, with the fine prognostics that + were spread abroad everywhere in favour of the Emperor Charles V., and to + our disadvantage (especially in Italy, where these foolish prophecies were + so far believed, that at Rome great sums of money were ventured out upon + return of greater, when the prognostics came to pass, so certain they made + themselves of our ruin), that, having often bewailed, to those of his + acquaintance who were most intimate with him, the mischiefs that he saw + would inevitably fall upon the Crown of France and the friends he had in + that court, he revolted and turned to the other side; to his own + misfortune, nevertheless, what constellation soever governed at that time. + But he carried himself in this affair like a man agitated by divers + passions; for having both towns and forces in his hands, the enemy’s + army under Antonio de Leyva close by him, and we not at all suspecting his + design, it had been in his power to have done more than he did; for we + lost no men by this infidelity of his, nor any town, but Fossano only, and + that after a long siege and a brave defence.—(1536) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Prudens futuri temporis exitum + Caliginosa nocte premit Deus, + Ridetque, si mortalis ultra + Fas trepidat.” + + [“A wise God covers with thick night the path of the future, and + laughs at the man who alarms himself without reason.” + —Hor., Od., iii. 29.] + + “Ille potens sui + Laetusque deget, cui licet in diem + Dixisse vixi! cras vel atra + Nube polum pater occupato, + Vel sole puro.” + + [“He lives happy and master of himself who can say as each day + passes on, ‘I HAVE LIVED:’ whether to-morrow our Father shall give + us a clouded sky or a clear day.”—Hor., Od., iii. 29] + + “Laetus in praesens animus; quod ultra est, + Oderit curare.” + + [“A mind happy, cheerful in the present state, will take good care + not to think of what is beyond it.”—Ibid., ii. 25] +</pre> + <p> + And those who take this sentence in a contrary sense interpret it amiss: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ista sic reciprocantur, ut et si divinatio sit, + dii sint; et si dii lint, sit divinatio.” + + [“These things are so far reciprocal that if there be divination, + there must be deities; and if deities, divination.”—Cicero, De + Divin., i. 6.] +</pre> + <p> + Much more wisely Pacuvius— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam istis, qui linguam avium intelligunt, + Plusque ex alieno jecore sapiunt, quam ex suo, + Magis audiendum, quam auscultandum, censeo.” + </pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“As to those who understand the language of birds, and who rather + consult the livers of animals other than their own, I had rather + hear them than attend to them.” + —Cicero, De Divin., i. 57, ex Pacuvio] +</pre> + <p> + The so celebrated art of divination amongst the Tuscans took its beginning + thus: A labourer striking deep with his cutter into the earth, saw the + demigod Tages ascend, with an infantine aspect, but endued with a mature + and senile wisdom. Upon the rumour of which, all the people ran to see the + sight, by whom his words and science, containing the principles and means + to attain to this art, were recorded, and kept for many ages.—[Cicero, + De Devina, ii. 23]—A birth suitable to its progress; I, for my part, + should sooner regulate my affairs by the chance of a die than by such idle + and vain dreams. And, indeed, in all republics, a good share of the + government has ever been referred to chance. Plato, in the civil regimen + that he models according to his own fancy, leaves to it the decision of + several things of very great importance, and will, amongst other things, + that marriages should be appointed by lot; attributing so great importance + to this accidental choice as to ordain that the children begotten in such + wedlock be brought up in the country, and those begotten in any other be + thrust out as spurious and base; yet so, that if any of those exiles, + notwithstanding, should, peradventure, in growing up give any good hope of + himself, he might be recalled, as, also, that such as had been retained, + should be exiled, in case they gave little expectation of themselves in + their early growth. + </p> + <p> + I see some who are mightily given to study and comment upon their + almanacs, and produce them to us as an authority when anything has fallen + out pat; and, for that matter, it is hardly possible but that these + alleged authorities sometimes stumble upon a truth amongst an infinite + number of lies. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis est enim, qui totum diem jaculans + non aliquando collineet?” + + [“For who shoots all day at butts that does not sometimes hit the + white?”—Cicero, De Divin., ii. 59.] +</pre> + <p> + I think never the better of them for some such accidental hit. There would + be more certainty in it if there were a rule and a truth of always lying. + Besides, nobody records their flimflams and false prognostics, forasmuch + as they are infinite and common; but if they chop upon one truth, that + carries a mighty report, as being rare, incredible, and prodigious. So + Diogenes, surnamed the Atheist, answered him in Samothrace, who, showing + him in the temple the several offerings and stories in painting of those + who had escaped shipwreck, said to him, “Look, you who think the + gods have no care of human things, what do you say to so many persons + preserved from death by their especial favour?” “Why, I say,” + answered he, “that their pictures are not here who were cast away, + who are by much the greater number.”—[Cicero, De Natura Deor., + i. 37.] + </p> + <p> + Cicero observes that of all the philosophers who have acknowledged a + deity, Xenophanes the Colophonian only has endeavoured to eradicate all + manner of divination—[Cicero, De Divin., i. 3.]—; which makes + it the less a wonder if we have now and then seen some of our princes, + sometimes to their own cost, rely too much upon these vanities. I had + given anything with my own eyes to see those two great marvels, the book + of Joachim the Calabrian abbot, which foretold all the future Popes, their + names and qualities; and that of the Emperor Leo, which prophesied all the + emperors and patriarchs of Greece. This I have been an eyewitness of, that + in public confusions, men astonished at their fortune, have abandoned + their own reason, superstitiously to seek out in the stars the ancient + causes and menaces of the present mishaps, and in my time have been so + strangely successful in it, as to make me believe that this being an + amusement of sharp and volatile wits, those who have been versed in this + knack of unfolding and untying riddles, are capable, in any sort of + writing, to find out what they desire. But above all, that which gives + them the greatest room to play in, is the obscure, ambiguous, and + fantastic gibberish of the prophetic canting, where their authors deliver + nothing of clear sense, but shroud all in riddle, to the end that + posterity may interpret and apply it according to its own fancy. + </p> + <p> + Socrates demon might, perhaps, be no other but a certain impulsion of the + will, which obtruded itself upon him without the advice or consent of his + judgment; and in a soul so enlightened as his was, and so prepared by a + continual exercise of wisdom-and virtue, ‘tis to be supposed those + inclinations of his, though sudden and undigested, were very important and + worthy to be followed. Every one finds in himself some image of such + agitations, of a prompt, vehement, and fortuitous opinion; and I may well + allow them some authority, who attribute so little to our prudence, and + who also myself have had some, weak in reason, but violent in persuasion + and dissuasion, which were most frequent with Socrates,—[Plato, in + his account of Theages the Pythagorean]—by which I have suffered + myself to be carried away so fortunately, and so much to my own advantage, + that they might have been judged to have had something in them of a divine + inspiration. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII——OF CONSTANCY + </h2> + <p> + The law of resolution and constancy does not imply that we ought not, as + much as in us lies, to decline and secure ourselves from the mischiefs and + inconveniences that threaten us; nor, consequently, that we shall not fear + lest they should surprise us: on the contrary, all decent and honest ways + and means of securing ourselves from harms, are not only permitted, but, + moreover, commendable, and the business of constancy chiefly is, bravely + to stand to, and stoutly to suffer those inconveniences which are not + possibly to be avoided. So that there is no supple motion of body, nor any + movement in the handling of arms, how irregular or ungraceful soever, that + we need condemn, if they serve to protect us from the blow that is made + against us. + </p> + <p> + Several very warlike nations have made use of a retreating and flying way + of fight as a thing of singular advantage, and, by so doing, have made + their backs more dangerous to their enemies than their faces. Of which + kind of fighting the Turks still retain something in their practice of + arms; and Socrates, in Plato, laughs at Laches, who had defined fortitude + to be a standing firm in the ranks against the enemy. “What!” + says he, “would it, then, be a reputed cowardice to overcome them by + giving ground?” urging, at the same time, the authority of Homer, + who commends in AEneas the science of flight. And whereas Laches, + considering better of it, admits the practice as to the Scythians, and, in + general, all cavalry whatever, he again attacks him with the example of + the Lacedaemonian foot—a nation of all other the most obstinate in + maintaining their ground—who, in the battle of Plataea, not being + able to break into the Persian phalanx, bethought themselves to disperse + and retire, that by the enemy supposing they fled, they might break and + disunite that vast body of men in the pursuit, and by that stratagem + obtained the victory. + </p> + <p> + As for the Scythians, ‘tis said of them, that when Darius went his + expedition to subdue them, he sent, by a herald, highly to reproach their + king, that he always retired before him and declined a battle; to which + Idanthyrses,—[Herod., iv. 127.]—for that was his name, + returned answer, that it was not for fear of him, or of any man living, + that he did so, but that it was the way of marching in practice with his + nation, who had neither tilled fields, cities, nor houses to defend, or to + fear the enemy should make any advantage of but that if he had such a + stomach to fight, let him but come to view their ancient places of + sepulture, and there he should have his fill. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, as to cannon-shot, when a body of men are drawn up in the + face of a train of artillery, as the occasion of war often requires, it is + unhandsome to quit their post to avoid the danger, forasmuch as by reason + of its violence and swiftness we account it inevitable; and many a one, by + ducking, stepping aside, and such other motions of fear, has been, at all + events, sufficiently laughed at by his companions. And yet, in the + expedition that the Emperor Charles V. made against us into Provence, the + Marquis de Guast going to reconnoitre the city of Arles, and advancing out + of the cover of a windmill, under favour of which he had made his + approach, was perceived by the Seigneurs de Bonneval and the Seneschal of + Agenois, who were walking upon the ‘theatre aux ayenes’; who + having shown him to the Sieur de Villiers, commissary of the artillery, he + pointed a culverin so admirably well, and levelled it so exactly right + against him, that had not the Marquis, seeing fire given to it, slipped + aside, it was certainly concluded the shot had taken him full in the body. + And, in like manner, some years before, Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of + Urbino, and father to the queen-mother—[Catherine de’ Medici, + mother of Henry III.]—laying siege to Mondolfo, a place in the + territories of the Vicariat in Italy, seeing the cannoneer give fire to a + piece that pointed directly against him, it was well for him that he + ducked, for otherwise the shot, that only razed the top of his head, had + doubtless hit him full in the breast. To say truth, I do not think that + these evasions are performed upon the account of judgment; for how can any + man living judge of high or low aim on so sudden an occasion? And it is + much more easy to believe that fortune favoured their apprehension, and + that it might be as well at another time to make them face the danger, as + to seek to avoid it. For my own part, I confess I cannot forbear starting + when the rattle of a harquebuse thunders in my ears on a sudden, and in a + place where I am not to expect it, which I have also observed in others, + braver fellows than I. + </p> + <p> + Neither do the Stoics pretend that the soul of their philosopher need be + proof against the first visions and fantasies that surprise him; but, as + to a natural subjection, consent that he should tremble at the terrible + noise of thunder, or the sudden clatter of some falling ruin, and be + affrighted even to paleness and convulsion; and so in other passions, + provided his judgment remain sound and entire, and that the seat of his + reason suffer no concussion nor alteration, and that he yield no consent + to his fright and discomposure. To him who is not a philosopher, a fright + is the same thing in the first part of it, but quite another thing in the + second; for the impression of passions does not remain superficially in + him, but penetrates farther, even to the very seat of reason, infecting + and corrupting it, so that he judges according to his fear, and conforms + his behaviour to it. In this verse you may see the true state of the wise + Stoic learnedly and plainly expressed:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mens immota manet; lachrymae volvuntur inanes.” + + [“Though tears flow, the mind remains unmoved.” + —Virgil, AEneid, iv. 449] +</pre> + <p> + The Peripatetic sage does not exempt himself totally from perturbations of + mind, but he moderates them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII——THE CEREMONY OF THE INTERVIEW OF PRINCES + </h2> + <p> + There is no subject so frivolous that does not merit a place in this + rhapsody. According to our common rule of civility, it would be a notable + affront to an equal, and much more to a superior, to fail being at home + when he has given you notice he will come to visit you. Nay, Queen + Margaret of Navarre further adds, that it would be a rudeness in a + gentleman to go out, as we so often do, to meet any that is coming to see + him, let him be of what high condition soever; and that it is more + respectful and more civil to stay at home to receive him, if only upon the + account of missing him by the way, and that it is enough to receive him at + the door, and to wait upon him. For my part, who as much as I can + endeavour to reduce the ceremonies of my house, I very often forget both + the one and the other of these vain offices. If, peradventure, some one + may take offence at this, I can’t help it; it is much better to + offend him once than myself every day, for it would be a perpetual + slavery. To what end do we avoid the servile attendance of courts, if we + bring the same trouble home to our own private houses? It is also a common + rule in all assemblies, that those of less quality are to be first upon + the place, by reason that it is more due to the better sort to make others + wait and expect them. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, at the interview betwixt Pope Clement and King Francis at + Marseilles,—[in 1533.]—the King, after he had taken order for + the necessary preparations for his reception and entertainment, withdrew + out of the town, and gave the Pope two or three days’ respite for + his entry, and to repose and refresh himself, before he came to him. And + in like manner, at the assignation of the Pope and the Emperor,—[Charles + V. in 1532.] at Bologna, the Emperor gave the Pope opportunity to come + thither first, and came himself after; for which the reason given was + this, that at all the interviews of such princes, the greater ought to be + first at the appointed place, especially before the other in whose + territories the interview is appointed to be, intimating thereby a kind of + deference to the other, it appearing proper for the less to seek out and + to apply themselves to the greater, and not the greater to them. + </p> + <p> + Not every country only, but every city and every society has its + particular forms of civility. There was care enough to this taken in my + education, and I have lived in good company enough to know the formalities + of our own nation, and am able to give lessons in it. I love to follow + them, but not to be so servilely tied to their observation that my whole + life should be enslaved to ceremonies, of which there are some so + troublesome that, provided a man omits them out of discretion, and not for + want of breeding, it will be every whit as handsome. I have seen some + people rude, by being overcivil and troublesome in their courtesy. + </p> + <p> + Still, these excesses excepted, the knowledge of courtesy and good manners + is a very necessary study. It is, like grace and beauty, that which begets + liking and an inclination to love one another at the first sight, and in + the very beginning of acquaintance; and, consequently, that which first + opens the door and intromits us to instruct ourselves by the example of + others, and to give examples ourselves, if we have any worth taking notice + of and communicating. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV——THAT MEN ARE JUSTLY PUNISHED FOR BEING OBSTINATE + IN THE DEFENCE OF A FORT THAT IS NOT IN REASON TO BE DEFENDED + </h2> + <p> + Valour has its bounds as well as other virtues, which, once transgressed, + the next step is into the territories of vice; so that by having too large + a proportion of this heroic virtue, unless a man be very perfect in its + limits, which upon the confines are very hard to discern, he may very + easily unawares run into temerity, obstinacy, and folly. From this + consideration it is that we have derived the custom, in times of war, to + punish, even with death, those who are obstinate to defend a place that by + the rules of war is not tenable; otherwise men would be so confident upon + the hope of impunity, that not a henroost but would resist and seek to + stop an army. + </p> + <p> + The Constable Monsieur de Montmorenci, having at the siege of Pavia been + ordered to pass the Ticino, and to take up his quarters in the Faubourg + St. Antonio, being hindered by a tower at the end of the bridge, which was + so obstinate as to endure a battery, hanged every man he found within it + for their labour. And again, accompanying the Dauphin in his expedition + beyond the Alps, and taking the Castle of Villano by assault, and all + within it being put to the sword by the fury of the soldiers, the governor + and his ensign only excepted, he caused them both to be trussed up for the + same reason; as also did the Captain Martin du Bellay, then governor of + Turin, with the governor of San Buono, in the same country, all his people + having been cut to pieces at the taking of the place. + </p> + <p> + But forasmuch as the strength or weakness of a fortress is always measured + by the estimate and counterpoise of the forces that attack it —for a + man might reasonably enough despise two culverins, that would be a madman + to abide a battery of thirty pieces of cannon—where also the + greatness of the prince who is master of the field, his reputation, and + the respect that is due unto him, are also put into the balance, there is + danger that the balance be pressed too much in that direction. And it may + happen that a man is possessed with so great an opinion of himself and his + power, that thinking it unreasonable any place should dare to shut its + gates against him, he puts all to the sword where he meets with any + opposition, whilst his fortune continues; as is plain in the fierce and + arrogant forms of summoning towns and denouncing war, savouring so much of + barbarian pride and insolence, in use amongst the Oriental princes, and + which their successors to this day do yet retain and practise. And in that + part of the world where the Portuguese subdued the Indians, they found + some states where it was a universal and inviolable law amongst them that + every enemy overcome by the king in person, or by his lieutenant, was out + of composition. + </p> + <p> + So above all both of ransom and mercy a man should take heed, if he can, + of falling into the hands of a judge who is an enemy and victorious. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV——OF THE PUNISHMENT OF COWARDICE + </h2> + <p> + I once heard of a prince, and a great captain, having a narration given + him as he sat at table of the proceeding against Monsieur de Vervins, who + was sentenced to death for having surrendered Boulogne to the English, + —[To Henry VIII. in 1544]—openly maintaining that a soldier + could not justly be put to death for want of courage. And, in truth, + ‘tis reason that a man should make a great difference betwixt faults + that merely proceed from infirmity, and those that are visibly the effects + of treachery and malice: for, in the last, we act against the rules of + reason that nature has imprinted in us; whereas, in the former, it seems + as if we might produce the same nature, who left us in such a state of + imperfection and weakness of courage, for our justification. Insomuch that + many have thought we are not fairly questionable for anything but what we + commit against our conscience; and it is partly upon this rule that those + ground their opinion who disapprove of capital or sanguinary punishments + inflicted upon heretics and misbelievers; and theirs also who advocate or + a judge is not accountable for having from mere ignorance failed in his + administration. + </p> + <p> + But as to cowardice, it is certain that the most usual way of chastising + it is by ignominy and and it is supposed that this practice brought into + use by the legislator Charondas; and that, before his time, the laws of + Greece punished those with death who fled from a battle; whereas he + ordained only that they be for three days exposed in the public dressed in + woman’s attire, hoping yet for some service from them, having + awakened their courage by this open shame: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Suffundere malis homims sanguinem, quam effundere.” + + [“Rather bring the blood into a man’s cheek than let it out of his + body.” Tertullian in his Apologetics.] +</pre> + <p> + It appears also that the Roman laws did anciently punish those with death + who had run away; for Ammianus Marcellinus says that the Emperor Julian + commanded ten of his soldiers, who had turned their backs in an encounter + against the Parthians, to be first degraded, and afterward put to death, + according, says he, to the ancient laws,—[Ammianus Marcellinus, + xxiv. 4; xxv. i.]—and yet elsewhere for the like offence he only + condemned others to remain amongst the prisoners under the baggage ensign. + The severe punishment the people of Rome inflicted upon those who fled + from the battle of Cannae, and those who ran away with Aeneius Fulvius at + his defeat, did not extend to death. And yet, methinks, ‘tis to be + feared, lest disgrace should make such delinquents desperate, and not only + faint friends, but enemies. + </p> + <p> + Of late memory,—[In 1523]—the Seigneur de Frauget, lieutenant + to the Mareschal de Chatillon’s company, having by the Mareschal de + Chabannes been put in government of Fuentarabia in the place of Monsieur + de Lude, and having surrendered it to the Spaniard, he was for that + condemned to be degraded from all nobility, and both himself and his + posterity declared ignoble, taxable, and for ever incapable of bearing + arms, which severe sentence was afterwards accordingly executed at Lyons.—[In + 1536] —And, since that, all the gentlemen who were in Guise when the + Count of Nassau entered into it, underwent the same punishment, as several + others have done since for the like offence. Notwithstanding, in case of + such a manifest ignorance or cowardice as exceeds all ordinary example, + ‘tis but reason to take it for a sufficient proof of treachery and + malice, and for such to be punished. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI——A PROCEEDING OF SOME AMBASSADORS + </h2> + <p> + I observe in my travels this custom, ever to learn something from the + information of those with whom I confer (which is the best school of all + others), and to put my company upon those subjects they are the best able + to speak of:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Basti al nocchiero ragionar de’ venti, + Al bifolco dei tori; et le sue piaghe + Conti’l guerrier; conti’l pastor gli armenti.” + + [“Let the sailor content himself with talking of the winds; the + cowherd of his oxen; the soldier of his wounds; the shepherd of his + flocks.”—An Italian translation of Propertius, ii. i, 43] +</pre> + <p> + For it often falls out that, on the contrary, every one will rather choose + to be prating of another man’s province than his own, thinking it so + much new reputation acquired; witness the jeer Archidamus put upon + Pertander, “that he had quitted the glory of being an excellent + physician to gain the repute of a very bad poet.—[Plutarch, Apoth. + of the Lacedaemonians, ‘in voce’ Archidamus.]—And do but + observe how large and ample Caesar is to make us understand his inventions + of building bridges and contriving engines of war,—[De Bello Gall., + iv. 17.]—and how succinct and reserved in comparison, where he + speaks of the offices of his profession, his own valour, and military + conduct. His exploits sufficiently prove him a great captain, and that he + knew well enough; but he would be thought an excellent engineer to boot; a + quality something different, and not necessary to be expected in him. The + elder Dionysius was a very great captain, as it befitted his fortune he + should be; but he took very great pains to get a particular reputation by + poetry, and yet he was never cut out for a poet. A man of the legal + profession being not long since brought to see a study furnished with all + sorts of books, both of his own and all other faculties, took no occasion + at all to entertain himself with any of them, but fell very rudely and + magisterially to descant upon a barricade placed on the winding stair + before the study door, a thing that a hundred captains and common soldiers + see every day without taking any notice or offence. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Optat ephippia bos piger, optat arare caballus.” + + [“The lazy ox desires a saddle and bridle; the horse wants to + plough.”—Hor., Ep., i. 14,43.] +</pre> + <p> + By this course a man shall never improve himself, nor arrive at any + perfection in anything. He must, therefore, make it his business always to + put the architect, the painter, the statuary, every mechanic artisan, upon + discourse of their own capacities. + </p> + <p> + And, to this purpose, in reading histories, which is everybody’s + subject, I use to consider what kind of men are the authors: if they be + persons that profess nothing but mere letters, I, in and from them, + principally observe and learn style and language; if physicians, I the + rather incline to credit what they report of the temperature of the air, + of the health and complexions of princes, of wounds and diseases; if + lawyers, we are from them to take notice of the controversies of rights + and wrongs, the establishment of laws and civil government, and the like; + if divines, the affairs of the Church, ecclesiastical censures, marriages, + and dispensations; if courtiers, manners and ceremonies; if soldiers, the + things that properly belong to their trade, and, principally, the accounts + of the actions and enterprises wherein they were personally engaged; if + ambassadors, we are to observe negotiations, intelligences, and practices, + and the manner how they are to be carried on. + </p> + <p> + And this is the reason why (which perhaps I should have lightly passed + over in another) I dwelt upon and maturely considered one passage in the + history written by Monsieur de Langey, a man of very great judgment in + things of that nature: after having given a narrative of the fine oration + Charles V. had made in the Consistory at Rome, and in the presence of the + Bishop of Macon and Monsieur du Velly, our ambassadors there, wherein he + had mixed several injurious expressions to the dishonour of our nation; + and amongst the rest, “that if his captains and soldiers were not + men of another kind of fidelity, resolution, and sufficiency in the + knowledge of arms than those of the King, he would immediately go with a + rope about his neck and sue to him for mercy” (and it should seem + the Emperor had really this, or a very little better opinion of our + military men, for he afterwards, twice or thrice in his life, said the + very same thing); as also, that he challenged the King to fight him in his + shirt with rapier and poignard in a boat. The said Sieur de Langey, + pursuing his history, adds that the forenamed ambassadors, sending a + despatch to the King of these things, concealed the greatest part, and + particularly the last two passages. At which I could not but wonder that + it should be in the power of an ambassador to dispense with anything which + he ought to signify to his master, especially of so great importance as + this, coming from the mouth of such a person, and spoken in so great an + assembly; and I should rather conceive it had been the servant’s + duty faithfully to have represented to him the whole thing as it passed, + to the end that the liberty of selecting, disposing, judging, and + concluding might have remained in him: for either to conceal or to + disguise the truth for fear he should take it otherwise than he ought to + do, and lest it should prompt him to some extravagant resolution, and, in + the meantime, to leave him ignorant of his affairs, should seem, methinks, + rather to belong to him who is to give the law than to him who is only to + receive it; to him who is in supreme command, and not to him who ought to + look upon himself as inferior, not only in authority, but also in prudence + and good counsel. I, for my part, would not be so served in my little + concerns. + </p> + <p> + We so willingly slip the collar of command upon any pretence whatever, and + are so ready to usurp upon dominion, every one does so naturally aspire to + liberty and power, that no utility whatever derived from the wit or valour + of those he employs ought to be so dear to a superior as a downright and + sincere obedience. To obey more upon the account of understanding than of + subjection, is to corrupt the office of command —[Taken from Aulus + Gellius, i. 13.]—; insomuch that P. Crassus, the same whom the + Romans reputed five times happy, at the time when he was consul in Asia, + having sent to a Greek engineer to cause the greater of two masts of ships + that he had taken notice of at Athens to be brought to him, to be employed + about some engine of battery he had a design to make; the other, presuming + upon his own science and sufficiency in those affairs, thought fit to do + otherwise than directed, and to bring the less, which, according to the + rules of art, was really more proper for the use to which it was designed; + but Crassus, though he gave ear to his reasons with great patience, would + not, however, take them, how sound or convincing soever, for current pay, + but caused him to be well whipped for his pains, valuing the interest of + discipline much more than that of the work in hand. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding, we may on the other side consider that so precise and + implicit an obedience as this is only due to positive and limited + commands. The employment of ambassadors is never so confined, many things + in their management of affairs being wholly referred to the absolute + sovereignty of their own conduct; they do not simply execute, but also, to + their own discretion and wisdom, form and model their master’s + pleasure. I have, in my time, known men of command checked for having + rather obeyed the express words of the king’s letters, than the + necessity of the affairs they had in hand. Men of understanding do yet, to + this day, condemn the custom of the kings of Persia to give their + lieutenants and agents so little rein, that, upon the least arising + difficulties, they must fain have recourse to their further commands; this + delay, in so vast an extent of dominion, having often very much prejudiced + their affairs; and Crassus, writing to a man whose profession it was best + to understand those things, and pre-acquainting him to what use this mast + was designed, did he not seem to consult his advice, and in a manner + invite him to interpose his better judgment? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII——OF FEAR + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Obstupui, steteruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit.” + + [“I was amazed, my hair stood on end, and my voice stuck in my + throat.” Virgil, AEneid, ii. 774.] +</pre> + <p> + I am not so good a naturalist (as they call it) as to discern by what + secret springs fear has its motion in us; but, be this as it may, ‘tis + a strange passion, and such a one that the physicians say there is no + other whatever that sooner dethrones our judgment from its proper seat; + which is so true, that I myself have seen very many become frantic through + fear; and, even in those of the best settled temper it is most certain + that it begets a terrible astonishment and confusion during the fit. I + omit the vulgar sort, to whom it one while represents their + great-grandsires risen out of their graves in their shrouds, another while + werewolves, nightmares, and chimaeras; but even amongst soldiers, a sort + of men over whom, of all others, it ought to have the least power, how + often has it converted flocks of sheep into armed squadrons, reeds and + bullrushes into pikes and lances, friends into enemies, and the French + white cross into the red cross of Spain! When Monsieur de Bourbon took + Rome,—[In 1527]—an ensign who was upon guard at Borgo San + Pietro was seized with such a fright upon the first alarm, that he threw + himself out at a breach with his colours upon his shoulder, and ran + directly upon the enemy, thinking he had retreated toward the inward + defences of the city, and with much ado, seeing Monsieur de Bourbon’s + people, who thought it had been a sally upon them, draw up to receive him, + at last came to himself, and saw his error; and then facing about, he + retreated full speed through the same breach by which he had gone out, but + not till he had first blindly advanced above three hundred paces into the + open field. It did not, however, fall out so well with Captain Giulio’s + ensign, at the time when St. Paul was taken from us by the Comte de Bures + and Monsieur de Reu, for he, being so astonished with fear as to throw + himself, colours and all, out of a porthole, was immediately, cut to + pieces by the enemy; and in the same siege, it was a very memorable fear + that so seized, contracted, and froze up the heart of a gentleman, that he + sank down, stone-dead, in the breach, without any manner of wound or hurt + at all. The like madness does sometimes push on a whole multitude; for in + one of the encounters that Germanicus had with the Germans, two great + parties were so amazed with fear that they ran two opposite ways, the one + to the same place from which the other had fled.—[Tacit, Annal., i. + 63.]—Sometimes it adds wings to the heels, as in the two first: + sometimes it nails them to the ground, and fetters them from moving; as we + read of the Emperor Theophilus, who, in a battle he lost against the + Agarenes, was so astonished and stupefied that he had no power to fly— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Adeo pavor etiam auxilia formidat” + + [“So much does fear dread even the means of safety.”—Quint. + Curt., ii. II.] +</pre> + <p> + —till such time as Manuel, one of the principal commanders of his + army, having jogged and shaked him so as to rouse him out of his trance, + said to him, “Sir, if you will not follow me, I will kill you; for + it is better you should lose your life than, by being taken, lose your + empire.” —[Zonaras, lib. iii.]—But fear does then + manifest its utmost power when it throws us upon a valiant despair, having + before deprived us of all sense both of duty and honour. In the first + pitched battle the Romans lost against Hannibal, under the Consul + Sempronius, a body of ten thousand foot, that had taken fright, seeing no + other escape for their cowardice, went and threw themselves headlong upon + the great battalion of the enemies, which with marvellous force and fury + they charged through and through, and routed with a very great slaughter + of the Carthaginians, thus purchasing an ignominious flight at the same + price they might have gained a glorious victory.—[Livy, xxi. 56.] + </p> + <p> + The thing in the world I am most afraid of is fear, that passion alone, in + the trouble of it, exceeding all other accidents. What affliction could be + greater or more just than that of Pompey’s friends, who, in his + ship, were spectators of that horrible murder? Yet so it was, that the + fear of the Egyptian vessels they saw coming to board them, possessed them + with so great alarm that it is observed they thought of nothing but + calling upon the mariners to make haste, and by force of oars to escape + away, till being arrived at Tyre, and delivered from fear, they had + leisure to turn their thoughts to the loss of their captain, and to give + vent to those tears and lamentations that the other more potent passion + had till then suspended. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tum pavor sapientiam omnem mihiex animo expectorat.” + + [“Then fear drove out all intelligence from my mind.”—Ennius, ap. + Cicero, Tusc., iv. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + Such as have been well rubbed in some skirmish, may yet, all wounded and + bloody as they are, be brought on again the next day to charge; but such + as have once conceived a good sound fear of the enemy, will never be made + so much as to look him in the face. Such as are in immediate fear of a + losing their estates, of banishment, or of slavery, live in perpetual + anguish, and lose all appetite and repose; whereas such as are actually + poor, slaves, or exiles, ofttimes live as merrily as other folk. And the + many people who, impatient of the perpetual alarms of fear, have hanged or + drowned themselves, or dashed themselves to pieces, give us sufficiently + to understand that fear is more importunate and insupportable than death + itself. + </p> + <p> + The Greeks acknowledged another kind of fear, differing from any we have + spoken of yet, that surprises us without any visible cause, by an impulse + from heaven, so that whole nations and whole armies have been struck with + it. Such a one was that which brought so wonderful a desolation upon + Carthage, where nothing was to be heard but affrighted voices and + outcries; where the inhabitants were seen to sally out of their houses as + to an alarm, and there to charge, wound, and kill one another, as if they + had been enemies come to surprise their city. All things were in disorder + and fury till, with prayers and sacrifices, they had appeased their gods—[Diod. + Sic., xv. 7]; and this is that they call panic terrors.—[Ibid. ; + Plutarch on Isis and Osiris, c. 8.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII——THAT MEN ARE NOT TO JUDGE OF OUR HAPPINESS TILL + AFTER DEATH. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Charron has borrowed with unusual liberality from this and the + succeeding chapter. See Nodier, Questions, p. 206.] + + “Scilicet ultima semper + Exspectanda dies homini est; dicique beatus + Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet.” + + [“We should all look forward to our last day: no one can be called + happy till he is dead and buried.”—Ovid, Met, iii. 135] +</pre> + <p> + The very children know the story of King Croesus to this purpose, who + being taken prisoner by Cyrus, and by him condemned to die, as he was + going to execution cried out, “O Solon, Solon!” which being + presently reported to Cyrus, and he sending to inquire of him what it + meant, Croesus gave him to understand that he now found the teaching Solon + had formerly given him true to his cost; which was, “That men, + however fortune may smile upon them, could never be said to be happy till + they had been seen to pass over the last day of their lives,” by + reason of the uncertainty and mutability of human things, which, upon very + light and trivial occasions, are subject to be totally changed into a + quite contrary condition. And so it was that Agesilaus made answer to one + who was saying what a happy young man the King of Persia was, to come so + young to so mighty a kingdom: “‘Tis true,” said he, + “but neither was Priam unhappy at his years.”—[Plutarch, + Apothegms of the Lacedaemonians.]—In a short time, kings of Macedon, + successors to that mighty Alexander, became joiners and scriveners at + Rome; a tyrant of Sicily, a pedant at Corinth; a conqueror of one-half of + the world and general of so many armies, a miserable suppliant to the + rascally officers of a king of Egypt: so much did the prolongation of five + or six months of life cost the great Pompey; and, in our fathers’ + days, Ludovico Sforza, the tenth Duke of Milan, whom all Italy had so long + truckled under, was seen to die a wretched prisoner at Loches, but not + till he had lived ten years in captivity,—[He was imprisoned by + Louis XI. in an iron cage]— which was the worst part of his fortune. + The fairest of all queens, —[Mary, Queen of Scots.]—widow to + the greatest king in Europe, did she not come to die by the hand of an + executioner? Unworthy and barbarous cruelty! And a thousand more examples + there are of the same kind; for it seems that as storms and tempests have + a malice against the proud and overtowering heights of our lofty + buildings, there are also spirits above that are envious of the + greatnesses here below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Usque adeo res humanas vis abdita quaedam + Obterit, et pulchros fasces, saevasque secures + Proculcare, ac ludibrio sibi habere videtur.” + + [“So true it is that some occult power upsets human affairs, the + glittering fasces and the cruel axes spurns under foot, and seems to + make sport of them.”—Lucretius, v. 1231.] +</pre> + <p> + And it should seem, also, that Fortune sometimes lies in wait to surprise + the last hour of our lives, to show the power she has, in a moment, to + overthrow what she was so many years in building, making us cry out with + Laberius: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nimirum hac die + Una plus vixi mihi, quam vivendum fuit.” + + [“I have lived longer by this one day than I should have + done.”—Macrobius, ii. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + And, in this sense, this good advice of Solon may reasonably be taken; but + he, being a philosopher (with which sort of men the favours and disgraces + of Fortune stand for nothing, either to the making a man happy or unhappy, + and with whom grandeurs and powers are accidents of a quality almost + indifferent) I am apt to think that he had some further aim, and that his + meaning was, that the very felicity of life itself, which depends upon the + tranquillity and contentment of a well-descended spirit, and the + resolution and assurance of a well-ordered soul, ought never to be + attributed to any man till he has first been seen to play the last, and, + doubtless, the hardest act of his part. There may be disguise and + dissimulation in all the rest: where these fine philosophical discourses + are only put on, and where accident, not touching us to the quick, gives + us leisure to maintain the same gravity of aspect; but, in this last scene + of death, there is no more counterfeiting: we must speak out plain, and + discover what there is of good and clean in the bottom of the pot, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam vera; voces turn demum pectore ab imo + Ejiciuntur; et eripitur persona, manet res.” + + [“Then at last truth issues from the heart; the visor’s gone, + the man remains.”—Lucretius, iii. 57.] +</pre> + <p> + Wherefore, at this last, all the other actions of our life ought to be + tried and sifted: ‘tis the master-day, ‘tis the day that is + judge of all the rest, “‘tis the day,” says one of the + ancients,—[Seneca, Ep., 102]— “that must be judge of all + my foregoing years.” To death do I refer the assay of the fruit of + all my studies: we shall then see whether my discourses came only from my + mouth or from my heart. I have seen many by their death give a good or an + ill repute to their whole life. Scipio, the father-in-law of Pompey, in + dying, well removed the ill opinion that till then every one had conceived + of him. Epaminondas being asked which of the three he had in greatest + esteem, Chabrias, Iphicrates, or himself. “You must first see us + die,” said he, “before that question can be resolved.”—[Plutarch, + Apoth.]—And, in truth, he would infinitely wrong that man who would + weigh him without the honour and grandeur of his end. + </p> + <p> + God has ordered all things as it has best pleased Him; but I have, in my + time, seen three of the most execrable persons that ever I knew in all + manner of abominable living, and the most infamous to boot, who all died a + very regular death, and in all circumstances composed, even to perfection. + There are brave and fortunate deaths: I have seen death cut the thread of + the progress of a prodigious advancement, and in the height and flower of + its increase, of a certain person,—[Montaigne doubtless refers to + his friend Etienne de la Boetie, at whose death in 1563 he was present.]—with + so glorious an end that, in my opinion, his ambitious and generous designs + had nothing in them so high and great as their interruption. He arrived, + without completing his course, at the place to which his ambition aimed, + with greater glory than he could either have hoped or desired, + anticipating by his fall the name and power to which he aspired in + perfecting his career. In the judgment I make of another man’s life, + I always observe how he carried himself at his death; and the principal + concern I have for my own is that I may die well—that is, patiently + and tranquilly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX——THAT TO STUDY PHILOSOPY IS TO LEARN TO DIE + </h2> + <p> + Cicero says—[Tusc., i. 31.]—“that to study philosophy is + nothing but to prepare one’s self to die.” The reason of which + is, because study and contemplation do in some sort withdraw from us our + soul, and employ it separately from the body, which is a kind of + apprenticeship and a resemblance of death; or, else, because all the + wisdom and reasoning in the world do in the end conclude in this point, to + teach us not to fear to die. And to say the truth, either our reason mocks + us, or it ought to have no other aim but our contentment only, nor to + endeavour anything but, in sum, to make us live well, and, as the Holy + Scripture says, at our ease. All the opinions of the world agree in this, + that pleasure is our end, though we make use of divers means to attain it: + they would, otherwise, be rejected at the first motion; for who would give + ear to him that should propose affliction and misery for his end? The + controversies and disputes of the philosophical sects upon this point are + merely verbal: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Transcurramus solertissimas nugas” + + [“Let us skip over those subtle trifles.”—Seneca, Ep., 117.] +</pre> + <p> + —there is more in them of opposition and obstinacy than is + consistent with so sacred a profession; but whatsoever personage a man + takes upon himself to perform, he ever mixes his own part with it. + </p> + <p> + Let the philosophers say what they will, the thing at which we all aim, + even in virtue is pleasure. It amuses me to rattle in ears this word, + which they so nauseate to and if it signify some supreme pleasure and + contentment, it is more due to the assistance of virtue than to any other + assistance whatever. This pleasure, for being more gay, more sinewy, more + robust and more manly, is only the more seriously voluptuous, and we ought + give it the name of pleasure, as that which is more favourable, gentle, + and natural, and not that from which we have denominated it. The other and + meaner pleasure, if it could deserve this fair name, it ought to be by way + of competition, and not of privilege. I find it less exempt from traverses + and inconveniences than virtue itself; and, besides that the enjoyment is + more momentary, fluid, and frail, it has its watchings, fasts, and + labours, its sweat and its blood; and, moreover, has particular to itself + so many several sorts of sharp and wounding passions, and so dull a + satiety attending it, as equal it to the severest penance. And we mistake + if we think that these incommodities serve it for a spur and a seasoning + to its sweetness (as in nature one contrary is quickened by another), or + say, when we come to virtue, that like consequences and difficulties + overwhelm and render it austere and inaccessible; whereas, much more aptly + than in voluptuousness, they ennoble, sharpen, and heighten the perfect + and divine pleasure they procure us. He renders himself unworthy of it who + will counterpoise its cost with its fruit, and neither understands the + blessing nor how to use it. Those who preach to us that the quest of it is + craggy, difficult, and painful, but its fruition pleasant, what do they + mean by that but to tell us that it is always unpleasing? For what human + means will ever attain its enjoyment? The most perfect have been fain to + content themselves to aspire unto it, and to approach it only, without + ever possessing it. But they are deceived, seeing that of all the + pleasures we know, the very pursuit is pleasant. The attempt ever relishes + of the quality of the thing to which it is directed, for it is a good part + of, and consubstantial with, the effect. The felicity and beatitude that + glitters in Virtue, shines throughout all her appurtenances and avenues, + even to the first entry and utmost limits. + </p> + <p> + Now, of all the benefits that virtue confers upon us, the contempt of + death is one of the greatest, as the means that accommodates human life + with a soft and easy tranquillity, and gives us a pure and pleasant taste + of living, without which all other pleasure would be extinct. Which is the + reason why all the rules centre and concur in this one article. And + although they all in like manner, with common accord, teach us also to + despise pain, poverty, and the other accidents to which human life is + subject, it is not, nevertheless, with the same solicitude, as well by + reason these accidents are not of so great necessity, the greater part of + mankind passing over their whole lives without ever knowing what poverty + is, and some without sorrow or sickness, as Xenophilus the musician, who + lived a hundred and six years in a perfect and continual health; as also + because, at the worst, death can, whenever we please, cut short and put an + end to all other inconveniences. But as to death, it is inevitable:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnes eodem cogimur; omnium + Versatur urna serius ocius + Sors exitura, et nos in aeternum + Exilium impositura cymbae.” + + [“We are all bound one voyage; the lot of all, sooner or later, is + to come out of the urn. All must to eternal exile sail away.” + —Hor., Od., ii. 3, 25.] +</pre> + <p> + and, consequently, if it frights us, ‘tis a perpetual torment, for + which there is no sort of consolation. There is no way by which it may not + reach us. We may continually turn our heads this way and that, as in a + suspected country: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae, quasi saxum Tantalo, semper impendet.” + + [“Ever, like Tantalus stone, hangs over us.” + —Cicero, De Finib., i. 18.] +</pre> + <p> + Our courts of justice often send back condemned criminals to be executed + upon the place where the crime was committed; but, carry them to fine + houses by the way, prepare for them the best entertainment you can— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non Siculae dapes + Dulcem elaborabunt saporem: + Non avium cyatheaceae cantus + Somnum reducent.” + + [“Sicilian dainties will not tickle their palates, nor the melody of + birds and harps bring back sleep.”—Hor., Od., iii. 1, 18.] +</pre> + <p> + Do you think they can relish it? and that the fatal end of their journey + being continually before their eyes, would not alter and deprave their + palate from tasting these regalios? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Audit iter, numeratque dies, spatioque viarum + Metitur vitam; torquetur peste futura.” + + [“He considers the route, computes the time of travelling, measuring + his life by the length of the journey; and torments himself by + thinking of the blow to come.”—Claudianus, in Ruf., ii. 137.] +</pre> + <p> + The end of our race is death; ‘tis the necessary object of our aim, + which, if it fright us, how is it possible to advance a step without a fit + of ague? The remedy the vulgar use is not to think on’t; but from + what brutish stupidity can they derive so gross a blindness? They must + bridle the ass by the tail: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui capite ipse suo instituit vestigia retro,” + + [“Who in his folly seeks to advance backwards”—Lucretius, iv. 474] +</pre> + <p> + ‘tis no wonder if he be often trapped in the pitfall. They affright + people with the very mention of death, and many cross themselves, as it + were the name of the devil. And because the making a man’s will is + in reference to dying, not a man will be persuaded to take a pen in hand + to that purpose, till the physician has passed sentence upon and totally + given him over, and then betwixt and terror, God knows in how fit a + condition of understanding he is to do it. + </p> + <p> + The Romans, by reason that this poor syllable death sounded so harshly to + their ears and seemed so ominous, found out a way to soften and spin it + out by a periphrasis, and instead of pronouncing such a one is dead, said, + “Such a one has lived,” or “Such a one has ceased to + live” —[Plutarch, Life of Cicero, c. 22:]—for, provided + there was any mention of life in the case, though past, it carried yet + some sound of consolation. And from them it is that we have borrowed our + expression, “The late Monsieur such and such a one.”—[“feu + Monsieur un tel.”] Peradventure, as the saying is, the term we have + lived is worth our money. I was born betwixt eleven and twelve o’clock + in the forenoon the last day of February 1533, according to our + computation, beginning the year the 1st of January,—[This was in + virtue of an ordinance of Charles IX. in 1563. Previously the year + commenced at Easter, so that the 1st January 1563 became the first day of + the year 1563.]—and it is now but just fifteen days since I was + complete nine-and-thirty years old; I make account to live, at least, as + many more. In the meantime, to trouble a man’s self with the thought + of a thing so far off were folly. But what? Young and old die upon the + same terms; no one departs out of life otherwise than if he had but just + before entered into it; neither is any man so old and decrepit, who, + having heard of Methuselah, does not think he has yet twenty good years to + come. Fool that thou art! who has assured unto thee the term of life? Thou + dependest upon physicians’ tales: rather consult effects and + experience. According to the common course of things, ‘tis long + since that thou hast lived by extraordinary favour; thou hast already + outlived the ordinary term of life. And that it is so, reckon up thy + acquaintance, how many more have died before they arrived at thy age than + have attained unto it; and of those who have ennobled their lives by their + renown, take but an account, and I dare lay a wager thou wilt find more + who have died before than after five-and-thirty years of age. It is full + both of reason and piety, too, to take example by the humanity of Jesus + Christ Himself; now, He ended His life at three-and-thirty years. The + greatest man, that was no more than a man, Alexander, died also at the + same age. How many several ways has death to surprise us? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quid quisque, vitet, nunquam homini satis + Cautum est in horas.” + + [“Be as cautious as he may, man can never foresee the danger that + may at any hour befal him.”—Hor. O. ii. 13, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + To omit fevers and pleurisies, who would ever have imagined that a duke of + Brittany,—[Jean II. died 1305.]—should be pressed to death in + a crowd as that duke was at the entry of Pope Clement, my neighbour, into + Lyons?—[Montaigne speaks of him as if he had been a contemporary + neighbour, perhaps because he was the Archbishop of Bordeaux. Bertrand le + Got was Pope under the title of Clement V., 1305-14.]—Hast thou not + seen one of our kings—[Henry II., killed in a tournament, July 10, + 1559]—killed at a tilting, and did not one of his ancestors die by + jostle of a hog?—[Philip, eldest son of Louis le Gros.]—AEschylus, + threatened with the fall of a house, was to much purpose circumspect to + avoid that danger, seeing that he was knocked on the head by a tortoise + falling out of an eagle’s talons in the air. Another was choked with + a grape-stone;—[Val. Max., ix. 12, ext. 2.]—an emperor killed + with the scratch of a comb in combing his head. AEmilius Lepidus with a + stumble at his own threshold,—[Pliny, Nat. Hist., vii. 33.]— + and Aufidius with a jostle against the door as he entered the + council-chamber. And betwixt the very thighs of women, Cornelius Gallus + the proctor; Tigillinus, captain of the watch at Rome; Ludovico, son of + Guido di Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua; and (of worse example) Speusippus, a + Platonic philosopher, and one of our Popes. The poor judge Bebius gave + adjournment in a case for eight days; but he himself, meanwhile, was + condemned by death, and his own stay of life expired. Whilst Caius Julius, + the physician, was anointing the eyes of a patient, death closed his own; + and, if I may bring in an example of my own blood, a brother of mine, + Captain St. Martin, a young man, three-and-twenty years old, who had + already given sufficient testimony of his valour, playing a match at + tennis, received a blow of a ball a little above his right ear, which, as + it gave no manner of sign of wound or contusion, he took no notice of it, + nor so much as sat down to repose himself, but, nevertheless, died within + five or six hours after of an apoplexy occasioned by that blow. + </p> + <p> + These so frequent and common examples passing every day before our eyes, + how is it possible a man should disengage himself from the thought of + death, or avoid fancying that it has us every moment by the throat? What + matter is it, you will say, which way it comes to pass, provided a man + does not terrify himself with the expectation? For my part, I am of this + mind, and if a man could by any means avoid it, though by creeping under a + calf’s skin, I am one that should not be ashamed of the shift; all I + aim at is, to pass my time at my ease, and the recreations that will most + contribute to it, I take hold of, as little glorious and exemplary as you + will: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Praetulerim . . . delirus inersque videri, + Dum mea delectent mala me, vel denique fallant, + Quam sapere, et ringi.” + + [“I had rather seem mad and a sluggard, so that my defects are + agreeable to myself, or that I am not painfully conscious of them, + than be wise, and chaptious.”—Hor., Ep., ii. 2, 126.] +</pre> + <p> + But ‘tis folly to think of doing anything that way. They go, they + come, they gallop and dance, and not a word of death. All this is very + fine; but withal, when it comes either to themselves, their wives, their + children, or friends, surprising them at unawares and unprepared, then, + what torment, what outcries, what madness and despair! Did you ever see + anything so subdued, so changed, and so confounded? A man must, therefore, + make more early provision for it; and this brutish negligence, could it + possibly lodge in the brain of any man of sense (which I think utterly + impossible), sells us its merchandise too dear. Were it an enemy that + could be avoided, I would then advise to borrow arms even of cowardice + itself; but seeing it is not, and that it will catch you as well flying + and playing the poltroon, as standing to’t like an honest man:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nempe et fugacem persequitur virum, + Nec parcit imbellis juventae + Poplitibus timidoque tergo.” + + [“He pursues the flying poltroon, nor spares the hamstrings of the + unwarlike youth who turns his back”—Hor., Ep., iii. 2, 14.] +</pre> + <p> + And seeing that no temper of arms is of proof to secure us:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ille licet ferro cautus, se condat et aere, + Mors tamen inclusum protrahet inde caput” + + [“Let him hide beneath iron or brass in his fear, death will pull + his head out of his armour.”—Propertious iii. 18] +</pre> + <p> + —let us learn bravely to stand our ground, and fight him. And to + begin to deprive him of the greatest advantage he has over us, let us take + a way quite contrary to the common course. Let us disarm him of his + novelty and strangeness, let us converse and be familiar with him, and + have nothing so frequent in our thoughts as death. Upon all occasions + represent him to our imagination in his every shape; at the stumbling of a + horse, at the falling of a tile, at the least prick with a pin, let us + presently consider, and say to ourselves, “Well, and what if it had + been death itself?” and, thereupon, let us encourage and fortify + ourselves. Let us evermore, amidst our jollity and feasting, set the + remembrance of our frail condition before our eyes, never suffering + ourselves to be so far transported with our delights, but that we have + some intervals of reflecting upon, and considering how many several ways + this jollity of ours tends to death, and with how many dangers it + threatens it. The Egyptians were wont to do after this manner, who in the + height of their feasting and mirth, caused a dried skeleton of a man to be + brought into the room to serve for a memento to their guests: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum + Grata superveniet, quae non sperabitur, hora.” + + [“Think each day when past is thy last; the next day, as unexpected, + will be the more welcome.”—Hor., Ep., i. 4, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + Where death waits for us is uncertain; let us look for him everywhere. The + premeditation of death is the premeditation of liberty; he who has learned + to die has unlearned to serve. There is nothing evil in life for him who + rightly comprehends that the privation of life is no evil: to know, how to + die delivers us from all subjection and constraint. Paulus Emilius + answered him whom the miserable King of Macedon, his prisoner, sent to + entreat him that he would not lead him in his triumph, “Let him make + that request to himself.”—[ Plutarch, Life of Paulus Aemilius, + c. 17; Cicero, Tusc., v. 40.] + </p> + <p> + In truth, in all things, if nature do not help a little, it is very hard + for art and industry to perform anything to purpose. I am in my own nature + not melancholic, but meditative; and there is nothing I have more + continually entertained myself withal than imaginations of death, even in + the most wanton time of my age: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jucundum quum aetas florida ver ageret.” + + [“When my florid age rejoiced in pleasant spring.” + —Catullus, lxviii.] +</pre> + <p> + In the company of ladies, and at games, some have perhaps thought me + possessed with some jealousy, or the uncertainty of some hope, whilst I + was entertaining myself with the remembrance of some one, surprised, a few + days before, with a burning fever of which he died, returning from an + entertainment like this, with his head full of idle fancies of love and + jollity, as mine was then, and that, for aught I knew, the same-destiny + was attending me. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jam fuerit, nec post unquam revocare licebit.” + + [“Presently the present will have gone, never to be recalled.” + Lucretius, iii. 928.] +</pre> + <p> + Yet did not this thought wrinkle my forehead any more than any other. It + is impossible but we must feel a sting in such imaginations as these, at + first; but with often turning and returning them in one’s mind, + they, at last, become so familiar as to be no trouble at all: otherwise, + I, for my part, should be in a perpetual fright and frenzy; for never man + was so distrustful of his life, never man so uncertain as to its duration. + Neither health, which I have hitherto ever enjoyed very strong and + vigorous, and very seldom interrupted, does prolong, nor sickness contract + my hopes. Every minute, methinks, I am escaping, and it eternally runs in + my mind, that what may be done to-morrow, may be done to-day. Hazards and + dangers do, in truth, little or nothing hasten our end; and if we consider + how many thousands more remain and hang over our heads, besides the + accident that immediately threatens us, we shall find that the sound and + the sick, those that are abroad at sea, and those that sit by the fire, + those who are engaged in battle, and those who sit idle at home, are the + one as near it as the other. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nemo altero fragilior est; nemo in crastinum sui certior.” + + [“No man is more fragile than another: no man more certain than + another of to-morrow.”—Seneca, Ep., 91.] +</pre> + <p> + For anything I have to do before I die, the longest leisure would appear + too short, were it but an hour’s business I had to do. + </p> + <p> + A friend of mine the other day turning over my tablets, found therein a + memorandum of something I would have done after my decease, whereupon I + told him, as it was really true, that though I was no more than a league’s + distance only from my own house, and merry and well, yet when that thing + came into my head, I made haste to write it down there, because I was not + certain to live till I came home. As a man that am eternally brooding over + my own thoughts, and confine them to my own particular concerns, I am at + all hours as well prepared as I am ever like to be, and death, whenever he + shall come, can bring nothing along with him I did not expect long before. + We should always, as near as we can, be booted and spurred, and ready to + go, and, above all things, take care, at that time, to have no business + with any one but one’s self:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quid brevi fortes jaculamur avo + Multa?” + + [“Why for so short a life tease ourselves with so many projects?” + —Hor., Od., ii. 16, 17.] +</pre> + <p> + for we shall there find work enough to do, without any need of addition. + One man complains, more than of death, that he is thereby prevented of a + glorious victory; another, that he must die before he has married his + daughter, or educated his children; a third seems only troubled that he + must lose the society of his wife; a fourth, the conversation of his son, + as the principal comfort and concern of his being. For my part, I am, + thanks be to God, at this instant in such a condition, that I am ready to + dislodge, whenever it shall please Him, without regret for anything + whatsoever. I disengage myself throughout from all worldly relations; my + leave is soon taken of all but myself. Never did any one prepare to bid + adieu to the world more absolutely and unreservedly, and to shake hands + with all manner of interest in it, than I expect to do. The deadest deaths + are the best: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Miser, O miser,’ aiunt, ‘omnia ademit + Una dies infesta mihi tot praemia vitae.’” + + [“‘Wretch that I am,’ they cry, ‘one fatal day has deprived me of + all joys of life.’”—Lucretius, iii. 911.] +</pre> + <p> + And the builder, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Manuet,” says he, “opera interrupta, minaeque + Murorum ingentes.” + + [“The works remain incomplete, the tall pinnacles of the walls + unmade.”—AEneid, iv. 88.] +</pre> + <p> + A man must design nothing that will require so much time to the finishing, + or, at least, with no such passionate desire to see it brought to + perfection. We are born to action: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quum moriar, medium solvar et inter opus.” + + [“When I shall die, let it be doing that I had designed.” + —Ovid, Amor., ii. 10, 36.] +</pre> + <p> + I would always have a man to be doing, and, as much as in him lies, to + extend and spin out the offices of life; and then let death take me + planting my cabbages, indifferent to him, and still less of my gardens not + being finished. I saw one die, who, at his last gasp, complained of + nothing so much as that destiny was about to cut the thread of a chronicle + he was then compiling, when he was gone no farther than the fifteenth or + sixteenth of our kings: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Illud in his rebus non addunt: nec tibi earum + jam desiderium rerum super insidet una.” + + [“They do not add, that dying, we have no longer a desire to possess + things.”—Lucretius, iii. 913.] +</pre> + <p> + We are to discharge ourselves from these vulgar and hurtful humours. To + this purpose it was that men first appointed the places of sepulture + adjoining the churches, and in the most frequented places of the city, to + accustom, says Lycurgus, the common people, women, and children, that they + should not be startled at the sight of a corpse, and to the end, that the + continual spectacle of bones, graves, and funeral obsequies should put us + in mind of our frail condition: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quin etiam exhilarare viris convivia caede + Mos olim, et miscere epulis spectacula dira + Certantum ferro, saepe et super ipsa cadentum + Pocula, respersis non parco sanguine mensis.” + + [“It was formerly the custom to enliven banquets with slaughter, and + to combine with the repast the dire spectacle of men contending with + the sword, the dying in many cases falling upon the cups, and + covering the tables with blood.”—Silius Italicus, xi. 51.] +</pre> + <p> + And as the Egyptians after their feasts were wont to present the company + with a great image of death, by one that cried out to them, “Drink + and be merry, for such shalt thou be when thou art dead”; so it is + my custom to have death not only in my imagination, but continually in my + mouth. Neither is there anything of which I am so inquisitive, and delight + to inform myself, as the manner of men’s deaths, their words, looks, + and bearing; nor any places in history I am so intent upon; and it is + manifest enough, by my crowding in examples of this kind, that I have a + particular fancy for that subject. If I were a writer of books, I would + compile a register, with a comment, of the various deaths of men: he who + should teach men to die would at the same time teach them to live. + Dicarchus made one, to which he gave that title; but it was designed for + another and less profitable end. + </p> + <p> + Peradventure, some one may object, that the pain and terror of dying so + infinitely exceed all manner of imagination, that the best fencer will be + quite out of his play when it comes to the push. Let them say what they + will: to premeditate is doubtless a very great advantage; and besides, is + it nothing to go so far, at least, without disturbance or alteration? + Moreover, Nature herself assists and encourages us: if the death be sudden + and violent, we have not leisure to fear; if otherwise, I perceive that as + I engage further in my disease, I naturally enter into a certain loathing + and disdain of life. I find I have much more ado to digest this resolution + of dying, when I am well in health, than when languishing of a fever; and + by how much I have less to do with the commodities of life, by reason that + I begin to lose the use and pleasure of them, by so much I look upon death + with less terror. Which makes me hope, that the further I remove from the + first, and the nearer I approach to the latter, I shall the more easily + exchange the one for the other. And, as I have experienced in other + occurrences, that, as Caesar says, things often appear greater to us at + distance than near at hand, I have found, that being well, I have had + maladies in much greater horror than when really afflicted with them. The + vigour wherein I now am, the cheerfulness and delight wherein I now live, + make the contrary estate appear in so great a disproportion to my present + condition, that, by imagination, I magnify those inconveniences by + one-half, and apprehend them to be much more troublesome, than I find them + really to be, when they lie the most heavy upon me; I hope to find death + the same. + </p> + <p> + Let us but observe in the ordinary changes and declinations we daily + suffer, how nature deprives us of the light and sense of our bodily decay. + What remains to an old man of the vigour of his youth and better days? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Heu! senibus vitae portio quanta manet.” + + [“Alas, to old men what portion of life remains!”—-Maximian, vel + Pseudo-Gallus, i. 16.] +</pre> + <p> + Caesar, to an old weather-beaten soldier of his guards, who came to ask + him leave that he might kill himself, taking notice of his withered body + and decrepit motion, pleasantly answered, “Thou fanciest, then, that + thou art yet alive.”—[Seneca, Ep., 77.]—Should a man + fall into this condition on the sudden, I do not think humanity capable of + enduring such a change: but nature, leading us by the hand, an easy and, + as it were, an insensible pace, step by step conducts us to that miserable + state, and by that means makes it familiar to us, so that we are + insensible of the stroke when our youth dies in us, though it be really a + harder death than the final dissolution of a languishing body, than the + death of old age; forasmuch as the fall is not so great from an uneasy + being to none at all, as it is from a sprightly and flourishing being to + one that is troublesome and painful. The body, bent and bowed, has less + force to support a burden; and it is the same with the soul, and therefore + it is, that we are to raise her up firm and erect against the power of + this adversary. For, as it is impossible she should ever be at rest, + whilst she stands in fear of it; so, if she once can assure herself, she + may boast (which is a thing as it were surpassing human condition) that it + is impossible that disquiet, anxiety, or fear, or any other disturbance, + should inhabit or have any place in her: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non vulnus instants Tyranni + Mentha cadi solida, neque Auster + Dux inquieti turbidus Adriae, + Nec fulminantis magna Jovis manus.” + + [“Not the menacing look of a tyrant shakes her well-settled soul, + nor turbulent Auster, the prince of the stormy Adriatic, nor yet the + strong hand of thundering Jove, such a temper moves.” + —Hor., Od., iii. 3, 3.] +</pre> + <p> + She is then become sovereign of all her lusts and passions, mistress of + necessity, shame, poverty, and all the other injuries of fortune. Let us, + therefore, as many of us as can, get this advantage; ‘tis the true + and sovereign liberty here on earth, that fortifies us wherewithal to defy + violence and injustice, and to contemn prisons and chains: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In manicis et + Compedibus saevo te sub custode tenebo. + Ipse Deus, simul atque volam, me solvet. Opinor, + Hoc sentit; moriar; mors ultima linea rerum est.” + + [“I will keep thee in fetters and chains, in custody of a + savage keeper.—A god will when I ask Him, set me free. + This god I think is death. Death is the term of all things.” + —Hor., Ep., i. 16, 76.] +</pre> + <p> + Our very religion itself has no surer human foundation than the contempt + of life. Not only the argument of reason invites us to it—for why + should we fear to lose a thing, which being lost, cannot be lamented? + —but, also, seeing we are threatened by so many sorts of death, is + it not infinitely worse eternally to fear them all, than once to undergo + one of them? And what matters it, when it shall happen, since it is + inevitable? To him that told Socrates, “The thirty tyrants have + sentenced thee to death”; “And nature them,” said he.—[Socrates + was not condemned to death by the thirty tyrants, but by the + Athenians.-Diogenes Laertius, ii.35.]— What a ridiculous thing it is + to trouble ourselves about taking the only step that is to deliver us from + all trouble! As our birth brought us the birth of all things, so in our + death is the death of all things included. And therefore to lament that we + shall not be alive a hundred years hence, is the same folly as to be sorry + we were not alive a hundred years ago. Death is the beginning of another + life. So did we weep, and so much it cost us to enter into this, and so + did we put off our former veil in entering into it. Nothing can be a + grievance that is but once. Is it reasonable so long to fear a thing that + will so soon be despatched? Long life, and short, are by death made all + one; for there is no long, nor short, to things that are no more. + Aristotle tells us that there are certain little beasts upon the banks of + the river Hypanis, that never live above a day: they which die at eight of + the clock in the morning, die in their youth, and those that die at five + in the evening, in their decrepitude: which of us would not laugh to see + this moment of continuance put into the consideration of weal or woe? The + most and the least, of ours, in comparison with eternity, or yet with the + duration of mountains, rivers, stars, trees, and even of some animals, is + no less ridiculous.—[ Seneca, Consol. ad Marciam, c. 20.] + </p> + <p> + But nature compels us to it. “Go out of this world,” says she, + “as you entered into it; the same pass you made from death to life, + without passion or fear, the same, after the same manner, repeat from life + to death. Your death is a part of the order of the universe, ‘tis a + part of the life of the world. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Inter se mortales mutua vivunt + ................................ + Et, quasi cursores, vitai lampada tradunt.” + + [“Mortals, amongst themselves, live by turns, and, like the runners + in the games, give up the lamp, when they have won the race, to the + next comer.—” Lucretius, ii. 75, 78.] +</pre> + <p> + “Shall I exchange for you this beautiful contexture of things? + ‘Tis the condition of your creation; death is a part of you, and + whilst you endeavour to evade it, you evade yourselves. This very being of + yours that you now enjoy is equally divided betwixt life and death. The + day of your birth is one day’s advance towards the grave: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Prima, qux vitam dedit, hora carpsit.” + + [“The first hour that gave us life took away also an hour.” + —Seneca, Her. Fur., 3 Chor. 874.] + + “Nascentes morimur, finisque ab origine pendet.” + + [“As we are born we die, and the end commences with the beginning.” + —Manilius, Ast., iv. 16.] +</pre> + <p> + “All the whole time you live, you purloin from life and live at the + expense of life itself. The perpetual work of your life is but to lay the + foundation of death. You are in death, whilst you are in life, because you + still are after death, when you are no more alive; or, if you had rather + have it so, you are dead after life, but dying all the while you live; and + death handles the dying much more rudely than the dead, and more sensibly + and essentially. If you have made your profit of life, you have had enough + of it; go your way satisfied. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cur non ut plenus vita; conviva recedis?” + + [“Why not depart from life as a sated guest from a feast? + “Lucretius, iii. 951.] +</pre> + <p> + “If you have not known how to make the best use of it, if it was + unprofitable to you, what need you care to lose it, to what end would you + desire longer to keep it? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Cur amplius addere quaeris, + Rursum quod pereat male, et ingratum occidat omne?’ + + [“Why seek to add longer life, merely to renew ill-spent time, and + be again tormented?”—Lucretius, iii. 914.] +</pre> + <p> + “Life in itself is neither good nor evil; it is the scene of good or + evil as you make it.’ And, if you have lived a day, you have seen + all: one day is equal and like to all other days. There is no other light, + no other shade; this very sun, this moon, these very stars, this very + order and disposition of things, is the same your ancestors enjoyed, and + that shall also entertain your posterity: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Non alium videre patres, aliumve nepotes + Aspicient.’ + + [“Your grandsires saw no other thing; nor will your posterity.” + —Manilius, i. 529.] +</pre> + <p> + “And, come the worst that can come, the distribution and variety of + all the acts of my comedy are performed in a year. If you have observed + the revolution of my four seasons, they comprehend the infancy, the youth, + the virility, and the old age of the world: the year has played his part, + and knows no other art but to begin again; it will always be the same + thing: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Versamur ibidem, atque insumus usque.’ + + [“We are turning in the same circle, ever therein confined.” + —Lucretius, iii. 1093.] + + “‘Atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur annus.’ + + [“The year is ever turning around in the same footsteps.” + —Virgil, Georg., ii. 402.] +</pre> + <p> + “I am not prepared to create for you any new recreations: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Nam tibi prxterea quod machiner, inveniamque + Quod placeat, nihil est; eadem sunt omnia semper.’ + + [“I can devise, nor find anything else to please you: ‘tis the same + thing over and over again.”—Lucretius iii. 957] +</pre> + <p> + “Give place to others, as others have given place to you. Equality + is the soul of equity. Who can complain of being comprehended in the same + destiny, wherein all are involved? Besides, live as long as you can, you + shall by that nothing shorten the space you are to be dead; ‘tis all + to no purpose; you shall be every whit as long in the condition you so + much fear, as if you had died at nurse: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Licet quot vis vivendo vincere secla, + Mors aeterna tamen nihilominus illa manebit.’ + + [“Live triumphing over as many ages as you will, death still will + remain eternal.”—Lucretius, iii. 1103] +</pre> + <p> + “And yet I will place you in such a condition as you shall have no + reason to be displeased. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘In vera nescis nullum fore morte alium te, + Qui possit vivus tibi to lugere peremptum, + Stansque jacentem.’ + + [“Know you not that, when dead, there can be no other living self to + lament you dead, standing on your grave.”—Idem., ibid., 898.] +</pre> + <p> + “Nor shall you so much as wish for the life you are so concerned + about: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Nec sibi enim quisquam tum se vitamque requirit. + .................................................. + “‘Nec desiderium nostri nos afficit ullum.’ +</pre> + <p> + “Death is less to be feared than nothing, if there could be anything + less than nothing. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Multo . . . mortem minus ad nos esse putandium, + Si minus esse potest, quam quod nihil esse videmus.’ +</pre> + <p> + “Neither can it any way concern you, whether you are living or dead: + living, by reason that you are still in being; dead, because you are no + more. Moreover, no one dies before his hour: the time you leave behind was + no more yours than that was lapsed and gone before you came into the + world; nor does it any more concern you. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Respice enim, quam nil ad nos anteacta vetustas + Temporis aeterni fuerit.’ + + [“Consider how as nothing to us is the old age of times past.” + —Lucretius iii. 985] +</pre> + <p> + Wherever your life ends, it is all there. The utility of living consists + not in the length of days, but in the use of time; a man may have lived + long, and yet lived but a little. Make use of time while it is present + with you. It depends upon your will, and not upon the number of days, to + have a sufficient length of life. Is it possible you can imagine never to + arrive at the place towards which you are continually going? and yet there + is no journey but hath its end. And, if company will make it more pleasant + or more easy to you, does not all the world go the self-same way? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Omnia te, vita perfuncta, sequentur.’ + + [“All things, then, life over, must follow thee.” + —Lucretius, iii. 981.] +</pre> + <p> + “Does not all the world dance the same brawl that you do? Is there + anything that does not grow old, as well as you? A thousand men, a + thousand animals, a thousand other creatures, die at the same moment that + you die: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “‘Nam nox nulla diem, neque noctem aurora sequuta est, + Quae non audierit mistos vagitibus aegris + Ploratus, mortis comites et funeris atri.’ + + [“No night has followed day, no day has followed night, in which + there has not been heard sobs and sorrowing cries, the companions of + death and funerals.”—Lucretius, v. 579.] +</pre> + <p> + “To what end should you endeavour to draw back, if there be no + possibility to evade it? you have seen examples enough of those who have + been well pleased to die, as thereby delivered from heavy miseries; but + have you ever found any who have been dissatisfied with dying? It must, + therefore, needs be very foolish to condemn a thing you have neither + experimented in your own person, nor by that of any other. Why dost thou + complain of me and of destiny? Do we do thee any wrong? Is it for thee to + govern us, or for us to govern thee? Though, peradventure, thy age may not + be accomplished, yet thy life is: a man of low stature is as much a man as + a giant; neither men nor their lives are measured by the ell. Chiron + refused to be immortal, when he was acquainted with the conditions under + which he was to enjoy it, by the god of time itself and its duration, his + father Saturn. Do but seriously consider how much more insupportable and + painful an immortal life would be to man than what I have already given + him. If you had not death, you would eternally curse me for having + deprived you of it; I have mixed a little bitterness with it, to the end, + that seeing of what convenience it is, you might not too greedily and + indiscreetly seek and embrace it: and that you might be so established in + this moderation, as neither to nauseate life, nor have any antipathy for + dying, which I have decreed you shall once do, I have tempered the one and + the other betwixt pleasure and pain. It was I that taught Thales, the most + eminent of your sages, that to live and to die were indifferent; which + made him, very wisely, answer him, ‘Why then he did not die?’ + ‘Because,’ said he, ‘it is indifferent.’—[Diogenes + Laertius, i. 35.]—Water, earth, air, and fire, and the other parts + of this creation of mine, are no more instruments of thy life than they + are of thy death. Why dost thou fear thy last day? it contributes no more + to thy dissolution, than every one of the rest: the last step is not the + cause of lassitude: it does not confess it. Every day travels towards + death; the last only arrives at it.” These are the good lessons our + mother Nature teaches. + </p> + <p> + I have often considered with myself whence it should proceed, that in war + the image of death, whether we look upon it in ourselves or in others, + should, without comparison, appear less dreadful than at home in our own + houses (for if it were not so, it would be an army of doctors and whining + milksops), and that being still in all places the same, there should be, + notwithstanding, much more assurance in peasants and the meaner sort of + people, than in others of better quality. I believe, in truth, that it is + those terrible ceremonies and preparations wherewith we set it out, that + more terrify us than the thing itself; a new, quite contrary way of + living; the cries of mothers, wives, and children; the visits of astounded + and afflicted friends; the attendance of pale and blubbering servants; a + dark room, set round with burning tapers; our beds environed with + physicians and divines; in sum, nothing but ghostliness and horror round + about us; we seem dead and buried already. Children are afraid even of + those they are best acquainted with, when disguised in a visor; and so + ‘tis with us; the visor must be removed as well from things as from + persons, that being taken away, we shall find nothing underneath but the + very same death that a mean servant or a poor chambermaid died a day or + two ago, without any manner of apprehension. Happy is the death that + deprives us of leisure for preparing such ceremonials. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX——OF THE FORCE OF IMAGINATION + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fortis imaginatio generat casum,” say the schoolmen. + + [“A strong imagination begets the event itself.”—Axiom. Scholast.] +</pre> + <p> + I am one of those who are most sensible of the power of imagination: every + one is jostled by it, but some are overthrown by it. It has a very + piercing impression upon me; and I make it my business to avoid, wanting + force to resist it. I could live by the sole help of healthful and jolly + company: the very sight of another’s pain materially pains me, and I + often usurp the sensations of another person. A perpetual cough in another + tickles my lungs and throat. I more unwillingly visit the sick in whom by + love and duty I am interested, than those I care not for, to whom I less + look. I take possession of the disease I am concerned at, and take it to + myself. I do not at all wonder that fancy should give fevers and sometimes + kill such as allow it too much scope, and are too willing to entertain it. + Simon Thomas was a great physician of his time: I remember, that happening + one day at Toulouse to meet him at a rich old fellow’s house, who + was troubled with weak lungs, and discoursing with the patient about the + method of his cure, he told him, that one thing which would be very + conducive to it, was to give me such occasion to be pleased with his + company, that I might come often to see him, by which means, and by fixing + his eyes upon the freshness of my complexion, and his imagination upon the + sprightliness and vigour that glowed in my youth, and possessing all his + senses with the flourishing age wherein I then was, his habit of body + might, peradventure, be amended; but he forgot to say that mine, at the + same time, might be made worse. Gallus Vibius so much bent his mind to + find out the essence and motions of madness, that, in the end, he himself + went out of his wits, and to such a degree, that he could never after + recover his judgment, and might brag that he was become a fool by too much + wisdom. Some there are who through fear anticipate the hangman; and there + was the man, whose eyes being unbound to have his pardon read to him, was + found stark dead upon the scaffold, by the stroke of imagination. We + start, tremble, turn pale, and blush, as we are variously moved by + imagination; and, being a-bed, feel our bodies agitated with its power to + that degree, as even sometimes to expiring. And boiling youth, when fast + asleep, grows so warm with fancy, as in a dream to satisfy amorous + desires:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut, quasi transactis saepe omnibu rebu, profundant + Fluminis ingentes, fluctus, vestemque cruentent.” + </pre> + <p> + Although it be no new thing to see horns grown in a night on the forehead + of one that had none when he went to bed, notwithstanding, what befell + Cippus, King of Italy, is memorable; who having one day been a very + delighted spectator of a bullfight, and having all the night dreamed that + he had horns on his head, did, by the force of imagination, really cause + them to grow there. Passion gave to the son of Croesus the voice which + nature had denied him. And Antiochus fell into a fever, inflamed with the + beauty of Stratonice, too deeply imprinted in his soul. Pliny pretends to + have seen Lucius Cossitius, who from a woman was turned into a man upon + her very wedding-day. Pontanus and others report the like metamorphosis to + have happened in these latter days in Italy. And, through the vehement + desire of him and his mother: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Volta puer solvit, quae foemina voverat, Iphis.” + </pre> + <p> + Myself passing by Vitry le Francois, saw a man the Bishop of Soissons had, + in confirmation, called Germain, whom all the inhabitants of the place had + known to be a girl till two-and-twenty years of age, called Mary. He was, + at the time of my being there, very full of beard, old, and not married. + He told us, that by straining himself in a leap his male organs came out; + and the girls of that place have, to this day, a song, wherein they advise + one another not to take too great strides, for fear of being turned into + men, as Mary Germain was. It is no wonder if this sort of accident + frequently happen; for if imagination have any power in such things, it is + so continually and vigorously bent upon this subject, that to the end it + may not so often relapse into the same thought and violence of desire, it + were better, once for all, to give these young wenches the things they + long for. + </p> + <p> + Some attribute the scars of King Dagobert and of St. Francis to the force + of imagination. It is said, that by it bodies will sometimes be removed + from their places; and Celsus tells us of a priest whose soul would be + ravished into such an ecstasy that the body would, for a long time, remain + without sense or respiration. St. Augustine makes mention of another, who, + upon the hearing of any lamentable or doleful cries, would presently fall + into a swoon, and be so far out of himself, that it was in vain to call, + bawl in his ears, pinch or burn him, till he voluntarily came to himself; + and then he would say, that he had heard voices as it were afar off, and + did feel when they pinched and burned him; and, to prove that this was no + obstinate dissimulation in defiance of his sense of feeling, it was + manifest, that all the while he had neither pulse nor breathing. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis very probable, that visions, enchantments, and all + extraordinary effects of that nature, derive their credit principally from + the power of imagination, working and making its chiefest impression upon + vulgar and more easy souls, whose belief is so strangely imposed upon, as + to think they see what they do not see. + </p> + <p> + I am not satisfied whether those pleasant ligatures—[Les nouements d’aiguillettes, + as they were called, knots tied by some one, at a wedding, on a strip of + leather, cotton, or silk, and which, especially when passed through the + wedding-ring, were supposed to have the magical effect of preventing a + consummation of the marriage until they were untied. See Louandre, La + Sorcellerie, 1853, p. 73. The same superstition and appliance existed in + England.]—with which this age of ours is so occupied, that there is + almost no other talk, are not mere voluntary impressions of apprehension + and fear; for I know, by experience, in the case of a particular friend of + mine, one for whom I can be as responsible as for myself, and a man that + cannot possibly fall under any manner of suspicion of insufficiency, and + as little of being enchanted, who having heard a companion of his make a + relation of an unusual frigidity that surprised him at a very unseasonable + time; being afterwards himself engaged upon the same account, the horror + of the former story on a sudden so strangely possessed his imagination, + that he ran the same fortune the other had done; and from that time + forward, the scurvy remembrance of his disaster running in his mind and + tyrannising over him, he was subject to relapse into the same misfortune. + He found some remedy, however, for this fancy in another fancy, by himself + frankly confessing and declaring beforehand to the party with whom he was + to have to do, this subjection of his, by which means, the agitation of + his soul was, in some sort, appeased; and knowing that, now, some such + misbehaviour was expected from him, the restraint upon his faculties grew + less. And afterwards, at such times as he was in no such apprehension, + when setting about the act (his thoughts being then disengaged and free, + and his body in its true and natural estate) he was at leisure to cause + the part to be handled and communicated to the knowledge of the other + party, he was totally freed from that vexatious infirmity. After a man has + once done a woman right, he is never after in danger of misbehaving + himself with that person, unless upon the account of some excusable + weakness. Neither is this disaster to be feared, but in adventures, where + the soul is overextended with desire or respect, and, especially, where + the opportunity is of an unforeseen and pressing nature; in those cases, + there is no means for a man to defend himself from such a surprise, as + shall put him altogether out of sorts. I have known some, who have secured + themselves from this mischance, by coming half sated elsewhere, purposely + to abate the ardour of the fury, and others, who, being grown old, find + themselves less impotent by being less able; and one, who found an + advantage in being assured by a friend of his, that he had a counter-charm + of enchantments that would secure him from this disgrace. The story itself + is not, much amiss, and therefore you shall have it. + </p> + <p> + A Count of a very great family, and with whom I was very intimate, being + married to a fair lady, who had formerly been courted by one who was at + the wedding, all his friends were in very great fear; but especially an + old lady his kinswoman, who had the ordering of the solemnity, and in + whose house it was kept, suspecting his rival would offer foul play by + these sorceries. Which fear she communicated to me. I bade her rely upon + me: I had, by chance, about me a certain flat plate of gold, whereon were + graven some celestial figures, supposed good against sunstroke or pains in + the head, being applied to the suture: where, that it might the better + remain firm, it was sewed to a ribbon to be tied under the chin; a foppery + cousin-german to this of which I am speaking. Jaques Pelletier, who lived + in my house, had presented this to me for a singular rarity. I had a fancy + to make some use of this knack, and therefore privately told the Count, + that he might possibly run the same fortune other bridegrooms had + sometimes done, especially some one being in the house, who, no doubt, + would be glad to do him such a courtesy: but let him boldly go to bed. For + I would do him the office of a friend, and, if need were, would not spare + a miracle it was in my power to do, provided he would engage to me, upon + his honour, to keep it to himself; and only, when they came to bring him + his caudle,—[A custom in France to bring the bridegroom a caudle in + the middle of the night on his wedding-night]— if matters had not + gone well with him, to give me such a sign, and leave the rest to me. Now + he had had his ears so battered, and his mind so prepossessed with the + eternal tattle of this business, that when he came to’t, he did + really find himself tied with the trouble of his imagination, and, + accordingly, at the time appointed, gave me the sign. Whereupon, I + whispered him in the ear, that he should rise, under pretence of putting + us out of the room, and after a jesting manner pull my nightgown from my + shoulders—we were of much about the same height— throw it over + his own, and there keep it till he had performed what I had appointed him + to do, which was, that when we were all gone out of the chamber, he should + withdraw to make water, should three times repeat such and such words, and + as often do such and such actions; that at every of the three times, he + should tie the ribbon I put into his hand about his middle, and be sure to + place the medal that was fastened to it, the figures in such a posture, + exactly upon his reins, which being done, and having the last of the three + times so well girt and fast tied the ribbon that it could neither untie + nor slip from its place, let him confidently return to his business, and + withal not forget to spread my gown upon the bed, so that it might be sure + to cover them both. These ape’s tricks are the main of the effect, + our fancy being so far seduced as to believe that such strange means must, + of necessity, proceed from some abstruse science: their very inanity gives + them weight and reverence. And, certain it is, that my figures approved + themselves more venereal than solar, more active than prohibitive. ‘Twas + a sudden whimsey, mixed with a little curiosity, that made me do a thing + so contrary to my nature; for I am an enemy to all subtle and counterfeit + actions, and abominate all manner of trickery, though it be for sport, and + to an advantage; for though the action may not be vicious in itself, its + mode is vicious. + </p> + <p> + Amasis, King of Egypt, having married Laodice, a very beautiful Greek + virgin, though noted for his abilities elsewhere, found himself quite + another man with his wife, and could by no means enjoy her; at which he + was so enraged, that he threatened to kill her, suspecting her to be a + witch. As ‘tis usual in things that consist in fancy, she put him + upon devotion, and having accordingly made his vows to Venus, he found + himself divinely restored the very first night after his oblations and + sacrifices. Now women are to blame to entertain us with that disdainful, + coy, and angry countenance, which extinguishes our vigour, as it kindles + our desire; which made the daughter-in-law of Pythagoras—[Theano, + the lady in question was the wife, not the daughter-in-law of Pythagoras.]— + say, “That the woman who goes to bed to a man, must put off her + modesty with her petticoat, and put it on again with the same.” The + soul of the assailant, being disturbed with many several alarms, readily + loses the power of performance; and whoever the imagination has once put + this trick upon, and confounded with the shame of it (and she never does + it but at the first acquaintance, by reason men are then more ardent and + eager, and also, at this first account a man gives of himself, he is much + more timorous of miscarrying), having made an ill beginning, he enters + into such fever and despite at the accident, as are apt to remain and + continue with him upon following occasions. + </p> + <p> + Married people, having all their time before them, ought never to compel + or so much as to offer at the feat, if they do not find themselves quite + ready: and it is less unseemly to fail of handselling the nuptial sheets, + when a man perceives himself full of agitation and trembling, and to await + another opportunity at more private and more composed leisure, than to + make himself perpetually miserable, for having misbehaved himself and been + baffled at the first assault. Till possession be taken, a man that knows + himself subject to this infirmity, should leisurely and by degrees make + several little trials and light offers, without obstinately attempting at + once, to Force an absolute conquest over his own mutinous and indisposed + faculties. Such as know their members to be naturally obedient, need take + no other care but only to counterplot their fantasies. + </p> + <p> + The indocile liberty of this member is very remarkable, so importunately + unruly in its tumidity and impatience, when we do not require it, and so + unseasonably disobedient, when we stand most in need of it: so imperiously + contesting in authority with the will, and with so much haughty obstinacy + denying all solicitation, both of hand and mind. And yet, though his + rebellion is so universally complained of, and that proof is thence + deduced to condemn him, if he had, nevertheless, feed me to plead his + cause, I should peradventure, bring the rest of his fellow-members into + suspicion of complotting this mischief against him, out of pure envy at + the importance and pleasure especial to his employment; and to have, by + confederacy, armed the whole world against him, by malevolently charging + him alone, with their common offence. For let any one consider, whether + there is any one part of our bodies that does not often refuse to perform + its office at the precept of the will, and that does not often exercise + its function in defiance of her command. They have every one of them + passions of their own, that rouse and awaken, stupefy and benumb them, + without our leave or consent. How often do the involuntary motions of the + countenance discover our inward thoughts, and betray our most private + secrets to the bystanders. The same cause that animates this member, does + also, without our knowledge, animate the lungs, pulse, and heart, the + sight of a pleasing object imperceptibly diffusing a flame through all our + parts, with a feverish motion. Is there nothing but these veins and + muscles that swell and flag without the consent, not only of the will, but + even of our knowledge also? We do not command our hairs to stand on end, + nor our skin to shiver either with fear or desire; the hands often convey + themselves to parts to which we do not direct them; the tongue will be + interdict, and the voice congealed, when we know not how to help it. When + we have nothing to eat, and would willingly forbid it, the appetite does + not, for all that, forbear to stir up the parts that are subject to it, no + more nor less than the other appetite we were speaking of, and in like + manner, as unseasonably leaves us, when it thinks fit. The vessels that + serve to discharge the belly have their own proper dilatations and + compressions, without and beyond our concurrence, as well as those which + are destined to purge the reins; and that which, to justify the + prerogative of the will, St. Augustine urges, of having seen a man who + could command his rear to discharge as often together as he pleased, + Vives, his commentator, yet further fortifies with another example in his + time,—of one that could break wind in tune; but these cases do not + suppose any more pure obedience in that part; for is anything commonly + more tumultuary or indiscreet? To which let me add, that I myself knew one + so rude and ungoverned, as for forty years together made his master vent + with one continued and unintermitted outbursting, and ‘tis like will + do so till he die of it. And I could heartily wish, that I only knew by + reading, how often a man’s belly, by the denial of one single puff, + brings him to the very door of an exceeding painful death; and that the + emperor,—[The Emperor Claudius, who, however, according to Suetonius + (Vita, c. 32), only intended to authorise this singular privilege by an + edict.]—who gave liberty to let fly in all places, had, at the same + time, given us power to do it. But for our will, in whose behalf we prefer + this accusation, with how much greater probability may we reproach herself + with mutiny and sedition, for her irregularity and disobedience? Does she + always will what we would have her to do? Does she not often will what we + forbid her to will, and that to our manifest prejudice? Does she suffer + herself, more than any of the rest, to be governed and directed by the + results of our reason? To conclude, I should move, in the behalf of the + gentleman, my client, it might be considered, that in this fact, his cause + being inseparably and indistinctly conjoined with an accessory, yet he + only is called in question, and that by arguments and accusations, which + cannot be charged upon the other; whose business, indeed, it is sometimes + inopportunely to invite, but never to refuse, and invite, moreover, after + a tacit and quiet manner; and therefore is the malice and injustice of his + accusers most manifestly apparent. But be it how it will, protesting + against the proceedings of the advocates and judges, nature will, in the + meantime, proceed after her own way, who had done but well, had she + endowed this member with some particular privilege; the author of the sole + immortal work of mortals; a divine work, according to Socrates; and love, + the desire of immortality, and himself an immortal demon. + </p> + <p> + Some one, perhaps, by such an effect of imagination may have had the good + luck to leave behind him here, the scrofula, which his companion who has + come after, has carried with him into Spain. And ‘tis for this + reason you may see why men in such cases require a mind prepared for the + thing that is to be done. Why do the physicians possess, before hand, + their patients’ credulity with so many false promises of cure, if + not to the end, that the effect of imagination may supply the imposture of + their decoctions? They know very well, that a great master of their trade + has given it under his hand, that he has known some with whom the very + sight of physic would work. All which conceits come now into my head, by + the remembrance of a story was told me by a domestic apothecary of my + father’s, a blunt Swiss, a nation not much addicted to vanity and + lying, of a merchant he had long known at Toulouse, who being a + valetudinary, and much afflicted with the stone, had often occasion to + take clysters, of which he caused several sorts to be prescribed him by + the physicians, acccording to the accidents of his disease; which, being + brought him, and none of the usual forms, as feeling if it were not too + hot, and the like, being omitted, he lay down, the syringe advanced, and + all ceremonies performed, injection alone excepted; after which, the + apothecary being gone, and the patient accommodated as if he had really + received a clyster, he found the same operation and effect that those do + who have taken one indeed; and if at any time the physician did not find + the operation sufficient, he would usually give him two or three more + doses, after the same manner. And the fellow swore, that to save charges + (for he paid as if he had really taken them) this sick man’s wife, + having sometimes made trial of warm water only, the effect discovered the + cheat, and finding these would do no good, was fain to return to the old + way. + </p> + <p> + A woman fancying she had swallowed a pin in a piece of bread, cried and + lamented as though she had an intolerable pain in her throat, where she + thought she felt it stick; but an ingenious fellow that was brought to + her, seeing no outward tumour nor alteration, supposing it to be only a + conceit taken at some crust of bread that had hurt her as it went down, + caused her to vomit, and, unseen, threw a crooked pin into the basin, + which the woman no sooner saw, but believing she had cast it up, she + presently found herself eased of her pain. I myself knew a gentleman, who + having treated a large company at his house, three or four days after + bragged in jest (for there was no such thing), that he had made them eat + of a baked cat; at which, a young gentlewoman, who had been at the feast, + took such a horror, that falling into a violent vomiting and fever, there + was no possible means to save her. Even brute beasts are subject to the + force of imagination as well as we; witness dogs, who die of grief for the + loss of their masters; and bark and tremble and start in their sleep; so + horses will kick and whinny in their sleep. + </p> + <p> + Now all this may be attributed to the close affinity and relation betwixt + the soul and the body intercommunicating their fortunes; but ‘tis + quite another thing when the imagination works not only upon one’s + own particular body, but upon that of others also. And as an infected body + communicates its malady to those that approach or live near it, as we see + in the plague, the smallpox, and sore eyes, that run through whole + families and cities:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum spectant oculi laesos, laeduntur et ipsi; + Multaque corporibus transitione nocent.” + + [“When we look at people with sore eyes, our own eyes become sore. + Many things are hurtful to our bodies by transition.” + —Ovid, De Rem. Amor., 615.] +</pre> + <p> + —so the imagination, being vehemently agitated, darts out infection + capable of offending the foreign object. The ancients had an opinion of + certain women of Scythia, that being animated and enraged against any one, + they killed him only with their looks. Tortoises and ostriches hatch their + eggs with only looking on them, which infers that their eyes have in them + some ejaculative virtue. And the eyes of witches are said to be assailant + and hurtful:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos.” + + [“Some eye, I know not whose is bewitching my tender lambs.” + —Virgil, Eclog., iii. 103.] +</pre> + <p> + Magicians are no very good authority with me. But we experimentally see + that women impart the marks of their fancy to the children they carry in + the womb; witness her that was brought to bed of a Moor; and there was + presented to Charles the Emperor and King of Bohemia, a girl from about + Pisa, all over rough and covered with hair, whom her mother said to be so + conceived by reason of a picture of St. John the Baptist, that hung within + the curtains of her bed. + </p> + <p> + It is the same with beasts; witness Jacob’s sheep, and the hares and + partridges that the snow turns white upon the mountains. There was at my + house, a little while ago, a cat seen watching a bird upon the top of a + tree: these, for some time, mutually fixing their eyes one upon another, + the bird at last let herself fall dead into the cat’s claws, either + dazzled by the force of its own imagination, or drawn by some attractive + power of the cat. Such as are addicted to the pleasures of the field, + have, I make no question, heard the story of the falconer, who having + earnestly fixed his eyes upon a kite in the air; laid a wager that he + would bring her down with the sole power of his sight, and did so, as it + was said; for the tales I borrow I charge upon the consciences of those + from whom I have them. The discourses are my own, and found themselves + upon the proofs of reason, not of experience; to which every one has + liberty to add his own examples; and who has none, let him not forbear, + the number and varieties of accidents considered, to believe that there + are plenty of them; if I do not apply them well, let some other do it for + me. And, also, in the subject of which I treat, our manners and motions, + testimonies and instances; how fabulous soever, provided they are + possible, serve as well as the true; whether they have really happened or + no, at Rome or Paris, to John or Peter, ‘tis still within the verge + of human capacity, which serves me to good use. I see, and make my + advantage of it, as well in shadow as in substance; and amongst the + various readings thereof in history, I cull out the most rare and + memorable to fit my own turn. There are authors whose only end and design + it is to give an account of things that have happened; mine, if I could + arrive unto it, should be to deliver of what may happen. There is a just + liberty allowed in the schools, of supposing similitudes, when they have + none at hand. I do not, however, make any use of that privilege, and as to + that matter, in superstitious religion, surpass all historical authority. + In the examples which I here bring in, of what I have heard, read, done, + or said, I have forbidden myself to dare to alter even the most light and + indifferent circumstances; my conscience does not falsify one tittle; what + my ignorance may do, I cannot say. + </p> + <p> + And this it is that makes me sometimes doubt in my own mind, whether a + divine, or a philosopher, and such men of exact and tender prudence and + conscience, are fit to write history: for how can they stake their + reputation upon a popular faith? how be responsible for the opinions of + men they do not know? and with what assurance deliver their conjectures + for current pay? Of actions performed before their own eyes, wherein + several persons were actors, they would be unwilling to give evidence upon + oath before a judge; and there is no man, so familiarly known to them, for + whose intentions they would become absolute caution. For my part, I think + it less hazardous to write of things past, than present, by how much the + writer is only to give an account of things every one knows he must of + necessity borrow upon trust. + </p> + <p> + I am solicited to write the affairs of my own time by some, who fancy I + look upon them with an eye less blinded with passion than another, and + have a clearer insight into them by reason of the free access fortune has + given me to the heads of various factions; but they do not consider, that + to purchase the glory of Sallust, I would not give myself the trouble, + sworn enemy as I am to obligation, assiduity, or perseverance: that there + is nothing so contrary to my style, as a continued narrative, I so often + interrupt and cut myself short in my writing for want of breath; I have + neither composition nor explanation worth anything, and am ignorant, + beyond a child, of the phrases and even the very words proper to express + the most common things; and for that reason it is, that I have undertaken + to say only what I can say, and have accommodated my subject to my + strength. Should I take one to be my guide, peradventure I should not be + able to keep pace with him; and in the freedom of my liberty might deliver + judgments, which upon better thoughts, and according to reason, would be + illegitimate and punishable. Plutarch would say of what he has delivered + to us, that it is the work of others: that his examples are all and + everywhere exactly true: that they are useful to posterity, and are + presented with a lustre that will light us the way to virtue, is his own + work. It is not of so dangerous consequence, as in a medicinal drug, + whether an old story be so or so. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI——THAT THE PROFIT OF ONE MAN IS THE DAMAGE OF + ANOTHER + </h2> + <p> + Demades the Athenian—[Seneca, De Beneficiis, vi. 38, whence nearly + the whole of this chapter is taken.]—condemned one of his city, + whose trade it was to sell the necessaries for funeral ceremonies, upon + pretence that he demanded unreasonable profit, and that that profit could + not accrue to him, but by the death of a great number of people. A + judgment that appears to be ill grounded, forasmuch as no profit whatever + can possibly be made but at the expense of another, and that by the same + rule he should condemn all gain of what kind soever. The merchant only + thrives by the debauchery of youth, the husband man by the dearness of + grain, the architect by the ruin of buildings, lawyers and officers of + justice by the suits and contentions of men: nay, even the honour and + office of divines are derived from our death and vices. A physician takes + no pleasure in the health even of his friends, says the ancient Greek + comic writer, nor a soldier in the peace of his country, and so of the + rest. And, which is yet worse, let every one but dive into his own bosom, + and he will find his private wishes spring and his secret hopes grow up at + another’s expense. Upon which consideration it comes into my head, + that nature does not in this swerve from her general polity; for + physicians hold, that the birth, nourishment, and increase of every thing + is the dissolution and corruption of another: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam quodcumque suis mutatum finibus exit, + Continuo hoc mors est illius, quod fuit ante.” + + [“For, whatever from its own confines passes changed, this is at + once the death of that which before it was.”—Lucretius, ii. 752.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII——OF CUSTOM, AND THAT WE SHOULD NOT EASILY CHANGE + A LAW RECEIVED + </h2> + <p> + He seems to me to have had a right and true apprehension of the power of + custom, who first invented the story of a country-woman who, having + accustomed herself to play with and carry a young calf in her arms, and + daily continuing to do so as it grew up, obtained this by custom, that, + when grown to be a great ox, she was still able to bear it. For, in truth, + custom is a violent and treacherous schoolmistress. She, by little and + little, slily and unperceived, slips in the foot of her authority, but + having by this gentle and humble beginning, with the benefit of time, + fixed and established it, she then unmasks a furious and tyrannic + countenance, against which we have no more the courage or the power so + much as to lift up our eyes. We see her, at every turn, forcing and + violating the rules of nature: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Usus efficacissimus rerum omnium magister.” + + [“Custom is the best master of all things.” + —Pliny, Nat. Hist.,xxvi. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + I refer to her Plato’s cave in his Republic, and the physicians, who + so often submit the reasons of their art to her authority; as the story of + that king, who by custom brought his stomach to that pass, as to live by + poison, and the maid that Albertus reports to have lived upon spiders. In + that new world of the Indies, there were found great nations, and in very + differing climates, who were of the same diet, made provision of them, and + fed them for their tables; as also, they did grasshoppers, mice, lizards, + and bats; and in a time of scarcity of such delicacies, a toad was sold + for six crowns, all which they cook, and dish up with several sauces. + There were also others found, to whom our diet, and the flesh we eat, were + venomous and mortal: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Consuetudinis magna vis est: pernoctant venatores in nive: + in montibus uri se patiuntur: pugiles, caestibus contusi, + ne ingemiscunt quidem.” + + [“The power of custom is very great: huntsmen will lie out all + night in the snow, or suffer themselves to be burned up by the sun + on the mountains; boxers, hurt by the caestus, never utter a + groan.”—Cicero, Tusc., ii. 17] +</pre> + <p> + These strange examples will not appear so strange if we consider what we + have ordinary experience of, how much custom stupefies our senses. We need + not go to what is reported of the people about the cataracts of the Nile; + and what philosophers believe of the music of the spheres, that the bodies + of those circles being solid and smooth, and coming to touch and rub upon + one another, cannot fail of creating a marvellous harmony, the changes and + cadences of which cause the revolutions and dances of the stars; but that + the hearing sense of all creatures here below, being universally, like + that of the Egyptians, deafened, and stupefied with the continual noise, + cannot, how great soever, perceive it—[This passage is taken from + Cicero, “Dream of Scipio”; see his De Republica, vi. II. The + Egyptians were said to be stunned by the noise of the Cataracts.]— + Smiths, millers, pewterers, forgemen, and armourers could never be able to + live in the perpetual noise of their own trades, did it strike their ears + with the same violence that it does ours. + </p> + <p> + My perfumed doublet gratifies my own scent at first; but after I have worn + it three days together, ‘tis only pleasing to the bystanders. This + is yet more strange, that custom, notwithstanding long intermissions and + intervals, should yet have the power to unite and establish the effect of + its impressions upon our senses, as is manifest in such as live near unto + steeples and the frequent noise of the bells. I myself lie at home in a + tower, where every morning and evening a very great bell rings out the Ave + Maria: the noise shakes my very tower, and at first seemed insupportable + to me; but I am so used to it, that I hear it without any manner of + offence, and often without awaking at it. + </p> + <p> + Plato—[Diogenes Laertius, iii. 38. But he whom Plato censured was + not a boy playing at nuts, but a man throwing dice.]—reprehending a + boy for playing at nuts, “Thou reprovest me,” says the boy, + “for a very little thing.” “Custom,” replied + Plato, “is no little thing.” I find that our greatest vices + derive their first propensity from our most tender infancy, and that our + principal education depends upon the nurse. Mothers are mightily pleased + to see a child writhe off the neck of a chicken, or to please itself with + hurting a dog or a cat; and such wise fathers there are in the world, who + look upon it as a notable mark of a martial spirit, when they hear a son + miscall, or see him domineer over a poor peasant, or a lackey, that dares + not reply, nor turn again; and a great sign of wit, when they see him + cheat and overreach his playfellow by some malicious treachery and deceit. + Yet these are the true seeds and roots of cruelty, tyranny, and treason; + they bud and put out there, and afterwards shoot up vigorously, and grow + to prodigious bulk, cultivated by custom. And it is a very dangerous + mistake to excuse these vile inclinations upon the tenderness of their + age, and the triviality of the subject: first, it is nature that speaks, + whose declaration is then more sincere, and inward thoughts more + undisguised, as it is more weak and young; secondly, the deformity of + cozenage does not consist nor depend upon the difference betwixt crowns + and pins; but I rather hold it more just to conclude thus: why should he + not cozen in crowns since he does it in pins, than as they do, who say + they only play for pins, they would not do it if it were for money? + Children should carefully be instructed to abhor vices for their own + contexture; and the natural deformity of those vices ought so to be + represented to them, that they may not only avoid them in their actions, + but especially so to abominate them in their hearts, that the very thought + should be hateful to them, with what mask soever they may be disguised. + </p> + <p> + I know very well, for what concerns myself, that from having been brought + up in my childhood to a plain and straightforward way of dealing, and from + having had an aversion to all manner of juggling and foul play in my + childish sports and recreations (and, indeed, it is to be noted, that the + plays of children are not performed in play, but are to be judged in them + as their most serious actions), there is no game so small wherein from my + own bosom naturally, and without study or endeavour, I have not an extreme + aversion from deceit. I shuffle and cut and make as much clatter with the + cards, and keep as strict account for farthings, as it were for double + pistoles; when winning or losing against my wife and daughter, ‘tis + indifferent to me, as when I play in good earnest with others, for round + sums. At all times, and in all places, my own eyes are sufficient to look + to my fingers; I am not so narrowly watched by any other, neither is there + any I have more respect to. + </p> + <p> + I saw the other day, at my own house, a little fellow, a native of Nantes, + born without arms, who has so well taught his feet to perform the services + his hands should have done him, that truly these have half forgotten their + natural office; and, indeed, the fellow calls them his hands; with them he + cuts anything, charges and discharges a pistol, threads a needle, sews, + writes, puts off his hat, combs his head, plays at cards and dice, and all + this with as much dexterity as any other could do who had more, and more + proper limbs to assist him. The money I gave him—for he gains his + living by shewing these feats—he took in his foot, as we do in our + hand. I have seen another who, being yet a boy, flourished a two-handed + sword, and, if I may so say, handled a halberd with the mere motions of + his neck and shoulders for want of hands; tossed them into the air, and + caught them again, darted a dagger, and cracked a whip as well as any + coachman in France. + </p> + <p> + But the effects of custom are much more manifest in the strange + impressions she imprints in our minds, where she meets with less + resistance. What has she not the power to impose upon our judgments and + beliefs? Is there any so fantastic opinion (omitting the gross impostures + of religions, with which we see so many great nations, and so many + understanding men, so strangely besotted; for this being beyond the reach + of human reason, any error is more excusable in such as are not endued, + through the divine bounty, with an extraordinary illumination from above), + but, of other opinions, are there any so extravagant, that she has not + planted and established for laws in those parts of the world upon which + she has been pleased to exercise her power? And therefore that ancient + exclamation was exceeding just: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non pudet physicum, id est speculatorem venatoremque naturae, + ab animis consuetudine imbutis petere testimonium veritatis?” + + [“Is it not a shame for a natural philosopher, that is, for an + observer and hunter of nature, to seek testimony of the truth from + minds prepossessed by custom?”—Cicero, De Natura Deor., i. 30.] +</pre> + <p> + I do believe, that no so absurd or ridiculous fancy can enter into human + imagination, that does not meet with some example of public practice, and + that, consequently, our reason does not ground and back up. There are + people, amongst whom it is the fashion to turn their backs upon him they + salute, and never look upon the man they intend to honour. There is a + place, where, whenever the king spits, the greatest ladies of his court + put out their hands to receive it; and another nation, where the most + eminent persons about him stoop to take up his ordure in a linen cloth. + Let us here steal room to insert a story. + </p> + <p> + A French gentleman was always wont to blow his nose with his fingers (a + thing very much against our fashion), and he justifying himself for so + doing, and he was a man famous for pleasant repartees, he asked me, what + privilege this filthy excrement had, that we must carry about us a fine + handkerchief to receive it, and, which was more, afterwards to lap it + carefully up, and carry it all day about in our pockets, which, he said, + could not but be much more nauseous and offensive, than to see it thrown + away, as we did all other evacuations. I found that what he said was not + altogether without reason, and by being frequently in his company, that + slovenly action of his was at last grown familiar to me; which + nevertheless we make a face at, when we hear it reported of another + country. Miracles appear to be so, according to our ignorance of nature, + and not according to the essence of nature the continually being + accustomed to anything, blinds the eye of our judgment. Barbarians are no + more a wonder to us, than we are to them; nor with any more reason, as + every one would confess, if after having travelled over those remote + examples, men could settle themselves to reflect upon, and rightly to + confer them, with their own. Human reason is a tincture almost equally + infused into all our opinions and manners, of what form soever they are; + infinite in matter, infinite in diversity. But I return to my subject. + </p> + <p> + There are peoples, where, his wife and children excepted, no one speaks to + the king but through a tube. In one and the same nation, the virgins + discover those parts that modesty should persuade them to hide, and the + married women carefully cover and conceal them. To which, this custom, in + another place, has some relation, where chastity, but in marriage, is of + no esteem, for unmarried women may prostitute themselves to as many as + they please, and being got with child, may lawfully take physic, in the + sight of every one, to destroy their fruit. And, in another place, if a + tradesman marry, all of the same condition, who are invited to the + wedding, lie with the bride before him; and the greater number of them + there is, the greater is her honour, and the opinion of her ability and + strength: if an officer marry, ‘tis the same, the same with a + labourer, or one of mean condition; but then it belongs to the lord of the + place to perform that office; and yet a severe loyalty during marriage is + afterward strictly enjoined. There are places where brothels of young men + are kept for the pleasure of women; where the wives go to war as well as + the husbands, and not only share in the dangers of battle, but, moreover, + in the honours of command. Others, where they wear rings not only through + their noses, lips, cheeks, and on their toes, but also weighty gimmals of + gold thrust through their paps and buttocks; where, in eating, they wipe + their fingers upon their thighs, genitories, and the soles of their feet: + where children are excluded, and brothers and nephews only inherit; and + elsewhere, nephews only, saving in the succession of the prince: where, + for the regulation of community in goods and estates, observed in the + country, certain sovereign magistrates have committed to them the + universal charge and overseeing of the agriculture, and distribution of + the fruits, according to the necessity of every one where they lament the + death of children, and feast at the decease of old men: where they lie ten + or twelve in a bed, men and their wives together: where women, whose + husbands come to violent ends, may marry again, and others not: where the + condition of women is looked upon with such contempt, that they kill all + the native females, and buy wives of their neighbours to supply their use; + where husbands may repudiate their wives, without showing any cause, but + wives cannot part from their husbands, for what cause soever; where + husbands may sell their wives in case of sterility; where they boil the + bodies of their dead, and afterward pound them to a pulp, which they mix + with their wine, and drink it; where the most coveted sepulture is to be + eaten by dogs, and elsewhere by birds; where they believe the souls of the + blessed live in all manner of liberty, in delightful fields, furnished + with all sorts of delicacies, and that it is these souls, repeating the + words we utter, which we call Echo; where they fight in the water, and + shoot their arrows with the most mortal aim, swimming; where, for a sign + of subjection, they lift up their shoulders, and hang down their heads; + where they put off their shoes when they enter the king’s palace; + where the eunuchs, who take charge of the sacred women, have, moreover, + their lips and noses cut off, that they may not be loved; where the + priests put out their own eyes, to be better acquainted with their demons, + and the better to receive their oracles; where every one makes to himself + a deity of what he likes best; the hunter of a lion or a fox, the fisher + of some fish; idols of every human action or passion; in which place, the + sun, the moon, and the earth are the ‘principal deities, and the + form of taking an oath is, to touch the earth, looking up to heaven; where + both flesh and fish is eaten raw; where the greatest oath they take is, to + swear by the name of some dead person of reputation, laying their hand + upon his tomb; where the newyear’s gift the king sends every year to + the princes, his vassals, is fire, which being brought, all the old fire + is put out, and the neighbouring people are bound to fetch of the new, + every one for themselves, upon pain of high treason; where, when the king, + to betake himself wholly to devotion, retires from his administration + (which often falls out), his next successor is obliged to do the same, and + the right of the kingdom devolves to the third in succession: where they + vary the form of government, according to the seeming necessity of + affairs: depose the king when they think good, substituting certain elders + to govern in his stead, and sometimes transferring it into the hands of + the commonality: where men and women are both circumcised and also + baptized: where the soldier, who in one or several engagements, has been + so fortunate as to present seven of the enemies’ heads to the king, + is made noble: where they live in that rare and unsociable opinion of the + mortality of the soul: where the women are delivered without pain or fear: + where the women wear copper leggings upon both legs, and if a louse bite + them, are bound in magnanimity to bite them again, and dare not marry, + till first they have made their king a tender of their virginity, if he + please to accept it: where the ordinary way of salutation is by putting a + finger down to the earth, and then pointing it up toward heaven: where men + carry burdens upon their heads, and women on their shoulders; where the + women make water standing, and the men squatting: where they send their + blood in token of friendship, and offer incense to the men they would + honour, like gods: where, not only to the fourth, but in any other remote + degree, kindred are not permitted to marry: where the children are four + years at nurse, and often twelve; in which place, also, it is accounted + mortal to give the child suck the first day after it is born: where the + correction of the male children is peculiarly designed to the fathers, and + to the mothers of the girls; the punishment being to hang them by the + heels in the smoke: where they circumcise the women: where they eat all + sorts of herbs, without other scruple than of the badness of the smell: + where all things are open the finest houses, furnished in the richest + manner, without doors, windows, trunks, or chests to lock, a thief being + there punished double what they are in other places: where they crack lice + with their teeth like monkeys, and abhor to see them killed with one’s + nails: where in all their lives they neither cut their hair nor pare their + nails; and, in another place, pare those of the right hand only, letting + the left grow for ornament and bravery: where they suffer the hair on the + right side to grow as long as it will, and shave the other; and in the + neighbouring provinces, some let their hair grow long before, and some + behind, shaving close the rest: where parents let out their children, and + husbands their wives, to their guests to hire: where a man may get his own + mother with child, and fathers make use of their own daughters or sons, + without scandal: where, at their solemn feasts, they interchangeably lend + their children to one another, without any consideration of nearness of + blood. In one place, men feed upon human flesh; in another, ‘tis + reputed a pious office for a man to kill his father at a certain age; + elsewhere, the fathers dispose of their children, whilst yet in their + mothers’ wombs, some to be preserved and carefully brought up, and + others to be abandoned or made away. Elsewhere the old husbands lend their + wives to young men; and in another place they are in common without + offence; in one place particularly, the women take it for a mark of honour + to have as many gay fringed tassels at the bottom of their garment, as + they have lain with several men. Moreover, has not custom made a republic + of women separately by themselves? has it not put arms into their hands, + and made them raise armies and fight battles? And does she not, by her own + precept, instruct the most ignorant vulgar, and make them perfect in + things which all the philosophy in the world could never beat into the + heads of the wisest men? For we know entire nations, where death was not + only despised, but entertained with the greatest triumph; where children + of seven years old suffered themselves to be whipped to death, without + changing countenance; where riches were in such contempt, that the meanest + citizen would not have deigned to stoop to take up a purse of crowns. And + we know regions, very fruitful in all manner of provisions, where, + notwithstanding, the most ordinary diet, and that they are most pleased + with, is only bread, cresses, and water. Did not custom, moreover, work + that miracle in Chios that, in seven hundred years, it was never known + that ever maid or wife committed any act to the prejudice of her honour? + </p> + <p> + To conclude; there is nothing, in my opinion, that she does not, or may + not do; and therefore, with very good reason it is that Pindar calls her + the ruler of the world. He that was seen to beat his father, and reproved + for so doing, made answer, that it was the custom of their family; that, + in like manner, his father had beaten his grandfather, his grandfather his + great-grandfather, “And this,” says he, pointing to his son, + “when he comes to my age, shall beat me.” And the father, whom + the son dragged and hauled along the streets, commanded him to stop at a + certain door, for he himself, he said, had dragged his father no farther, + that being the utmost limit of the hereditary outrage the sons used to + practise upon the fathers in their family. It is as much by custom as + infirmity, says Aristotle, that women tear their hair, bite their nails, + and eat coals and earth, and more by custom than nature that men abuse + themselves with one another. + </p> + <p> + The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, + proceed from custom; every one, having an inward veneration for the + opinions and manners approved and received amongst his own people, cannot, + without very great reluctance, depart from them, nor apply himself to them + without applause. In times past, when those of Crete would curse any one, + they prayed the gods to engage him in some ill custom. But the principal + effect of its power is, so to seize and ensnare us, that it is hardly in + us to disengage ourselves from its gripe, or so to come to ourselves, as + to consider of and to weigh the things it enjoins. To say the truth, by + reason that we suck it in with our milk, and that the face of the world + presents itself in this posture to our first sight, it seems as if we were + born upon condition to follow on this track; and the common fancies that + we find in repute everywhere about us, and infused into our minds with the + seed of our fathers, appear to be the most universal and genuine; from + whence it comes to pass, that whatever is off the hinges of custom, is + believed to be also off the hinges of reason; how unreasonably for the + most part, God knows. + </p> + <p> + If, as we who study ourselves have learned to do, every one who hears a + good sentence, would immediately consider how it does in any way touch his + own private concern, every one would find, that it was not so much a good + saying, as a severe lash to the ordinary stupidity of his own judgment: + but men receive the precepts and admonitions of truth, as directed to the + common sort, and never to themselves; and instead of applying them to + their own manners, do only very ignorantly and unprofitably commit them to + memory. But let us return to the empire of custom. + </p> + <p> + Such people as have been bred up to liberty, and subject to no other + dominion but the authority of their own will, look upon all other form of + government as monstrous and contrary to nature. Those who are inured to + monarchy do the same; and what opportunity soever fortune presents them + with to change, even then, when with the greatest difficulties they have + disengaged themselves from one master, that was troublesome and grievous + to them, they presently run, with the same difficulties, to create + another; being unable to take into hatred subjection itself. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis by the mediation of custom, that every one is content with the + place where he is planted by nature; and the Highlanders of Scotland no + more pant after Touraine; than the Scythians after Thessaly. Darius asking + certain Greeks what they would take to assume the custom of the Indians, + of eating the dead bodies of their fathers (for that was their use, + believing they could not give them a better nor more noble sepulture than + to bury them in their own bodies), they made answer, that nothing in the + world should hire them to do it; but having also tried to persuade the + Indians to leave their custom, and, after the Greek manner, to burn the + bodies of their fathers, they conceived a still greater horror at the + motion.—[Herodotus, iii. 38.]—Every one does the same, for use + veils from us the true aspect of things. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nil adeo magnum, nec tam mirabile quidquam + Principio, quod non minuant mirarier omnes Paullatim.” + + [“There is nothing at first so grand, so admirable, which by degrees + people do not regard with less admiration.”—Lucretius, ii. 1027] +</pre> + <p> + Taking upon me once to justify something in use amongst us, and that was + received with absolute authority for a great many leagues round about us, + and not content, as men commonly do, to establish it only by force of law + and example, but inquiring still further into its origin, I found the + foundation so weak, that I who made it my business to confirm others, was + very near being dissatisfied myself. ‘Tis by this receipt that Plato + —[Laws, viii. 6.]—undertakes to cure the unnatural and + preposterous loves of his time, as one which he esteems of sovereign + virtue, namely, that the public opinion condemns them; that the poets, and + all other sorts of writers, relate horrible stories of them; a recipe, by + virtue of which the most beautiful daughters no more allure their fathers’ + lust; nor brothers, of the finest shape and fashion, their sisters’ + desire; the very fables of Thyestes, OEdipus, and Macareus, having with + the harmony of their song, infused this wholesome opinion and belief into + the tender brains of children. Chastity is, in truth, a great and shining + virtue, and of which the utility is sufficiently known; but to treat of + it, and to set it off in its true value, according to nature, is as hard + as ‘tis easy to do so according to custom, laws, and precepts. The + fundamental and universal reasons are of very obscure and difficult + research, and our masters either lightly pass them over, or not daring so + much as to touch them, precipitate themselves into the liberty and + protection of custom, there puffing themselves out and triumphing to their + heart’s content: such as will not suffer themselves to be withdrawn + from this original source, do yet commit a greater error, and subject + themselves to wild opinions; witness Chrysippus,—[Sextus Empiricus, + Pyyrhon. Hypotyp., i. 14.]—who, in so many of his writings, has + strewed the little account he made of incestuous conjunctions, committed + with how near relations soever. + </p> + <p> + Whoever would disengage himself from this violent prejudice of custom, + would find several things received with absolute and undoubting opinion, + that have no other support than the hoary head and rivelled face of + ancient usage. But the mask taken off, and things being referred to the + decision of truth and reason, he will find his judgment as it were + altogether overthrown, and yet restored to a much more sure estate. For + example, I shall ask him, what can be more strange than to see a people + obliged to obey laws they never understood; bound in all their domestic + affairs, as marriages, donations, wills, sales, and purchases, to rules + they cannot possibly know, being neither written nor published in their + own language, and of which they are of necessity to purchase both the + interpretation and the use? Not according to the ingenious opinion of + Isocrates,—[Discourse to Nicocles.]—who counselled his king to + make the traffics and negotiations of his subjects, free, frank, and of + profit to them, and their quarrels and disputes burdensome, and laden with + heavy impositions and penalties; but, by a prodigious opinion, to make + sale of reason itself, and to give to laws a course of merchandise. I + think myself obliged to fortune that, as our historians report, it was a + Gascon gentleman, a countryman of mine, who first opposed Charlemagne, + when he attempted to impose upon us Latin and imperial laws. + </p> + <p> + What can be more savage, than to see a nation where, by lawful custom, the + office of a judge is bought and sold, where judgments are paid for with + ready money, and where justice may legitimately be denied to him that has + not wherewithal to pay; a merchandise in so great repute, as in a + government to create a fourth estate of wrangling lawyers, to add to the + three ancient ones of the church, nobility, and people; which fourth + estate, having the laws in their own hands, and sovereign power over men’s + lives and fortunes, makes another body separate from nobility: whence it + comes to pass, that there are double laws, those of honour and those of + justice, in many things altogether opposite one to another; the nobles as + rigorously condemning a lie taken, as the other do a lie revenged: by the + law of arms, he shall be degraded from all nobility and honour who puts up + with an affront; and by the civil law, he who vindicates his reputation by + revenge incurs a capital punishment: he who applies himself to the law for + reparation of an offence done to his honour, disgraces himself; and he who + does not, is censured and punished by the law. Yet of these two so + different things, both of them referring to one head, the one has the + charge of peace, the other of war; those have the profit, these the + honour; those the wisdom, these the virtue; those the word, these the + action; those justice, these valour; those reason, these force; those the + long robe, these the short;—divided betwixt them. + </p> + <p> + For what concerns indifferent things, as clothes, who is there seeking to + bring them back to their true use, which is the body’s service and + convenience, and upon which their original grace and fitness depend; for + the most fantastic, in my opinion, that can be imagined, I will instance + amongst others, our flat caps, that long tail of velvet that hangs down + from our women’s heads, with its party-coloured trappings; and that + vain and futile model of a member we cannot in modesty so much as name, + which, nevertheless, we make show and parade of in public. These + considerations, notwithstanding, will not prevail upon any understanding + man to decline the common mode; but, on the contrary, methinks, all + singular and particular fashions are rather marks of folly and vain + affectation than of sound reason, and that a wise man, within, ought to + withdraw and retire his soul from the crowd, and there keep it at liberty + and in power to judge freely of things; but as to externals, absolutely to + follow and conform himself to the fashion of the time. Public society has + nothing to do with our thoughts, but the rest, as our actions, our + labours, our fortunes, and our lives, we are to lend and abandon them to + its service and to the common opinion, as did that good and great Socrates + who refused to preserve his life by a disobedience to the magistrate, + though a very wicked and unjust one for it is the rule of rules, the + general law of laws, that every one observe those of the place wherein he + lives. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“It is good to obey the laws of one’s country.” + —Excerpta ex Trag. Gyaecis, Grotio interp., 1626, p. 937.] +</pre> + <p> + And now to another point. It is a very great doubt, whether any so + manifest benefit can accrue from the alteration of a law received, let it + be what it will, as there is danger and inconvenience in altering it; + forasmuch as government is a structure composed of divers parts and + members joined and united together, with so strict connection, that it is + impossible to stir so much as one brick or stone, but the whole body will + be sensible of it. The legislator of the Thurians—[Charondas; Diod. + Sic., xii. 24.]—ordained, that whosoever would go about either to + abolish an old law, or to establish a new, should present himself with a + halter about his neck to the people, to the end, that if the innovation he + would introduce should not be approved by every one, he might immediately + be hanged; and he of the Lacedaemonians employed his life to obtain from + his citizens a faithful promise that none of his laws should be violated.—[Lycurgus; + Plutarch, in Vita, c. 22.]—The Ephoros who so rudely cut the two + strings that Phrynis had added to music never stood to examine whether + that addition made better harmony, or that by its means the instrument was + more full and complete; it was enough for him to condemn the invention, + that it was a novelty, and an alteration of the old fashion. Which also is + the meaning of the old rusty sword carried before the magistracy of + Marseilles. + </p> + <p> + For my own part, I have a great aversion from a novelty, what face or what + pretence soever it may carry along with it, and have reason, having been + an eyewitness of the great evils it has produced. For those which for so + many years have lain so heavy upon us, it is not wholly accountable; but + one may say, with colour enough, that it has accidentally produced and + begotten the mischiefs and ruin that have since happened, both without and + against it; it, principally, we are to accuse for these disorders: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Heu! patior telis vulnera facta meis.” + + [“Alas! The wounds were made by my own weapons.” + —Ovid, Ep. Phyll. Demophoonti, vers. 48.] +</pre> + <p> + They who give the first shock to a state, are almost naturally the first + overwhelmed in its ruin the fruits of public commotion are seldom enjoyed + by him who was the first motor; he beats and disturbs the water for + another’s net. The unity and contexture of this monarchy, of this + grand edifice, having been ripped and torn in her old age, by this thing + called innovation, has since laid open a rent, and given sufficient + admittance to such injuries: the royal majesty with greater difficulty + declines from the summit to the middle, then it falls and tumbles headlong + from the middle to the bottom. But if the inventors do the greater + mischief, the imitators are more vicious to follow examples of which they + have felt and punished both the horror and the offence. And if there can + be any degree of honour in ill-doing, these last must yield to the others + the glory of contriving, and the courage of making the first attempt. All + sorts of new disorders easily draw, from this primitive and ever-flowing + fountain, examples and precedents to trouble and discompose our + government: we read in our very laws, made for the remedy of this first + evil, the beginning and pretences of all sorts of wicked enterprises; and + that befalls us, which Thucydides said of the civil wars of his time, + that, in favour of public vices, they gave them new and more plausible + names for their excuse, sweetening and disguising their true titles; which + must be done, forsooth, to reform our conscience and belief: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Honesta oratio est;” + + [“Fine words truly.”—Ter. And., i. I, 114.] +</pre> + <p> + but the best pretence for innovation is of very dangerous consequence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aden nihil motum ex antiquo probabile est.” + + [“We are ever wrong in changing ancient ways.”—Livy, xxxiv. 54] +</pre> + <p> + And freely to speak my thoughts, it argues a strange self-love and great + presumption to be so fond of one’s own opinions, that a public peace + must be overthrown to establish them, and to introduce so many inevitable + mischiefs, and so dreadful a corruption of manners, as a civil war and the + mutations of state consequent to it, always bring in their train, and to + introduce them, in a thing of so high concern, into the bowels of one’s + own country. Can there be worse husbandry than to set up so many certain + and knowing vices against errors that are only contested and disputable? + And are there any worse sorts of vices than those committed against a man’s + own conscience, and the natural light of his own reason? The Senate, upon + the dispute betwixt it and the people about the administration of their + religion, was bold enough to return this evasion for current pay: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ad deos id magis, quam ad se, pertinere: ipsos visuros, + ne sacra sua polluantur;” + + [“Those things belong to the gods to determine than to them; let the + gods, therefore, take care that their sacred mysteries were not + profaned.”—Livy, x. 6.] +</pre> + <p> + according to what the oracle answered to those of Delphos who, fearing to + be invaded by the Persians in the Median war, inquired of Apollo, how they + should dispose of the holy treasure of his temple; whether they should + hide, or remove it to some other place? He returned them answer, that they + should stir nothing from thence, and only take care of themselves, for he + was sufficient to look to what belonged to him. —[Herodotus, viii. + 36.].— + </p> + <p> + The Christian religion has all the marks of the utmost utility and + justice: but none more manifest than the severe injunction it lays + indifferently upon all to yield absolute obedience to the civil + magistrate, and to maintain and defend the laws. Of which, what a + wonderful example has the divine wisdom left us, that, to establish the + salvation of mankind, and to conduct His glorious victory over death and + sin, would do it after no other way, but at the mercy of our ordinary + forms of justice subjecting the progress and issue of so high and so + salutiferous an effect, to the blindness and injustice of our customs and + observances; sacrificing the innocent blood of so many of His elect, and + so long a loss of so many years, to the maturing of this inestimable + fruit? There is a vast difference betwixt the case of one who follows the + forms and laws of his country, and of another who will undertake to + regulate and change them; of whom the first pleads simplicity, obedience, + and example for his excuse, who, whatever he shall do, it cannot be + imputed to malice; ‘tis at the worst but misfortune: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis est enim, quem non moveat clarissimis monumentis + testata consignataque antiquitas?” + + [“For who is there that antiquity, attested and confirmed by the + fairest monuments, cannot move?”—Cicero, De Divin., i. 40.] +</pre> + <p> + besides what Isocrates says, that defect is nearer allied to moderation + than excess: the other is a much more ruffling gamester; for whosoever + shall take upon him to choose and alter, usurps the authority of judging, + and should look well about him, and make it his business to discern + clearly the defect of what he would abolish, and the virtue of what he is + about to introduce. + </p> + <p> + This so vulgar consideration is that which settled me in my station, and + kept even my most extravagant and ungoverned youth under the rein, so as + not to burden my shoulders with so great a weight, as to render myself + responsible for a science of that importance, and in this to dare, what in + my better and more mature judgment, I durst not do in the most easy and + indifferent things I had been instructed in, and wherein the temerity of + judging is of no consequence at all; it seeming to me very unjust to go + about to subject public and established customs and institutions, to the + weakness and instability of a private and particular fancy (for private + reason has but a private jurisdiction), and to attempt that upon the + divine, which no government will endure a man should do, upon the civil + laws; with which, though human reason has much more commerce than with the + other, yet are they sovereignly judged by their own proper judges, and the + extreme sufficiency serves only to expound and set forth the law and + custom received, and neither to wrest it, nor to introduce anything, of + innovation. If, sometimes, the divine providence has gone beyond the rules + to which it has necessarily bound and obliged us men, it is not to give us + any dispensation to do the same; those are masterstrokes of the divine + hand, which we are not to imitate, but to admire, and extraordinary + examples, marks of express and particular purposes, of the nature of + miracles, presented before us for manifestations of its almightiness, + equally above both our rules and force, which it would be folly and + impiety to attempt to represent and imitate; and that we ought not to + follow, but to contemplate with the greatest reverence: acts of His + personage, and not for us. Cotta very opportunely declares: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quum de religione agitur, Ti. Coruncanium, P. Scipionem, + P. Scaevolam, pontifices maximos, non Zenonem, aut Cleanthem, + aut Chrysippum, sequor.” + + [“When matter of religion is in question, I follow the high priests + T. Coruncanius, P. Scipio, P. Scaevola, and not Zeno, Cleanthes, or + Chrysippus.”—Cicero, De Natura Deor., iii. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + God knows, in the present quarrel of our civil war, where there are a + hundred articles to dash out and to put in, great and very considerable, + how many there are who can truly boast, they have exactly and perfectly + weighed and understood the grounds and reasons of the one and the other + party; ‘tis a number, if they make any number, that would be able to + give us very little disturbance. But what becomes of all the rest, under + what ensigns do they march, in what quarter do they lie? Theirs have the + same effect with other weak and ill-applied medicines; they have only set + the humours they would purge more violently in work, stirred and + exasperated by the conflict, and left them still behind. The potion was + too weak to purge, but strong enough to weaken us; so that it does not + work, but we keep it still in our bodies, and reap nothing from the + operation but intestine gripes and dolours. + </p> + <p> + So it is, nevertheless, that Fortune still reserving her authority in + defiance of whatever we are able to do or say, sometimes presents us with + a necessity so urgent, that ‘tis requisite the laws should a little + yield and give way; and when one opposes the increase of an innovation + that thus intrudes itself by violence, to keep a man’s self in so + doing, in all places and in all things within bounds and rules against + those who have the power, and to whom all things are lawful that may in + any way serve to advance their design, who have no other law nor rule but + what serves best to their own purpose, ‘tis a dangerous obligation + and an intolerable inequality: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aditum nocendi perfido praestat fides,” + + [“Putting faith in a treacherous person, opens the door to + harm.”—Seneca, OEdip., act iii., verse 686.] +</pre> + <p> + forasmuch as the ordinary discipline of a healthful state does not provide + against these extraordinary accidents; it presupposes a body that supports + itself in its principal members and offices, and a common consent to its + obedience and observation. A legitimate proceeding is cold, heavy, and + constrained, and not fit to make head against a headstrong and unbridled + proceeding. ‘Tis known to be to this day cast in the dish of those + two great men, Octavius and Cato, in the two civil wars of Sylla and + Caesar, that they would rather suffer their country to undergo the last + extremities, than relieve their fellow-citizens at the expense of its + laws, or be guilty of any innovation; for in truth, in these last + necessities, where there is no other remedy, it would, peradventure, be + more discreetly done, to stoop and yield a little to receive the blow, + than, by opposing without possibility of doing good, to give occasion to + violence to trample all under foot; and better to make the laws do what + they can, when they cannot do what they would. After this manner did he—[Agesilaus.]—who + suspended them for four-and-twenty hours, and he who, for once shifted a + day in the calendar, and that other—[Alexander the Great.]—who + of the month of June made a second of May. The Lacedaemonians themselves, + who were so religious observers of the laws of their country, being + straitened by one of their own edicts, by which it was expressly forbidden + to choose the same man twice to be admiral; and on the other side, their + affairs necessarily requiring, that Lysander should again take upon him + that command, they made one Aratus admiral; ‘tis true, but withal, + Lysander went general of the navy; and, by the same subtlety, one of their + ambassadors being sent to the Athenians to obtain the revocation of some + decree, and Pericles remonstrating to him, that it was forbidden to take + away the tablet wherein a law had once been engrossed, he advised him to + turn it only, that being not forbidden; and Plutarch commends Philopoemen, + that being born to command, he knew how to do it, not only according to + the laws, but also to overrule even the laws themselves, when the public + necessity so required. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII——VARIOUS EVENTS FROM THE SAME COUNSEL + </h2> + <p> + Jacques Amiot, grand almoner of France, one day related to me this story, + much to the honour of a prince of ours (and ours he was upon several very + good accounts, though originally of foreign extraction),—[The Duc de + Guise, surnamed Le Balafre.]—that in the time of our first + commotions, at the siege of Rouen,—[In 1562]—this prince, + having been advertised by the queen-mother of a conspiracy against his + life, and in her letters particular notice being given him of the person + who was to execute the business (who was a gentleman of Anjou or of Maine, + and who to this effect ordinarily frequented this prince’s house), + discovered not a syllable of this intelligence to any one whatever; but + going the next day to the St. Catherine’s Mount,—[An eminence + outside Rouen overlooking the Seine. D.W.]—from which our battery + played against the town (for it was during the time of the siege), and + having in company with him the said lord almoner, and another bishop, he + saw this gentleman, who had been denoted to him, and presently sent for + him; to whom, being come before him, seeing him already pale and trembling + with the conscience of his guilt, he thus said, “Monsieur,” + such an one, “you guess what I have to say to you; your countenance + discovers it; ‘tis in vain to disguise your practice, for I am so + well informed of your business, that it will but make worse for you, to go + about to conceal or deny it: you know very well such and such passages” + (which were the most secret circumstances of his conspiracy), “and + therefore be sure, as you tender your own life, to confess to me the whole + truth of the design.” The poor man seeing himself thus trapped and + convicted (for the whole business had been discovered to the queen by one + of the accomplices), was in such a taking, he knew not what to do; but, + folding his hands, to beg and sue for mercy, he threw himself at his + prince’s feet, who taking him up, proceeded to say, “Come, + sir; tell me, have I at any time done you offence? or have I, through + private hatred or malice, offended any kinsman or friend of yours? It is + not above three weeks that I have known you; what inducement, then, could + move you to attempt my death?” To which the gentleman with a + trembling voice replied, “That it was no particular grudge he had to + his person, but the general interest and concern of his party, and that he + had been put upon it by some who had persuaded him it would be a + meritorious act, by any means, to extirpate so great and so powerful an + enemy of their religion.” “Well,” said the prince, + “I will now let you see, how much more charitable the religion is + that I maintain, than that which you profess: yours has counselled you to + kill me, without hearing me speak, and without ever having given you any + cause of offence; and mine commands me to forgive you, convict as you are, + by your own confession, of a design to kill me without reason.—[Imitated + by Voltaire. See Nodier, Questions, p. 165.]—Get you gone; let me + see you no more; and, if you are wise, choose henceforward honester men + for your counsellors in your designs.”—[Dampmartin, La Fortune + de la Coup, liv. ii., p. 139] + </p> + <p> + The Emperor Augustus,—[This story is taken from Seneca, De + Clementia, i. 9.]—being in Gaul, had certain information of a + conspiracy L. Cinna was contriving against him; he therefore resolved to + make him an example; and, to that end, sent to summon his friends to meet + the next morning in counsel. But the night between he passed in great + unquietness of mind, considering that he was about to put to death a young + man, of an illustrious family, and nephew to the great Pompey, and this + made him break out into several passionate complainings. “What then,” + said he, “is it possible that I am to live in perpetual anxiety and + alarm, and suffer my would-be assassin, meantime, to walk abroad at + liberty? Shall he go unpunished, after having conspired against my life, a + life that I have hitherto defended in so many civil wars, in so many + battles by land and by sea? And after having settled the universal peace + of the whole world, shall this man be pardoned, who has conspired not only + to murder, but to sacrifice me?”—for the conspiracy was to + kill him at sacrifice. After which, remaining for some time silent, he + began again, in louder tones, and exclaimed against himself, saying: + “Why livest thou, if it be for the good of so many that thou + shouldst die? must there be no end of thy revenges and cruelties? Is thy + life of so great value, that so many mischiefs must be done to preserve + it?” His wife Livia, seeing him in this perplexity: “Will you + take a woman’s counsel?” said she. “Do as the physicians + do, who, when the ordinary recipes will do no good, make trial of the + contrary. By severity you have hitherto prevailed nothing; Lepidus has + followed Salvidienus; Murena, Lepidus; Caepio, Murena; Egnatius, Caepio. + Begin now, and try how sweetness and clemency will succeed. Cinna is + convict; forgive him, he will never henceforth have the heart to hurt + thee, and it will be an act to thy glory.” Augustus was well pleased + that he had met with an advocate of his own humour; wherefore, having + thanked his wife, and, in the morning, countermanded his friends he had + before summoned to council, he commanded Cinna all alone to be brought to + him; who being accordingly come, and a chair by his appointment set him, + having ordered all the rest out of the room, he spake to him after this + manner: “In the first place, Cinna, I demand of thee patient + audience; do not interrupt me in what I am about to say, and I will + afterwards give thee time and leisure to answer. Thou knowest, Cinna,—[This + passage, borrowed from Seneca, has been paraphrased in verse by Corneille. + See Nodier, Questions de la Literature llgale, 1828, pp. 7, 160. The + monologue of Augustus in this chapter is also from Seneca. Ibid., 164.]—that + having taken thee prisoner in the enemy’s camp, and thou an enemy, + not only so become, but born so, I gave thee thy life, restored to thee + all thy goods, and, finally, put thee in so good a posture, by my bounty, + of living well and at thy ease, that the victorious envied the conquered. + The sacerdotal office which thou madest suit to me for, I conferred upon + thee, after having denied it to others, whose fathers have ever borne arms + in my service. After so many obligations, thou hast undertaken to kill me.” + At which Cinna crying out that he was very far from entertaining any so + wicked a thought: “Thou dost not keep thy promise, Cinna,” + continued Augustus, “that thou wouldst not interrupt me. Yes, thou + hast undertaken to murder me in such a place, on such a day, in such and + such company, and in such a manner.” At which words, seeing Cinna + astounded and silent, not upon the account of his promise so to be, but + interdict with the weight of his conscience: “Why,” proceeded + Augustus, “to what end wouldst thou do it? Is it to be emperor? + Believe me, the Republic is in very ill condition, if I am the only man + betwixt thee and the empire. Thou art not able so much as to defend thy + own house, and but t’other day was baffled in a suit, by the opposed + interest of a mere manumitted slave. What, hast thou neither means nor + power in any other thing, but only to undertake Caesar? I quit the throne, + if there be no other than I to obstruct thy hopes. Canst thou believe that + Paulus, that Fabius, that the Cossii and the Servilii, and so many noble + Romans, not only so in title, but who by their virtue honour their + nobility, would suffer or endure thee?” After this, and a great deal + more that he said to him (for he was two long hours in speaking), “Now + go, Cinna, go thy way: I give thee that life as traitor and parricide, + which I before gave thee in the quality of an enemy. Let friendship from + this time forward begin betwixt us, and let us show whether I have given, + or thou hast received thy life with the better faith”; and so + departed from him. Some time after, he preferred him to the consular + dignity, complaining that he had not the confidence to demand it; had him + ever after for his very great friend, and was, at last, made by him sole + heir to all his estate. Now, from the time of this accident which befell + Augustus in the fortieth year of his age, he never had any conspiracy or + attempt against him, and so reaped the due reward of this his so generous + clemency. But it did not so happen with our prince, his moderation and + mercy not so securing him, but that he afterwards fell into the toils of + the like treason,—[The Duc de Guise was assassinated in 1563 by + Poltrot.]—so vain and futile a thing is human prudence; throughout + all our projects, counsels and precautions, Fortune will still be mistress + of events. + </p> + <p> + We repute physicians fortunate when they hit upon a lucky cure, as if + there was no other art but theirs that could not stand upon its own legs, + and whose foundations are too weak to support itself upon its own basis; + as if no other art stood in need of Fortune’s hand to help it. For + my part, I think of physic as much good or ill as any one would have me: + for, thanks be to God, we have no traffic together. I am of a quite + contrary humour to other men, for I always despise it; but when I am sick, + instead of recanting, or entering into composition with it, I begin, + moreover, to hate and fear it, telling them who importune me to take + physic, that at all events they must give me time to recover my strength + and health, that I may be the better able to support and encounter the + violence and danger of their potions. I let nature work, supposing her to + be sufficiently armed with teeth and claws to defend herself from the + assaults of infirmity, and to uphold that contexture, the dissolution of + which she flies and abhors. I am afraid, lest, instead of assisting her + when close grappled and struggling with disease, I should assist her + adversary, and burden her still more with work to do. + </p> + <p> + Now, I say, that not in physic only, but in other more certain arts, + fortune has a very great part. + </p> + <p> + The poetic raptures, the flights of fancy, that ravish and transport the + author out of himself, why should we not attribute them to his good + fortune, since he himself confesses that they exceed his sufficiency and + force, and acknowledges them to proceed from something else than himself, + and that he has them no more in his power than the orators say they have + those extraordinary motions and agitations that sometimes push them beyond + their design. It is the same in painting, where touches shall sometimes + slip from the hand of the painter, so surpassing both his conception and + his art, as to beget his own admiration and astonishment. But Fortune does + yet more evidently manifest the share she has in all things of this kind, + by the graces and elegances we find in them, not only beyond the + intention, but even without the knowledge of the workman: a competent + reader often discovers in other men’s writings other perfections + than the author himself either intended or perceived, a richer sense and + more quaint expression. + </p> + <p> + As to military enterprises, every one sees how great a hand Fortune has in + them. Even in our counsels and deliberations there must, certainly, be + something of chance and good-luck mixed with human prudence; for all that + our wisdom can do alone is no great matter; the more piercing, quick, and + apprehensive it is, the weaker it finds itself, and is by so much more apt + to mistrust itself. I am of Sylla’s opinion;—[“Who freed + his great deeds from envy by ever attributing them to his good fortune, + and finally by surnaming himself Faustus, the Lucky.”—Plutarch, + How far a Man may praise Himself, c. 9.]—and when I closely examine + the most glorious exploits of war, I perceive, methinks, that those who + carry them on make use of counsel and debate only for custom’s sake, + and leave the best part of the enterprise to Fortune, and relying upon her + aid, transgress, at every turn, the bounds of military conduct and the + rules of war. There happen, sometimes, fortuitous alacrities and strange + furies in their deliberations, that for the most part prompt them to + follow the worst grounded counsels, and swell their courage beyond the + limits of reason. Whence it happened that several of the great captains of + old, to justify those rash resolutions, have been fain to tell their + soldiers that they were invited to such attempts by some inspiration, some + sign and prognostic. + </p> + <p> + Wherefore, in this doubt and uncertainty, that the shortsightedness of + human wisdom to see and choose the best (by reason of the difficulties + that the various accidents and circumstances of things bring along with + them) perplexes us withal, the surest way, in my opinion, did no other + consideration invite us to it, is to pitch upon that wherein is the + greatest appearance of honesty and justice; and not, being certain of the + shortest, to keep the straightest and most direct way; as in the two + examples I have just given, there is no question but it was more noble and + generous in him who had received the offence, to pardon it, than to do + otherwise. If the former—[The Duc de Guise.]—miscarried in it, + he is not, nevertheless, to be blamed for his good intention; neither does + any one know if he had proceeded otherwise, whether by that means he had + avoided the end his destiny had appointed for him; and he had, moreover, + lost the glory of so humane an act. + </p> + <p> + You will read in history, of many who have been in such apprehension, that + the most part have taken the course to meet and anticipate conspiracies + against them by punishment and revenge; but I find very few who have + reaped any advantage by this proceeding; witness so many Roman emperors. + Whoever finds himself in this danger, ought not to expect much either from + his vigilance or power; for how hard a thing is it for a man to secure + himself from an enemy, who lies concealed under the countenance of the + most assiduous friend we have, and to discover and know the wills and + inward thoughts of those who are in our personal service. ‘Tis to + much purpose to have a guard of foreigners about one, and to be always + fenced about with a pale of armed men; whosoever despises his own life, is + always master of that of another man.—[Seneca, Ep., 4.]—And + moreover, this continual suspicion, that makes a prince jealous of all the + world, must of necessity be a strange torment to him. Therefore it was, + that Dion, being advertised that Callippus watched all opportunities to + take away his life, had never the heart to inquire more particularly into + it, saying, that he had rather die than live in that misery, that he must + continually stand upon his guard, not only against his enemies, but his + friends also;—[Plutarch, Apothegms.]—which Alexander much more + vividly and more roundly manifested in effect, when, having notice by a + letter from Parmenio, that Philip, his most beloved physician, was by + Darius’ money corrupted to poison him, at the same time he gave the + letter to Philip to read, drank off the potion he had brought him. Was not + this to express a resolution, that if his friends had a mind to despatch + him out of the world, he was willing to give them opportunity to do it? + This prince is, indeed, the sovereign pattern of hazardous actions; but I + do not know whether there be another passage in his life wherein there is + so much firm courage as in this, nor so illustrious an image of the beauty + and greatness of his mind. + </p> + <p> + Those who preach to princes so circumspect and vigilant a jealousy and + distrust, under colour of security, preach to them ruin and dishonour: + nothing noble can be performed without danger. I know a person, naturally + of a very great daring and enterprising courage, whose good fortune is + continually marred by such persuasions, that he keep himself close + surrounded by his friends, that he must not hearken to any reconciliation + with his ancient enemies, that he must stand aloof, and not trust his + person in hands stronger than his own, what promises or offers soever they + may make him, or what advantages soever he may see before him. And I know + another, who has unexpectedly advanced his fortunes by following a clear + contrary advice. + </p> + <p> + Courage, the reputation and glory of which men seek with so greedy an + appetite, presents itself, when need requires, as magnificently in cuerpo, + as in full armour; in a closet, as in a camp; with arms pendant, as with + arms raised. + </p> + <p> + This over-circumspect and wary prudence is a mortal enemy to all high and + generous exploits. Scipio, to sound Syphax’s intention, leaving his + army, abandoning Spain, not yet secure nor well settled in his new + conquest, could pass over into Africa in two small ships, to commit + himself, in an enemy’s country, to the power of a barbarian king, to + a faith untried and unknown, without obligation, without hostage, under + the sole security of the grandeur of his own courage, his good fortune, + and the promise of his high hopes.—[ Livy, xxviii. 17.] + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Habita fides ipsam plerumque fidem obligat.” + + [“Trust often obliges fidelity.”—Livy, xxii. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + In a life of ambition and glory, it is necessary to hold a stiff rein upon + suspicion: fear and distrust invite and draw on offence. The most + mistrustful of our kings—[ Louis XI.]—established his affairs + principally by voluntarily committing his life and liberty into his + enemies’ hands, by that action manifesting that he had absolute + confidence in them, to the end they might repose as great an assurance in + him. Caesar only opposed the authority of his countenance and the haughty + sharpness of his rebukes to his mutinous legions in arms against him: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stetit aggere fulti + Cespitis, intrepidus vultu: meruitque timeri, + Nil metuens.” + + [“He stood on a mound, his countenance intrepid, and merited to be + feared, he fearing nothing.”—Lucan, v. 316.] +</pre> + <p> + But it is true, withal, that this undaunted assurance is not to be + represented in its simple and entire form, but by such whom the + apprehension of death, and the worst that can happen, does not terrify and + affright; for to represent a pretended resolution with a pale and doubtful + countenance and trembling limbs, for the service of an important + reconciliation, will effect nothing to purpose. ‘Tis an excellent + way to gain the heart and will of another, to submit and intrust one’s + self to him, provided it appear to be freely done, and without the + constraint of necessity, and in such a condition, that a man manifestly + does it out of a pure and entire confidence in the party, at least, with a + countenance clear from any cloud of suspicion. I saw, when I was a boy, a + gentleman, who was governor of a great city, upon occasion of a popular + commotion and fury, not knowing what other course to take, go out of a + place of very great strength and security, and commit himself to the mercy + of the seditious rabble, in hopes by that means to appease the tumult + before it grew to a more formidable head; but it was ill for him that he + did so, for he was there miserably slain. But I am not, nevertheless, of + opinion, that he committed so great an error in going out, as men commonly + reproach his memory withal, as he did in choosing a gentle and submissive + way for the effecting his purpose, and in endeavouring to quiet this + storm, rather by obeying than commanding, and by entreaty rather than + remonstrance; and I am inclined to believe, that a gracious severity, with + a soldierlike way of commanding, full of security and confidence, suitable + to the quality of his person, and the dignity of his command, would have + succeeded better with him; at least, he had perished with greater decency + and, reputation. There is nothing so little to be expected or hoped for + from this many-headed monster, in its fury, as humanity and good nature; + it is much more capable of reverence and fear. I should also reproach him, + that having taken a resolution (in my judgment rather brave than rash) to + expose himself, weak and naked, in this tempestuous sea of enraged madmen, + he ought to have stuck to his text, and not for an instant to have + abandoned the high part he had undertaken; whereas, coming to discover his + danger nearer hand, and his nose happening to bleed, he again changed that + demiss and fawning countenance he had at first put on, into another of + fear and amazement, filling his voice with entreaties and his eyes with + tears, and, endeavouring so to withdraw and secure his person, that + carriage more inflamed their fury, and soon brought the effects of it upon + him. + </p> + <p> + It was upon a time intended that there should be a general muster of + several troops in arms (and that is the most proper occasion of secret + revenges, and there is no place where they can be executed with greater + safety), and there were public and manifest appearances, that there was no + safe coming for some, whose principal and necessary office it was to + review them. Whereupon a consultation was held, and several counsels were + proposed, as in a case that was very nice and of great difficulty; and + moreover of grave consequence. Mine, amongst the rest, was, that they + should by all means avoid giving any sign of suspicion, but that the + officers who were most in danger should boldly go, and with cheerful and + erect countenances ride boldly and confidently through the ranks, and that + instead of sparing fire (which the counsels of the major part tended to) + they should entreat the captains to command the soldiers to give round and + full volleys in honour of the spectators, and not to spare their powder. + This was accordingly done, and served so good use, as to please and + gratify the suspected troops, and thenceforward to beget a mutual and + wholesome confidence and intelligence amongst them. + </p> + <p> + I look upon Julius Caesar’s way of winning men to him as the best + and finest that can be put in practice. First, he tried by clemency to + make himself beloved even by his very enemies, contenting himself, in + detected conspiracies, only publicly to declare, that he was + pre-acquainted with them; which being done, he took a noble resolution to + await without solicitude or fear, whatever might be the event, wholly + resigning himself to the protection of the gods and fortune: for, + questionless, in this state he was at the time when he was killed. + </p> + <p> + A stranger having publicly said, that he could teach Dionysius, the tyrant + of Syracuse, an infallible way to find out and discover all the + conspiracies his subjects could contrive against him, if he would give him + a good sum of money for his pains, Dionysius hearing of it, caused the man + to be brought to him, that he might learn an art so necessary to his + preservation. The man made answer, that all the art he knew, was, that he + should give him a talent, and afterwards boast that he had obtained a + singular secret from him. Dionysius liked the invention, and accordingly + caused six hundred crowns to be counted out to him. —[Plutarch, + Apothegms.]—It was not likely he should give so great a sum to a + person unknown, but upon the account of some extraordinary discovery, and + the belief of this served to keep his enemies in awe. Princes, however, do + wisely to publish the informations they receive of all the practices + against their lives, to possess men with an opinion they have so good + intelligence that nothing can be plotted against them, but they have + present notice of it. The Duke of Athens did a great many foolish things + in the establishment of his new tyranny over Florence: but this especially + was most notable, that having received the first intimation of the + conspiracies the people were hatching against him, from Matteo di Morozzo, + one of the conspirators, he presently put him to death, to suppress that + rumour, that it might not be thought any of the city disliked his + government. + </p> + <p> + I remember I have formerly read a story—[In Appian’s Civil + Wars, book iv..]—of some Roman of great quality who, flying the + tyranny of the Triumvirate, had a thousand times by the subtlety of as + many inventions escaped from falling into the hands of those that pursued + him. It happened one day that a troop of horse, which was sent out to take + him, passed close by a brake where he was squat, and missed very narrowly + of spying him: but he considering, at this point, the pains and + difficulties wherein he had so long continued to evade the strict and + incessant searches that were every day made for him, the little pleasure + he could hope for in such a kind of life, and how much better it was for + him to die once for all, than to be perpetually at this pass, he started + from his seat, called them back, showed them his form,—[as of a + squatting hare.]—and voluntarily delivered himself up to their + cruelty, by that means to free both himself and them from further trouble. + To invite a man’s enemies to come and cut his throat, seems a + resolution a little extravagant and odd; and yet I think he did better to + take that course, than to live in continual feverish fear of an accident + for which there was no cure. But seeing all the remedies a man can apply + to such a disease, are full of unquietness and uncertainty, ‘tis + better with a manly courage to prepare one’s self for the worst that + can happen, and to extract some consolation from this, that we are not + certain the thing we fear will ever come to pass. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV——OF PEDANTRY + </h2> + <p> + I was often, when a boy, wonderfully concerned to see, in the Italian + farces, a pedant always brought in for the fool of the play, and that the + title of Magister was in no greater reverence amongst us: for being + delivered up to their tuition, what could I do less than be jealous of + their honour and reputation? I sought indeed to excuse them by the natural + incompatibility betwixt the vulgar sort and men of a finer thread, both in + judgment and knowledge, forasmuch as they go a quite contrary way to one + another: but in this, the thing I most stumbled at was, that the finest + gentlemen were those who most despised them; witness our famous poet Du + Bellay— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mais je hay par sur tout un scavoir pedantesque.” + + [“Of all things I hate pedantic learning.”—Du Bellay] +</pre> + <p> + And ‘twas so in former times; for Plutarch says that Greek and + Scholar were terms of reproach and contempt amongst the Romans. But since, + with the better experience of age, I find they had very great reason so to + do, and that— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Magis magnos clericos non sunt magis magnos sapientes.” + + [“The greatest clerks are not the wisest men.” A proverb given in + Rabelais’ Gargantua, i. 39.] +</pre> + <p> + But whence it should come to pass, that a mind enriched with the knowledge + of so many things should not become more quick and sprightly, and that a + gross and vulgar understanding should lodge within it, without correcting + and improving itself, all the discourses and judgments of the greatest + minds the world ever had, I am yet to seek. To admit so many foreign + conceptions, so great, and so high fancies, it is necessary (as a young + lady, one of the greatest princesses of the kingdom, said to me once, + speaking of a certain person) that a man’s own brain must be crowded + and squeezed together into a less compass, to make room for the others; I + should be apt to conclude, that as plants are suffocated and drowned with + too much nourishment, and lamps with too much oil, so with too much study + and matter is the active part of the understanding which, being + embarrassed, and confounded with a great diversity of things, loses the + force and power to disengage itself, and by the pressure of this weight, + is bowed, subjected, and doubled up. But it is quite otherwise; for our + soul stretches and dilates itself proportionably as it fills; and in the + examples of elder times, we see, quite contrary, men very proper for + public business, great captains, and great statesmen very learned withal. + </p> + <p> + And, as to the philosophers, a sort of men remote from all public affairs, + they have been sometimes also despised by the comic liberty of their + times; their opinions and manners making them appear, to men of another + sort, ridiculous. Would you make them judges of a lawsuit, of the actions + of men? they are ready to take it upon them, and straight begin to examine + if there be life, if there be motion, if man be any other than an ox;—[“If + Montaigne has copied all this from Plato’s Theatetes, p.127, F. as + it is plain by all which he has added immediately after, that he has taken + it from that dialogue, he has grossly mistaken Plato’s sentiment, + who says here no more than this, that the philosopher is so ignorant of + what his neighbour does, that he scarce knows whether he is a man, or some + other animal:—Coste.”]—what it is to do and to suffer? + what animals law and justice are? Do they speak of the magistrates, or to + him, ‘tis with a rude, irreverent, and indecent liberty. Do they + hear their prince, or a king commended? they make no more of him, than of + a shepherd, goatherd, or neatherd: a lazy Coridon, occupied in milking and + shearing his herds and flocks, but more rudely and harshly than the herd + or shepherd himself. Do you repute any man the greater for being lord of + two thousand acres of land? they laugh at such a pitiful pittance, as + laying claim themselves to the whole world for their possession. Do you + boast of your nobility, as being descended from seven rich successive + ancestors? they look upon you with an eye of contempt, as men who have not + a right idea of the universal image of nature, and that do not consider + how many predecessors every one of us has had, rich, poor, kings, slaves, + Greeks, and barbarians; and though you were the fiftieth descendant from + Hercules, they look upon it as a great vanity, so highly to value this, + which is only a gift of fortune. And ‘twas so the vulgar sort + contemned them, as men ignorant of the most elementary and ordinary + things; as presumptuous and insolent. + </p> + <p> + But this Platonic picture is far different from that these pedants are + presented by. Those were envied for raising themselves above the common + sort, for despising the ordinary actions and offices of life, for having + assumed a particular and inimitable way of living, and for using a certain + method of high-flight and obsolete language, quite different from the + ordinary way of speaking: but these are contemned as being as much below + the usual form, as incapable of public employment, as leading a life and + conforming themselves to the mean and vile manners of the vulgar: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Odi ignava opera, philosopha sententia.” + + [“I hate men who jabber about philosophy, but do nothing.” + —Pacuvius, ap Gellium, xiii. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + For what concerns the philosophers, as I have said, if they were in + science, they were yet much greater in action. And, as it is said of the + geometrician of Syracuse,—[Archimedes.]—who having been + disturbed from his contemplation, to put some of his skill in practice for + the defence of his country, that he suddenly set on foot dreadful and + prodigious engines, that wrought effects beyond all human expectation; + himself, notwithstanding, disdaining all his handiwork, and thinking in + this he had played the mere mechanic, and violated the dignity of his art, + of which these performances of his he accounted but trivial experiments + and playthings so they, whenever they have been put upon the proof of + action, have been seen to fly to so high a pitch, as made it very well + appear, their souls were marvellously elevated, and enriched by the + knowledge of things. But some of them, seeing the reins of government in + the hands of incapable men, have avoided all management of political + affairs; and he who demanded of Crates, how long it was necessary to + philosophise, received this answer: “Till our armies are no more + commanded by fools.” —[Diogenes Laertius, vi. 92.]—Heraclitus + resigned the royalty to his brother; and, to the Ephesians, who reproached + him that he spent his time in playing with children before the temple: + “Is it not better,” said he, “to do so, than to sit at + the helm of affairs in your company?” Others having their + imagination advanced above the world and fortune, have looked upon the + tribunals of justice, and even the thrones of kings, as paltry and + contemptible; insomuch, that Empedocles refused the royalty that the + Agrigentines offered to him. Thales, once inveighing in discourse against + the pains and care men put themselves to to become rich, was answered by + one in the company, that he did like the fox, who found fault with what he + could not obtain. Whereupon, he had a mind, for the jest’s sake, to + show them to the contrary; and having, for this occasion, made a muster of + all his wits, wholly to employ them in the service of profit and gain, he + set a traffic on foot, which in one year brought him in so great riches, + that the most experienced in that trade could hardly in their whole lives, + with all their industry, have raked so much together.—[Diogenes + Laertius, Life of Thales, i. 26; Cicero, De Divin., i. 49.]—That + which Aristotle reports of some who called both him and Anaxagoras, and + others of their profession, wise but not prudent, in not applying their + study to more profitable things—though I do not well digest this + verbal distinction—that will not, however, serve to excuse my + pedants, for to see the low and necessitous fortune wherewith they are + content, we have rather reason to pronounce that they are neither wise nor + prudent. + </p> + <p> + But letting this first reason alone, I think it better to say, that this + evil proceeds from their applying themselves the wrong way to the study of + the sciences; and that, after the manner we are instructed, it is no + wonder if neither the scholars nor the masters become, though more + learned, ever the wiser, or more able. In plain truth, the cares and + expense our parents are at in our education, point at nothing, but to + furnish our heads with knowledge; but not a word of judgment and virtue. + Cry out, of one that passes by, to the people: “O, what a learned + man!” and of another, “O, what a good man!”—[Translated + from Seneca, Ep., 88.]—they will not fail to turn their eyes, and + address their respect to the former. There should then be a third crier, + “O, the blockheads!” Men are apt presently to inquire, does + such a one understand Greek or Latin? Is he a poet? or does he write in + prose? But whether he be grown better or more discreet, which are + qualities of principal concern, these are never thought of. We should + rather examine, who is better learned, than who is more learned. + </p> + <p> + We only labour to stuff the memory, and leave the conscience and the + understanding unfurnished and void. Like birds who fly abroad to forage + for grain, and bring it home in the beak, without tasting it themselves, + to feed their young; so our pedants go picking knowledge here and there, + out of books, and hold it at the tongue’s end, only to spit it out + and distribute it abroad. And here I cannot but smile to think how I have + paid myself in showing the foppery of this kind of learning, who myself am + so manifest an example; for, do I not the same thing throughout almost + this whole composition? I go here and there, culling out of several books + the sentences that best please me, not to keep them (for I have no memory + to retain them in), but to transplant them into this; where, to say the + truth, they are no more mine than in their first places. We are, I + conceive, knowing only in present knowledge, and not at all in what is + past, or more than is that which is to come. But the worst on’t is, + their scholars and pupils are no better nourished by this kind of + inspiration; and it makes no deeper impression upon them, but passes from + hand to hand, only to make a show to be tolerable company, and to tell + pretty stories, like a counterfeit coin in counters, of no other use or + value, but to reckon with, or to set up at cards: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Apud alios loqui didicerunt non ipsi secum.” + + [“They have learned to speak from others, not from themselves.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes, v. 36.] + + “Non est loquendum, sed gubernandum.” + + [“Speaking is not so necessary as governing.”—Seneca, Ep., 108.] +</pre> + <p> + Nature, to shew that there is nothing barbarous where she has the sole + conduct, oftentimes, in nations where art has the least to do, causes + productions of wit, such as may rival the greatest effect of art whatever. + In relation to what I am now speaking of, the Gascon proverb, derived from + a cornpipe, is very quaint and subtle: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Bouha prou bouha, mas a remuda lous dits quem.” + + [“You may blow till your eyes start out; but if once you offer to + stir your fingers, it is all over.”] +</pre> + <p> + We can say, Cicero says thus; these were the manners of Plato; these are + the very words of Aristotle: but what do we say ourselves? What do we + judge? A parrot would say as much as that. + </p> + <p> + And this puts me in mind of that rich gentleman of Rome,—[Calvisius + Sabinus. Seneca, Ep., 27.]—who had been solicitous, with very great + expense, to procure men that were excellent in all sorts of science, whom + he had always attending his person, to the end, that when amongst his + friends any occasion fell out of speaking of any subject whatsoever, they + might supply his place, and be ready to prompt him, one with a sentence of + Seneca, another with a verse of Homer, and so forth, every one according + to his talent; and he fancied this knowledge to be his own, because it was + in the heads of those who lived upon his bounty; as they also do, whose + learning consists in having noble libraries. I know one, who, when I + question him what he knows, he presently calls for a book to shew me, and + dares not venture to tell me so much, as that he has piles in his + posteriors, till first he has consulted his dictionary, what piles and + what posteriors are. + </p> + <p> + We take other men’s knowledge and opinions upon trust; which is an + idle and superficial learning. We must make it our own. We are in this + very like him, who having need of fire, went to a neighbour’s house + to fetch it, and finding a very good one there, sat down to warm himself + without remembering to carry any with him home.—[Plutarch, How a Man + should Listen.]—What good does it do us to have the stomach full of + meat, if it do not digest, if it be not incorporated with us, if it does + not nourish and support us? Can we imagine that Lucullus, whom letters, + without any manner of experience, made so great a captain, learned to be + so after this perfunctory manner?—[Cicero, Acad., ii. I.]—We + suffer ourselves to lean and rely so strongly upon the arm of another, + that we destroy our own strength and vigour. Would I fortify myself + against the fear of death, it must be at the expense of Seneca: would I + extract consolation for myself or my friend, I borrow it from Cicero. I + might have found it in myself, had I been trained to make use of my own + reason. I do not like this relative and mendicant understanding; for + though we could become learned by other men’s learning, a man can + never be wise but by his own wisdom: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“I hate the wise man, who in his own concern is not wise.” + —Euripides, ap. Cicero, Ep. Fam., xiii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + Whence Ennius: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nequidquam sapere sapientem, qui ipse sibi prodesse non quiret.” + + [“That wise man knows nothing, who cannot profit himself by his + wisdom.”—Cicero, De Offic., iii. 15.] + + “Si cupidus, si + Vanus, et Euganea quantumvis mollior agna.” + + [“If he be grasping, or a boaster, and something softer than an + Euganean lamb.”—Juvenal, Sat., viii. 14.] + + “Non enim paranda nobis solum, sed fruenda sapientia est.” + + [“For wisdom is not only to be acquired, but to be utilised.” + —Cicero, De Finib., i. I.] +</pre> + <p> + Dionysius—[It was not Dionysius, but Diogenes the cynic. Diogenes + Laertius, vi. 27.]—laughed at the grammarians, who set themselves to + inquire into the miseries of Ulysses, and were ignorant of their own; at + musicians, who were so exact in tuning their instruments, and never tuned + their manners; at orators, who made it a study to declare what is justice, + but never took care to do it. If the mind be not better disposed, if the + judgment be no better settled, I had much rather my scholar had spent his + time at tennis, for, at least, his body would by that means be in better + exercise and breath. Do but observe him when he comes back from school, + after fifteen or sixteen years that he has been there; there is nothing so + unfit for employment; all you shall find he has got, is, that his Latin + and Greek have only made him a greater coxcomb than when he went from + home. He should bring back his soul replete with good literature, and he + brings it only swelled and puffed up with vain and empty shreds and + patches of learning; and has really nothing more in him than he had + before.—[Plato’s Dialogues: Protagoras.] + </p> + <p> + These pedants of ours, as Plato says of the Sophists, their + cousin-germans, are, of all men, they who most pretend to be useful to + mankind, and who alone, of all men, not only do not better and improve + that which is committed to them, as a carpenter or a mason would do, but + make them much worse, and make us pay them for making them worse, to boot. + If the rule which Protagoras proposed to his pupils were followed —either + that they should give him his own demand, or make affidavit upon oath in + the temple how much they valued the profit they had received under his + tuition, and satisfy him accordingly—my pedagogues would find + themselves sorely gravelled, if they were to be judged by the affidavits + of my experience. My Perigordin patois very pleasantly calls these + pretenders to learning, ‘lettre-ferits’, as a man should say, + letter-marked—men on whom letters have been stamped by the blow of a + mallet. And, in truth, for the most part, they appear to be deprived even + of common sense; for you see the husbandman and the cobbler go simply and + fairly about their business, speaking only of what they know and + understand; whereas these fellows, to make parade and to get opinion, + mustering this ridiculous knowledge of theirs, that floats on the + superficies of the brain, are perpetually perplexing, and entangling + themselves in their own nonsense. They speak fine words sometimes, ‘tis + true, but let somebody that is wiser apply them. They are wonderfully well + acquainted with Galen, but not at all with the disease of the patient; + they have already deafened you with a long ribble-row of laws, but + understand nothing of the case in hand; they have the theory of all + things, let who will put it in practice. + </p> + <p> + I have sat by, when a friend of mine, in my own house, for sport-sake, has + with one of these fellows counterfeited a jargon of Galimatias, patched up + of phrases without head or tail, saving that he interlarded here and there + some terms that had relation to their dispute, and held the coxcomb in + play a whole afternoon together, who all the while thought he had answered + pertinently and learnedly to all his objections; and yet this was a man of + letters, and reputation, and a fine gentleman of the long robe: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vos, O patricius sanguis, quos vivere par est + Occipiti caeco, posticae occurrite sannae.” + + [“O you, of patrician blood, to whom it is permitted to live + with(out) eyes in the back of your head, beware of grimaces at you + from behind.”—Persius, Sat., i. 61.] +</pre> + <p> + Whosoever shall narrowly pry into and thoroughly sift this sort of people, + wherewith the world is so pestered, will, as I have done, find, that for + the most part, they neither understand others, nor themselves; and that + their memories are full enough, but the judgment totally void and empty; + some excepted, whose own nature has of itself formed them into better + fashion. As I have observed, for example, in Adrian Turnebus, who having + never made other profession than that of mere learning only, and in that, + in my opinion, he was the greatest man that has been these thousand years, + had nothing at all in him of the pedant, but the wearing of his gown, and + a little exterior fashion, that could not be civilised to courtier ways, + which in themselves are nothing. I hate our people, who can worse endure + an ill-contrived robe than an ill-contrived mind, and take their measure + by the leg a man makes, by his behaviour, and so much as the very fashion + of his boots, what kind of man he is. For within there was not a more + polished soul upon earth. I have often purposely put him upon arguments + quite wide of his profession, wherein I found he had so clear an insight, + so quick an apprehension, so solid a judgment, that a man would have + thought he had never practised any other thing but arms, and been all his + life employed in affairs of State. These are great and vigorous natures, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Queis arte benigna + Et meliore luto finxit praecordia Titan.” + + [“Whom benign Titan (Prometheus) has framed of better clay.” + —Juvenal, xiv. 34.] +</pre> + <p> + that can keep themselves upright in despite of a pedantic education. But + it is not enough that our education does not spoil us; it must, moreover, + alter us for the better. + </p> + <p> + Some of our Parliaments, when they are to admit officers, examine only + their learning; to which some of the others also add the trial of + understanding, by asking their judgment of some case in law; of these the + latter, methinks, proceed with the better method; for although both are + necessary, and that it is very requisite they should be defective in + neither, yet, in truth, knowledge is not so absolutely necessary as + judgment; the last may make shift without the other, but the other never + without this. For as the Greek verse says— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“To what use serves learning, if understanding be away.” + —Apud Stobaeus, tit. iii., p. 37 (1609).] +</pre> + <p> + Would to God that, for the good of our judicature, these societies were as + well furnished with understanding and conscience as they are with + knowledge. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non vita, sed scolae discimus.” + + [“We do not study for life, but only for the school.” + —Seneca, Ep., 106.] +</pre> + <p> + We are not to tie learning to the soul, but to work and incorporate them + together: not to tincture it only, but to give it a thorough and perfect + dye; which, if it will not take colour, and meliorate its imperfect state, + it were without question better to let it alone. ‘Tis a dangerous + weapon, that will hinder and wound its master, if put into an awkward and + unskilful hand: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut fuerit melius non didicisse.” + + [“So that it were better not to have learned.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + And this, peradventure, is the reason why neither we nor theology require + much learning in women; and that Francis, Duke of Brittany, son of John + V., one talking with him about his marriage with Isabella the daughter of + Scotland, and adding that she was homely bred, and without any manner of + learning, made answer, that he liked her the better, and that a woman was + wise enough, if she could distinguish her husband’s shirt from his + doublet. So that it is no so great wonder, as they make of it, that our + ancestors had letters in no greater esteem, and that even to this day they + are but rarely met with in the principal councils of princes; and if the + end and design of acquiring riches, which is the only thing we propose to + ourselves, by the means of law, physic, pedantry, and even divinity + itself, did not uphold and keep them in credit, you would, with doubt, see + them in as pitiful a condition as ever. And what loss would this be, if + they neither instruct us to think well nor to do well? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Postquam docti prodierunt, boni desunt.” + + [Seneca, Ep., 95. “Since the ‘savans’ have made their appearance + among us, the good people have become eclipsed.” + —Rousseau, Discours sur les Lettres.] +</pre> + <p> + All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not the science of goodness. + </p> + <p> + But the reason I glanced upon but now, may it not also hence proceed, + that, our studies in France having almost no other aim but profit, except + as to those who, by nature born to offices and employments rather of glory + than gain, addict themselves to letters, if at all, only for so short a + time (being taken from their studies before they can come to have any + taste of them, to a profession that has nothing to do with books), there + ordinarily remain no others to apply themselves wholly to learning, but + people of mean condition, who in that only seek the means to live; and by + such people, whose souls are, both by nature and by domestic education and + example, of the basest alloy the fruits of knowledge are immaturely + gathered and ill digested, and delivered to their recipients quite another + thing. For it is not for knowledge to enlighten a soul that is dark of + itself, nor to make a blind man see. Her business is not to find a man’s + eyes, but to guide, govern, and direct them, provided he have sound feet + and straight legs to go upon. Knowledge is an excellent drug, but no drug + has virtue enough to preserve itself from corruption and decay, if the + vessel be tainted and impure wherein it is put to keep. Such a one may + have a sight clear enough who looks asquint, and consequently sees what is + good, but does not follow it, and sees knowledge, but makes no use of it. + Plato’s principal institution in his Republic is to fit his citizens + with employments suitable to their nature. Nature can do all, and does + all. Cripples are very unfit for exercises of the body, and lame souls for + exercises of the mind. Degenerate and vulgar souls are unworthy of + philosophy. If we see a shoemaker with his shoes out at the toes, we say, + ‘tis no wonder; for, commonly, none go worse shod than they. In like + manner, experience often presents us a physician worse physicked, a divine + less reformed, and (constantly) a scholar of less sufficiency, than other + people. + </p> + <p> + Old Aristo of Chios had reason to say that philosophers did their auditors + harm, forasmuch as most of the souls of those that heard them were not + capable of deriving benefit from instruction, which, if not applied to + good, would certainly be applied to ill: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“They proceeded effeminate debauchees from the school of + Aristippus, cynics from that of Zeno.” + —Cicero, De Natura Deor., iii., 31.] +</pre> + <p> + In that excellent institution that Xenophon attributes to the Persians, we + find that they taught their children virtue, as other nations do letters. + Plato tells us that the eldest son in their royal succession was thus + brought up; after his birth he was delivered, not to women, but to eunuchs + of the greatest authority about their kings for their virtue, whose charge + it was to keep his body healthful and in good plight; and after he came to + seven years of age, to teach him to ride and to go a-hunting. When he + arrived at fourteen he was transferred into the hands of four, the wisest, + the most just, the most temperate, and most valiant of the nation; of whom + the first was to instruct him in religion, the second to be always upright + and sincere, the third to conquer his appetites and desires, and the + fourth to despise all danger. + </p> + <p> + It is a thing worthy of very great consideration, that in that excellent, + and, in truth, for its perfection, prodigious form of civil regimen set + down by Lycurgus, though so solicitous of the education of children, as a + thing of the greatest concern, and even in the very seat of the Muses, he + should make so little mention of learning; as if that generous youth, + disdaining all other subjection but that of virtue, ought to be supplied, + instead of tutors to read to them arts and sciences, with such masters as + should only instruct them in valour, prudence, and justice; an example + that Plato has followed in his laws. The manner of their discipline was to + propound to them questions in judgment upon men and their actions; and if + they commended or condemned this or that person or fact, they were to give + a reason for so doing; by which means they at once sharpened their + understanding, and learned what was right. Astyages, in Xenophon, asks + Cyrus to give an account of his last lesson; and thus it was, “A + great boy in our school, having a little short cassock, by force took a + longer from another that was not so tall as he, and gave him his own in + exchange: whereupon I, being appointed judge of the controversy, gave + judgment, that I thought it best each should keep the coat he had, for + that they both of them were better fitted with that of one another than + with their own: upon which my master told me, I had done ill, in that I + had only considered the fitness of the garments, whereas I ought to have + considered the justice of the thing, which required that no one should + have anything forcibly taken from him that is his own.” And Cyrus + adds that he was whipped for his pains, as we are in our villages for + forgetting the first aorist of———. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Cotton’s version of this story commences differently, and includes + a passage which is not in any of the editions of the original before + me: + + “Mandane, in Xenophon, asking Cyrus how he would do to learn + justice, and the other virtues amongst the Medes, having left all + his masters behind him in Persia? He made answer, that he had + learned those things long since; that his master had often made him + a judge of the differences amongst his schoolfellows, and had one + day whipped him for giving a wrong sentence.”—W.C.H.] +</pre> + <p> + My pedant must make me a very learned oration, ‘in genere + demonstrativo’, before he can persuade me that his school is like + unto that. They knew how to go the readiest way to work; and seeing that + science, when most rightly applied and best understood, can do no more but + teach us prudence, moral honesty, and resolution, they thought fit, at + first hand, to initiate their children with the knowledge of effects, and + to instruct them, not by hearsay and rote, but by the experiment of + action, in lively forming and moulding them; not only by words and + precepts, but chiefly by works and examples; to the end it might not be a + knowledge in the mind only, but its complexion and habit: not an + acquisition, but a natural possession. One asking to this purpose, + Agesilaus, what he thought most proper for boys to learn? “What they + ought to do when they come to be men,” said he.—[Plutarch, + Apothegms of the Lacedamonians. Rousseau adopts the expression in his + Diswuys sur tes Lettres.]—It is no wonder, if such an institution + produced so admirable effects. + </p> + <p> + They used to go, it is said, to the other cities of Greece, to inquire out + rhetoricians, painters, and musicians; but to Lacedaemon for legislators, + magistrates, and generals of armies; at Athens they learned to speak well: + here to do well; there to disengage themselves from a sophistical + argument, and to unravel the imposture of captious syllogisms; here to + evade the baits and allurements of pleasure, and with a noble courage and + resolution to conquer the menaces of fortune and death; those cudgelled + their brains about words, these made it their business to inquire into + things; there was an eternal babble of the tongue, here a continual + exercise of the soul. And therefore it is nothing strange if, when + Antipater demanded of them fifty children for hostages, they made answer, + quite contrary to what we should do, that they would rather give him twice + as many full-grown men, so much did they value the loss of their country’s + education. When Agesilaus courted Xenophon to send his children to Sparta + to be bred, “it is not,” said he, “there to learn logic + or rhetoric, but to be instructed in the noblest of all sciences, namely, + the science to obey and to command.”—[Plutarch, Life of + Agesilaus, c. 7.] + </p> + <p> + It is very pleasant to see Socrates, after his manner, rallying Hippias, + —[Plato’s Dialogues: Hippias Major.]—who recounts to him + what a world of money he has got, especially in certain little villages of + Sicily, by teaching school, and that he made never a penny at Sparta: + “What a sottish and stupid people,” said Socrates, “are + they, without sense or understanding, that make no account either of + grammar or poetry, and only busy themselves in studying the genealogies + and successions of their kings, the foundations, rises, and declensions of + states, and such tales of a tub!” After which, having made Hippias + from one step to another acknowledge the excellency of their form of + public administration, and the felicity and virtue of their private life, + he leaves him to guess at the conclusion he makes of the inutilities of + his pedantic arts. + </p> + <p> + Examples have demonstrated to us that in military affairs, and all others + of the like active nature, the study of sciences more softens and + untempers the courages of men than it in any way fortifies and excites + them. The most potent empire that at this day appears to be in the whole + world is that of the Turks, a people equally inured to the estimation of + arms and the contempt of letters. I find Rome was more valiant before she + grew so learned. The most warlike nations at this time in being are the + most rude and ignorant: the Scythians, the Parthians, Tamerlane, serve for + sufficient proof of this. When the Goths overran Greece, the only thing + that preserved all the libraries from the fire was, that some one + possessed them with an opinion that they were to leave this kind of + furniture entire to the enemy, as being most proper to divert them from + the exercise of arms, and to fix them to a lazy and sedentary life. When + our King Charles VIII., almost without striking a blow, saw himself + possessed of the kingdom of Naples and a considerable part of Tuscany, the + nobles about him attributed this unexpected facility of conquest to this, + that the princes and nobles of Italy, more studied to render themselves + ingenious and learned, than vigorous and warlike. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV——OF THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN + </h2> + <h3> + TO MADAME DIANE DE FOIX, Comtesse de Gurson + </h3> + <p> + I never yet saw that father, but let his son be never so decrepit or + deformed, would not, notwithstanding, own him: not, nevertheless, if he + were not totally besotted, and blinded with his paternal affection, that + he did not well enough discern his defects; but that with all defaults he + was still his. Just so, I see better than any other, that all I write here + are but the idle reveries of a man that has only nibbled upon the outward + crust of sciences in his nonage, and only retained a general and formless + image of them; who has got a little snatch of everything and nothing of + the whole, ‘a la Francoise’. For I know, in general, that + there is such a thing as physic, as jurisprudence: four parts in + mathematics, and, roughly, what all these aim and point at; and, + peradventure, I yet know farther, what sciences in general pretend unto, + in order to the service of our life: but to dive farther than that, and to + have cudgelled my brains in the study of Aristotle, the monarch of all + modern learning, or particularly addicted myself to any one science, I + have never done it; neither is there any one art of which I am able to + draw the first lineaments and dead colour; insomuch that there is not a + boy of the lowest form in a school, that may not pretend to be wiser than + I, who am not able to examine him in his first lesson, which, if I am at + any time forced upon, I am necessitated in my own defence, to ask him, + unaptly enough, some universal questions, such as may serve to try his + natural understanding; a lesson as strange and unknown to him, as his is + to me. + </p> + <p> + I never seriously settled myself to the reading any book of solid learning + but Plutarch and Seneca; and there, like the Danaides, I eternally fill, + and it as constantly runs out; something of which drops upon this paper, + but little or nothing stays with me. History is my particular game as to + matter of reading, or else poetry, for which I have particular kindness + and esteem: for, as Cleanthes said, as the voice, forced through the + narrow passage of a trumpet, comes out more forcible and shrill: so, + methinks, a sentence pressed within the harmony of verse darts out more + briskly upon the understanding, and strikes my ear and apprehension with a + smarter and more pleasing effect. As to the natural parts I have, of which + this is the essay, I find them to bow under the burden; my fancy and + judgment do but grope in the dark, tripping and stumbling in the way; and + when I have gone as far as I can, I am in no degree satisfied; I discover + still a new and greater extent of land before me, with a troubled and + imperfect sight and wrapped up in clouds, that I am not able to penetrate. + And taking upon me to write indifferently of whatever comes into my head, + and therein making use of nothing but my own proper and natural means, if + it befall me, as oft-times it does, accidentally to meet in any good + author, the same heads and commonplaces upon which I have attempted to + write (as I did but just now in Plutarch’s “Discourse of the + Force of Imagination”), to see myself so weak and so forlorn, so + heavy and so flat, in comparison of those better writers, I at once pity + or despise myself. Yet do I please myself with this, that my opinions have + often the honour and good fortune to jump with theirs, and that I go in + the same path, though at a very great distance, and can say, “Ah, + that is so.” I am farther satisfied to find that I have a quality, + which every one is not blessed withal, which is, to discern the vast + difference between them and me; and notwithstanding all that, suffer my + own inventions, low and feeble as they are, to run on in their career, + without mending or plastering up the defects that this comparison has laid + open to my own view. And, in plain truth, a man had need of a good strong + back to keep pace with these people. The indiscreet scribblers of our + times, who, amongst their laborious nothings, insert whole sections and + pages out of ancient authors, with a design, by that means, to illustrate + their own writings, do quite contrary; for this infinite dissimilitude of + ornaments renders the complexion of their own compositions so sallow and + deformed, that they lose much more than they get. + </p> + <p> + The philosophers, Chrysippus and Epicurus, were in this of two quite + contrary humours: the first not only in his books mixed passages and + sayings of other authors, but entire pieces, and, in one, the whole Medea + of Euripides; which gave Apollodorus occasion to say, that should a man + pick out of his writings all that was none of his, he would leave him + nothing but blank paper: whereas the latter, quite on the contrary, in + three hundred volumes that he left behind him, has not so much as one + quotation.—[Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Chyysippus, vii. 181, and + Epicurus, x. 26.] + </p> + <p> + I happened the other day upon this piece of fortune; I was reading a + French book, where after I had a long time run dreaming over a great many + words, so dull, so insipid, so void of all wit or common sense, that + indeed they were only French words: after a long and tedious travel, I + came at last to meet with a piece that was lofty, rich, and elevated to + the very clouds; of which, had I found either the declivity easy or the + ascent gradual, there had been some excuse; but it was so perpendicular a + precipice, and so wholly cut off from the rest of the work, that by the + first six words, I found myself flying into the other world, and thence + discovered the vale whence I came so deep and low, that I have never had + since the heart to descend into it any more. If I should set out one of my + discourses with such rich spoils as these, it would but too evidently + manifest the imperfection of my own writing. To reprehend the fault in + others that I am guilty of myself, appears to me no more unreasonable, + than to condemn, as I often do, those of others in myself: they are to be + everywhere reproved, and ought to have no sanctuary allowed them. I know + very well how audaciously I myself, at every turn, attempt to equal myself + to my thefts, and to make my style go hand in hand with them, not without + a temerarious hope of deceiving the eyes of my reader from discerning the + difference; but withal it is as much by the benefit of my application, + that I hope to do it, as by that of my invention or any force of my own. + Besides, I do not offer to contend with the whole body of these champions, + nor hand to hand with anyone of them: ‘tis only by flights and + little light attempts that I engage them; I do not grapple with them, but + try their strength only, and never engage so far as I make a show to do. + If I could hold them in play, I were a brave fellow; for I never attack + them; but where they are most sinewy and strong. To cover a man’s + self (as I have seen some do) with another man’s armour, so as not + to discover so much as his fingers’ ends; to carry on a design (as + it is not hard for a man that has anything of a scholar in him, in an + ordinary subject to do) under old inventions patched up here and there + with his own trumpery, and then to endeavour to conceal the theft, and to + make it pass for his own, is first injustice and meanness of spirit in + those who do it, who having nothing in them of their own fit to procure + them a reputation, endeavour to do it by attempting to impose things upon + the world in their own name, which they have no manner of title to; and + next, a ridiculous folly to content themselves with acquiring the ignorant + approbation of the vulgar by such a pitiful cheat, at the price at the + same time of degrading themselves in the eyes of men of understanding, who + turn up their noses at all this borrowed incrustation, yet whose praise + alone is worth the having. For my own part, there is nothing I would not + sooner do than that, neither have I said so much of others, but to get a + better opportunity to explain myself. Nor in this do I glance at the + composers of centos, who declare themselves for such; of which sort of + writers I have in my time known many very ingenious, and particularly one + under the name of Capilupus, besides the ancients. These are really men of + wit, and that make it appear they are so, both by that and other ways of + writing; as for example, Lipsius, in that learned and laborious contexture + of his Politics. + </p> + <p> + But, be it how it will, and how inconsiderable soever these ineptitudes + may be, I will say I never intended to conceal them, no more than my old + bald grizzled likeness before them, where the painter has presented you + not with a perfect face, but with mine. For these are my own particular + opinions and fancies, and I deliver them as only what I myself believe, + and not for what is to be believed by others. I have no other end in this + writing, but only to discover myself, who, also shall, peradventure, be + another thing to-morrow, if I chance to meet any new instruction to change + me. I have no authority to be believed, neither do I desire it, being too + conscious of my own inerudition to be able to instruct others. + </p> + <p> + Some one, then, having seen the preceding chapter, the other day told me + at my house, that I should a little farther have extended my discourse on + the education of children.—[“Which, how fit I am to do, let my + friends flatter me if they please, I have in the meantime no such opinion + of my own talent, as to promise myself any very good success from my + endeavour.” This passage would appear to be an interpolation by + Cotton. At all events, I do not find it in the original editions before + me, or in Coste.]— + </p> + <p> + Now, madam, if I had any sufficiency in this subject, I could not possibly + better employ it, than to present my best instructions to the little man + that threatens you shortly with a happy birth (for you are too generous to + begin otherwise than with a male); for, having had so great a hand in the + treaty of your marriage, I have a certain particular right and interest in + the greatness and prosperity of the issue that shall spring from it; + beside that, your having had the best of my services so long in + possession, sufficiently obliges me to desire the honour and advantage of + all wherein you shall be concerned. But, in truth, all I understand as to + that particular is only this, that the greatest and most important + difficulty of human science is the education of children. For as in + agriculture, the husbandry that is to precede planting, as also planting + itself, is certain, plain, and well known; but after that which is planted + comes to life, there is a great deal more to be done, more art to be used, + more care to be taken, and much more difficulty to cultivate and bring it + to perfection so it is with men; it is no hard matter to get children; but + after they are born, then begins the trouble, solicitude, and care rightly + to train, principle, and bring them up. The symptoms of their inclinations + in that tender age are so obscure, and the promises so uncertain and + fallacious, that it is very hard to establish any solid judgment or + conjecture upon them. Look at Cimon, for example, and Themistocles, and a + thousand others, who very much deceived the expectation men had of them. + Cubs of bears and puppies readily discover their natural inclination; but + men, so soon as ever they are grownup, applying themselves to certain + habits, engaging themselves in certain opinions, and conforming themselves + to particular laws and customs, easily alter, or at least disguise, their + true and real disposition; and yet it is hard to force the propension of + nature. Whence it comes to pass, that for not having chosen the right + course, we often take very great pains, and consume a good part of our + time in training up children to things, for which, by their natural + constitution, they are totally unfit. In this difficulty, nevertheless, I + am clearly of opinion, that they ought to be elemented in the best and + most advantageous studies, without taking too much notice of, or being too + superstitious in those light prognostics they give of themselves in their + tender years, and to which Plato, in his Republic, gives, methinks, too + much authority. + </p> + <p> + Madam, science is a very great ornament, and a thing of marvellous use, + especially in persons raised to that degree of fortune in which you are. + And, in truth, in persons of mean and low condition, it cannot perform its + true and genuine office, being naturally more prompt to assist in the + conduct of war, in the government of peoples, in negotiating the leagues + and friendships of princes and foreign nations, than in forming a + syllogism in logic, in pleading a process in law, or in prescribing a dose + of pills in physic. Wherefore, madam, believing you will not omit this so + necessary feature in the education of your children, who yourself have + tasted its sweetness, and are of a learned extraction (for we yet have the + writings of the ancient Counts of Foix, from whom my lord, your husband, + and yourself, are both of you descended, and Monsieur de Candale, your + uncle, every day obliges the world with others, which will extend the + knowledge of this quality in your family for so many succeeding ages), I + will, upon this occasion, presume to acquaint your ladyship with one + particular fancy of my own, contrary to the common method, which is all I + am able to contribute to your service in this affair. + </p> + <p> + The charge of the tutor you shall provide for your son, upon the choice of + whom depends the whole success of his education, has several other great + and considerable parts and duties required in so important a trust, + besides that of which I am about to speak: these, however, I shall not + mention, as being unable to add anything of moment to the common rules: + and in this, wherein I take upon me to advise, he may follow it so far + only as it shall appear advisable. + </p> + <p> + For a, boy of quality then, who pretends to letters not upon the account + of profit (for so mean an object is unworthy of the grace and favour of + the Muses, and moreover, in it a man directs his service to and depends + upon others), nor so much for outward ornament, as for his own proper and + peculiar use, and to furnish and enrich himself within, having rather a + desire to come out an accomplished cavalier than a mere scholar or learned + man; for such a one, I say, I would, also, have his friends solicitous to + find him out a tutor, who has rather a well-made than a well-filled head;—[“‘Tete + bien faite’, an expression created by Montaigne, and which has + remained a part of our language.”—Servan.]— seeking, + indeed, both the one and the other, but rather of the two to prefer + manners and judgment to mere learning, and that this man should exercise + his charge after a new method. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis the custom of pedagogues to be eternally thundering in their + pupil’s ears, as they were pouring into a funnel, whilst the + business of the pupil is only to repeat what the others have said: now I + would have a tutor to correct this error, and, that at the very first, he + should according to the capacity he has to deal with, put it to the test, + permitting his pupil himself to taste things, and of himself to discern + and choose them, sometimes opening the way to him, and sometimes leaving + him to open it for himself; that is, I would not have him alone to invent + and speak, but that he should also hear his pupil speak in turn. Socrates, + and since him Arcesilaus, made first their scholars speak, and then they + spoke to them—[Diogenes Laertius, iv. 36.] + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Obest plerumque iis, qui discere volunt, + auctoritas eorum, qui docent.” + + [“The authority of those who teach, is very often an impediment to + those who desire to learn.”—Cicero, De Natura Deor., i. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + It is good to make him, like a young horse, trot before him, that he may + judge of his going, and how much he is to abate of his own speed, to + accommodate himself to the vigour and capacity of the other. For want of + which due proportion we spoil all; which also to know how to adjust, and + to keep within an exact and due measure, is one of the hardest things I + know, and ‘tis the effect of a high and well-tempered soul, to know + how to condescend to such puerile motions and to govern and direct them. I + walk firmer and more secure up hill than down. + </p> + <p> + Such as, according to our common way of teaching, undertake, with one and + the same lesson, and the same measure of direction, to instruct several + boys of differing and unequal capacities, are infinitely mistaken; and + ‘tis no wonder, if in a whole multitude of scholars, there are not + found above two or three who bring away any good account of their time and + discipline. Let the master not only examine him about the grammatical + construction of the bare words of his lesson, but about the sense and let + him judge of the profit he has made, not by the testimony of his memory, + but by that of his life. Let him make him put what he has learned into a + hundred several forms, and accommodate it to so many several subjects, to + see if he yet rightly comprehends it, and has made it his own, taking + instruction of his progress by the pedagogic institutions of Plato. + ‘Tis a sign of crudity and indigestion to disgorge what we eat in + the same condition it was swallowed; the stomach has not performed its + office unless it have altered the form and condition of what was committed + to it to concoct. Our minds work only upon trust, when bound and compelled + to follow the appetite of another’s fancy, enslaved and captivated + under the authority of another’s instruction; we have been so + subjected to the trammel, that we have no free, nor natural pace of our + own; our own vigour and liberty are extinct and gone: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nunquam tutelae suae fiunt.” + + [“They are ever in wardship.”—Seneca, Ep., 33.] +</pre> + <p> + I was privately carried at Pisa to see a very honest man, but so great an + Aristotelian, that his most usual thesis was: “That the touchstone + and square of all solid imagination, and of all truth, was an absolute + conformity to Aristotle’s doctrine; and that all besides was nothing + but inanity and chimera; for that he had seen all, and said all.” A + position, that for having been a little too injuriously and broadly + interpreted, brought him once and long kept him in great danger of the + Inquisition at Rome. + </p> + <p> + Let him make him examine and thoroughly sift everything he reads, and + lodge nothing in his fancy upon simple authority and upon trust. Aristotle’s + principles will then be no more principles to him, than those of Epicurus + and the Stoics: let this diversity of opinions be propounded to, and laid + before him; he will himself choose, if he be able; if not, he will remain + in doubt. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Che non men the saver, dubbiar m’ aggrata.” + + [“I love to doubt, as well as to know.”—Dante, Inferno, xi. 93] +</pre> + <p> + for, if he embrace the opinions of Xenophon and Plato, by his own reason, + they will no more be theirs, but become his own. Who follows another, + follows nothing, finds nothing, nay, is inquisitive after nothing. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non sumus sub rege; sibi quisque se vindicet.” + + [“We are under no king; let each vindicate himself.” + —Seneca, Ep.,33] +</pre> + <p> + Let him, at least, know that he knows. It will be necessary that he imbibe + their knowledge, not that he be corrupted with their precepts; and no + matter if he forget where he had his learning, provided he know how to + apply it to his own use. Truth and reason are common to every one, and are + no more his who spake them first, than his who speaks them after: ‘tis + no more according to Plato, than according to me, since both he and I + equally see and understand them. Bees cull their several sweets from this + flower and that blossom, here and there where they find them, but + themselves afterwards make the honey, which is all and purely their own, + and no more thyme and marjoram: so the several fragments he borrows from + others, he will transform and shuffle together to compile a work that + shall be absolutely his own; that is to say, his judgment: his + instruction, labour and study, tend to nothing else but to form that. He + is not obliged to discover whence he got the materials that have assisted + him, but only to produce what he has himself done with them. Men that live + upon pillage and borrowing, expose their purchases and buildings to every + one’s view: but do not proclaim how they came by the money. We do + not see the fees and perquisites of a gentleman of the long robe; but we + see the alliances wherewith he fortifies himself and his family, and the + titles and honours he has obtained for him and his. No man divulges his + revenue; or, at least, which way it comes in but every one publishes his + acquisitions. The advantages of our study are to become better and more + wise. ‘Tis, says Epicharmus, the understanding that sees and hears, + ‘tis the understanding that improves everything, that orders + everything, and that acts, rules, and reigns: all other faculties are + blind, and deaf, and without soul. And certainly we render it timorous and + servile, in not allowing it the liberty and privilege to do anything of + itself. Whoever asked his pupil what he thought of grammar and rhetoric, + or of such and such a sentence of Cicero? Our masters stick them, full + feathered, in our memories, and there establish them like oracles, of + which the letters and syllables are of the substance of the thing. To know + by rote, is no knowledge, and signifies no more but only to retain what + one has intrusted to our memory. That which a man rightly knows and + understands, he is the free disposer of at his own full liberty, without + any regard to the author from whence he had it, or fumbling over the + leaves of his book. A mere bookish learning is a poor, paltry learning; it + may serve for ornament, but there is yet no foundation for any + superstructure to be built upon it, according to the opinion of Plato, who + says, that constancy, faith, and sincerity, are the true philosophy, and + the other sciences, that are directed to other ends; mere adulterate + paint. I could wish that Paluel or Pompey, those two noted dancers of my + time, could have taught us to cut capers, by only seeing them do it, + without stirring from our places, as these men pretend to inform the + understanding without ever setting it to work, or that we could learn to + ride, handle a pike, touch a lute, or sing without the trouble of + practice, as these attempt to make us judge and speak well, without + exercising us in judging or speaking. Now in this initiation of our + studies in their progress, whatsoever presents itself before us is book + sufficient; a roguish trick of a page, a sottish mistake of a servant, a + jest at the table, are so many new subjects. + </p> + <p> + And for this reason, conversation with men is of very great use and travel + into foreign countries; not to bring back (as most of our young monsieurs + do) an account only of how many paces Santa Rotonda—[The Pantheon of + Agrippa.]—is in circuit; or of the richness of Signora Livia’s + petticoats; or, as some others, how much Nero’s face, in a statue in + such an old ruin, is longer and broader than that made for him on some + medal; but to be able chiefly to give an account of the humours, manners, + customs, and laws of those nations where he has been, and that we may whet + and sharpen our wits by rubbing them against those of others. I would that + a boy should be sent abroad very young, and first, so as to kill two birds + with one stone, into those neighbouring nations whose language is most + differing from our own, and to which, if it be not formed betimes, the + tongue will grow too stiff to bend. + </p> + <p> + And also ‘tis the general opinion of all, that a child should not be + brought up in his mother’s lap. Mothers are too tender, and their + natural affection is apt to make the most discreet of them all so + overfond, that they can neither find in their hearts to give them due + correction for the faults they may commit, nor suffer them to be inured to + hardships and hazards, as they ought to be. They will not endure to see + them return all dust and sweat from their exercise, to drink cold drink + when they are hot, nor see them mount an unruly horse, nor take a foil in + hand against a rude fencer, or so much as to discharge a carbine. And yet + there is no remedy; whoever will breed a boy to be good for anything when + he comes to be a man, must by no means spare him when young, and must very + often transgress the rules of physic: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vitamque sub dio, et trepidis agat + In rebus.” + + [“Let him live in open air, and ever in movement about something.” + —Horace, Od. ii., 3, 5.] +</pre> + <p> + It is not enough to fortify his soul; you are also to make his sinews + strong; for the soul will be oppressed if not assisted by the members, and + would have too hard a task to discharge two offices alone. I know very + well to my cost, how much mine groans under the burden, from being + accommodated with a body so tender and indisposed, as eternally leans and + presses upon her; and often in my reading perceive that our masters, in + their writings, make examples pass for magnanimity and fortitude of mind, + which really are rather toughness of skin and hardness of bones; for I + have seen men, women, and children, naturally born of so hard and + insensible a constitution of body, that a sound cudgelling has been less + to them than a flirt with a finger would have been to me, and that would + neither cry out, wince, nor shrink, for a good swinging beating; and when + wrestlers counterfeit the philosophers in patience, ‘tis rather + strength of nerves than stoutness of heart. Now to be inured to undergo + labour, is to be accustomed to endure pain: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Labor callum obducit dolori.” + + [“Labour hardens us against pain.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + A boy is to be broken in to the toil and roughness of exercise, so as to + be trained up to the pain and suffering of dislocations, cholics, + cauteries, and even imprisonment and the rack itself; for he may come by + misfortune to be reduced to the worst of these, which (as this world goes) + is sometimes inflicted on the good as well as the bad. As for proof, in + our present civil war whoever draws his sword against the laws, threatens + the honestest men with the whip and the halter. + </p> + <p> + And, moreover, by living at home, the authority of this governor, which + ought to be sovereign over the boy he has received into his charge, is + often checked and hindered by the presence of parents; to which may also + be added, that the respect the whole family pay him, as their master’s + son, and the knowledge he has of the estate and greatness he is heir to, + are, in my opinion, no small inconveniences in these tender years. + </p> + <p> + And yet, even in this conversing with men I spoke of but now, I have + observed this vice, that instead of gathering observations from others, we + make it our whole business to lay ourselves open to them, and are more + concerned how to expose and set out our own commodities, than how to + increase our stock by acquiring new. Silence, therefore, and modesty are + very advantageous qualities in conversation. One should, therefore, train + up this boy to be sparing and an husband of his knowledge when he has + acquired it; and to forbear taking exceptions at or reproving every idle + saying or ridiculous story that is said or told in his presence; for it is + a very unbecoming rudeness to carp at everything that is not agreeable to + our own palate. Let him be satisfied with correcting himself, and not seem + to condemn everything in another he would not do himself, nor dispute it + as against common customs. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Licet sapere sine pompa, sine invidia.” + + [“Let us be wise without ostentation, without envy.” + —Seneca, Ep., 103.] +</pre> + <p> + Let him avoid these vain and uncivil images of authority, this childish + ambition of coveting to appear better bred and more accomplished, than he + really will, by such carriage, discover himself to be. And, as if + opportunities of interrupting and reprehending were not to be omitted, to + desire thence to derive the reputation of something more than ordinary. + For as it becomes none but great poets to make use of the poetical + licence, so it is intolerable for any but men of great and illustrious + souls to assume privilege above the authority of custom: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si quid Socrates ant Aristippus contra morem et consuetudinem + fecerunt, idem sibi ne arbitretur licere: magnis enim illi et + divinis bonis hanc licentiam assequebantur.” + + [“If Socrates and Aristippus have committed any act against manners + and custom, let him not think that he is allowed to do the same; for + it was by great and divine benefits that they obtained this + privilege.”—Cicero, De Offic., i. 41.] +</pre> + <p> + Let him be instructed not to engage in discourse or dispute but with a + champion worthy of him, and, even there, not to make use of all the little + subtleties that may seem pat for his purpose, but only such arguments as + may best serve him. Let him be taught to be curious in the election and + choice of his reasons, to abominate impertinence, and consequently, to + affect brevity; but, above all, let him be lessoned to acquiesce and + submit to truth so soon as ever he shall discover it, whether in his + opponent’s argument, or upon better consideration of his own; for he + shall never be preferred to the chair for a mere clatter of words and + syllogisms, and is no further engaged to any argument whatever, than as he + shall in his own judgment approve it: nor yet is arguing a trade, where + the liberty of recantation and getting off upon better thoughts, are to be + sold for ready money: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neque, ut omnia, qux praescripta et imperata sint, + defendat, necessitate ulla cogitur.” + + [“Neither is their any necessity upon him, that he should defend + all things that are prescribed and enjoined him.” + —Cicero, Acad., ii. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + If his governor be of my humour, he will form his will to be a very good + and loyal subject to his prince, very affectionate to his person, and very + stout in his quarrel; but withal he will cool in him the desire of having + any other tie to his service than public duty. Besides several other + inconveniences that are inconsistent with the liberty every honest man + ought to have, a man’s judgment, being bribed and prepossessed by + these particular obligations, is either blinded and less free to exercise + its function, or is blemished with ingratitude and indiscretion. A man + that is purely a courtier, can neither have power nor will to speak or + think otherwise than favourably and well of a master, who, amongst so many + millions of other subjects, has picked out him with his own hand to + nourish and advance; this favour, and the profit flowing from it, must + needs, and not without some show of reason, corrupt his freedom and dazzle + him; and we commonly see these people speak in another kind of phrase than + is ordinarily spoken by others of the same nation, though what they say in + that courtly language is not much to be believed. + </p> + <p> + Let his conscience and virtue be eminently manifest in his speaking, and + have only reason for their guide. Make him understand, that to acknowledge + the error he shall discover in his own argument, though only found out by + himself, is an effect of judgment and sincerity, which are the principal + things he is to seek after; that obstinacy and contention are common + qualities, most appearing in mean souls; that to revise and correct + himself, to forsake an unjust argument in the height and heat of dispute, + are rare, great, and philosophical qualities. + </p> + <p> + Let him be advised, being in company, to have his eye and ear in every + corner; for I find that the places of greatest honour are commonly seized + upon by men that have least in them, and that the greatest fortunes are + seldom accompanied with the ablest parts. I have been present when, whilst + they at the upper end of the chamber have been only commenting the beauty + of the arras, or the flavour of the wine, many things that have been very + finely said at the lower end of the table have been lost and thrown away. + Let him examine every man’s talent; a peasant, a bricklayer, a + passenger: one may learn something from every one of these in their + several capacities, and something will be picked out of their discourse + whereof some use may be made at one time or another; nay, even the folly + and impertinence of others will contribute to his instruction. By + observing the graces and manners of all he sees, he will create to himself + an emulation of the good, and a contempt of the bad. + </p> + <p> + Let an honest curiosity be suggested to his fancy of being inquisitive + after everything; whatever there is singular and rare near the place where + he is, let him go and see it; a fine house, a noble fountain, an eminent + man, the place where a battle has been anciently fought, the passages of + Caesar and Charlemagne: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qux tellus sit lenta gelu, quae putris ab aestu, + Ventus in Italiam quis bene vela ferat.” + + [“What country is bound in frost, what land is friable with heat, + what wind serves fairest for Italy.”—Propertius, iv. 3, 39.] +</pre> + <p> + Let him inquire into the manners, revenues, and alliances of princes, + things in themselves very pleasant to learn, and very useful to know. + </p> + <p> + In this conversing with men, I mean also, and principally, those who only + live in the records of history; he shall, by reading those books, converse + with the great and heroic souls of the best ages. ‘Tis an idle and + vain study to those who make it so by doing it after a negligent manner, + but to those who do it with care and observation, ‘tis a study of + inestimable fruit and value; and the only study, as Plato reports, that + the Lacedaemonians reserved to themselves. What profit shall he not reap + as to the business of men, by reading the Lives of Plutarch? But, withal, + let my governor remember to what end his instructions are principally + directed, and that he do not so much imprint in his pupil’s memory + the date of the ruin of Carthage, as the manners of Hannibal and Scipio; + nor so much where Marcellus died, as why it was unworthy of his duty that + he died there. Let him not teach him so much the narrative parts of + history as to judge them; the reading of them, in my opinion, is a thing + that of all others we apply ourselves unto with the most differing + measure. I have read a hundred things in Livy that another has not, or not + taken notice of at least; and Plutarch has read a hundred more there than + ever I could find, or than, peradventure, that author ever wrote; to some + it is merely a grammar study, to others the very anatomy of philosophy, by + which the most abstruse parts of our human nature penetrate. There are in + Plutarch many long discourses very worthy to be carefully read and + observed, for he is, in my opinion, of all others the greatest master in + that kind of writing; but there are a thousand others which he has only + touched and glanced upon, where he only points with his finger to direct + us which way we may go if we will, and contents himself sometimes with + giving only one brisk hit in the nicest article of the question, whence we + are to grope out the rest. As, for example, where he says’—[In + the Essay on False Shame.]—that the inhabitants of Asia came to be + vassals to one only, for not having been able to pronounce one syllable, + which is No. Which saying of his gave perhaps matter and occasion to La + Boetie to write his “Voluntary Servitude.” Only to see him + pick out a light action in a man’s life, or a mere word that does + not seem to amount even to that, is itself a whole discourse. ‘Tis + to our prejudice that men of understanding should so immoderately affect + brevity; no doubt their reputation is the better by it, but in the + meantime we are the worse. Plutarch had rather we should applaud his + judgment than commend his knowledge, and had rather leave us with an + appetite to read more, than glutted with that we have already read. He + knew very well, that a man may say too much even upon the best subjects, + and that Alexandridas justly reproached him who made very good. but too + long speeches to the Ephori, when he said: “O stranger! thou + speakest the things thou shouldst speak, but not as thou shouldst speak + them.”—[Plutarch, Apothegms of the Lacedamonians.]—Such + as have lean and spare bodies stuff themselves out with clothes; so they + who are defective in matter endeavour to make amends with words. + </p> + <p> + Human understanding is marvellously enlightened by daily conversation with + men, for we are, otherwise, compressed and heaped up in ourselves, and + have our sight limited to the length of our own noses. One asking Socrates + of what country he was, he did not make answer, of Athens, but of the + world;—[Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., v. 37; Plutarch, On Exile, c. 4.]— + he whose imagination was fuller and wider, embraced the whole world for + his country, and extended his society and friendship to all mankind; not + as we do, who look no further than our feet. When the vines of my village + are nipped with the frost, my parish priest presently concludes, that the + indignation of God has gone out against all the human race, and that the + cannibals have already got the pip. Who is it that, seeing the havoc of + these civil wars of ours, does not cry out, that the machine of the world + is near dissolution, and that the day of judgment is at hand; without + considering, that many worse things have been seen, and that in the + meantime, people are very merry in a thousand other parts of the earth for + all this? For my part, considering the licence and impunity that always + attend such commotions, I wonder they are so moderate, and that there is + no more mischief done. To him who feels the hailstones patter about his + ears, the whole hemisphere appears to be in storm and tempest; like the + ridiculous Savoyard, who said very gravely, that if that simple king of + France could have managed his fortune as he should have done, he might in + time have come to have been steward of the household to the duke his + master: the fellow could not, in his shallow imagination, conceive that + there could be anything greater than a Duke of Savoy. And, in truth, we + are all of us, insensibly, in this error, an error of a very great weight + and very pernicious consequence. But whoever shall represent to his fancy, + as in a picture, that great image of our mother nature, in her full + majesty and lustre, whoever in her face shall read so general and so + constant a variety, whoever shall observe himself in that figure, and not + himself but a whole kingdom, no bigger than the least touch or prick of a + pencil in comparison of the whole, that man alone is able to value things + according to their true estimate and grandeur. + </p> + <p> + This great world which some do yet multiply as several species under one + genus, is the mirror wherein we are to behold ourselves, to be able to + know ourselves as we ought to do in the true bias. In short, I would have + this to be the book my young gentleman should study with the most + attention. So many humours, so many sects, so many judgments, opinions, + laws, and customs, teach us to judge aright of our own, and inform our + understanding to discover its imperfection and natural infirmity, which is + no trivial speculation. So many mutations of states and kingdoms, and so + many turns and revolutions of public fortune, will make us wise enough to + make no great wonder of our own. So many great names, so many famous + victories and conquests drowned and swallowed in oblivion, render our + hopes ridiculous of eternising our names by the taking of half-a-score of + light horse, or a henroost, which only derives its memory from its ruin. + The pride and arrogance of so many foreign pomps, the inflated majesty of + so many courts and grandeurs, accustom and fortify our sight without + closing our eyes to behold the lustre of our own; so many trillions of + men, buried before us, encourage us not to fear to go seek such good + company in the other world: and so of the rest Pythagoras was want to say,—[Cicero, + Tusc. Quaes., v. 3.]—that our life resembles the great and populous + assembly of the Olympic games, wherein some exercise the body, that they + may carry away the glory of the prize: others bring merchandise to sell + for profit: there are also some (and those none of the worst sort) who + pursue no other advantage than only to look on, and consider how and why + everything is done, and to be spectators of the lives of other men, + thereby the better to judge of and regulate their own. + </p> + <p> + To examples may fitly be applied all the profitable discourses of + philosophy, to which all human actions, as to their best rule, ought to be + especially directed: a scholar shall be taught to know— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quid fas optare: quid asper + Utile nummus habet: patrix carisque propinquis + Quantum elargiri deceat: quern te Deus esse + Jussit, et humana qua parte locatus es in re; + Quid sumus, et quidnam victuri gignimur.” + + [“Learn what it is right to wish; what is the true use of coined + money; how much it becomes us to give in liberality to our country + and our dear relations; whom and what the Deity commanded thee to + be; and in what part of the human system thou art placed; what we + are ant to what purpose engendered.”—Persius, iii. 69] +</pre> + <p> + what it is to know, and what to be ignorant; what ought to be the end and + design of study; what valour, temperance, and justice are; the difference + betwixt ambition and avarice, servitude and subjection, licence and + liberty; by what token a man may know true and solid contentment; how far + death, affliction, and disgrace are to be apprehended; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et quo quemque modo fugiatque feratque laborem.” + + [“And how you may shun or sustain every hardship.” + —Virgil, AEneid, iii. 459.] +</pre> + <p> + by what secret springs we move, and the reason of our various agitations + and irresolutions: for, methinks the first doctrine with which one should + season his understanding, ought to be that which regulates his manners and + his sense; that teaches him to know himself, and how both well to dig and + well to live. Amongst the liberal sciences, let us begin with that which + makes us free; not that they do not all serve in some measure to the + instruction and use of life, as all other things in some sort also do; but + let us make choice of that which directly and professedly serves to that + end. If we are once able to restrain the offices of human life within + their just and natural limits, we shall find that most of the sciences in + use are of no great use to us, and even in those that are, that there are + many very unnecessary cavities and dilatations which we had better let + alone, and, following Socrates’ direction, limit the course of our + studies to those things only where is a true and real utility: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sapere aude; + Incipe; Qui recte vivendi prorogat horam, + Rusticus exspectat, dum defluat amnis; at ille + Labitur, et labetur in omne volubilis oevum.” + + [“Dare to be wise; begin! he who defers the hour of living well is + like the clown, waiting till the river shall have flowed out: but + the river still flows, and will run on, with constant course, to + ages without end.”—Horace, Ep., i. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis a great foolery to teach our children: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quid moveant Pisces, animosaque signa Leonis, + Lotus et Hesperia quid Capricornus aqua,” + + [“What influence Pisces have, or the sign of angry Leo, or + Capricorn, washed by the Hesperian wave.”—Propertius, iv. I, 89.] +</pre> + <p> + the knowledge of the stars and the motion of the eighth sphere before + their own: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“What care I about the Pleiades or the stars of Taurus?” + —Anacreon, Ode, xvii. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + Anaximenes writing to Pythagoras, “To what purpose,” said he, + “should I trouble myself in searching out the secrets of the stars, + having death or slavery continually before my eyes?” for the kings + of Persia were at that time preparing to invade his country. Every one + ought to say thus, “Being assaulted, as I am by ambition, avarice, + temerity, superstition, and having within so many other enemies of life, + shall I go ponder over the world’s changes?” + </p> + <p> + After having taught him what will make him more wise and good, you may + then entertain him with the elements of logic, physics, geometry, + rhetoric, and the science which he shall then himself most incline to, his + judgment being beforehand formed and fit to choose, he will quickly make + his own. The way of instructing him ought to be sometimes by discourse, + and sometimes by reading; sometimes his governor shall put the author + himself, which he shall think most proper for him, into his hands, and + sometimes only the marrow and substance of it; and if himself be not + conversant enough in books to turn to all the fine discourses the books + contain for his purpose, there may some man of learning be joined to him, + that upon every occasion shall supply him with what he stands in need of, + to furnish it to his pupil. And who can doubt but that this way of + teaching is much more easy and natural than that of Gaza,—[Theodore + Gaza, rector of the Academy of Ferrara.]—in which the precepts are + so intricate, and so harsh, and the words so vain, lean; and + insignificant, that there is no hold to be taken of them, nothing that + quickens and elevates the wit and fancy, whereas here the mind has what to + feed upon and to digest. This fruit, therefore, is not only without + comparison, much more fair and beautiful; but will also be much more early + ripe. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis a thousand pities that matters should be at such a pass in this + age of ours, that philosophy, even with men of understanding, should be, + looked upon as a vain and fantastic name, a thing of no use, no value, + either in opinion or effect, of which I think those ergotisms and petty + sophistries, by prepossessing the avenues to it, are the cause. And people + are much to blame to represent it to children for a thing of so difficult + access, and with such a frowning, grim, and formidable aspect. Who is it + that has disguised it thus, with this false, pale, and ghostly + countenance? There is nothing more airy, more gay, more frolic, and I had + like to have said, more wanton. She preaches nothing but feasting and + jollity; a melancholic anxious look shows that she does not inhabit there. + Demetrius the grammarian finding in the temple of Delphos a knot of + philosophers set chatting together, said to them,—[Plutarch, + Treatise on Oracles which have ceased]—“Either I am much + deceived, or by your cheerful and pleasant countenances, you are engaged + in no, very deep discourse.” To which one of them, Heracleon the + Megarean, replied: “Tis for such as are puzzled about inquiring + whether the future tense of the verb ——— is spelt with a + double A, or that hunt after the derivation of the comparatives ——- + and ——-, and the superlatives —— and ———, + to knit their brows whilst discoursing of their science: but as to + philosophical discourses, they always divert and cheer up those that + entertain them, and never deject them or make them sad.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Deprendas animi tormenta latentis in aegro + Corpore; deprendas et gaudia; sumit utrumque + Inde habitum facies.” + + [“You may discern the torments of mind lurking in a sick body; you + may discern its joys: either expression the face assumes from the + mind.”—Juvenal, ix. 18] +</pre> + <p> + The soul that lodges philosophy, ought to be of such a constitution of + health, as to render the body in like manner healthful too; she ought to + make her tranquillity and satisfaction shine so as to appear without, and + her contentment ought to fashion the outward behaviour to her own mould, + and consequently to fortify it with a graceful confidence, an active and + joyous carriage, and a serene and contented countenance. The most manifest + sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness; her state is like that of + things in the regions above the moon, always clear and serene. ‘Tis + Baroco and Baralipton—[Two terms of the ancient scholastic logic.]—that + render their disciples so dirty and ill-favoured, and not she; they do not + so much as know her but by hearsay. What! It is she that calms and + appeases the storms and tempests of the soul, and who teaches famine and + fevers to laugh and sing; and that, not by certain imaginary epicycles, + but by natural and manifest reasons. She has virtue for her end, which is + not, as the schoolmen say, situate upon the summit of a perpendicular, + rugged, inaccessible precipice: such as have approached her find her, + quite on the contrary, to be seated in a fair, fruitful, and flourishing + plain, whence she easily discovers all things below; to which place any + one may, however, arrive, if he know but the way, through shady, green, + and sweetly-flourishing avenues, by a pleasant, easy, and smooth descent, + like that of the celestial vault. ‘Tis for not having frequented + this supreme, this beautiful, triumphant, and amiable, this equally + delicious and courageous virtue, this so professed and implacable enemy to + anxiety, sorrow, fear, and constraint, who, having nature for her guide, + has fortune and pleasure for her companions, that they have gone, + according to their own weak imagination, and created this ridiculous, this + sorrowful, querulous, despiteful, threatening, terrible image of it to + themselves and others, and placed it upon a rock apart, amongst thorns and + brambles, and made of it a hobgoblin to affright people. + </p> + <p> + But the governor that I would have, that is such a one as knows it to be + his duty to possess his pupil with as much or more affection than + reverence to virtue, will be able to inform him, that the poets have + evermore accommodated themselves to the public humour, and make him + sensible, that the gods have planted more toil and sweat in the avenues of + the cabinets of Venus than in those of Minerva. And when he shall once + find him begin to apprehend, and shall represent to him a Bradamante or an + Angelica—[Heroines of Ariosto.]—for a mistress, a natural, + active, generous, and not a viragoish, but a manly beauty, in comparison + of a soft, delicate, artificial simpering, and affected form; the one in + the habit of a heroic youth, wearing a glittering helmet, the other + tricked up in curls and ribbons like a wanton minx; he will then look upon + his own affection as brave and masculine, when he shall choose quite + contrary to that effeminate shepherd of Phrygia. + </p> + <p> + Such a tutor will make a pupil digest this new lesson, that the height and + value of true virtue consists in the facility, utility, and pleasure of + its exercise; so far from difficulty, that boys, as well as men, and the + innocent as well as the subtle, may make it their own; it is by order, and + not by force, that it is to be acquired. Socrates, her first minion, is so + averse to all manner of violence, as totally to throw it aside, to slip + into the more natural facility of her own progress; ‘tis the nursing + mother of all human pleasures, who in rendering them just, renders them + also pure and permanent; in moderating them, keeps them in breath and + appetite; in interdicting those which she herself refuses, whets our + desire to those that she allows; and, like a kind and liberal mother, + abundantly allows all that nature requires, even to satiety, if not to + lassitude: unless we mean to say that the regimen which stops the toper + before he has drunk himself drunk, the glutton before he has eaten to a + surfeit, and the lecher before he has got the pox, is an enemy to + pleasure. If the ordinary fortune fail, she does without it, and forms + another, wholly her own, not so fickle and unsteady as the other. She can + be rich, be potent and wise, and knows how to lie upon soft perfumed beds: + she loves life, beauty, glory, and health; but her proper and peculiar + office is to know how to regulate the use of all these good things, and + how to lose them without concern: an office much more noble than + troublesome, and without which the whole course of life is unnatural, + turbulent, and deformed, and there it is indeed, that men may justly + represent those monsters upon rocks and precipices. + </p> + <p> + If this pupil shall happen to be of so contrary a disposition, that he had + rather hear a tale of a tub than the true narrative of some noble + expedition or some wise and learned discourse; who at the beat of drum, + that excites the youthful ardour of his companions, leaves that to follow + another that calls to a morris or the bears; who would not wish, and find + it more delightful and more excellent, to return all dust and sweat + victorious from a battle, than from tennis or from a ball, with the prize + of those exercises; I see no other remedy, but that he be bound prentice + in some good town to learn to make minced pies, though he were the son of + a duke; according to Plato’s precept, that children are to be placed + out and disposed of, not according to the wealth, qualities, or condition + of the father, but according to the faculties and the capacity of their + own souls. + </p> + <p> + Since philosophy is that which instructs us to live, and that infancy has + there its lessons as well as other ages, why is it not communicated to + children betimes? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Udum et molle lutum est; nunc, nunc properandus, et acri + Fingendus sine fine rota.” + + [“The clay is moist and soft: now, now make haste, and form the + pitcher on the rapid wheel.”—Persius, iii. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + They begin to teach us to live when we have almost done living. A hundred + students have got the pox before they have come to read Aristotle’s + lecture on temperance. Cicero said, that though he should live two men’s + ages, he should never find leisure to study the lyric poets; and I find + these sophisters yet more deplorably unprofitable. The boy we would breed + has a great deal less time to spare; he owes but the first fifteen or + sixteen years of his life to education; the remainder is due to action. + Let us, therefore, employ that short time in necessary instruction. Away + with the thorny subtleties of dialectics; they are abuses, things by which + our lives can never be amended: take the plain philosophical discourses, + learn how rightly to choose, and then rightly to apply them; they are more + easy to be understood than one of Boccaccio’s novels; a child from + nurse is much more capable of them, than of learning to read or to write. + Philosophy has discourses proper for childhood, as well as for the + decrepit age of men. + </p> + <p> + I am of Plutarch’s mind, that Aristotle did not so much trouble his + great disciple with the knack of forming syllogisms, or with the elements + of geometry; as with infusing into him good precepts concerning valour, + prowess, magnanimity, temperance, and the contempt of fear; and with this + ammunition, sent him, whilst yet a boy, with no more than thirty thousand + foot, four thousand horse, and but forty-two thousand crowns, to subjugate + the empire of the whole earth. For the other acts and sciences, he says, + Alexander highly indeed commended their excellence and charm, and had them + in very great honour and esteem, but not ravished with them to that degree + as to be tempted to affect the practice of them In his own person: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Petite hinc, juvenesque senesque, + Finem ammo certum, miserisque viatica canis.” + + [“Young men and old men, derive hence a certain end to the mind, + and stores for miserable grey hairs.”—Persius, v. 64.] +</pre> + <p> + Epicurus, in the beginning of his letter to Meniceus,—[Diogenes + Laertius, x. 122.]—says, “That neither the youngest should + refuse to philosophise, nor the oldest grow weary of it.” Who does + otherwise, seems tacitly to imply, that either the time of living happily + is not yet come, or that it is already past. And yet, a for all that, I + would not have this pupil of ours imprisoned and made a slave to his book; + nor would I have him given up to the morosity and melancholic humour of a + sour ill-natured pedant. + </p> + <p> + I would not have his spirit cowed and subdued, by applying him to the + rack, and tormenting him, as some do, fourteen or fifteen hours a day, and + so make a pack-horse of him. Neither should I think it good, when, by + reason of a solitary and melancholic complexion, he is discovered to be + overmuch addicted to his book, to nourish that humour in him; for that + renders him unfit for civil conversation, and diverts him from better + employments. And how many have I seen in my time totally brutified by an + immoderate thirst after knowledge? Carneades was so besotted with it, that + he would not find time so much as to comb his head or to pare his nails. + Neither would I have his generous manners spoiled and corrupted by the + incivility and barbarism of those of another. The French wisdom was + anciently turned into proverb: “Early, but of no continuance.” + And, in truth, we yet see, that nothing can be more ingenious and pleasing + than the children of France; but they ordinarily deceive the hope and + expectation that have been conceived of them; and grown up to be men, have + nothing extraordinary or worth taking notice of: I have heard men of good + understanding say, these colleges of ours to which we send our young + people (and of which we have but too many) make them such animals as they + are.—[Hobbes said that if he Had been at college as long as other + people he should have been as great a blockhead as they. W.C.H.] [And + Bacon before Hobbe’s time had discussed the “futility” + of university teaching. D.W.] + </p> + <p> + But to our little monsieur, a closet, a garden, the table, his bed, + solitude, and company, morning and evening, all hours shall be the same, + and all places to him a study; for philosophy, who, as the formatrix of + judgment and manners, shall be his principal lesson, has that privilege to + have a hand in everything. The orator Isocrates, being at a feast + entreated to speak of his art, all the company were satisfied with and + commended his answer: “It is not now a time,” said he, “to + do what I can do; and that which it is now time to do, I cannot do.”—[Plutarch, + Symp., i. I.]—For to make orations and rhetorical disputes in a + company met together to laugh and make good cheer, had been very + unreasonable and improper, and as much might have been said of all the + other sciences. But as to what concerns philosophy, that part of it at + least that treats of man, and of his offices and duties, it has been the + common opinion of all wise men, that, out of respect to the sweetness of + her conversation, she is ever to be admitted in all sports and + entertainments. And Plato, having invited her to his feast, we see after + how gentle and obliging a manner, accommodated both to time and place, she + entertained the company, though in a discourse of the highest and most + important nature: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque; + Et, neglecta, aeque pueris senibusque nocebit.” + + [“It profits poor and rich alike, but, neglected, equally hurts old + and young.”—Horace, Ep., i. 25.] +</pre> + <p> + By this method of instruction, my young pupil will be much more and better + employed than his fellows of the college are. But as the steps we take in + walking to and fro in a gallery, though three times as many, do not tire a + man so much as those we employ in a formal journey, so our lesson, as it + were accidentally occurring, without any set obligation of time or place, + and falling naturally into every action, will insensibly insinuate itself. + By which means our very exercises and recreations, running, wrestling, + music, dancing, hunting, riding, and fencing, will prove to be a good part + of our study. I would have his outward fashion and mien, and the + disposition of his limbs, formed at the same time with his mind. ‘Tis + not a soul, ‘tis not a body that we are training up, but a man, and + we ought not to divide him. And, as Plato says, we are not to fashion one + without the other, but make them draw together like two horses harnessed + to a coach. By which saying of his, does he not seem to allow more time + for, and to take more care of exercises for the body, and to hold that the + mind, in a good proportion, does her business at the same time too? + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, this method of education ought to be carried on with a + severe sweetness, quite contrary to the practice of our pedants, who, + instead of tempting and alluring children to letters by apt and gentle + ways, do in truth present nothing before them but rods and ferules, horror + and cruelty. Away with this violence! away with this compulsion! than + which, I certainly believe nothing more dulls and degenerates a + well-descended nature. If you would have him apprehend shame and + chastisement, do not harden him to them: inure him to heat and cold, to + wind and sun, and to dangers that he ought to despise; wean him from all + effeminacy and delicacy in clothes and lodging, eating and drinking; + accustom him to everything, that he may not be a Sir Paris, a + carpet-knight, but a sinewy, hardy, and vigorous young man. I have ever + from a child to the age wherein I now am, been of this opinion, and am + still constant to it. But amongst other things, the strict government of + most of our colleges has evermore displeased me; peradventure, they might + have erred less perniciously on the indulgent side. ‘Tis a real + house of correction of imprisoned youth. They are made debauched by being + punished before they are so. Do but come in when they are about their + lesson, and you shall hear nothing but the outcries of boys under + execution, with the thundering noise of their pedagogues drunk with fury. + A very pretty way this, to tempt these tender and timorous souls to love + their book, with a furious countenance, and a rod in hand! A cursed and + pernicious way of proceeding! Besides what Quintilian has very well + observed, that this imperious authority is often attended by very + dangerous consequences, and particularly our way of chastising. How much + more decent would it be to see their classes strewed with green leaves and + fine flowers, than with the bloody stumps of birch and willows? Were it + left to my ordering. I should paint the school with the pictures of joy + and gladness; Flora and the Graces, as the philosopher Speusippus did his. + Where their profit is, let them there have their pleasure too. Such viands + as are proper and wholesome for children, should be sweetened with sugar, + and such as are dangerous to them, embittered with gall. ‘Tis + marvellous to see how solicitous Plato is in his Laws concerning the + gaiety and diversion of the youth of his city, and how much and often he + enlarges upon the races, sports, songs, leaps, and dances: of which, he + says, that antiquity has given the ordering and patronage particularly to + the gods themselves, to Apollo, Minerva, and the Muses. He insists long + upon, and is very particular in, giving innumerable precepts for + exercises; but as to the lettered sciences, says very little, and only + seems particularly to recommend poetry upon the account of music. + </p> + <p> + All singularity in our manners and conditions is to be avoided, as + inconsistent with civil society. Who would not be astonished at so strange + a constitution as that of Demophoon, steward to Alexander the Great, who + sweated in the shade and shivered in the sun? I have seen those who have + run from the smell of a mellow apple with greater precipitation than from + a harquebuss-shot; others afraid of a mouse; others vomit at the sight of + cream; others ready to swoon at the making of a feather bed; Germanicus + could neither endure the sight nor the crowing of a cock. I will not deny, + but that there may, peradventure, be some occult cause and natural + aversion in these cases; but, in my opinion, a man might conquer it, if he + took it in time. Precept has in this wrought so effectually upon me, + though not without some pains on my part, I confess, that beer excepted, + my appetite accommodates itself indifferently to all sorts of diet. Young + bodies are supple; one should, therefore, in that age bend and ply them to + all fashions and customs: and provided a man can contain the appetite and + the will within their due limits, let a young man, in God’s name, be + rendered fit for all nations and all companies, even to debauchery and + excess, if need be; that is, where he shall do it out of complacency to + the customs of the place. Let him be able to do everything, but love to do + nothing but what is good. The philosophers themselves do not justify + Callisthenes for forfeiting the favour of his master Alexander the Great, + by refusing to pledge him a cup of wine. Let him laugh, play, wench with + his prince: nay, I would have him, even in his debauches, too hard for the + rest of the company, and to excel his companions in ability and vigour, + and that he may not give over doing it, either through defect of power or + knowledge how to do it, but for want of will. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Multum interest, utrum peccare ali quis nolit, an nesciat.” + + [“There is a vast difference betwixt forbearing to sin, and not + knowing how to sin.”—Seneca, Ep., 90] +</pre> + <p> + I thought I passed a compliment upon a lord, as free from those excesses + as any man in France, by asking him before a great deal of very good + company, how many times in his life he had been drunk in Germany, in the + time of his being there about his Majesty’s affairs; which he also + took as it was intended, and made answer, “Three times”; and + withal told us the whole story of his debauches. I know some who, for want + of this faculty, have found a great inconvenience in negotiating with that + nation. I have often with great admiration reflected upon the wonderful + constitution of Alcibiades, who so easily could transform himself to so + various fashions without any prejudice to his health; one while outdoing + the Persian pomp and luxury, and another, the Lacedaemonian austerity and + frugality; as reformed in Sparta, as voluptuous in Ionia: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnis Aristippum decuit color, et status, et res.” + + [“Every complexion of life, and station, and circumstance became + Aristippus.”—Horace, Ep., xvii. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + I would have my pupil to be such an one, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quem duplici panno patentia velat, + Mirabor, vitae via si conversa decebit, + Personamque feret non inconcinnus utramque.” + + [“I should admire him who with patience bearing a patched garment, + bears well a changed fortune, acting both parts equally well.” + —Horace Ep., xvii. 25.] +</pre> + <p> + These are my lessons, and he who puts them in practice shall reap more + advantage than he who has had them read to him only, and so only knows + them. If you see him, you hear him; if you hear him, you see him. God + forbid, says one in Plato, that to philosophise were only to read a great + many books, and to learn the arts. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hanc amplissimam omnium artium bene vivendi disciplinam, + vita magis quam literis, persequuti sunt.” + + [“They have proceeded to this discipline of living well, which of + all arts is the greatest, by their lives, rather than by their + reading.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + Leo, prince of the Phliasians, asking Heraclides Ponticus—[It was + not Heraclides of Pontus who made this answer, but Pythagoras.]—of + what art or science he made profession: “I know,” said he, + “neither art nor science, but I am a philosopher.” One + reproaching Diogenes that, being ignorant, he should pretend to + philosophy; “I therefore,” answered he, “pretend to it + with so much the more reason.” Hegesias entreated that he would read + a certain book to him: “You are pleasant,” said he; “you + choose those figs that are true and natural, and not those that are + painted; why do you not also choose exercises which are naturally true, + rather than those written?” + </p> + <p> + The lad will not so much get his lesson by heart as he will practise it: + he will repeat it in his actions. We shall discover if there be prudence + in his exercises, if there be sincerity and justice in his deportment, if + there be grace and judgment in his speaking; if there be constancy in his + sickness; if there be modesty in his mirth, temperance in his pleasures, + order in his domestic economy, indifference in palate, whether what he + eats or drinks be flesh or fish, wine or water: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui disciplinam suam non ostentationem scientiae, sed legem vitae + putet: quique obtemperet ipse sibi, et decretis pareat.” + + [“Who considers his own discipline, not as a vain ostentation of + science, but as a law and rule of life; and who obeys his own + decrees, and the laws he has prescribed for himself.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + The conduct of our lives is the true mirror of our doctrine. Zeuxidamus, + to one who asked him, why the Lacedaemonians did not commit their + constitutions of chivalry to writing, and deliver them to their young men + to read, made answer, that it was because they would inure them to action, + and not amuse them with words. With such a one, after fifteen or sixteen + years’ study, compare one of our college Latinists, who has thrown + away so much time in nothing but learning to speak. The world is nothing + but babble; and I hardly ever yet saw that man who did not rather prate + too much, than speak too little. And yet half of our age is embezzled this + way: we are kept four or five years to learn words only, and to tack them + together into clauses; as many more to form them into a long discourse, + divided into four or five parts; and other five years, at least, to learn + succinctly to mix and interweave them after a subtle and intricate manner + let us leave all this to those who make a profession of it. + </p> + <p> + Going one day to Orleans, I met in that plain on this side Clery, two + pedants who were travelling towards Bordeaux, about fifty paces distant + from one another; and, a good way further behind them, I discovered a + troop of horse, with a gentleman at the head of them, who was the late + Monsieur le Comte de la Rochefoucauld. One of my people inquired of the + foremost of these masters of arts, who that gentleman was that came after + him; he, having not seen the train that followed after, and thinking his + companion was meant, pleasantly answered, “He is not a gentleman; he + is a grammarian; and I am a logician.” Now we who, quite contrary, + do not here pretend to breed a grammarian or a logician, but a gentleman, + let us leave them to abuse their leisure; our business lies elsewhere. Let + but our pupil be well furnished with things, words will follow but too + fast; he will pull them after him if they do not voluntarily follow. I + have observed some to make excuses, that they cannot express themselves, + and pretend to have their fancies full of a great many very fine things, + which yet, for want of eloquence, they cannot utter; ‘tis a mere + shift, and nothing else. Will you know what I think of it? I think they + are nothing but shadows of some imperfect images and conceptions that they + know not what to make of within, nor consequently bring out; they do not + yet themselves understand what they would be at, and if you but observe + how they haggle and stammer upon the point of parturition, you will soon + conclude, that their labour is not to delivery, but about conception, and + that they are but licking their formless embryo. For my part, I hold, and + Socrates commands it, that whoever has in his mind a sprightly and clear + imagination, he will express it well enough in one kind of tongue or + another, and, if he be dumb, by signs— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Verbaque praevisam rem non invita sequentur;” + + [“Once a thing is conceived in the mind, the words to express it + soon present themselves.” (“The words will not reluctantly follow the + thing preconceived.”)—Horace, De Arte Poetica. v. 311] +</pre> + <p> + And as another as poetically says in his prose: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quum res animum occupavere, verbs ambiunt,” + + [“When things are once in the mind, the words offer themselves + readily.” (“When things have taken possession of the mind, the + words trip.”)—Seneca, Controvers., iii. proem.] +</pre> + <p> + and this other. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipsae res verbs rapiunt.” + + [“The things themselves force the words to express them.” + —Cicero, De Finib., iii. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + He knows nothing of ablative, conjunctive, substantive, or grammar, no + more than his lackey, or a fishwife of the Petit Pont; and yet these will + give you a bellyful of talk, if you will hear them, and peradventure shall + trip as little in their language as the best masters of art in France. He + knows no rhetoric, nor how in a preface to bribe the benevolence of the + courteous reader; neither does he care to know it. Indeed all this fine + decoration of painting is easily effaced by the lustre of a simple and + blunt truth; these fine flourishes serve only to amuse the vulgar, of + themselves incapable of more solid and nutritive diet, as Aper very + evidently demonstrates in Tacitus. The ambassadors of Samos, prepared with + a long and elegant oration, came to Cleomenes, king of Sparta, to incite + him to a war against the tyrant Polycrates; who, after he had heard their + harangue with great gravity and patience, gave them this answer: “As + to the exordium, I remember it not, nor consequently the middle of your + speech; and for what concerns your conclusion, I will not do what you + desire:”—[Plutarch, Apothegms of the Lacedaemonians.]—a + very pretty answer this, methinks, and a pack of learned orators most + sweetly gravelled. And what did the other man say? The Athenians were to + choose one of two architects for a very great building they had designed; + of these, the first, a pert affected fellow, offered his service in a long + premeditated discourse upon the subject of the work in hand, and by his + oratory inclined the voices of the people in his favour; but the other in + three words: “O Athenians, what this man says, I will do.”—[Plutarch, + Instructions to Statesmen, c. 4.]— When Cicero was in the height and + heat of an eloquent harangue, many were struck with admiration; but Cato + only laughed, saying, “We have a pleasant (mirth-making) consul.” + Let it go before, or come after, a good sentence or a thing well said, is + always in season; if it neither suit well with what went before, nor has + much coherence with what follows after, it is good in itself. I am none of + those who think that good rhyme makes a good poem. Let him make short + long, and long short if he will, ‘tis no great matter; if there be + invention, and that the wit and judgment have well performed their + offices, I will say, here’s a good poet, but an ill rhymer. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Emunctae naris, durus componere versus.” + + [“Of delicate humour, but of rugged versification.” + —Horace, Sat, iv. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + Let a man, says Horace, divest his work of all method and measure, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tempora certa modosque, et, quod prius ordine verbum est, + Posterius facias, praeponens ultima primis + Invenias etiam disjecti membra poetae.” + + [“Take away certain rhythms and measures, and make the word which + was first in order come later, putting that which should be last + first, you will still find the scattered remains of the poet.” + —Horace, Sat., i. 4, 58.] +</pre> + <p> + he will never the more lose himself for that; the very pieces will be fine + by themselves. Menander’s answer had this meaning, who being + reproved by a friend, the time drawing on at which he had promised a + comedy, that he had not yet fallen in hand with it; “It is made, and + ready,” said he, “all but the verses.”—[Plutarch, + Whether the Athenians more excelled in Arms or in Letters.]—Having + contrived the subject, and disposed the scenes in his fancy, he took + little care for the rest. Since Ronsard and Du Bellay have given + reputation to our French poesy, every little dabbler, for aught I see, + swells his words as high, and makes his cadences very near as harmonious + as they: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Plus sonat, quam valet.” + + [“More sound than sense”—Seneca, Ep., 40.] +</pre> + <p> + For the vulgar, there were never so many poetasters as now; but though + they find it no hard matter to imitate their rhyme, they yet fall + infinitely short of imitating the rich descriptions of the one, and the + delicate invention of the other of these masters. + </p> + <p> + But what will become of our young gentleman, if he be attacked with the + sophistic subtlety of some syllogism? “A Westfalia ham makes a man + drink; drink quenches thirst: ergo a Westfalia ham quenches thirst.” + Why, let him laugh at it; it will be more discretion to do so, than to go + about to answer it; or let him borrow this pleasant evasion from + Aristippus: “Why should I trouble myself to untie that, which bound + as it is, gives me so much trouble?”—[Diogenes Laertius, ii. + 70.]— One offering at this dialectic juggling against Cleanthes, + Chrysippus took him short, saying, “Reserve these baubles to play + with children, and do not by such fooleries divert the serious thoughts of + a man of years.” If these ridiculous subtleties, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Contorta et aculeata sophismata,” + </pre> + <p> + as Cicero calls them, are designed to possess him with an untruth, they + are dangerous; but if they signify no more than only to make him laugh, I + do not see why a man need to be fortified against them. There are some so + ridiculous, as to go a mile out of their way to hook in a fine word: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aut qui non verba rebus aptant, sed res extrinsecus + arcessunt, quibus verba conveniant.” + + [“Who do not fit words to the subject, but seek out for things + quite from the purpose to fit the words.”—Quintilian, viii. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + And as another says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui, alicujus verbi decore placentis, vocentur ad id, + quod non proposuerant scribere.” + + [“Who by their fondness of some fine sounding word, are tempted to + something they had no intention to treat of.”—Seneca, Ep., 59.] +</pre> + <p> + I for my part rather bring in a fine sentence by head and shoulders to fit + my purpose, than divert my designs to hunt after a sentence. On the + contrary, words are to serve, and to follow a man’s purpose; and let + Gascon come in play where French will not do. I would have things so + excelling, and so wholly possessing the imagination of him that hears, + that he should have something else to do, than to think of words. The way + of speaking that I love, is natural and plain, the same in writing as in + speaking, and a sinewy and muscular way of expressing a man’s self, + short and pithy, not so elegant and artificial as prompt and vehement; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haec demum sapiet dictio, qux feriet;” + + [“That has most weight and wisdom which pierces the ear.” (“That + utterance indeed will have a taste which shall strike the ear.”) + —Epitaph on Lucan, in Fabricius, Biblioth. Lat., ii. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + rather hard than wearisome; free from affectation; irregular, + incontinuous, and bold; where every piece makes up an entire body; not + like a pedant, a preacher, or a pleader, but rather a soldier-like style, + as Suetonius calls that of Julius Caesar; and yet I see no reason why he + should call it so. I have ever been ready to imitate the negligent garb, + which is yet observable amongst the young men of our time, to wear my + cloak on one shoulder, my cap on one side, a stocking in disorder, which + seems to express a kind of haughty disdain of these exotic ornaments, and + a contempt of the artificial; but I find this negligence of much better + use in the form of speaking. All affectation, particularly in the French + gaiety and freedom, is ungraceful in a courtier, and in a monarchy every + gentleman ought to be fashioned according to the court model; for which + reason, an easy and natural negligence does well. I no more like a web + where the knots and seams are to be seen, than a fine figure, so delicate, + that a man may tell all the bones and veins: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae veritati operam dat oratio, incomposita sit et simplex.” + + [“Let the language that is dedicated to truth be plain and + unaffected.—Seneca, Ep. 40.] + + “Quis accurat loquitur, nisi qui vult putide loqui?” + + [“For who studies to speak accurately, that does not at the same + time wish to perplex his auditory?”—Idem, Ep., 75.] +</pre> + <p> + That eloquence prejudices the subject it would advance, that wholly + attracts us to itself. And as in our outward habit, ‘tis a + ridiculous effeminacy to distinguish ourselves by a particular and unusual + garb or fashion; so in language, to study new phrases, and to affect words + that are not of current use, proceeds from a puerile and scholastic + ambition. May I be bound to speak no other language than what is spoken in + the market-places of Paris! Aristophanes the grammarian was quite out, + when he reprehended Epicurus for his plain way of delivering himself, and + the design of his oratory, which was only perspicuity of speech. The + imitation of words, by its own facility, immediately disperses itself + through a whole people; but the imitation of inventing and fitly applying + those words is of a slower progress. The generality of readers, for having + found a like robe, very mistakingly imagine they have the same body and + inside too, whereas force and sinews are never to be borrowed; the gloss, + and outward ornament, that is, words and elocution, may. Most of those I + converse with, speak the same language I here write; but whether they + think the same thoughts I cannot say. The Athenians, says Plato, study + fulness and elegancy of speaking; the Lacedaemonians affect brevity, and + those of Crete to aim more at the fecundity of conception than the + fertility of speech; and these are the best. Zeno used to say that he had + two sorts of disciples, one that he called cy——-ous, curious + to learn things, and these were his favourites; the other, aoy—-ous, + that cared for nothing but words. Not that fine speaking is not a very + good and commendable quality; but not so excellent and so necessary as + some would make it; and I am scandalised that our whole life should be + spent in nothing else. I would first understand my own language, and that + of my neighbours, with whom most of my business and conversation lies. + </p> + <p> + No doubt but Greek and Latin are very great ornaments, and of very great + use, but we buy them too dear. I will here discover one way, which has + been experimented in my own person, by which they are to be had better + cheap, and such may make use of it as will. My late father having made the + most precise inquiry that any man could possibly make amongst men of the + greatest learning and judgment, of an exact method of education, was by + them cautioned of this inconvenience then in use, and made to believe, + that the tedious time we applied to the learning of the tongues of them + who had them for nothing, was the sole cause we could not arrive to the + grandeur of soul and perfection of knowledge, of the ancient Greeks and + Romans. I do not, however, believe that to be the only cause. So it is, + that the expedient my father found out for this was, that in my infancy, + and before I began to speak, he committed me to the care of a German, who + since died a famous physician in France, totally ignorant of our language, + and very fluent and a great critic in Latin. This man, whom he had fetched + out of his own country, and whom he entertained with a great salary for + this only one end, had me continually with him; he had with him also + joined two others, of inferior learning, to attend me, and to relieve him; + these spoke to me in no other language but Latin. As to the rest of his + household, it was an inviolable rule, that neither himself, nor my mother, + nor valet, nor chambermaid, should speak anything in my company, but such + Latin words as each one had learned to gabble with me. —[These + passages are, the basis of a small volume by the Abbe Mangin: “Education + de Montaigne; ou, L’Art d’enseigner le Latin a l’instar + des meres latines.”]—It is not to be imagined how great an + advantage this proved to the whole family; my father and my mother by this + means learned Latin enough to understand it perfectly well, and to speak + it to such a degree as was sufficient for any necessary use; as also those + of the servants did who were most frequently with me. In short, we Latined + it at such a rate, that it overflowed to all the neighbouring villages, + where there yet remain, that have established themselves by custom, + several Latin appellations of artisans and their tools. As for what + concerns myself, I was above six years of age before I understood either + French or Perigordin, any more than Arabic; and without art, book, + grammar, or precept, whipping, or the expense of a tear, I had, by that + time, learned to speak as pure Latin as my master himself, for I had no + means of mixing it up with any other. If, for example, they were to give + me a theme after the college fashion, they gave it to others in French; + but to me they were to give it in bad Latin, to turn it into that which + was good. And Nicolas Grouchy, who wrote a book De Comitiis Romanorum; + Guillaume Guerente, who wrote a comment upon Aristotle: George Buchanan, + that great Scottish poet: and Marc Antoine Muret (whom both France and + Italy have acknowledged for the best orator of his time), my domestic + tutors, have all of them often told me that I had in my infancy that + language so very fluent and ready, that they were afraid to enter into + discourse with me. And particularly Buchanan, whom I since saw attending + the late Mareschal de Brissac, then told me, that he was about to write a + treatise of education, the example of which he intended to take from mine; + for he was then tutor to that Comte de Brissac who afterward proved so + valiant and so brave a gentleman. + </p> + <p> + As to Greek, of which I have but a mere smattering, my father also + designed to have it taught me by a device, but a new one, and by way of + sport; tossing our declensions to and fro, after the manner of those who, + by certain games of tables, learn geometry and arithmetic. For he, amongst + other rules, had been advised to make me relish science and duty by an + unforced will, and of my own voluntary motion, and to educate my soul in + all liberty and delight, without any severity or constraint; which he was + an observer of to such a degree, even of superstition, if I may say so, + that some being of opinion that it troubles and disturbs the brains of + children suddenly to wake them in the morning, and to snatch them + violently—and over-hastily from sleep (wherein they are much more + profoundly involved than we), he caused me to be wakened by the sound of + some musical instrument, and was never unprovided of a musician for that + purpose. By this example you may judge of the rest, this alone being + sufficient to recommend both the prudence and the affection of so good a + father, who is not to be blamed if he did not reap fruits answerable to so + exquisite a culture. Of this, two things were the cause: first, a sterile + and improper soil; for, though I was of a strong and healthful + constitution, and of a disposition tolerably sweet and tractable, yet I + was, withal, so heavy, idle, and indisposed, that they could not rouse me + from my sloth, not even to get me out to play. What I saw, I saw clearly + enough, and under this heavy complexion nourished a bold imagination and + opinions above my age. I had a slow wit that would go no faster than it + was led; a tardy understanding, a languishing invention, and above all, + incredible defect of memory; so that, it is no wonder, if from all these + nothing considerable could be extracted. Secondly, like those who, + impatient of along and steady cure, submit to all sorts of prescriptions + and recipes, the good man being extremely timorous of any way failing in a + thing he had so wholly set his heart upon, suffered himself at last to be + overruled by the common opinions, which always follow their leader as a + flight of cranes, and complying with the method of the time, having no + more those persons he had brought out of Italy, and who had given him the + first model of education, about him, he sent me at six years of age to the + College of Guienne, at that time the best and most flourishing in France. + And there it was not possible to add anything to the care he had to + provide me the most able tutors, with all other circumstances of + education, reserving also several particular rules contrary to the college + practice; but so it was, that with all these precautions, it was a college + still. My Latin immediately grew corrupt, of which also by discontinuance + I have since lost all manner of use; so that this new way of education + served me to no other end, than only at my first coming to prefer me to + the first forms; for at thirteen years old, that I came out of the + college, I had run through my whole course (as they call it), and, in + truth, without any manner of advantage, that I can honestly brag of, in + all this time. + </p> + <p> + The first taste which I had for books came to me from the pleasure in + reading the fables of Ovid’s Metamorphoses; for, being about seven + or eight years old, I gave up all other diversions to read them, both by + reason that this was my own natural language, the easiest book that I was + acquainted with, and for the subject, the most accommodated to the + capacity of my age: for as for the Lancelot of the Lake, the Amadis of + Gaul, the Huon of Bordeaux, and such farragos, by which children are most + delighted with, I had never so much as heard their names, no more than I + yet know what they contain; so exact was the discipline wherein I was + brought up. But this was enough to make me neglect the other lessons that + were prescribed me; and here it was infinitely to my advantage, to have to + do with an understanding tutor, who very well knew discreetly to connive + at this and other truantries of the same nature; for by this means I ran + through Virgil’s AEneid, and then Terence, and then Plautus, and + then some Italian comedies, allured by the sweetness of the subject; + whereas had he been so foolish as to have taken me off this diversion, I + do really believe, I had brought away nothing from the college but a + hatred of books, as almost all our young gentlemen do. But he carried + himself very discreetly in that business, seeming to take no notice, and + allowing me only such time as I could steal from my other regular studies, + which whetted my appetite to devour those books. For the chief things my + father expected from their endeavours to whom he had delivered me for + education, were affability and good-humour; and, to say the truth, my + manners had no other vice but sloth and want of metal. The fear was not + that I should do ill, but that I should do nothing; nobody prognosticated + that I should be wicked, but only useless; they foresaw idleness, but no + malice; and I find it falls out accordingly: The complaints I hear of + myself are these: “He is idle, cold in the offices of friendship and + relation, and in those of the public, too particular, too disdainful.” + But the most injurious do not say, “Why has he taken such a thing? + Why has he not paid such an one?” but, “Why does he part with + nothing? Why does he not give?” And I should take it for a favour + that men would expect from me no greater effects of supererogation than + these. But they are unjust to exact from me what I do not owe, far more + rigorously than they require from others that which they do owe. In + condemning me to it, they efface the gratification of the action, and + deprive me of the gratitude that would be my due for it; whereas the + active well-doing ought to be of so much the greater value from my hands, + by how much I have never been passive that way at all. I can the more + freely dispose of my fortune the more it is mine, and of myself the more I + am my own. Nevertheless, if I were good at setting out my own actions, I + could, peradventure, very well repel these reproaches, and could give some + to understand, that they are not so much offended, that I do not enough, + as that I am able to do a great deal more than I do. + </p> + <p> + Yet for all this heavy disposition of mine, my mind, when retired into + itself, was not altogether without strong movements, solid and clear + judgments about those objects it could comprehend, and could also, without + any helps, digest them; but, amongst other things, I do really believe, it + had been totally impossible to have made it to submit by violence and + force. Shall I here acquaint you with one faculty of my youth? I had great + assurance of countenance, and flexibility of voice and gesture, in + applying myself to any part I undertook to act: for before— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Alter ab undecimo tum me vix ceperat annus,” + + [“I had just entered my twelfth year.”—Virgil, Bucol., 39.] +</pre> + <p> + I played the chief parts in the Latin tragedies of Buchanan, Guerente, and + Muret, that were presented in our College of Guienne with great dignity: + now Andreas Goveanus, our principal, as in all other parts of his charge, + was, without comparison, the best of that employment in France; and I was + looked upon as one of the best actors. ‘Tis an exercise that I do + not disapprove in young people of condition; and I have since seen our + princes, after the example of some of the ancients, in person handsomely + and commendably perform these exercises; it was even allowed to persons of + quality to make a profession of it in Greece. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aristoni tragico actori rem aperit: huic et genus et + fortuna honesta erant: nec ars, quia nihil tale apud + Graecos pudori est, ea deformabat.” + + [“He imparted this matter to Aristo the tragedian; a man of good + family and fortune, which neither of them receive any blemish by + that profession; nothing of this kind being reputed a disparagement + in Greece.”—Livy, xxiv. 24.] +</pre> + <p> + Nay, I have always taxed those with impertinence who condemn these + entertainments, and with injustice those who refuse to admit such + comedians as are worth seeing into our good towns, and grudge the people + that public diversion. Well-governed corporations take care to assemble + their citizens, not only to the solemn duties of devotion, but also to + sports and spectacles. They find society and friendship augmented by it; + and besides, can there possibly be allowed a more orderly and regular + diversion than what is performed m the sight of every one, and very often + in the presence of the supreme magistrate himself? And I, for my part, + should think it reasonable, that the prince should sometimes gratify his + people at his own expense, out of paternal goodness and affection; and + that in populous cities there should be theatres erected for such + entertainments, if but to divert them from worse and private actions. + </p> + <p> + To return to my subject, there is nothing like alluring the appetite and + affections; otherwise you make nothing but so many asses laden with books; + by dint of the lash, you give them their pocketful of learning to keep; + whereas, to do well you should not only lodge it with them, but make them + espouse it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVI——THAT IT IS FOLLY TO MEASURE TRUTH AND ERROR BY + OUR OWN CAPACITY + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis not, perhaps, without reason, that we attribute facility of + belief and easiness of persuasion to simplicity and ignorance: for I fancy + I have heard belief compared to the impression of a seal upon the soul, + which by how much softer and of less resistance it is, is the more easy to + be impressed upon. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut necesse est, lancem in Libra, ponderibus impositis, + deprimi, sic animum perspicuis cedere.” + + [“As the scale of the balance must give way to the weight that + presses it down, so the mind yields to demonstration.” + —Cicero, Acad., ii. 12.] +</pre> + <p> + By how much the soul is more empty and without counterpoise, with so much + greater facility it yields under the weight of the first persuasion. And + this is the reason that children, the common people, women, and sick + folks, are most apt to be led by the ears. But then, on the other hand, + ‘tis a foolish presumption to slight and condemn all things for + false that do not appear to us probable; which is the ordinary vice of + such as fancy themselves wiser than their neighbours. I was myself once + one of those; and if I heard talk of dead folks walking, of prophecies, + enchantments, witchcrafts, or any other story I had no mind to believe: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas, + Nocturnos lemures, portentaque Thessala,” + + [“Dreams, magic terrors, marvels, sorceries, Thessalian prodigies.” + —Horace. Ep. ii. 3, 208.] +</pre> + <p> + I presently pitied the poor people that were abused by these follies. + Whereas I now find, that I myself was to be pitied as much, at least, as + they; not that experience has taught me anything to alter my former + opinions, though my curiosity has endeavoured that way; but reason has + instructed me, that thus resolutely to condemn anything for false and + impossible, is arrogantly and impiously to circumscribe and limit the will + of God, and the power of our mother nature, within the bounds of my own + capacity, than which no folly can be greater. If we give the names of + monster and miracle to everything our reason cannot comprehend, how many + are continually presented before our eyes? Let us but consider through + what clouds, and as it were groping in the dark, our teachers lead us to + the knowledge of most of the things about us; assuredly we shall find that + it is rather custom than knowledge that takes away their strangeness— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jam nemo, fessus saturusque videndi, + Suspicere in coeli dignatur lucida templa;” + + [“Weary of the sight, now no one deigns to look up to heaven’s lucid + temples.”—Lucretius, ii. 1037. The text has ‘statiate videnai’] +</pre> + <p> + and that if those things were now newly presented to us, we should think + them as incredible, if not more, than any others. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si nunc primum mortalibus adsint + Ex improviso, si sint objecta repente, + Nil magis his rebus poterat mirabile dici, + Aute minus ante quod auderent fore credere gentes.” + + [Lucretius, ii. 1032. The sense of the passage is in the preceding + sentence.] +</pre> + <p> + He that had never seen a river, imagined the first he met with to be the + sea; and the greatest things that have fallen within our knowledge, we + conclude the extremes that nature makes of the kind. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Scilicet et fluvius qui non est maximus, ei’st + Qui non ante aliquem majorem vidit; et ingens + Arbor, homoque videtur, et omnia de genere omni + Maxima quae vidit quisque, haec ingentia fingit.” + + [“A little river seems to him, who has never seen a larger river, a + mighty stream; and so with other things—a tree, a man—anything + appears greatest to him that never knew a greater.”—Idem, vi. 674.] + + “Consuetudine oculorum assuescunt animi, neque admirantur, + neque requirunt rationes earum rerum, quas semper vident.” + + [“Things grow familiar to men’s minds by being often seen; so that + they neither admire nor are they inquisitive about things they daily + see.”—Cicero, De Natura Deor., lib. ii. 38.] +</pre> + <p> + The novelty, rather than the greatness of things, tempts us to inquire + into their causes. We are to judge with more reverence, and with greater + acknowledgment of our own ignorance and infirmity, of the infinite power + of nature. How many unlikely things are there testified by people worthy + of faith, which, if we cannot persuade ourselves absolutely to believe, we + ought at least to leave them in suspense; for, to condemn them as + impossible, is by a temerarious presumption to pretend to know the utmost + bounds of possibility. Did we rightly understand the difference betwixt + the impossible and the unusual, and betwixt that which is contrary to the + order and course of nature and contrary to the common opinion of men, in + not believing rashly, and on the other hand, in not being too incredulous, + we should observe the rule of ‘Ne quid nimis’ enjoined by + Chilo. + </p> + <p> + When we find in Froissart, that the Comte de Foix knew in Bearn the defeat + of John, king of Castile, at Jubera the next day after it happened, and + the means by which he tells us he came to do so, we may be allowed to be a + little merry at it, as also at what our annals report, that Pope Honorius, + the same day that King Philip Augustus died at Mantes, performed his + public obsequies at Rome, and commanded the like throughout Italy, the + testimony of these authors not being, perhaps, of authority enough to + restrain us. But what if Plutarch, besides several examples that he + produces out of antiquity, tells us, he knows of certain knowledge, that + in the time of Domitian, the news of the battle lost by Antony in Germany + was published at Rome, many days’ journey from thence, and dispersed + throughout the whole world, the same day it was fought; and if Caesar was + of opinion, that it has often happened, that the report has preceded the + incident, shall we not say, that these simple people have suffered + themselves to be deceived with the vulgar, for not having been so + clear-sighted as we? Is there anything more delicate, more clear, more + sprightly; than Pliny’s judgment, when he is pleased to set it to + work? Anything more remote from vanity? Setting aside his learning, of + which I make less account, in which of these excellences do any of us + excel him? And yet there is scarce a young schoolboy that does not convict + him of untruth, and that pretends not to instruct him in the progress of + the works of nature. When we read in Bouchet the miracles of St. Hilary’s + relics, away with them: his authority is not sufficient to deprive us of + the liberty of contradicting him; but generally and offhand to condemn all + suchlike stories, seems to me a singular impudence. That great St. + Augustin’ testifies to have seen a blind child recover sight upon + the relics of St. Gervasius and St. Protasius at Milan; a woman at + Carthage cured of a cancer, by the sign of the cross made upon her by a + woman newly baptized; Hesperius, a familiar friend of his, to have driven + away the spirits that haunted his house, with a little earth of the + sepulchre of our Lord; which earth, being also transported thence into the + church, a paralytic to have there been suddenly cured by it; a woman in a + procession, having touched St. Stephen’s shrine with a nosegay, and + rubbing her eyes with it, to have recovered her sight, lost many years + before; with several other miracles of which he professes himself to have + been an eyewitness: of what shall we excuse him and the two holy bishops, + Aurelius and Maximinus, both of whom he attests to the truth of these + things? Shall it be of ignorance, simplicity, and facility; or of malice + and imposture? Is any man now living so impudent as to think himself + comparable to them in virtue, piety, learning, judgment, or any kind of + perfection? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui, ut rationem nullam afferrent, + ipsa auctoritate me frangerent.” + </pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Who, though they should adduce no reason, would convince me with + their authority alone.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes, i. 21.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis a presumption of great danger and consequence, besides the + absurd temerity it draws after it, to contemn what we do not comprehend. + For after, according to your fine understanding, you have established the + limits of truth and error, and that, afterwards, there appears a necessity + upon you of believing stranger things than those you have contradicted, + you are already obliged to quit your limits. Now, that which seems to me + so much to disorder our consciences in the commotions we are now in + concerning religion, is the Catholics dispensing so much with their + belief. They fancy they appear moderate, and wise, when they grant to + their opponents some of the articles in question; but, besides that they + do not discern what advantage it is to those with whom we contend, to + begin to give ground and to retire, and how much this animates our enemy + to follow his blow: these articles which they select as things + indifferent, are sometimes of very great importance. We are either wholly + and absolutely to submit ourselves to the authority of our ecclesiastical + polity, or totally throw off all obedience to it: ‘tis not for us to + determine what and how much obedience we owe to it. And this I can say, as + having myself made trial of it, that having formerly taken the liberty of + my own swing and fancy, and omitted or neglected certain rules of the + discipline of our Church, which seemed to me vain and strange coming + afterwards to discourse of it with learned men, I have found those same + things to be built upon very good and solid ground and strong foundation; + and that nothing but stupidity and ignorance makes us receive them with + less reverence than the rest. Why do we not consider what contradictions + we find in our own judgments; how many things were yesterday articles of + our faith, that to-day appear no other than fables? Glory and curiosity + are the scourges of the soul; the last prompts us to thrust our noses into + everything, the other forbids us to leave anything doubtful and undecided. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVII——OF FRIENDSHIP + </h2> + <p> + Having considered the proceedings of a painter that serves me, I had a + mind to imitate his way. He chooses the fairest place and middle of any + wall, or panel, wherein to draw a picture, which he finishes with his + utmost care and art, and the vacuity about it he fills with grotesques, + which are odd fantastic figures without any grace but what they derive + from their variety, and the extravagance of their shapes. And in truth, + what are these things I scribble, other than grotesques and monstrous + bodies, made of various parts, without any certain figure, or any other + than accidental order, coherence, or proportion? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne.” + + [“A fair woman in her upper form terminates in a fish.” + —Horace, De Arte Poetica, v. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + In this second part I go hand in hand with my painter; but fall very short + of him in the first and the better, my power of handling not being such, + that I dare to offer at a rich piece, finely polished, and set off + according to art. I have therefore thought fit to borrow one of Estienne + de la Boetie, and such a one as shall honour and adorn all the rest of my + work—namely, a discourse that he called ‘Voluntary Servitude’; + but, since, those who did not know him have properly enough called it + “Le contr Un.” He wrote in his youth,—[“Not being + as yet eighteen years old.”—Edition of 1588.] by way of essay, + in honour of liberty against tyrants; and it has since run through the + hands of men of great learning and judgment, not without singular and + merited commendation; for it is finely written, and as full as anything + can possibly be. And yet one may confidently say it is far short of what + he was able to do; and if in that more mature age, wherein I had the + happiness to know him, he had taken a design like this of mine, to commit + his thoughts to writing, we should have seen a great many rare things, and + such as would have gone very near to have rivalled the best writings of + antiquity: for in natural parts especially, I know no man comparable to + him. But he has left nothing behind him, save this treatise only (and that + too by chance, for I believe he never saw it after it first went out of + his hands), and some observations upon that edict of January—[1562, + which granted to the Huguenots the public exercise of their religion.]—made + famous by our civil-wars, which also shall elsewhere, peradventure, find a + place. These were all I could recover of his remains, I to whom with so + affectionate a remembrance, upon his death-bed, he by his last will + bequeathed his library and papers, the little book of his works only + excepted, which I committed to the press. And this particular obligation I + have to this treatise of his, that it was the occasion of my first coming + acquainted with him; for it was showed to me long before I had the good + fortune to know him; and the first knowledge of his name, proving the + first cause and foundation of a friendship, which we afterwards improved + and maintained, so long as God was pleased to continue us together, so + perfect, inviolate, and entire, that certainly the like is hardly to be + found in story, and amongst the men of this age, there is no sign nor + trace of any such thing in use; so much concurrence is required to the + building of such a one, that ‘tis much, if fortune bring it but once + to pass in three ages. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing to which nature seems so much to have inclined us, as to + society; and Aristotle , says that the good legislators had more respect + to friendship than to justice. Now the most supreme point of its + perfection is this: for, generally, all those that pleasure, profit, + public or private interest create and nourish, are so much the less + beautiful and generous, and so much the less friendships, by how much they + mix another cause, and design, and fruit in friendship, than itself. + Neither do the four ancient kinds, natural, social, hospitable, venereal, + either separately or jointly, make up a true and perfect friendship. + </p> + <p> + That of children to parents is rather respect: friendship is nourished by + communication, which cannot by reason of the great disparity, be betwixt + these, but would rather perhaps offend the duties of nature; for neither + are all the secret thoughts of fathers fit to be communicated to children, + lest it beget an indecent familiarity betwixt them; nor can the advices + and reproofs, which is one of the principal offices of friendship, be + properly performed by the son to the father. There are some countries + where ‘twas the custom for children to kill their fathers; and + others, where the fathers killed their children, to avoid their being an + impediment one to another in life; and naturally the expectations of the + one depend upon the ruin of the other. There have been great philosophers + who have made nothing of this tie of nature, as Aristippus for one, who + being pressed home about the affection he owed to his children, as being + come out of him, presently fell to spit, saying, that this also came out + of him, and that we also breed worms and lice; and that other, that + Plutarch endeavoured to reconcile to his brother: “I make never the + more account of him,” said he, “for coming out of the same + hole.” This name of brother does indeed carry with it a fine and + delectable sound, and for that reason, he and I called one another + brothers but the complication of interests, the division of estates, and + that the wealth of the one should be the property of the other, strangely + relax and weaken the fraternal tie: brothers pursuing their fortune and + advancement by the same path, ‘tis hardly possible but they must of + necessity often jostle and hinder one another. Besides, why is it + necessary that the correspondence of manners, parts, and inclinations, + which begets the true and perfect friendships, should always meet in these + relations? The father and the son may be of quite contrary humours, and so + of brothers: he is my son, he is my brother; but he is passionate, + ill-natured, or a fool. And moreover, by how much these are friendships + that the law and natural obligation impose upon us, so much less is there + of our own choice and voluntary freedom; whereas that voluntary liberty of + ours has no production more promptly and; properly its own than affection + and friendship. Not that I have not in my own person experimented all that + can possibly be expected of that kind, having had the best and most + indulgent father, even to his extreme old age, that ever was, and who was + himself descended from a family for many generations famous and exemplary + for brotherly concord: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et ipse + Notus in fratres animi paterni.” + + [“And I myself, known for paternal love toward my brothers.” + —Horace, Ode, ii. 2, 6.] +</pre> + <p> + We are not here to bring the love we bear to women, though it be an act of + our own choice, into comparison, nor rank it with the others. The fire of + this, I confess, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neque enim est dea nescia nostri + Qux dulcem curis miscet amaritiem,” + + [“Nor is the goddess unknown to me who mixes a sweet bitterness + with my love.”—-Catullus, lxviii. 17.] +</pre> + <p> + is more active, more eager, and more sharp: but withal, ‘tis more + precipitant, fickle, moving, and inconstant; a fever subject to + intermissions and paroxysms, that has seized but on one part of us. + Whereas in friendship, ‘tis a general and universal fire, but + temperate and equal, a constant established heat, all gentle and smooth, + without poignancy or roughness. Moreover, in love, ‘tis no other + than frantic desire for that which flies from us: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Come segue la lepre il cacciatore + Al freddo, al caldo, alla montagna, al lito; + Ne piu l’estima poi the presa vede; + E sol dietro a chi fugge affretta il piede” + + [“As the hunter pursues the hare, in cold and heat, to the mountain, + to the shore, nor cares for it farther when he sees it taken, and + only delights in chasing that which flees from him.”—Aristo, x. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + so soon as it enters unto the terms of friendship, that is to say, into a + concurrence of desires, it vanishes and is gone, fruition destroys it, as + having only a fleshly end, and such a one as is subject to satiety. + Friendship, on the contrary, is enjoyed proportionably as it is desired; + and only grows up, is nourished and improved by enjoyment, as being of + itself spiritual, and the soul growing still more refined by practice. + Under this perfect friendship, the other fleeting affections have in my + younger years found some place in me, to say nothing of him, who himself + so confesses but too much in his verses; so that I had both these + passions, but always so, that I could myself well enough distinguish them, + and never in any degree of comparison with one another; the first + maintaining its flight in so lofty and so brave a place, as with disdain + to look down, and see the other flying at a far humbler pitch below. + </p> + <p> + As concerning marriage, besides that it is a covenant, the entrance into + which only is free, but the continuance in it forced and compulsory, + having another dependence than that of our own free will, and a bargain + commonly contracted to other ends, there almost always happens a thousand + intricacies in it to unravel, enough to break the thread and to divert the + current of a lively affection: whereas friendship has no manner of + business or traffic with aught but itself. Moreover, to say truth, the + ordinary talent of women is not such as is sufficient to maintain the + conference and communication required to the support of this sacred tie; + nor do they appear to be endued with constancy of mind, to sustain the + pinch of so hard and durable a knot. And doubtless, if without this, there + could be such a free and voluntary familiarity contracted, where not only + the souls might have this entire fruition, but the bodies also might share + in the alliance, and a man be engaged throughout, the friendship would + certainly be more full and perfect; but it is without example that this + sex has ever yet arrived at such perfection; and, by the common consent of + the ancient schools, it is wholly rejected from it. + </p> + <p> + That other Grecian licence is justly abhorred by our manners, which also, + from having, according to their practice, a so necessary disparity of age + and difference of offices betwixt the lovers, answered no more to the + perfect union and harmony that we here require than the other: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis est enim iste amor amicitiae? cur neque deformem + adolescentem quisquam amat, neque formosum senem?” + + [“For what is that friendly love? why does no one love a deformed + youth or a comely old man?”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 33.] +</pre> + <p> + Neither will that very picture that the Academy presents of it, as I + conceive, contradict me, when I say, that this first fury inspired by the + son of Venus into the heart of the lover, upon sight of the flower and + prime of a springing and blossoming youth, to which they allow all the + insolent and passionate efforts that an immoderate ardour can produce, was + simply founded upon external beauty, the false image of corporal + generation; for it could not ground this love upon the soul, the sight of + which as yet lay concealed, was but now springing, and not of maturity to + blossom; that this fury, if it seized upon a low spirit, the means by + which it preferred its suit were rich presents, favour in advancement to + dignities, and such trumpery, which they by no means approve; if on a more + generous soul, the pursuit was suitably generous, by philosophical + instructions, precepts to revere religion, to obey the laws, to die for + the good of one’s country; by examples of valour, prudence, and + justice, the lover studying to render himself acceptable by the grace and + beauty of the soul, that of his body being long since faded and decayed, + hoping by this mental society to establish a more firm and lasting + contract. When this courtship came to effect in due season (for that which + they do not require in the lover, namely, leisure and discretion in his + pursuit, they strictly require in the person loved, forasmuch as he is to + judge of an internal beauty, of difficult knowledge and abstruse + discovery), then there sprung in the person loved the desire of a + spiritual conception; by the mediation of a spiritual beauty. This was the + principal; the corporeal, an accidental and secondary matter; quite the + contrary as to the lover. For this reason they prefer the person beloved, + maintaining that the gods in like manner preferred him too, and very much + blame the poet AEschylus for having, in the loves of Achilles and + Patroclus, given the lover’s part to Achilles, who was in the first + and beardless flower of his adolescence, and the handsomest of all the + Greeks. After this general community, the sovereign, and most worthy part + presiding and governing, and performing its proper offices, they say, that + thence great utility was derived, both by private and public concerns; + that it constituted the force and power of the countries where it + prevailed, and the chiefest security of liberty and justice. Of which the + healthy loves of Harmodius and Aristogiton are instances. And therefore it + is that they called it sacred and divine, and conceive that nothing but + the violence of tyrants and the baseness of the common people are inimical + to it. Finally, all that can be said in favour of the Academy is, that it + was a love which ended in friendship, which well enough agrees with the + Stoical definition of love: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Amorem conatum esse amicitiae faciendae + ex pulchritudinis specie.” + + [“Love is a desire of contracting friendship arising from the beauty + of the object.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., vi. 34.] +</pre> + <p> + I return to my own more just and true description: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnino amicitiae, corroboratis jam confirmatisque, + et ingeniis, et aetatibus, judicandae sunt.” + + [“Those are only to be reputed friendships that are fortified and + confirmed by judgement and the length of time.” + —Cicero, De Amicit., c. 20.] +</pre> + <p> + For the rest, what we commonly call friends and friendships, are nothing + but acquaintance and familiarities, either occasionally contracted, or + upon some design, by means of which there happens some little intercourse + betwixt our souls. But in the friendship I speak of, they mix and work + themselves into one piece, with so universal a mixture, that there is no + more sign of the seam by which they were first conjoined. If a man should + importune me to give a reason why I loved him, I find it could no + otherwise be expressed, than by making answer: because it was he, because + it was I. There is, beyond all that I am able to say, I know not what + inexplicable and fated power that brought on this union. We sought one + another long before we met, and by the characters we heard of one another, + which wrought upon our affections more than, in reason, mere reports + should do; I think ‘twas by some secret appointment of heaven. We + embraced in our names; and at our first meeting, which was accidentally at + a great city entertainment, we found ourselves so mutually taken with one + another, so acquainted, and so endeared betwixt ourselves, that from + thenceforward nothing was so near to us as one another. He wrote an + excellent Latin satire, since printed, wherein he excuses the + precipitation of our intelligence, so suddenly come to perfection, saying, + that destined to have so short a continuance, as begun so late (for we + were both full-grown men, and he some years the older), there was no time + to lose, nor were we tied to conform to the example of those slow and + regular friendships, that require so many precautions of long preliminary + conversation: This has no other idea than that of itself, and can only + refer to itself: this is no one special consideration, nor two, nor three, + nor four, nor a thousand; ‘tis I know not what quintessence of all + this mixture, which, seizing my whole will, carried it to plunge and lose + itself in his, and that having seized his whole will, brought it back with + equal concurrence and appetite to plunge and lose itself in mine. I may + truly say lose, reserving nothing to ourselves that was either his or + mine.—[All this relates to Estienne de la Boetie.] + </p> + <p> + When Laelius,—[Cicero, De Amicit., c. II.]—in the presence of + the Roman consuls, who after thay had sentenced Tiberius Gracchus, + prosecuted all those who had had any familiarity with him also; came to + ask Caius Blosius, who was his chiefest friend, how much he would have + done for him, and that he made answer: “All things.”—“How! + All things!” said Laelius. “And what if he had commanded you + to fire our temples?”—“He would never have commanded me + that,” replied Blosius.—“But what if he had?” said + Laelius.—“I would have obeyed him,” said the other. If + he was so perfect a friend to Gracchus as the histories report him to have + been, there was yet no necessity of offending the consuls by such a bold + confession, though he might still have retained the assurance he had of + Gracchus’ disposition. However, those who accuse this answer as + seditious, do not well understand the mystery; nor presuppose, as it was + true, that he had Gracchus’ will in his sleeve, both by the power of + a friend, and the perfect knowledge he had of the man: they were more + friends than citizens, more friends to one another than either enemies or + friends to their country, or than friends to ambition and innovation; + having absolutely given up themselves to one another, either held + absolutely the reins of the other’s inclination; and suppose all + this guided by virtue, and all this by the conduct of reason, which also + without these it had not been possible to do, Blosius’ answer was + such as it ought to be. If any of their actions flew out of the handle, + they were neither (according to my measure of friendship) friends to one + another, nor to themselves. As to the rest, this answer carries no worse + sound, than mine would do to one that should ask me: “If your will + should command you to kill your daughter, would you do it?” and that + I should make answer, that I would; for this expresses no consent to such + an act, forasmuch as I do not in the least suspect my own will, and as + little that of such a friend. ‘Tis not in the power of all the + eloquence in the world, to dispossess me of the certainty I have of the + intentions and resolutions of my friend; nay, no one action of his, what + face soever it might bear, could be presented to me, of which I could not + presently, and at first sight, find out the moving cause. Our souls had + drawn so unanimously together, they had considered each other with so + ardent an affection, and with the like affection laid open the very bottom + of our hearts to one another’s view, that I not only knew his as + well as my own; but should certainly in any concern of mine have trusted + my interest much more willingly with him, than with myself. + </p> + <p> + Let no one, therefore, rank other common friendships with such a one as + this. I have had as much experience of these as another, and of the most + perfect of their kind: but I do not advise that any should confound the + rules of the one and the other, for they would find themselves much + deceived. In those other ordinary friendships, you are to walk with bridle + in your hand, with prudence and circumspection, for in them the knot is + not so sure that a man may not half suspect it will slip. “Love him,” + said Chilo,—[Aulus Gellius, i. 3.]—“so as if you were + one day to hate him; and hate him so as you were one day to love him.” + This precept, though abominable in the sovereign and perfect friendship I + speak of, is nevertheless very sound as to the practice of the ordinary + and customary ones, and to which the saying that Aristotle had so frequent + in his mouth, “O my friends, there is no friend,” may very + fitly be applied. In this noble commerce, good offices, presents, and + benefits, by which other friendships are supported and maintained, do not + deserve so much as to be mentioned; and the reason is the concurrence of + our wills; for, as the kindness I have for myself receives no increase, + for anything I relieve myself withal in time of need (whatever the Stoics + say), and as I do not find myself obliged to myself for any service I do + myself: so the union of such friends, being truly perfect, deprives them + of all idea of such duties, and makes them loathe and banish from their + conversation these words of division and distinction, benefits, + obligation, acknowledgment, entreaty, thanks, and the like. All things, + wills, thoughts, opinions, goods, wives, children, honours, and lives, + being in effect common betwixt them, and that absolute concurrence of + affections being no other than one soul in two bodies (according to that + very proper definition of Aristotle), they can neither lend nor give + anything to one another. This is the reason why the lawgivers, to honour + marriage with some resemblance of this divine alliance, interdict all + gifts betwixt man and wife; inferring by that, that all should belong to + each of them, and that they have nothing to divide or to give to each + other. + </p> + <p> + If, in the friendship of which I speak, one could give to the other, the + receiver of the benefit would be the man that obliged his friend; for each + of them contending and above all things studying how to be useful to the + other, he that administers the occasion is the liberal man, in giving his + friend the satisfaction of doing that towards him which above all things + he most desires. When the philosopher Diogenes wanted money, he used to + say, that he redemanded it of his friends, not that he demanded it. And to + let you see the practical working of this, I will here produce an ancient + and singular example. Eudamidas, a Corinthian, had two friends, Charixenus + a Sicyonian and Areteus a Corinthian; this man coming to die, being poor, + and his two friends rich, he made his will after this manner. “I + bequeath to Areteus the maintenance of my mother, to support and provide + for her in her old age; and to Charixenus I bequeath the care of marrying + my daughter, and to give her as good a portion as he is able; and in case + one of these chance to die, I hereby substitute the survivor in his place.” + They who first saw this will made themselves very merry at the contents: + but the legatees, being made acquainted with it, accepted it with very + great content; and one of them, Charixenus, dying within five days after, + and by that means the charge of both duties devolving solely on him, + Areteus nurtured the old woman with very great care and tenderness, and of + five talents he had in estate, he gave two and a half in marriage with an + only daughter he had of his own, and two and a half in marriage with the + daughter of Eudamidas, and on one and the same day solemnised both their + nuptials. + </p> + <p> + This example is very full, if one thing were not to be objected, namely + the multitude of friends for the perfect friendship I speak of is + indivisible; each one gives himself so entirely to his friend, that he has + nothing left to distribute to others: on the contrary, is sorry that he is + not double, treble, or quadruple, and that he has not many souls and many + wills, to confer them all upon this one object. Common friendships will + admit of division; one may love the beauty of this person, the good-humour + of that, the liberality of a third, the paternal affection of a fourth, + the fraternal love of a fifth, and so of the rest: but this friendship + that possesses the whole soul, and there rules and sways with an absolute + sovereignty, cannot possibly admit of a rival. If two at the same time + should call to you for succour, to which of them would you run? Should + they require of you contrary offices, how could you serve them both? + Should one commit a thing to your silence that it were of importance to + the other to know, how would you disengage yourself? A unique and + particular friendship dissolves all other obligations whatsoever: the + secret I have sworn not to reveal to any other, I may without perjury + communicate to him who is not another, but myself. ‘Tis miracle + enough certainly, for a man to double himself, and those that talk of + tripling, talk they know not of what. Nothing is extreme, that has its + like; and he who shall suppose, that of two, I love one as much as the + other, that they mutually love one another too, and love me as much as I + love them, multiplies into a confraternity the most single of units, and + whereof, moreover, one alone is the hardest thing in the world to find. + The rest of this story suits very well with what I was saying; for + Eudamidas, as a bounty and favour, bequeaths to his friends a legacy of + employing themselves in his necessity; he leaves them heirs to this + liberality of his, which consists in giving them the opportunity of + conferring a benefit upon him; and doubtless, the force of friendship is + more eminently apparent in this act of his, than in that of Areteus. In + short, these are effects not to be imagined nor comprehended by such as + have not experience of them, and which make me infinitely honour and + admire the answer of that young soldier to Cyrus, by whom being asked how + much he would take for a horse, with which he had won the prize of a race, + and whether he would exchange him for a kingdom? —“No, truly, + sir,” said he, “but I would give him with all my heart, to get + thereby a true friend, could I find out any man worthy of that alliance.”—[Xenophon, + Cyropadia, viii. 3.]—He did not say ill in saying, “could I + find”: for though one may almost everywhere meet with men + sufficiently qualified for a superficial acquaintance, yet in this, where + a man is to deal from the very bottom of his heart, without any manner of + reservation, it will be requisite that all the wards and springs be truly + wrought and perfectly sure. + </p> + <p> + In confederations that hold but by one end, we are only to provide against + the imperfections that particularly concern that end. It can be of no + importance to me of what religion my physician or my lawyer is; this + consideration has nothing in common with the offices of friendship which + they owe me; and I am of the same indifference in the domestic + acquaintance my servants must necessarily contract with me. I never + inquire, when I am to take a footman, if he be chaste, but if he be + diligent; and am not solicitous if my muleteer be given to gaming, as if + he be strong and able; or if my cook be a swearer, if he be a good cook. I + do not take upon me to direct what other men should do in the government + of their families, there are plenty that meddle enough with that, but only + give an account of my method in my own: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mihi sic usus est: tibi, ut opus est facto, face.” + + [“This has been my way; as for you, do as you find needful. + —“Terence, Heaut., i. I., 28.] +</pre> + <p> + For table-talk, I prefer the pleasant and witty before the learned and the + grave; in bed, beauty before goodness; in common discourse the ablest + speaker, whether or no there be sincerity in the case. And, as he that was + found astride upon a hobby-horse, playing with his children, entreated the + person who had surprised him in that posture to say nothing of it till + himself came to be a father,—[Plutarch, Life of Agesilaus, c. 9.]—supposing + that the fondness that would then possess his own soul, would render him a + fairer judge of such an action; so I, also, could wish to speak to such as + have had experience of what I say: though, knowing how remote a thing such + a friendship is from the common practice, and how rarely it is to be + found, I despair of meeting with any such judge. For even these discourses + left us by antiquity upon this subject, seem to me flat and poor, in + comparison of the sense I have of it, and in this particular, the effects + surpass even the precepts of philosophy. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nil ego contulerim jucundo sanus amico.” + + [“While I have sense left to me, there will never be anything more + acceptable to me than an agreeable friend.” + —Horace, Sat., i. 5, 44.] +</pre> + <p> + The ancient Menander declared him to be happy that had had the good + fortune to meet with but the shadow of a friend: and doubtless he had good + reason to say so, especially if he spoke by experience: for in good + earnest, if I compare all the rest of my life, though, thanks be to God, I + have passed my time pleasantly enough, and at my ease, and the loss of + such a friend excepted, free from any grievous affliction, and in great + tranquillity of mind, having been contented with my natural and original + commodities, without being solicitous after others; if I should compare it + all, I say, with the four years I had the happiness to enjoy the sweet + society of this excellent man, ‘tis nothing but smoke, an obscure + and tedious night. From the day that I lost him: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quern semper acerbum, + Semper honoratum (sic, di, voluistis) habebo,” + + [“A day for me ever sad, for ever sacred, so have you willed ye + gods.”—AEneid, v. 49.] +</pre> + <p> + I have only led a languishing life; and the very pleasures that present + themselves to me, instead of administering anything of consolation, double + my affliction for his loss. We were halves throughout, and to that degree, + that methinks, by outliving him, I defraud him of his part. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec fas esse ulla me voluptate hic frui + Decrevi, tantisper dum ille abest meus particeps.” + + [“I have determined that it will never be right for me to enjoy any + pleasure, so long as he, with whom I shared all pleasures is away.” + —Terence, Heaut., i. I. 97.] +</pre> + <p> + I was so grown and accustomed to be always his double in all places and in + all things, that methinks I am no more than half of myself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Illam meae si partem anima tulit + Maturior vis, quid moror altera? + Nec carus aeque, nec superstes + Integer? Ille dies utramque + Duxit ruinam.” + + [“If that half of my soul were snatch away from me by an untimely + stroke, why should the other stay? That which remains will not be + equally dear, will not be whole: the same day will involve the + destruction of both.”] + + or: + + [“If a superior force has taken that part of my soul, why do I, the + remaining one, linger behind? What is left is not so dear, nor an + entire thing: this day has wrought the destruction of both.” + —Horace, Ode, ii. 17, 5.] +</pre> + <p> + There is no action or imagination of mine wherein I do not miss him; as I + know that he would have missed me: for as he surpassed me by infinite + degrees in virtue and all other accomplishments, so he also did in the + duties of friendship: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis desiderio sit pudor, aut modus + Tam cari capitis?” + + [“What shame can there, or measure, in lamenting so dear a friend?” + —Horace, Ode, i. 24, I.] + + “O misero frater adempte mihi! + Omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra, + Quae tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor. + Tu mea, tu moriens fregisti commoda, frater; + Tecum una tota est nostra sepulta anima + Cujus ego interitu tota de menthe fugavi + Haec studia, atque omnes delicias animi. + Alloquar? audiero nunquam tua verba loquentem? + Nunquam ego te, vita frater amabilior + Aspiciam posthac; at certe semper amabo;” + + [“O brother, taken from me miserable! with thee, all our joys have + vanished, those joys which, in thy life, thy dear love nourished. + Dying, thou, my brother, hast destroyed all my happiness. My whole + soul is buried with thee. Through whose death I have banished from + my mind these studies, and all the delights of the mind. Shall I + address thee? I shall never hear thy voice. Never shall I behold + thee hereafter. O brother, dearer to me than life. Nought remains, + but assuredly I shall ever love thee.”—Catullus, lxviii. 20; lxv.] +</pre> + <p> + But let us hear a boy of sixteen speak: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[In Cotton’s translation the work referred to is “those Memoirs + upon the famous edict of January,” of which mention has already been + made in the present edition. The edition of 1580, however, and the + Variorum edition of 1872-1900, indicate no particular work; but the + edition of 1580 has it “this boy of eighteen years” (which was the + age at which La Boetie wrote his “Servitude Volontaire”), speaks of + “a boy of sixteen” as occurring only in the common editions, and it + would seem tolerably clear that this more important work was, in + fact, the production to which Montaigne refers, and that the proper + reading of the text should be “sixteen years.” What “this boy + spoke” is not given by Montaigne, for the reason stated in the next + following paragraph.] +</pre> + <p> + “Because I have found that that work has been since brought out, and + with a mischievous design, by those who aim at disturbing and changing the + condition of our government, without troubling themselves to think whether + they are likely to improve it: and because they have mixed up his work + with some of their own performance, I have refrained from inserting it + here. But that the memory of the author may not be injured, nor suffer + with such as could not come near-hand to be acquainted with his + principles, I here give them to understand, that it was written by him in + his boyhood, and that by way of exercise only, as a common theme that has + been hackneyed by a thousand writers. I make no question but that he + himself believed what he wrote, being so conscientious that he would not + so much as lie in jest: and I moreover know, that could it have been in + his own choice, he had rather have been born at Venice, than at Sarlac; + and with reason. But he had another maxim sovereignty imprinted in his + soul, very religiously to obey and submit to the laws under which he was + born. There never was a better citizen, more affectionate to his country; + nor a greater enemy to all the commotions and innovations of his time: so + that he would much rather have employed his talent to the extinguishing of + those civil flames, than have added any fuel to them; he had a mind + fashioned to the model of better ages. Now, in exchange of this serious + piece, I will present you with another of a more gay and frolic air, from + the same hand, and written at the same age.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVIII——NINE AND TWENTY SONNETS OF ESTIENNE DE LA + BOITIE + </h2> + <h3> + TO MADAME DE GRAMMONT, COMTESSE DE GUISSEN. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [They scarce contain anything but amorous complaints, expressed in a + very rough style, discovering the follies and outrages of a restless + passion, overgorged, as it were, with jealousies, fears and + suspicions.—Coste.] + + [These....contained in the edition of 1588 nine-and-twenty sonnets + of La Boetie, accompanied by a dedicatory epistle to Madame de + Grammont. The former, which are referred to at the end of Chap. + XXVIL, do not really belong to the book, and are of very slight + interest at this time; the epistle is transferred to the + Correspondence. The sonnets, with the letter, were presumably sent + some time after Letters V. et seq. Montaigne seems to have had + several copies written out to forward to friends or acquaintances.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIX——OF MODERATION + </h2> + <p> + As if we had an infectious touch, we, by our manner of handling, corrupt + things that in themselves are laudable and good: we may grasp virtue so + that it becomes vicious, if we embrace it too stringently and with too + violent a desire. Those who say, there is never any excess in virtue, + forasmuch as it is not virtue when it once becomes excess, only play upon + words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Insani sapiens nomen ferat, aequus iniqui, + Ultra quam satis est, virtutem si petat ipsam.” + + [“Let the wise man bear the name of a madman, the just one of an + unjust, if he seek wisdom more than is sufficient.” + —Horace, Ep., i. 6, 15.] + + [“The wise man is no longer wise, the just man no longer just, if he + seek to carry his love for wisdom or virtue beyond that which is + necessary.”] +</pre> + <p> + This is a subtle consideration of philosophy. A man may both be too much + in love with virtue, and be excessive in a just action. Holy Writ agrees + with this, Be not wiser than you should, but be soberly wise.—[St. + Paul, Epistle to the Romans, xii. 3.]—I have known a great man, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[“It is likely that Montaigne meant Henry III., king of France. + The Cardinal d’Ossat, writing to Louise, the queen-dowager, told + her, in his frank manner, that he had lived as much or more like a + monk than a monarch (Letter XXIII.) And Pope Sextus V., speaking of + that prince one day to the Cardinal de Joyeuse, protector of the + affairs of France, said to him pleasantly, ‘There is nothing that + your king hath not done, and does not do so still, to be a monk, nor + anything that I have not done, not to be a monk.’”—Coste.] +</pre> + <p> + prejudice the opinion men had of his devotion, by pretending to be devout + beyond all examples of others of his condition. I love temperate and + moderate natures. An immoderate zeal, even to that which is good, even + though it does not offend, astonishes me, and puts me to study what name + to give it. Neither the mother of Pausanias, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[“Montaigne would here give us to understand, upon the authority of + Diodorus Siculus, that Pausanias’ mother gave the first hint of the + punishment that was to be inflicted on her son. ‘Pausanias,’ says + this historian, ‘perceiving that the ephori, and some other + Lacedoemonians, aimed at apprehending him, got the start of them, + and went and took sanctuary m Minerva’s temple: and the + Lacedaemonians, being doubtful whether they ought to take him from + thence in violation of the franchise there, it is said that his own + mother came herself to the temple but spoke nothing nor did anything + more than lay a piece of brick, which she brought with her, on the + threshold of the temple, which, when she had done, she returned + home. The Lacedaemonians, taking the hint from the mother, caused + the gate of the temple to be walled up, and by this means starved + Pausanias, so that he died with hunger, &c. (lib. xi. cap. 10., of + Amyot’s translation). The name of Pausanias’ mother was Alcithea, + as we are informed by Thucydides’ scholiast, who only says that it + was reported, that when they set about walling up the gates of the + chapel in which Pausanias had taken refuge, his mother Alcithea laid + the first stone.”—Coste.] +</pre> + <p> + who was the first instructor of her son’s process, and threw the + first stone towards his death, nor Posthumius the dictator, who put his + son to death, whom the ardour of youth had successfully pushed upon the + enemy a little more advanced than the rest of his squadron, do appear to + me so much just as strange; and I should neither advise nor like to follow + so savage a virtue, and that costs so dear. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[“Opinions differ as to the truth of this fact. Livy thinks he + has good authority for rejecting it because it does not appear in + history that Posthumious was branded with it, as Titus Manlius was, + about 100 years after his time; for Manlius, having put his son to + death for the like cause, obtained the odious name of Imperiosus, + and since that time Manliana imperia has been used as a term to + signify orders that are too severe; Manliana Imperia, says Livy, + were not only horrible for the time present, but of a bad example to + posterity. And this historian makes no doubt but such commands + would have been actually styled Posthumiana Imperia, if Posthumius + had been the first who set so barbarous an example (Livy, lib. iv. + cap. 29, and lib. viii. cap. 7). But, however, Montaigne has Valer. + Maximus on his side, who says expressly, that Posthumius caused his + son to be put to death, and Diodorus of Sicily (lib. xii. cap. + 19).”—Coste.] +</pre> + <p> + The archer that shoots over, misses as much as he that falls short, and + ‘tis equally troublesome to my sight, to look up at a great light, + and to look down into a dark abyss. Callicles in Plato says, that the + extremity of philosophy is hurtful, and advises not to dive into it beyond + the limits of profit; that, taken moderately, it is pleasant and useful; + but that in the end it renders a man brutish and vicious, a contemner of + religion and the common laws, an enemy to civil conversation, and all + human pleasures, incapable of all public administration, unfit either to + assist others or to relieve himself, and a fit object for all sorts of + injuries and affronts. He says true; for in its excess, it enslaves our + natural freedom, and by an impertinent subtlety, leads us out of the fair + and beaten way that nature has traced for us. + </p> + <p> + The love we bear to our wives is very lawful, and yet theology thinks fit + to curb and restrain it. As I remember, I have read in one place of St. + Thomas Aquinas,—[Secunda Secundx, Quaest. 154, art. 9.]—where + he condemns marriages within any of the forbidden degrees, for this + reason, amongst others, that there is some danger, lest the friendship a + man bears to such a woman, should be immoderate; for if the conjugal + affection be full and perfect betwixt them, as it ought to be, and that it + be over and above surcharged with that of kindred too, there is no doubt, + but such an addition will carry the husband beyond the bounds of reason. + </p> + <p> + Those sciences that regulate the manners of men, divinity and philosophy, + will have their say in everything; there is no action so private and + secret that can escape their inspection and jurisdiction. They are best + taught who are best able to control and curb their own liberty; women + expose their nudities as much as you will upon the account of pleasure, + though in the necessities of physic they are altogether as shy. I will, + therefore, in their behalf: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[Coste translates this: “on the part of philosophy and theology,” + observing that but few wives would think themselves obliged to + Montaigne for any such lesson to their husbands.]— +</pre> + <p> + teach the husbands, that is, such as are too vehement in the exercise of + the matrimonial duty—if such there still be—this lesson, that + the very pleasures they enjoy in the society of their wives are + reproachable if immoderate, and that a licentious and riotous abuse of + them is a fault as reprovable here as in illicit connections. Those + immodest and debauched tricks and postures, that the first ardour suggests + to us in this affair, are not only indecently but detrimentally practised + upon our wives. Let them at least learn impudence from another hand; they + are ever ready enough for our business, and I for my part always went the + plain way to work. + </p> + <p> + Marriage is a solemn and religious tie, and therefore the pleasure we + extract from it should be a sober and serious delight, and mixed with a + certain kind of gravity; it should be a sort of discreet and conscientious + pleasure. And seeing that the chief end of it is generation, some make a + question, whether when men are out of hopes as when they are superannuated + or already with child, it be lawful to embrace our wives. ‘Tis + homicide, according to Plato.—[Laws, 8.]— Certain nations (the + Mohammedan, amongst others) abominate all conjunction with women with + child, others also, with those who are in their courses. Zenobia would + never admit her husband for more than one encounter, after which she left + him to his own swing for the whole time of her conception, and not till + after that would again receive him:—[Trebellius Pollio, Triginta + Tyran., c. 30.]—a brave and generous example of conjugal continence. + It was doubtless from some lascivious poet,—[The lascivious poet is + Homer; see his Iliad, xiv. 294.]—and one that himself was in great + distress for a little of this sport, that Plato borrowed this story; that + Jupiter was one day so hot upon his wife, that not having so much patience + as till she could get to the couch, he threw her upon the floor, where the + vehemence of pleasure made him forget the great and important resolutions + he had but newly taken with the rest of the gods in his celestial council, + and to brag that he had had as good a bout, as when he got her maidenhead, + unknown to their parents. + </p> + <p> + The kings of Persia were wont to invite their wives to the beginning of + their festivals; but when the wine began to work in good earnest, and that + they were to give the reins to pleasure, they sent them back to their + private apartments, that they might not participate in their immoderate + lust, sending for other women in their stead, with whom they were not + obliged to so great a decorum of respect.—[Plutarch, Precepts of + Marriage, c. 14.]—All pleasures and all sorts of gratifications are + not properly and fitly conferred upon all sorts of persons. Epaminondas + had committed to prison a young man for certain debauches; for whom + Pelopidas mediated, that at his request he might be set at liberty, which + Epaminondas denied to him, but granted it at the first word to a wench of + his, that made the same intercession; saying, that it was a gratification + fit for such a one as she, but not for a captain. Sophocles being joint + praetor with Pericles, seeing accidentally a fine boy pass by: “O + what a charming boy is that!” said he. “That might be very + well,” answered Pericles, “for any other than a praetor, who + ought not only to have his hands, but his eyes, too, chaste.”—[Cicero, + De Offic., i. 40.] AElius Verus, the emperor, answered his wife, who + reproached him with his love to other women, that he did it upon a + conscientious account, forasmuch as marriage was a name of honour and + dignity, not of wanton and lascivious desire; and our ecclesiastical + history preserves the memory of that woman in great veneration, who parted + from her husband because she would not comply with his indecent and + inordinate desires. In fine, there is no pleasure so just and lawful, + where intemperance and excess are not to be condemned. + </p> + <p> + But, to speak the truth, is not man a most miserable creature the while? + It is scarce, by his natural condition, in his power to taste one pleasure + pure and entire; and yet must he be contriving doctrines and precepts to + curtail that little he has; he is not yet wretched enough, unless by art + and study he augment his own misery: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fortunae miseras auximus arte vias.” + + [“We artificially augment the wretchedness of fortune.” + —Properitius, lib. iii. 7, 44.] +</pre> + <p> + Human wisdom makes as ill use of her talent, when she exercises it in + rescinding from the number and sweetness of those pleasures that are + naturally our due, as she employs it favourably and well in artificially + disguising and tricking out the ills of life, to alleviate the sense of + them. Had I ruled the roast, I should have taken another and more natural + course, which, to say the truth, is both commodious and holy, and should, + peradventure, have been able to have limited it too; notwithstanding that + both our spiritual and corporal physicians, as by compact betwixt + themselves, can find no other way to cure, nor other remedy for the + infirmities of the body and the soul, than by misery and pain. To this + end, watchings, fastings, hair-shirts, remote and solitary banishments, + perpetual imprisonments, whips and other afflictions, have been introduced + amongst men: but so, that they should carry a sting with them, and be real + afflictions indeed; and not fall out as it once did to one Gallio, who + having been sent an exile into the isle of Lesbos, news was not long after + brought to Rome, that he there lived as merry as the day was long; and + that what had been enjoined him for a penance, turned to his pleasure and + satisfaction: whereupon the Senate thought fit to recall him home to his + wife and family, and confine him to his own house, to accommodate their + punishment to his feeling and apprehension. For to him whom fasting would + make more healthful and more sprightly, and to him to whose palate fish + were more acceptable than flesh, the prescription of these would have no + curative effect; no more than in the other sort of physic, where drugs + have no effect upon him who swallows them with appetite and pleasure: the + bitterness of the potion and the abhorrence of the patient are necessary + circumstances to the operation. The nature that would eat rhubarb like + buttered turnips, would frustrate the use and virtue of it; it must be + something to trouble and disturb the stomach, that must purge and cure it; + and here the common rule, that things are cured by their contraries, + fails; for in this one ill is cured by another. + </p> + <p> + This belief a little resembles that other so ancient one, of thinking to + gratify the gods and nature by massacre and murder: an opinion universally + once received in all religions. And still, in these later times wherein + our fathers lived, Amurath at the taking of the Isthmus, immolated six + hundred young Greeks to his father’s soul, in the nature of a + propitiatory sacrifice for his sins. And in those new countries discovered + in this age of ours, which are pure and virgin yet, in comparison of ours, + this practice is in some measure everywhere received: all their idols reek + with human blood, not without various examples of horrid cruelty: some + they burn alive, and take, half broiled, off the coals to tear out their + hearts and entrails; some, even women, they flay alive, and with their + bloody skins clothe and disguise others. Neither are we without great + examples of constancy and resolution in this affair the poor souls that + are to be sacrificed, old men, women, and children, themselves going about + some days before to beg alms for the offering of their sacrifice, + presenting themselves to the slaughter, singing and dancing with the + spectators. + </p> + <p> + The ambassadors of the king of Mexico, setting out to Fernando Cortez the + power and greatness of their master, after having told him, that he had + thirty vassals, of whom each was able to raise an hundred thousand + fighting men, and that he kept his court in the fairest and best fortified + city under the sun, added at last, that he was obliged yearly to offer to + the gods fifty thousand men. And it is affirmed, that he maintained a + continual war, with some potent neighbouring nations, not only to keep the + young men in exercise, but principally to have wherewithal to furnish his + sacrifices with his prisoners of war. At a certain town in another place, + for the welcome of the said Cortez, they sacrificed fifty men at once. I + will tell you this one tale more, and I have done; some of these people + being beaten by him, sent to acknowledge him, and to treat with him of a + peace, whose messengers carried him three sorts of gifts, which they + presented in these terms: “Behold, lord, here are five slaves: if + thou art a furious god that feedeth upon flesh and blood, eat these, and + we will bring thee more; if thou art an affable god, behold here incense + and feathers; but if thou art a man, take these fowls and these fruits + that we have brought thee.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXX——OF CANNIBALS + </h2> + <p> + When King Pyrrhus invaded Italy, having viewed and considered the order of + the army the Romans sent out to meet him; “I know not,” said + he, “what kind of barbarians” (for so the Greeks called all + other nations) “these may be; but the disposition of this army that + I see has nothing of barbarism in it.”—[Plutarch, Life of + Pyrrhus, c. 8.]—As much said the Greeks of that which Flaminius + brought into their country; and Philip, beholding from an eminence the + order and distribution of the Roman camp formed in his kingdom by Publius + Sulpicius Galba, spake to the same effect. By which it appears how + cautious men ought to be of taking things upon trust from vulgar opinion, + and that we are to judge by the eye of reason, and not from common report. + </p> + <p> + I long had a man in my house that lived ten or twelve years in the New + World, discovered in these latter days, and in that part of it where + Villegaignon landed,—[At Brazil, in 1557.]—which he called + Antarctic France. This discovery of so vast a country seems to be of very + great consideration. I cannot be sure, that hereafter there may not be + another, so many wiser men than we having been deceived in this. I am + afraid our eyes are bigger than our bellies, and that we have more + curiosity than capacity; for we grasp at all, but catch nothing but wind. + </p> + <p> + Plato brings in Solon,—[In Timaeus.]—telling a story that he + had heard from the priests of Sais in Egypt, that of old, and before the + Deluge, there was a great island called Atlantis, situate directly at the + mouth of the straits of Gibraltar, which contained more countries than + both Africa and Asia put together; and that the kings of that country, who + not only possessed that Isle, but extended their dominion so far into the + continent that they had a country of Africa as far as Egypt, and extending + in Europe to Tuscany, attempted to encroach even upon Asia, and to + subjugate all the nations that border upon the Mediterranean Sea, as far + as the Black Sea; and to that effect overran all Spain, the Gauls, and + Italy, so far as to penetrate into Greece, where the Athenians stopped + them: but that some time after, both the Athenians, and they and their + island, were swallowed by the Flood. + </p> + <p> + It is very likely that this extreme irruption and inundation of water made + wonderful changes and alterations in the habitations of the earth, as + ‘tis said that the sea then divided Sicily from Italy— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haec loca, vi quondam et vasta convulsa ruina, + Dissiluisse ferunt, quum protenus utraque tellus + Una foret” + + [“These lands, they say, formerly with violence and vast desolation + convulsed, burst asunder, where erewhile were.”—AEneid, iii. 414.] +</pre> + <p> + Cyprus from Syria, the isle of Negropont from the continent of Beeotia, + and elsewhere united lands that were separate before, by filling up the + channel betwixt them with sand and mud: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sterilisque diu palus, aptaque remis, + Vicinas urbes alit, et grave sentit aratrum.” + + [“That which was once a sterile marsh, and bore vessels on its + bosom, now feeds neighbouring cities, and admits the plough.” + —Horace, De Arte Poetica, v. 65.] +</pre> + <p> + But there is no great appearance that this isle was this New World so + lately discovered: for that almost touched upon Spain, and it were an + incredible effect of an inundation, to have tumbled back so prodigious a + mass, above twelve hundred leagues: besides that our modern navigators + have already almost discovered it to be no island, but terra firma, and + continent with the East Indies on the one side, and with the lands under + the two poles on the other side; or, if it be separate from them, it is by + so narrow a strait and channel, that it none the more deserves the name of + an island for that. + </p> + <p> + It should seem, that in this great body, there are two sorts of motions, + the one natural and the other febrific, as there are in ours. When I + consider the impression that our river of Dordogne has made in my time on + the right bank of its descent, and that in twenty years it has gained so + much, and undermined the foundations of so many houses, I perceive it to + be an extraordinary agitation: for had it always followed this course, or + were hereafter to do it, the aspect of the world would be totally changed. + But rivers alter their course, sometimes beating against the one side, and + sometimes the other, and some times quietly keeping the channel. I do not + speak of sudden inundations, the causes of which everybody understands. In + Medoc, by the seashore, the Sieur d’Arsac, my brother, sees an + estate he had there, buried under the sands which the sea vomits before + it: where the tops of some houses are yet to be seen, and where his rents + and domains are converted into pitiful barren pasturage. The inhabitants + of this place affirm, that of late years the sea has driven so vehemently + upon them, that they have lost above four leagues of land. These sands are + her harbingers: and we now see great heaps of moving sand, that march half + a league before her, and occupy the land. + </p> + <p> + The other testimony from antiquity, to which some would apply this + discovery of the New World, is in Aristotle; at least, if that little book + of Unheard of Miracles be his—[one of the spurious publications + brought out under his name—D.W.]. He there tells us, that certain + Carthaginians, having crossed the Atlantic Sea without the Straits of + Gibraltar, and sailed a very long time, discovered at last a great and + fruitful island, all covered over with wood, and watered with several + broad and deep rivers, far remote from all terra firma; and that they, and + others after them, allured by the goodness and fertility of the soil, went + thither with their wives and children, and began to plant a colony. But + the senate of Carthage perceiving their people by little and little to + diminish, issued out an express prohibition, that none, upon pain of + death, should transport themselves thither; and also drove out these new + inhabitants; fearing, ‘tis said, lest’ in process of time they + should so multiply as to supplant themselves and ruin their state. But + this relation of Aristotle no more agrees with our new-found lands than + the other. + </p> + <p> + This man that I had was a plain ignorant fellow, and therefore the more + likely to tell truth: for your better-bred sort of men are much more + curious in their observation, ‘tis true, and discover a great deal + more; but then they gloss upon it, and to give the greater weight to what + they deliver, and allure your belief, they cannot forbear a little to + alter the story; they never represent things to you simply as they are, + but rather as they appeared to them, or as they would have them appear to + you, and to gain the reputation of men of judgment, and the better to + induce your faith, are willing to help out the business with something + more than is really true, of their own invention. Now in this case, we + should either have a man of irreproachable veracity, or so simple that he + has not wherewithal to contrive, and to give a colour of truth to false + relations, and who can have no ends in forging an untruth. Such a one was + mine; and besides, he has at divers times brought to me several seamen and + merchants who at the same time went the same voyage. I shall therefore + content myself with his information, without inquiring what the + cosmographers say to the business. We should have topographers to trace + out to us the particular places where they have been; but for having had + this advantage over us, to have seen the Holy Land, they would have the + privilege, forsooth, to tell us stories of all the other parts of the + world beside. I would have every one write what he knows, and as much as + he knows, but no more; and that not in this only but in all other + subjects; for such a person may have some particular knowledge and + experience of the nature of such a river, or such a fountain, who, as to + other things, knows no more than what everybody does, and yet to give a + currency to his little pittance of learning, will undertake to write the + whole body of physics: a vice from which great inconveniences derive their + original. + </p> + <p> + Now, to return to my subject, I find that there is nothing barbarous and + savage in this nation, by anything that I can gather, excepting, that + every one gives the title of barbarism to everything that is not in use in + his own country. As, indeed, we have no other level of truth and reason + than the example and idea of the opinions and customs of the place wherein + we live: there is always the perfect religion, there the perfect + government, there the most exact and accomplished usage of all things. + They are savages at the same rate that we say fruits are wild, which + nature produces of herself and by her own ordinary progress; whereas, in + truth, we ought rather to call those wild whose natures we have changed by + our artifice and diverted from the common order. In those, the genuine, + most useful, and natural virtues and properties are vigorous and + sprightly, which we have helped to degenerate in these, by accommodating + them to the pleasure of our own corrupted palate. And yet for all this, + our taste confesses a flavour and delicacy excellent even to emulation of + the best of ours, in several fruits wherein those countries abound without + art or culture. Neither is it reasonable that art should gain the + pre-eminence of our great and powerful mother nature. We have so + surcharged her with the additional ornaments and graces we have added to + the beauty and riches of her own works by our inventions, that we have + almost smothered her; yet in other places, where she shines in her own + purity and proper lustre, she marvellously baffles and disgraces all our + vain and frivolous attempts: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et veniunt hederae sponte sua melius; + Surgit et in solis formosior arbutus antris; + Et volucres nulls dulcius arte canunt.” + + [“The ivy grows best spontaneously, the arbutus best in shady caves; + and the wild notes of birds are sweeter than art can teach. + —“Propertius, i. 2, 10.] +</pre> + <p> + Our utmost endeavours cannot arrive at so much as to imitate the nest of + the least of birds, its contexture, beauty, and convenience: not so much + as the web of a poor spider. + </p> + <p> + All things, says Plato,—[Laws, 10.]—are produced either by + nature, by fortune, or by art; the greatest and most beautiful by the one + or the other of the former, the least and the most imperfect by the last. + </p> + <p> + These nations then seem to me to be so far barbarous, as having received + but very little form and fashion from art and human invention, and + consequently to be not much remote from their original simplicity. The + laws of nature, however, govern them still, not as yet much vitiated with + any mixture of ours: but ‘tis in such purity, that I am sometimes + troubled we were not sooner acquainted with these people, and that they + were not discovered in those better times, when there were men much more + able to judge of them than we are. I am sorry that Lycurgus and Plato had + no knowledge of them; for to my apprehension, what we now see in those + nations, does not only surpass all the pictures with which the poets have + adorned the golden age, and all their inventions in feigning a happy state + of man, but, moreover, the fancy and even the wish and desire of + philosophy itself; so native and so pure a simplicity, as we by experience + see to be in them, could never enter into their imagination, nor could + they ever believe that human society could have been maintained with so + little artifice and human patchwork. I should tell Plato that it is a + nation wherein there is no manner of traffic, no knowledge of letters, no + science of numbers, no name of magistrate or political superiority; no use + of service, riches or poverty, no contracts, no successions, no dividends, + no properties, no employments, but those of leisure, no respect of + kindred, but common, no clothing, no agriculture, no metal, no use of corn + or wine; the very words that signify lying, treachery, dissimulation, + avarice, envy, detraction, pardon, never heard of. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[This is the famous passage which Shakespeare, through Florio’s + version, 1603, or ed. 1613, p. 102, has employed in the “Tempest,” + ii. 1.] +</pre> + <p> + How much would he find his imaginary Republic short of his perfection? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Viri a diis recentes.” + + [“Men fresh from the gods.”—Seneca, Ep., 90.] + + “Hos natura modos primum dedit.” + + [“These were the manners first taught by nature.” + —Virgil, Georgics, ii. 20.] +</pre> + <p> + As to the rest, they live in a country very pleasant and temperate, so + that, as my witnesses inform me, ‘tis rare to hear of a sick person, + and they moreover assure me, that they never saw any of the natives, + either paralytic, bleareyed, toothless, or crooked with age. The situation + of their country is along the sea-shore, enclosed on the other side + towards the land, with great and high mountains, having about a hundred + leagues in breadth between. They have great store of fish and flesh, that + have no resemblance to those of ours: which they eat without any other + cookery, than plain boiling, roasting, and broiling. The first that rode a + horse thither, though in several other voyages he had contracted an + acquaintance and familiarity with them, put them into so terrible a + fright, with his centaur appearance, that they killed him with their + arrows before they could come to discover who he was. Their buildings are + very long, and of capacity to hold two or three hundred people, made of + the barks of tall trees, reared with one end upon the ground, and leaning + to and supporting one another at the top, like some of our barns, of which + the covering hangs down to the very ground, and serves for the side walls. + They have wood so hard, that they cut with it, and make their swords of + it, and their grills of it to broil their meat. Their beds are of cotton, + hung swinging from the roof, like our seamen’s hammocks, every man + his own, for the wives lie apart from their husbands. They rise with the + sun, and so soon as they are up, eat for all day, for they have no more + meals but that; they do not then drink, as Suidas reports of some other + people of the East that never drank at their meals; but drink very often + all day after, and sometimes to a rousing pitch. Their drink is made of a + certain root, and is of the colour of our claret, and they never drink it + but lukewarm. It will not keep above two or three days; it has a somewhat + sharp, brisk taste, is nothing heady, but very comfortable to the stomach; + laxative to strangers, but a very pleasant beverage to such as are + accustomed to it. They make use, instead of bread, of a certain white + compound, like coriander seeds; I have tasted of it; the taste is sweet + and a little flat. The whole day is spent in dancing. Their young men go + a-hunting after wild beasts with bows and arrows; one part of their women + are employed in preparing their drink the while, which is their chief + employment. One of their old men, in the morning before they fall to + eating, preaches to the whole family, walking from the one end of the + house to the other, and several times repeating the same sentence, till he + has finished the round, for their houses are at least a hundred yards + long. Valour towards their enemies and love towards their wives, are the + two heads of his discourse, never failing in the close, to put them in + mind, that ‘tis their wives who provide them their drink warm and + well seasoned. The fashion of their beds, ropes, swords, and of the wooden + bracelets they tie about their wrists, when they go to fight, and of the + great canes, bored hollow at one end, by the sound of which they keep the + cadence of their dances, are to be seen in several places, and amongst + others, at my house. They shave all over, and much more neatly than we, + without other razor than one of wood or stone. They believe in the + immortality of the soul, and that those who have merited well of the gods + are lodged in that part of heaven where the sun rises, and the accursed in + the west. + </p> + <p> + They have I know not what kind of priests and prophets, who very rarely + present themselves to the people, having their abode in the mountains. At + their arrival, there is a great feast, and solemn assembly of many + villages: each house, as I have described, makes a village, and they are + about a French league distant from one another. This prophet declaims to + them in public, exhorting them to virtue and their duty: but all their + ethics are comprised in these two articles, resolution in war, and + affection to their wives. He also prophesies to them events to come, and + the issues they are to expect from their enterprises, and prompts them to + or diverts them from war: but let him look to’t; for if he fail in + his divination, and anything happen otherwise than he has foretold, he is + cut into a thousand pieces, if he be caught, and condemned for a false + prophet: for that reason, if any of them has been mistaken, he is no more + heard of. + </p> + <p> + Divination is a gift of God, and therefore to abuse it, ought to be a + punishable imposture. Amongst the Scythians, where their diviners failed + in the promised effect, they were laid, bound hand and foot, upon carts + loaded with firs and bavins, and drawn by oxen, on which they were burned + to death.—[Herodotus, iv. 69.]—Such as only meddle with things + subject to the conduct of human capacity, are excusable in doing the best + they can: but those other fellows that come to delude us with assurances + of an extraordinary faculty, beyond our understanding, ought they not to + be punished, when they do not make good the effect of their promise, and + for the temerity of their imposture? + </p> + <p> + They have continual war with the nations that live further within the + mainland, beyond their mountains, to which they go naked, and without + other arms than their bows and wooden swords, fashioned at one end like + the head of our javelins. The obstinacy of their battles is wonderful, and + they never end without great effusion of blood: for as to running away, + they know not what it is. Every one for a trophy brings home the head of + an enemy he has killed, which he fixes over the door of his house. After + having a long time treated their prisoners very well, and given them all + the regales they can think of, he to whom the prisoner belongs, invites a + great assembly of his friends. They being come, he ties a rope to one of + the arms of the prisoner, of which, at a distance, out of his reach, he + holds the one end himself, and gives to the friend he loves best the other + arm to hold after the same manner; which being. done, they two, in the + presence of all the assembly, despatch him with their swords. After that, + they roast him, eat him amongst them, and send some chops to their absent + friends. They do not do this, as some think, for nourishment, as the + Scythians anciently did, but as a representation of an extreme revenge; as + will appear by this: that having observed the Portuguese, who were in + league with their enemies, to inflict another sort of death upon any of + them they took prisoners, which was to set them up to the girdle in the + earth, to shoot at the remaining part till it was stuck full of arrows, + and then to hang them, they thought those people of the other world (as + being men who had sown the knowledge of a great many vices amongst their + neighbours, and who were much greater masters in all sorts of mischief + than they) did not exercise this sort of revenge without a meaning, and + that it must needs be more painful than theirs, they began to leave their + old way, and to follow this. I am not sorry that we should here take + notice of the barbarous horror of so cruel an action, but that, seeing so + clearly into their faults, we should be so blind to our own. I conceive + there is more barbarity in eating a man alive, than when he is dead; in + tearing a body limb from limb by racks and torments, that is yet in + perfect sense; in roasting it by degrees; in causing it to be bitten and + worried by dogs and swine (as we have not only read, but lately seen, not + amongst inveterate and mortal enemies, but among neighbours and + fellow-citizens, and, which is worse, under colour of piety and religion), + than to roast and eat him after he is dead. + </p> + <p> + Chrysippus and Zeno, the two heads of the Stoic sect, were of opinion that + there was no hurt in making use of our dead carcasses, in what way soever + for our necessity, and in feeding upon them too;—[Diogenes Laertius, + vii. 188.]—as our own ancestors, who being besieged by Caesar in the + city Alexia, resolved to sustain the famine of the siege with the bodies + of their old men, women, and other persons who were incapable of bearing + arms. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vascones, ut fama est, alimentis talibus usi + Produxere animas.” + + [“‘Tis said the Gascons with such meats appeased their hunger.” + —Juvenal, Sat., xv. 93.] +</pre> + <p> + And the physicians make no bones of employing it to all sorts of use, + either to apply it outwardly; or to give it inwardly for the health of the + patient. But there never was any opinion so irregular, as to excuse + treachery, disloyalty, tyranny, and cruelty, which are our familiar vices. + We may then call these people barbarous, in respect to the rules of + reason: but not in respect to ourselves, who in all sorts of barbarity + exceed them. Their wars are throughout noble and generous, and carry as + much excuse and fair pretence, as that human malady is capable of; having + with them no other foundation than the sole jealousy of valour. Their + disputes are not for the conquest of new lands, for these they already + possess are so fruitful by nature, as to supply them without labour or + concern, with all things necessary, in such abundance that they have no + need to enlarge their borders. And they are, moreover, happy in this, that + they only covet so much as their natural necessities require: all beyond + that is superfluous to them: men of the same age call one another + generally brothers, those who are younger, children; and the old men are + fathers to all. These leave to their heirs in common the full possession + of goods, without any manner of division, or other title than what nature + bestows upon her creatures, in bringing them into the world. If their + neighbours pass over the mountains to assault them, and obtain a victory, + all the victors gain by it is glory only, and the advantage of having + proved themselves the better in valour and virtue: for they never meddle + with the goods of the conquered, but presently return into their own + country, where they have no want of anything necessary, nor of this + greatest of all goods, to know happily how to enjoy their condition and to + be content. And those in turn do the same; they demand of their prisoners + no other ransom, than acknowledgment that they are overcome: but there is + not one found in an age, who will not rather choose to die than make such + a confession, or either by word or look recede from the entire grandeur of + an invincible courage. There is not a man amongst them who had not rather + be killed and eaten, than so much as to open his mouth to entreat he may + not. They use them with all liberality and freedom, to the end their lives + may be so much the dearer to them; but frequently entertain them with + menaces of their approaching death, of the torments they are to suffer, of + the preparations making in order to it, of the mangling their limbs, and + of the feast that is to be made, where their carcass is to be the only + dish. All which they do, to no other end, but only to extort some gentle + or submissive word from them, or to frighten them so as to make them run + away, to obtain this advantage that they were terrified, and that their + constancy was shaken; and indeed, if rightly taken, it is in this point + only that a true victory consists: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Victoria nulla est, + Quam quae confessor animo quoque subjugat hostes.” + + [“No victory is complete, which the conquered do not admit to be + so.—“Claudius, De Sexto Consulatu Honorii, v. 248.] +</pre> + <p> + The Hungarians, a very warlike people, never pretend further than to + reduce the enemy to their discretion; for having forced this confession + from them, they let them go without injury or ransom, excepting, at the + most, to make them engage their word never to bear arms against them + again. We have sufficient advantages over our enemies that are borrowed + and not truly our own; it is the quality of a porter, and no effect of + virtue, to have stronger arms and legs; it is a dead and corporeal quality + to set in array; ‘tis a turn of fortune to make our enemy stumble, + or to dazzle him with the light of the sun; ‘tis a trick of science + and art, and that may happen in a mean base fellow, to be a good fencer. + The estimate and value of a man consist in the heart and in the will: + there his true honour lies. Valour is stability, not of legs and arms, but + of the courage and the soul; it does not lie in the goodness of our horse + or our arms but in our own. He that falls obstinate in his courage— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si succiderit, de genu pugnat” + + [“If his legs fail him, he fights on his knees.” + —Seneca, De Providentia, c. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + —he who, for any danger of imminent death, abates nothing of his + assurance; who, dying, yet darts at his enemy a fierce and disdainful + look, is overcome not by us, but by fortune; he is killed, not conquered; + the most valiant are sometimes the most unfortunate. There are defeats + more triumphant than victories. Never could those four sister victories, + the fairest the sun ever be held, of Salamis, Plataea, Mycale, and Sicily, + venture to oppose all their united glories, to the single glory of the + discomfiture of King Leonidas and his men, at the pass of Thermopylae. Who + ever ran with a more glorious desire and greater ambition, to the winning, + than Captain Iscolas to the certain loss of a battle?—[Diodorus + Siculus, xv. 64.]—Who could have found out a more subtle invention + to secure his safety, than he did to assure his destruction? He was set to + defend a certain pass of Peloponnesus against the Arcadians, which, + considering the nature of the place and the inequality of forces, finding + it utterly impossible for him to do, and seeing that all who were + presented to the enemy, must certainly be left upon the place; and on the + other side, reputing it unworthy of his own virtue and magnanimity and of + the Lacedaemonian name to fail in any part of his duty, he chose a mean + betwixt these two extremes after this manner; the youngest and most active + of his men, he preserved for the service and defence of their country, and + sent them back; and with the rest, whose loss would be of less + consideration, he resolved to make good the pass, and with the death of + them, to make the enemy buy their entry as dear as possibly he could; as + it fell out, for being presently environed on all sides by the Arcadians, + after having made a great slaughter of the enemy, he and his were all cut + in pieces. Is there any trophy dedicated to the conquerors which was not + much more due to these who were overcome? The part that true conquering is + to play, lies in the encounter, not in the coming off; and the honour of + valour consists in fighting, not in subduing. + </p> + <p> + But to return to my story: these prisoners are so far from discovering the + least weakness, for all the terrors that can be represented to them, that, + on the contrary, during the two or three months they are kept, they always + appear with a cheerful countenance; importune their masters to make haste + to bring them to the test, defy, rail at them, and reproach them with + cowardice, and the number of battles they have lost against those of their + country. I have a song made by one of these prisoners, wherein he bids + them “come all, and dine upon him, and welcome, for they shall + withal eat their own fathers and grandfathers, whose flesh has served to + feed and nourish him. These muscles,” says he, “this flesh and + these veins, are your own: poor silly souls as you are, you little think + that the substance of your ancestors’ limbs is here yet; notice what + you eat, and you will find in it the taste of your own flesh:” in + which song there is to be observed an invention that nothing relishes of + the barbarian. Those that paint these people dying after this manner, + represent the prisoner spitting in the faces of his executioners and + making wry mouths at them. And ‘tis most certain, that to the very + last gasp, they never cease to brave and defy them both in word and + gesture. In plain truth, these men are very savage in comparison of us; of + necessity, they must either be absolutely so or else we are savages; for + there is a vast difference betwixt their manners and ours. + </p> + <p> + The men there have several wives, and so much the greater number, by how + much they have the greater reputation for valour. And it is one very + remarkable feature in their marriages, that the same jealousy our wives + have to hinder and divert us from the friendship and familiarity of other + women, those employ to promote their husbands’ desires, and to + procure them many spouses; for being above all things solicitous of their + husbands’ honour, ‘tis their chiefest care to seek out, and to + bring in the most companions they can, forasmuch as it is a testimony of + the husband’s virtue. Most of our ladies will cry out, that ‘tis + monstrous; whereas in truth it is not so, but a truly matrimonial virtue, + and of the highest form. In the Bible, Sarah, with Leah and Rachel, the + two wives of Jacob, gave the most beautiful of their handmaids to their + husbands; Livia preferred the passions of Augustus to her own interest; + —[Suetonius, Life of Augustus, c. 71.]—and the wife of King + Deiotarus, Stratonice, did not only give up a fair young maid that served + her to her husband’s embraces, but moreover carefully brought up the + children he had by her, and assisted them in the succession to their + father’s crown. + </p> + <p> + And that it may not be supposed, that all this is done by a simple and + servile obligation to their common practice, or by any authoritative + impression of their ancient custom, without judgment or reasoning, and + from having a soul so stupid that it cannot contrive what else to do, I + must here give you some touches of their sufficiency in point of + understanding. Besides what I repeated to you before, which was one of + their songs of war, I have another, a love-song, that begins thus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stay, adder, stay, that by thy pattern my sister may draw the + fashion and work of a rich ribbon, that I may present to my beloved, + by which means thy beauty and the excellent order of thy scales + shall for ever be preferred before all other serpents.” + </pre> + <p> + Wherein the first couplet, “Stay, adder,” &c., makes the + burden of the song. Now I have conversed enough with poetry to judge thus + much that not only there is nothing barbarous in this invention, but, + moreover, that it is perfectly Anacreontic. To which it may be added, that + their language is soft, of a pleasing accent, and something bordering upon + the Greek termination. + </p> + <p> + Three of these people, not foreseeing how dear their knowledge of the + corruptions of this part of the world will one day cost their happiness + and repose, and that the effect of this commerce will be their ruin, as I + presuppose it is in a very fair way (miserable men to suffer themselves to + be deluded with desire of novelty and to have left the serenity of their + own heaven to come so far to gaze at ours!), were at Rouen at the time + that the late King Charles IX. was there. The king himself talked to them + a good while, and they were made to see our fashions, our pomp, and the + form of a great city. After which, some one asked their opinion, and would + know of them, what of all the things they had seen, they found most to be + admired? To which they made answer, three things, of which I have + forgotten the third, and am troubled at it, but two I yet remember. They + said, that in the first place they thought it very strange that so many + tall men, wearing beards, strong, and well armed, who were about the king + (‘tis like they meant the Swiss of the guard), should submit to obey + a child, and that they did not rather choose out one amongst themselves to + command. Secondly (they have a way of speaking in their language to call + men the half of one another), that they had observed that there were + amongst us men full and crammed with all manner of commodities, whilst, in + the meantime, their halves were begging at their doors, lean and + half-starved with hunger and poverty; and they thought it strange that + these necessitous halves were able to suffer so great an inequality and + injustice, and that they did not take the others by the throats, or set + fire to their houses. + </p> + <p> + I talked to one of them a great while together, but I had so ill an + interpreter, and one who was so perplexed by his own ignorance to + apprehend my meaning, that I could get nothing out of him of any moment: + Asking him what advantage he reaped from the superiority he had amongst + his own people (for he was a captain, and our mariners called him king), + he told me, to march at the head of them to war. Demanding of him further + how many men he had to follow him, he showed me a space of ground, to + signify as many as could march in such a compass, which might be four or + five thousand men; and putting the question to him whether or no his + authority expired with the war, he told me this remained: that when he + went to visit the villages of his dependence, they planed him paths + through the thick of their woods, by which he might pass at his ease. All + this does not sound very ill, and the last was not at all amiss, for they + wear no breeches. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXI——THAT A MAN IS SOBERLY TO JUDGE OF THE DIVINE + ORDINANCES + </h2> + <p> + The true field and subject of imposture are things unknown, forasmuch as, + in the first place, their very strangeness lends them credit, and + moreover, by not being subjected to our ordinary reasons, they deprive us + of the means to question and dispute them: For which reason, says Plato, + —[In Critias.]—it is much more easy to satisfy the hearers, + when speaking of the nature of the gods than of the nature of men, because + the ignorance of the auditory affords a fair and large career and all + manner of liberty in the handling of abstruse things. Thence it comes to + pass, that nothing is so firmly believed, as what we least know; nor any + people so confident, as those who entertain us with fables, such as your + alchemists, judicial astrologers, fortune-tellers, and physicians, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Id genus omne.” + + [“All that sort of people.”—Horace, Sat., i. 2, 2.] +</pre> + <p> + To which I would willingly, if I durst, join a pack of people that take + upon them to interpret and control the designs of God Himself, pretending + to find out the cause of every accident, and to pry into the secrets of + the divine will, there to discover the incomprehensible motive, of His + works; and although the variety, and the continual discordance of events, + throw them from corner to corner, and toss them from east to west, yet do + they still persist in their vain inquisition, and with the same pencil to + paint black and white. + </p> + <p> + In a nation of the Indies, there is this commendable custom, that when + anything befalls them amiss in any encounter or battle, they publicly ask + pardon of the sun, who is their god, as having committed an unjust action, + always imputing their good or evil fortune to the divine justice, and to + that submitting their own judgment and reason. ‘Tis enough for a + Christian to believe that all things come from God, to receive them with + acknowledgment of His divine and inscrutable wisdom, and also thankfully + to accept and receive them, with what face soever they may present + themselves. But I do not approve of what I see in use, that is, to seek to + affirm and support our religion by the prosperity of our enterprises. Our + belief has other foundation enough, without going about to authorise it by + events: for the people being accustomed to such plausible arguments as + these and so proper to their taste, it is to be feared, lest when they + fail of success they should also stagger in their faith: as in the war + wherein we are now engaged upon the account of religion, those who had the + better in the business of Rochelabeille,—[May 1569.]—making + great brags of that success as an infallible approbation of their cause, + when they came afterwards to excuse their misfortunes of Moncontour and + Jarnac, by saying they were fatherly scourges and corrections that they + had not a people wholly at their mercy, they make it manifestly enough + appear, what it is to take two sorts of grist out of the same sack, and + with the same mouth to blow hot and cold. It were better to possess the + vulgar with the solid and real foundations of truth. ‘Twas a fine + naval battle that was gained under the command of Don John of Austria a + few months since—[That of Lepanto, October 7, 1571.]—against + the Turks; but it has also pleased God at other times to let us see as + great victories at our own expense. In fine, ‘tis a hard matter to + reduce divine things to our balance, without waste and losing a great deal + of the weight. And who would take upon him to give a reason that Arius and + his Pope Leo, the principal heads of the Arian heresy, should die, at + several times, of so like and strange deaths (for being withdrawn from the + disputation by a griping in the bowels, they both of them suddenly gave up + the ghost upon the stool), and would aggravate this divine vengeance by + the circumstances of the place, might as well add the death of + Heliogabalus, who was also slain in a house of office. And, indeed, + Irenaeus was involved in the same fortune. God, being pleased to show us, + that the good have something else to hope for and the wicked something + else to fear, than the fortunes or misfortunes of this world, manages and + applies these according to His own occult will and pleasure, and deprives + us of the means foolishly to make thereof our own profit. And those people + abuse themselves who will pretend to dive into these mysteries by the + strength of human reason. They never give one hit that they do not receive + two for it; of which St. Augustine makes out a great proof upon his + adversaries. ‘Tis a conflict that is more decided by strength of + memory than by the force of reason. We are to content ourselves with the + light it pleases the sun to communicate to us, by virtue of his rays; and + who will lift up his eyes to take in a greater, let him not think it + strange, if for the reward of his presumption, he there lose his sight. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis hominum potest scire consilium Dei? + Aut quis poterit cogitare quid velit Dominus?” + + [“Who of men can know the counsel of God? or who can think what the + will of the Lord is.”—Book of Wisdom, ix. 13.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXII——THAT WE ARE TO AVOID PLEASURES, EVEN AT THE + EXPENSE OF LIFE + </h2> + <p> + I had long ago observed most of the opinions of the ancients to concur in + this, that it is high time to die when there is more ill than good in + living, and that to preserve life to our own torment and inconvenience is + contrary to the very rules of nature, as these old laws instruct us. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Either tranquil life, or happy death. It is well to die when life + is wearisome. It is better to die than to live miserable.” + —Stobaeus, Serm. xx.] +</pre> + <p> + But to push this contempt of death so far as to employ it to the removing + our thoughts from the honours, riches, dignities, and other favours and + goods, as we call them, of fortune, as if reason were not sufficient to + persuade us to avoid them, without adding this new injunction, I had never + seen it either commanded or practised, till this passage of Seneca fell + into my hands; who advising Lucilius, a man of great power and authority + about the emperor, to alter his voluptuous and magnificent way of living, + and to retire himself from this worldly vanity and ambition, to some + solitary, quiet, and philosophical life, and the other alleging some + difficulties: “I am of opinion,” says he, “either that + thou leave that life of thine, or life itself; I would, indeed, advise + thee to the gentle way, and to untie, rather than to break, the knot thou + hast indiscreetly knit, provided, that if it be not otherwise to be + untied, thou resolutely break it. There is no man so great a coward, that + had not rather once fall than to be always falling.” I should have + found this counsel conformable enough to the Stoical roughness: but it + appears the more strange, for being borrowed from Epicurus, who writes the + same thing upon the like occasion to Idomeneus. And I think I have + observed something like it, but with Christian moderation, amongst our own + people. + </p> + <p> + St. Hilary, Bishop of Poictiers, that famous enemy of the Arian heresy, + being in Syria, had intelligence thither sent him, that Abra, his only + daughter, whom he left at home under the eye and tuition of her mother, + was sought in marriage by the greatest noblemen of the country, as being a + virgin virtuously brought up, fair, rich, and in the flower of her age; + whereupon he wrote to her (as appears upon record), that she should remove + her affection from all the pleasures and advantages proposed to her; for + that he had in his travels found out a much greater and more worthy + fortune for her, a husband of much greater power and magnificence, who + would present her with robes and jewels of inestimable value; wherein his + design was to dispossess her of the appetite and use of worldly delights, + to join her wholly to God; but the nearest and most certain way to this, + being, as he conceived, the death of his daughter; he never ceased, by + vows, prayers, and orisons, to beg of the Almighty, that He would please + to call her out of this world, and to take her to Himself; as accordingly + it came to pass; for soon after his return, she died, at which he + expressed a singular joy. This seems to outdo the other, forasmuch as he + applies himself to this means at the outset, which they only take + subsidiarily; and, besides, it was towards his only daughter. But I will + not omit the latter end of this story, though it be for my purpose; St. + Hilary’s wife, having understood from him how the death of their + daughter was brought about by his desire and design, and how much happier + she was to be removed out of this world than to have stayed in it, + conceived so vivid an apprehension of the eternal and heavenly beatitude, + that she begged of her husband, with the extremest importunity, to do as + much for her; and God, at their joint request, shortly after calling her + to Him, it was a death embraced with singular and mutual content. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIII——THAT FORTUNE IS OFTEN-TIMES OBSERVED TO ACT BY + THE RULE OF REASON + </h2> + <h3> + The inconstancy and various motions of Fortune + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The term Fortune, so often employed by Montaigne, and in passages + where he might have used Providence, was censured by the doctors who + examined his Essays when he was at Rome in 1581. See his Travels, + i. 35 and 76.] +</pre> + <p> + may reasonably make us expect she should present us with all sorts of + faces. Can there be a more express act of justice than this? The Duc de + Valentinois,—[Caesar Borgia.]—having resolved to poison + Adrian, Cardinal of Corneto, with whom Pope Alexander VI., his father and + himself, were to sup in the Vatican, he sent before a bottle of poisoned + wine, and withal, strict order to the butler to keep it very safe. The + Pope being come before his son, and calling for drink, the butler + supposing this wine had not been so strictly recommended to his care, but + only upon the account of its excellency, presented it forthwith to the + Pope, and the duke himself coming in presently after, and being confident + they had not meddled with his bottle, took also his cup; so that the + father died immediately upon the spot—[Other historians assign the + Pope several days of misery prior to death. D.W.]—, and the son, + after having been long tormented with sickness, was reserved to another + and a worse fortune. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes she seems to play upon us, just in the nick of an affair; + Monsieur d’Estrees, at that time ensign to Monsieur de Vendome, and + Monsieur de Licques, lieutenant in the company of the Duc d’Ascot, + being both pretenders to the Sieur de Fougueselles’ sister, though + of several parties (as it oft falls out amongst frontier neighbours), the + Sieur de Licques carried her; but on the same day he was married, and + which was worse, before he went to bed to his wife, the bridegroom having + a mind to break a lance in honour of his new bride, went out to skirmish + near St. Omer, where the Sieur d’Estrees proving the stronger, took + him prisoner, and the more to illustrate his victory, the lady was fain— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Conjugis ante coacta novi dimittere collum, + Quam veniens una atque altera rursus hyems + Noctibus in longis avidum saturasset amorem,” + + [“Compelled to abstain from embracing her new spouse in her arms + before two winters pass in succession, during their long nights had + satiated her eager love.”—Catullus, lxviii. 81.] +</pre> + <p> + —to request him of courtesy, to deliver up his prisoner to her, as + he accordingly did, the gentlemen of France never denying anything to + ladies. + </p> + <p> + Does she not seem to be an artist here? Constantine, son of Helena, + founded the empire of Constantinople, and so many ages after, Constantine, + the son of Helen, put an end to it. Sometimes she is pleased to emulate + our miracles we are told, that King Clovis besieging Angouleme, the walls + fell down of themselves by divine favour and Bouchet has it from some + author, that King Robert having sat down before a city, and being stolen + away from the siege to go keep the feast of St. Aignan at Orleans, as he + was in devotion at a certain part of the Mass, the walls of the + beleaguered city, without any manner of violence, fell down with a sudden + ruin. But she did quite contrary in our Milan wars; for, le Capitaine + Rense laying siege for us to the city Arona, and having carried a mine + under a great part of the wall, the mine being sprung, the wall was lifted + from its base, but dropped down again nevertheless, whole and entire, and + so exactly upon its foundation, that the besieged suffered no + inconvenience by that attempt. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes she plays the physician. Jason of Pheres being given over by the + physicians, by reason of an imposthume in his breast, having a mind to rid + himself of his pain, by death at least, threw himself in a battle + desperately into the thickest of the enemy, where he was so fortunately + wounded quite through the body, that the imposthume broke, and he was + perfectly cured. Did she not also excel the painter Protogenes in his art? + who having finished the picture of a dog quite tired and out of breath, in + all the other parts excellently well to his own liking, but not being able + to express, as he would, the slaver and foam that should come out of its + mouth, vexed and angry at his work, he took his sponge, which by cleaning + his pencils had imbibed several sorts of colours, and threw it in a rage + against the picture, with an intent utterly to deface it; when fortune + guiding the sponge to hit just upon the mouth of the dog, it there + performed what all his art was not able to do. Does she not sometimes + direct our counsels and correct them? Isabel, Queen of England, having to + sail from Zealand into her own kingdom,—[in 1326]— with an + army, in favour of her son against her husband, had been lost, had she + come into the port she intended, being there laid wait for by the enemy; + but fortune, against her will, threw her into another haven, where she + landed in safety. And that man of old who, throwing a stone at a dog, hit + and killed his mother-in-law, had he not reason to pronounce this verse: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Fortune has more judgement than we.”—Menander] +</pre> + <p> + Icetes had contracted with two soldiers to kill Timoleon at Adrana in + Sicily.—[Plutarch, Life of Timoleon, c. 7.]—They took their + time to do it when he was assisting at a sacrifice, and thrusting into the + crowd, as they were making signs to one another, that now was a fit time + to do their business, in steps a third, who, with a sword takes one of + them full drive over the pate, lays him dead upon the place and runs away, + which the others see, and concluding himself discovered and lost, runs to + the altar and begs for mercy, promising to discover the whole truth, which + as he was doing, and laying open the full conspiracy, behold the third + man, who being apprehended, was, as a murderer, thrust and hauled by the + people through the press, towards Timoleon, and the other most eminent + persons of the assembly, before whom being brought, he cries out for + pardon, pleading that he had justly slain his father’s murderer; + which he, also, proving upon the spot, by sufficient witnesses, whom his + good fortune very opportunely supplied him withal, that his father was + really killed in the city of Leontini, by that very man on whom he had + taken his revenge, he was presently awarded ten Attic minae, for having + had the good fortune, by designing to revenge the death of his father, to + preserve the life of the common father of Sicily. Fortune, truly, in her + conduct surpasses all the rules of human prudence. + </p> + <p> + But to conclude: is there not a direct application of her favour, bounty, + and piety manifestly discovered in this action? Ignatius the father and + Ignatius the son being proscribed by the triumvirs of Rome, resolved upon + this generous act of mutual kindness, to fall by the hands of one another, + and by that means to frustrate and defeat the cruelty of the tyrants; and + accordingly with their swords drawn, ran full drive upon one another, + where fortune so guided the points, that they made two equally mortal + wounds, affording withal so much honour to so brave a friendship, as to + leave them just strength enough to draw out their bloody swords, that they + might have liberty to embrace one another in this dying condition, with so + close and hearty an embrace, that the executioner cut off both their heads + at once, leaving the bodies still fast linked together in this noble bond, + and their wounds joined mouth to mouth, affectionately sucking in the last + blood and remainder of the lives of each other. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0034" id="link2HCH0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIV——OF ONE DEFECT IN OUR GOVERNMENT + </h2> + <p> + My late father, a man that had no other advantages than experience and his + own natural parts, was nevertheless of a very clear judgment, formerly + told me that he once had thoughts of endeavouring to introduce this + practice; that there might be in every city a certain place assigned to + which such as stood in need of anything might repair, and have their + business entered by an officer appointed for that purpose. As for example: + I want a chapman to buy my pearls; I want one that has pearls to sell; + such a one wants company to go to Paris; such a one seeks a servant of + such a quality; such a one a master; such a one such an artificer; some + inquiring for one thing, some for another, every one according to what he + wants. And doubtless, these mutual advertisements would be of no + contemptible advantage to the public correspondence and intelligence: for + there are evermore conditions that hunt after one another, and for want of + knowing one another’s occasions leave men in very great necessity. + </p> + <p> + I have heard, to the great shame of the age we live in, that in our very + sight two most excellent men for learning died so poor that they had + scarce bread to put in their mouths: Lilius Gregorius Giraldus in Italy + and Sebastianus Castalio in Germany: and I believe there are a thousand + men would have invited them into their families, with very advantageous + conditions, or have relieved them where they were, had they known their + wants. The world is not so generally corrupted, but that I know a man that + would heartily wish the estate his ancestors have left him might be + employed, so long as it shall please fortune to give him leave to enjoy + it, to secure rare and remarkable persons of any kind, whom misfortune + sometimes persecutes to the last degree, from the dangers of necessity; + and at least place them in such a condition that they must be very hard to + please, if they are not contented. + </p> + <p> + My father in his domestic economy had this rule (which I know how to + commend, but by no means to imitate), namely, that besides the day-book or + memorial of household affairs, where the small accounts, payments, and + disbursements, which do not require a secretary’s hand, were + entered, and which a steward always had in custody, he ordered him whom he + employed to write for him, to keep a journal, and in it to set down all + the remarkable occurrences, and daily memorials of the history of his + house: very pleasant to look over, when time begins to wear things out of + memory, and very useful sometimes to put us out of doubt when such a thing + was begun, when ended; what visitors came, and when they went; our + travels, absences, marriages, and deaths; the reception of good or ill + news; the change of principal servants, and the like. An ancient custom, + which I think it would not be amiss for every one to revive in his own + house; and I find I did very foolishly in neglecting it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0035" id="link2HCH0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXV——OF THE CUSTOM OF WEARING CLOTHES + </h2> + <p> + Whatever I shall say upon this subject, I am of necessity to invade some + of the bounds of custom, so careful has she been to shut up all the + avenues. I was disputing with myself in this shivering season, whether the + fashion of going naked in those nations lately discovered is imposed upon + them by the hot temperature of the air, as we say of the Indians and + Moors, or whether it be the original fashion of mankind. Men of + understanding, forasmuch as all things under the sun, as the Holy Writ + declares, are subject to the same laws, were wont in such considerations + as these, where we are to distinguish the natural laws from those which + have been imposed by man’s invention, to have recourse to the + general polity of the world, where there can be nothing counterfeit. Now, + all other creatures being sufficiently furnished with all things necessary + for the support of their being—[Montaigne’s expression is, + “with needle and thread.”—W.C.H.]—it is not to be + imagined that we only are brought into the world in a defective and + indigent condition, and in such a state as cannot subsist without external + aid. Therefore it is that I believe, that as plants, trees, and animals, + and all things that have life, are seen to be by nature sufficiently + clothed and covered, to defend them from the injuries of weather: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Proptereaque fere res omnes ant corio sunt, + Aut seta, ant conchis, ant callo, ant cortice tectae,” + + [“And that for this reason nearly all things are clothed with skin, + or hair, or shells, or bark, or some such thing.” + —Lucretius, iv. 936.] +</pre> + <p> + so were we: but as those who by artificial light put out that of day, so + we by borrowed forms and fashions have destroyed our own. And ‘tis + plain enough to be seen, that ‘tis custom only which renders that + impossible that otherwise is nothing so; for of those nations who have no + manner of knowledge of clothing, some are situated under the same + temperature that we are, and some in much colder climates. And besides, + our most tender parts are always exposed to the air, as the eyes, mouth, + nose, and ears; and our country labourers, like our ancestors in former + times, go with their breasts and bellies open. Had we been born with a + necessity upon us of wearing petticoats and breeches, there is no doubt + but nature would have fortified those parts she intended should be exposed + to the fury of the seasons with a thicker skin, as she has done the + finger-ends and the soles of the feet. And why should this seem hard to + believe? I observe much greater distance betwixt my habit and that of one + of our country boors, than betwixt his and that of a man who has no other + covering but his skin. How many men, especially in Turkey, go naked upon + the account of devotion? Some one asked a beggar, whom he saw in his shirt + in the depth of winter, as brisk and frolic as he who goes muffled up to + the ears in furs, how he was able to endure to go so? “Why, sir,” + he answered, “you go with your face bare: I am all face.” The + Italians have a story of the Duke of Florence’s fool, whom his + master asking how, being so thinly clad, he was able to support the cold, + when he himself, warmly wrapped up as he was, was hardly able to do it? + “Why,” replied the fool, “use my receipt to put on all + your clothes you have at once, and you’ll feel no more cold than I.” + King Massinissa, to an extreme old age, could never be prevailed upon to + go with his head covered, how cold, stormy, or rainy soever the weather + might be; which also is reported of the Emperor Severus. Herodotus tells + us, that in the battles fought betwixt the Egyptians and the Persians, it + was observed both by himself and by others, that of those who were left + dead upon the field, the heads of the Egyptians were without comparison + harder than those of the Persians, by reason that the last had gone with + their heads always covered from their infancy, first with biggins, and + then with turbans, and the others always shaved and bare. King Agesilaus + continued to a decrepit age to wear always the same clothes in winter that + he did in summer. Caesar, says Suetonius, marched always at the head of + his army, for the most part on foot, with his head bare, whether it was + rain or sunshine, and as much is said of Hannibal: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tum vertice nudo, + Excipere insanos imbres, coelique ruinam.” + + [“Bareheaded he marched in snow, exposed to pouring rain and the + utmost rigour of the weather.”—Silius Italicus, i. 250.] +</pre> + <p> + A Venetian who has long lived in Pegu, and has lately returned thence, + writes that the men and women of that kingdom, though they cover all their + other parts, go always barefoot and ride so too; and Plato very earnestly + advises for the health of the whole body, to give the head and the feet no + other clothing than what nature has bestowed. He whom the Poles have + elected for their king,—[Stephen Bathory]—since ours came + thence, who is, indeed, one of the greatest princes of this age, never + wears any gloves, and in winter or whatever weather can come, never wears + other cap abroad than that he wears at home. Whereas I cannot endure to go + unbuttoned or untied; my neighbouring labourers would think themselves in + chains, if they were so braced. Varro is of opinion, that when it was + ordained we should be bare in the presence of the gods and before the + magistrate, it was so ordered rather upon the score of health, and to + inure us to the injuries of weather, than upon the account of reverence; + and since we are now talking of cold, and Frenchmen used to wear variety + of colours (not I myself, for I seldom wear other than black or white, in + imitation of my father), let us add another story out of Le Capitaine + Martin du Bellay, who affirms, that in the march to Luxembourg he saw so + great frost, that the munition-wine was cut with hatchets and wedges, and + delivered out to the soldiers by weight, and that they carried it away in + baskets: and Ovid, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nudaque consistunt, formam servantia testae, + Vina; nec hausta meri, sed data frusta, bibunt.” + + [“The wine when out of the cask retains the form of the cask; + and is given out not in cups, but in bits.” + —Ovid, Trist., iii. 10, 23.] +</pre> + <p> + At the mouth of Lake Maeotis the frosts are so very sharp, that in the + very same place where Mithridates’ lieutenant had fought the enemy + dryfoot and given them a notable defeat, the summer following he obtained + over them a naval victory. The Romans fought at a very great disadvantage, + in the engagement they had with the Carthaginians near Piacenza, by reason + that they went to the charge with their blood congealed and their limbs + numbed with cold, whereas Hannibal had caused great fires to be dispersed + quite through his camp to warm his soldiers, and oil to be distributed + amongst them, to the end that anointing themselves, they might render + their nerves more supple and active, and fortify the pores against the + violence of the air and freezing wind, which raged in that season. + </p> + <p> + The retreat the Greeks made from Babylon into their own country is famous + for the difficulties and calamities they had to overcome; of which this + was one, that being encountered in the mountains of Armenia with a + horrible storm of snow, they lost all knowledge of the country and of the + ways, and being driven up, were a day and a night without eating or + drinking; most of their cattle died, many of themselves were starved to + death, several struck blind with the force of the hail and the glare of + the snow, many of them maimed in their fingers and toes, and many stiff + and motionless with the extremity of the cold, who had yet their + understanding entire. + </p> + <p> + Alexander saw a nation, where they bury their fruit-trees in winter to + protect them from being destroyed by the frost, and we also may see the + same. + </p> + <p> + But, so far as clothes go, the King of Mexico changed four times a day his + apparel, and never put it on again, employing that he left off in his + continual liberalities and rewards; and neither pot, dish, nor other + utensil of his kitchen or table was ever served twice. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0036" id="link2HCH0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVI——OF CATO THE YOUNGER + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“I am not possessed with this common errour, to judge of others + according to what I am my selfe. I am easie to beleeve things + differing from my selfe. Though I be engaged to one forme, I do not + tie the world unto it, as every man doth. And I beleeve and + conceive a thousand manners of life, contrary to the common sorte.” + —Florio, ed. 1613, p. 113.] +</pre> + <p> + I am not guilty of the common error of judging another by myself. I easily + believe that in another’s humour which is contrary to my own; and + though I find myself engaged to one certain form, I do not oblige others + to it, as many do; but believe and apprehend a thousand ways of living; + and, contrary to most men, more easily admit of difference than uniformity + amongst us. I as frankly as any one would have me, discharge a man from my + humours and principles, and consider him according to his own particular + model. Though I am not continent myself, I nevertheless sincerely approve + the continence of the Feuillans and Capuchins, and highly commend their + way of living. I insinuate myself by imagination into their place, and + love and honour them the more for being other than I am. I very much + desire that we may be judged every man by himself, and would not be drawn + into the consequence of common examples. My own weakness nothing alters + the esteem I ought to have for the force and vigour of those who deserve + it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sunt qui nihil suadent, quam quod se imitari posse confidunt.” + + [“There are who persuade nothing but what they believe they can + imitate themselves.”—Cicero, De Orator., c. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + Crawling upon the slime of the earth, I do not for all that cease to + observe up in the clouds the inimitable height of some heroic souls. + ‘Tis a great deal for me to have my judgment regular and just, if + the effects cannot be so, and to maintain this sovereign part, at least, + free from corruption; ‘tis something to have my will right and good + where my legs fail me. This age wherein we live, in our part of the world + at least, is grown so stupid, that not only the exercise, but the very + imagination of virtue is defective, and seems to be no other but college + jargon: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Virtutem verba putant, ut + Lucum ligna:” + + [“They think words virtue, as they think mere wood a sacred grove.” + —Horace, Ep., i. 6, 31.] + + “Quam vereri deberent, etiam si percipere non possent.” + + [“Which they ought to reverence, though they cannot comprehend.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quas., v. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis a gewgaw to hang in a cabinet or at the end of the tongue, as + on the tip of the ear, for ornament only. There are no longer virtuous + actions extant; those actions that carry a show of virtue have yet nothing + of its essence; by reason that profit, glory, fear, custom, and other + suchlike foreign causes, put us on the way to produce them. Our justice + also, valour, courtesy, may be called so too, in respect to others and + according to the face they appear with to the public; but in the doer it + can by no means be virtue, because there is another end proposed, another + moving cause. Now virtue owns nothing to be hers, but what is done by + herself and for herself alone. + </p> + <p> + In that great battle of Plataea, that the Greeks under the command of + Pausanias gained against Mardonius and the Persians, the conquerors, + according to their custom, coming to divide amongst them the glory of the + exploit, attributed to the Spartan nation the pre-eminence of valour in + the engagement. The Spartans, great judges of virtue, when they came to + determine to what particular man of their nation the honour was due of + having the best behaved himself upon this occasion, found that Aristodemus + had of all others hazarded his person with the greatest bravery; but did + not, however, allow him any prize, by reason that his virtue had been + incited by a desire to clear his reputation from the reproach of his + miscarriage at the business of Thermopylae, and to die bravely to wipe off + that former blemish. + </p> + <p> + Our judgments are yet sick, and obey the humour of our depraved manners. I + observe most of the wits of these times pretend to ingenuity, by + endeavouring to blemish and darken the glory of the bravest and most + generous actions of former ages, putting one vile interpretation or + another upon them, and forging and supposing vain causes and motives for + the noble things they did: a mighty subtlety indeed! Give me the greatest + and most unblemished action that ever the day beheld, and I will contrive + a hundred plausible drifts and ends to obscure it. God knows, whoever will + stretch them out to the full, what diversity of images our internal wills + suffer under. They do not so maliciously play the censurers, as they do it + ignorantly and rudely in all their detractions. + </p> + <p> + The same pains and licence that others take to blemish and bespatter these + illustrious names, I would willingly undergo to lend them a shoulder to + raise them higher. These rare forms, that are culled out by the consent of + the wisest men of all ages, for the world’s example, I should not + stick to augment in honour, as far as my invention would permit, in all + the circumstances of favourable interpretation; and we may well believe + that the force of our invention is infinitely short of their merit. + ‘Tis the duty of good men to portray virtue as beautiful as they + can, and there would be nothing wrong should our passion a little + transport us in favour of so sacred a form. What these people do, on the + contrary, they either do out of malice, or by the vice of confining their + belief to their own capacity; or, which I am more inclined to think, for + not having their sight strong, clear, and elevated enough to conceive the + splendour of virtue in her native purity: as Plutarch complains, that in + his time some attributed the cause of the younger Cato’s death to + his fear of Caesar, at which he seems very angry, and with good reason; + and by this a man may guess how much more he would have been offended with + those who have attributed it to ambition. Senseless people! He would + rather have performed a noble, just, and generous action, and to have had + ignominy for his reward, than for glory. That man was in truth a pattern + that nature chose out to show to what height human virtue and constancy + could arrive. + </p> + <p> + But I am not capable of handling so rich an argument, and shall therefore + only set five Latin poets together, contending in the praise of Cato; and, + incidentally, for their own too. Now, a well-educated child will judge the + two first, in comparison of the others, a little flat and languid; the + third more vigorous, but overthrown by the extravagance of his own force; + he will then think that there will be room for one or two gradations of + invention to come to the fourth, and, mounting to the pitch of that, he + will lift up his hands in admiration; coming to the last, the first by + some space’ (but a space that he will swear is not to be filled up + by any human wit), he will be astounded, he will not know where he is. + </p> + <p> + And here is a wonder: we have far more poets than judges and interpreters + of poetry; it is easier to write it than to understand it. There is, + indeed, a certain low and moderate sort of poetry, that a man may well + enough judge by certain rules of art; but the true, supreme, and divine + poesy is above all rules and reason. And whoever discerns the beauty of it + with the most assured and most steady sight, sees no more than the quick + reflection of a flash of lightning: it does not exercise, but ravishes and + overwhelms our judgment. The fury that possesses him who is able to + penetrate into it wounds yet a third man by hearing him repeat it; like a + loadstone that not only attracts the needle, but also infuses into it the + virtue to attract others. And it is more evidently manifest in our + theatres, that the sacred inspiration of the Muses, having first stirred + up the poet to anger, sorrow, hatred, and out of himself, to whatever they + will, does moreover by the poet possess the actor, and by the actor + consecutively all the spectators. So much do our passions hang and depend + upon one another. + </p> + <p> + Poetry has ever had that power over me from a child to transpierce and + transport me; but this vivid sentiment that is natural to me has been + variously handled by variety of forms, not so much higher or lower (for + they were ever the highest of every kind), as differing in colour. First, + a gay and sprightly fluency; afterwards, a lofty and penetrating subtlety; + and lastly, a mature and constant vigour. Their names will better express + them: Ovid, Lucan, Virgil. + </p> + <p> + But our poets are beginning their career: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sit Cato, dum vivit, sane vel Caesare major,” + + [“Let Cato, whilst he live, be greater than Caesar.” + —Martial, vi. 32] +</pre> + <p> + says one. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et invictum, devicta morte, Catonem,” + + [“And Cato invincible, death being overcome.” + —Manilius, Astron., iv. 87.] +</pre> + <p> + says the second. And the third, speaking of the civil wars betwixt Caesar + and Pompey, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Victrix causa diis placuit, set victa Catoni.” + + [“The victorious cause blessed the gods, the defeated one Cato. + —“Lucan, i. 128.] +</pre> + <p> + And the fourth, upon the praises of Caesar: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et cuncta terrarum subacta, + Praeter atrocem animum Catonis.” + + [“And conquered all but the indomitable mind of Cato.” + —Horace, Od., ii. 1, 23.] +</pre> + <p> + And the master of the choir, after having set forth all the great names of + the greatest Romans, ends thus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “His dantem jura Catonem.” + + [“Cato giving laws to all the rest.”—AEneid, viii. 670.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0037" id="link2HCH0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVII——THAT WE LAUGH AND CRY FOR THE SAME THING + </h2> + <p> + When we read in history that Antigonus was very much displeased with his + son for presenting him the head of King Pyrrhus his enemy, but newly slain + fighting against him, and that seeing it, he wept; and that Rene, Duke of + Lorraine, also lamented the death of Charles, Duke of Burgundy, whom he + had himself defeated, and appeared in mourning at his funeral; and that in + the battle of D’Auray (which Count Montfort obtained over Charles de + Blois, his competitor for the duchy of Brittany), the conqueror meeting + the dead body of his enemy, was very much afflicted at his death, we must + not presently cry out: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “E cosi avven, the l’animo ciascuna + Sua passion sotto ‘l contrario manto, + Ricopre, con la vista or’chiara, or’bruna.” + + [“And thus it happens that the mind of each veils its passion under + a different appearance, and beneath a smiling visage, gay beneath a + sombre air.”—Petrarch.] +</pre> + <p> + When Pompey’s head was presented to Caesar, the histories tell us + that he turned away his face, as from a sad and unpleasing object. There + had been so long an intelligence and society betwixt them in the + management of the public affairs, so great a community of fortunes, so + many mutual offices, and so near an alliance, that this countenance of his + ought not to suffer under any misinterpretation, or to be suspected for + either false or counterfeit, as this other seems to believe: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tutumque putavit + Jam bonus esse socer; lacrymae non sponte cadentes, + Effudit, gemitusque expressit pectore laeto;” + + [“And now he thought it safe to play the kind father-in-law, + shedding forced tears, and from a joyful breast discharging sighs + and groans.”—Lucan, ix. 1037.] +</pre> + <p> + for though it be true that the greatest part of our actions are no other + than visor and disguise, and that it may sometimes be true that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haeredis fletus sub persona rises est,” + + [“The heir’s tears behind the mask are smiles.” + —Publius Syrus, apud Gellium, xvii. 14.] +</pre> + <p> + yet, in judging of these accidents, we are to consider how much our souls + are oftentimes agitated with divers passions. And as they say that in our + bodies there is a congregation of divers humours, of which that is the + sovereign which, according to the complexion we are of, is commonly most + predominant in us: so, though the soul have in it divers motions to give + it agitation, yet must there of necessity be one to overrule all the rest, + though not with so necessary and absolute a dominion but that through the + flexibility and inconstancy of the soul, those of less authority may upon + occasion reassume their place and make a little sally in turn. Thence it + is, that we see not only children, who innocently obey and follow nature, + often laugh and cry at the same thing, but not one of us can boast, what + journey soever he may have in hand that he has the most set his heart + upon, but when he comes to part with his family and friends, he will find + something that troubles him within; and though he refrain his tears yet he + puts foot in the stirrup with a sad and cloudy countenance. And what + gentle flame soever may warm the heart of modest and wellborn virgins, yet + are they fain to be forced from about their mothers’ necks to be put + to bed to their husbands, whatever this boon companion is pleased to say: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Estne novis nuptis odio Venus? anne parentum + Frustrantur falsis gaudia lachrymulis, + Ubertim thalami quasi intra limina fundunt? + Non, ita me divi, vera gemunt, juverint.” + + [“Is Venus really so alarming to the new-made bride, or does she + honestly oppose her parent’s rejoicing the tears she so abundantly + sheds on entering the nuptial chamber? No, by the Gods, these are + no true tears.”—Catullus, lxvi. 15.] + + [“Is Venus really so repugnant to newly-married maids? Do they meet + the smiles of parents with feigned tears? They weep copiously + within the very threshold of the nuptial chamber. No, so the gods + help me, they do not truly grieve.”—Catullus, lxvi. 15.]— + [A more literal translation. D.W.] +</pre> + <p> + Neither is it strange to lament a person dead whom a man would by no means + should be alive. When I rattle my man, I do it with all the mettle I have, + and load him with no feigned, but downright real curses; but the heat + being over, if he should stand in need of me, I should be very ready to do + him good: for I instantly turn the leaf. When I call him calf and coxcomb, + I do not pretend to entail those titles upon him for ever; neither do I + think I give myself the lie in calling him an honest fellow presently + after. No one quality engrosses us purely and universally. Were it not the + sign of a fool to talk to one’s self, there would hardly be a day or + hour wherein I might not be heard to grumble and mutter to myself and + against myself, “Confound the fool!” and yet I do not think + that to be my definition. Who for seeing me one while cold and presently + very fond towards my wife, believes the one or the other to be + counterfeited, is an ass. Nero, taking leave of his mother whom he was + sending to be drowned, was nevertheless sensible of some emotion at this + farewell, and was struck with horror and pity. ‘Tis said, that the + light of the sun is not one continuous thing, but that he darts new rays + so thick one upon another that we cannot perceive the intermission: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Largus enim liquidi fons luminis, aetherius sol, + Irrigat assidue coelum candore recenti, + Suppeditatque novo confestim lumine lumen.” + + [“So the wide fountain of liquid light, the ethereal sun, steadily + fertilises the heavens with new heat, and supplies a continuous + store of fresh light.”—Lucretius, v. 282.] +</pre> + <p> + Just so the soul variously and imperceptibly darts out her passions. + </p> + <p> + Artabanus coming by surprise once upon his nephew Xerxes, chid him for the + sudden alteration of his countenance. He was considering the immeasurable + greatness of his forces passing over the Hellespont for the Grecian + expedition: he was first seized with a palpitation of joy, to see so many + millions of men under his command, and this appeared in the gaiety of his + looks: but his thoughts at the same instant suggesting to him that of so + many lives, within a century at most, there would not be one left, he + presently knit his brows and grew sad, even to tears. + </p> + <p> + We have resolutely pursued the revenge of an injury received, and been + sensible of a singular contentment for the victory; but we shall weep + notwithstanding. ‘Tis not for the victory, though, that we shall + weep: there is nothing altered in that but the soul looks upon things with + another eye and represents them to itself with another kind of face; for + everything has many faces and several aspects. + </p> + <p> + Relations, old acquaintances, and friendships, possess our imaginations + and make them tender for the time, according to their condition; but the + turn is so quick, that ‘tis gone in a moment: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nil adeo fieri celeri ratione videtur, + Quam si mens fieri proponit, et inchoat ipsa, + Ocius ergo animus, quam res se perciet ulla, + Ante oculos quorum in promptu natura videtur;” + + [“Nothing therefore seems to be done in so swift a manner than if + the mind proposes it to be done, and itself begins. It is more + active than anything which we see in nature.”—Lucretius, iii. 183.] +</pre> + <p> + and therefore, if we would make one continued thing of all this succession + of passions, we deceive ourselves. When Timoleon laments the murder he had + committed upon so mature and generous deliberation, he does not lament the + liberty restored to his country, he does not lament the tyrant; but he + laments his brother: one part of his duty is performed; let us give him + leave to perform the other. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0038" id="link2HCH0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVIII——OF SOLITUDE + </h2> + <p> + Let us pretermit that long comparison betwixt the active and the solitary + life; and as for the fine sayings with which ambition and avarice palliate + their vices, that we are not born for ourselves but for the public,—[This + is the eulogium passed by Lucan on Cato of Utica, ii. 383.]—let us + boldly appeal to those who are in public affairs; let them lay their hands + upon their hearts, and then say whether, on the contrary, they do not + rather aspire to titles and offices and that tumult of the world to make + their private advantage at the public expense. The corrupt ways by which + in this our time they arrive at the height to which their ambitions + aspire, manifestly enough declares that their ends cannot be very good. + Let us tell ambition that it is she herself who gives us a taste of + solitude; for what does she so much avoid as society? What does she so + much seek as elbowroom? A man many do well or ill everywhere; but if what + Bias says be true, that the greatest part is the worse part, or what the + Preacher says: there is not one good of a thousand: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rari quippe boni: numero vix sunt totidem quot + Thebarum portae, vel divitis ostia Nili,” + + [“Good men forsooth are scarce: there are hardly as many as there + are gates of Thebes or mouths of the rich Nile.” + —Juvenal, Sat., xiii. 26.] +</pre> + <p> + the contagion is very dangerous in the crowd. A man must either imitate + the vicious or hate them both are dangerous things, either to resemble + them because they are many or to hate many because they are unresembling + to ourselves. Merchants who go to sea are in the right when they are + cautious that those who embark with them in the same bottom be neither + dissolute blasphemers nor vicious other ways, looking upon such society as + unfortunate. And therefore it was that Bias pleasantly said to some, who + being with him in a dangerous storm implored the assistance of the gods: + “Peace, speak softly,” said he, “that they may not know + you are here in my company.”—[Diogenes Laertius]—And of + more pressing example, Albuquerque, viceroy in the Indies for Emmanuel, + king of Portugal, in an extreme peril of shipwreck, took a young boy upon + his shoulders, for this only end that, in the society of their common + danger his innocence might serve to protect him, and to recommend him to + the divine favour, that they might get safe to shore. ‘Tis not that + a wise man may not live everywhere content, and be alone in the very crowd + of a palace; but if it be left to his own choice, the schoolman will tell + you that he should fly the very sight of the crowd: he will endure it if + need be; but if it be referred to him, he will choose to be alone. He + cannot think himself sufficiently rid of vice, if he must yet contend with + it in other men. Charondas punished those as evil men who were convicted + of keeping ill company. There is nothing so unsociable and sociable as + man, the one by his vice, the other by his nature. And Antisthenes, in my + opinion, did not give him a satisfactory answer, who reproached him with + frequenting ill company, by saying that the physicians lived well enough + amongst the sick, for if they contribute to the health of the sick, no + doubt but by the contagion, continual sight of, and familiarity with + diseases, they must of necessity impair their own. + </p> + <p> + Now the end, I take it, is all one, to live at more leisure and at one’s + ease: but men do not always take the right way. They often think they have + totally taken leave of all business, when they have only exchanged one + employment for another: there is little less trouble in governing a + private family than a whole kingdom. Wherever the mind is perplexed, it is + in an entire disorder, and domestic employments are not less troublesome + for being less important. Moreover, for having shaken off the court and + the exchange, we have not taken leave of the principal vexations of life: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ratio et prudentia curas, + Non locus effusi late maris arbiter, aufert;” + + [“Reason and prudence, not a place with a commanding view of the + great ocean, banish care.”—Horace, Ep., i. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + ambition, avarice, irresolution, fear, and inordinate desires, do not + leave us because we forsake our native country: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et + Post equitem sedet atra cura;” + + [“Black care sits behind the horse man.” + —Horace, Od., iii. 1, 40]. +</pre> + <p> + they often follow us even to cloisters and philosophical schools; nor + deserts, nor caves, hair-shirts, nor fasts, can disengage us from them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haeret lateri lethalis arundo.” + + [“The fatal shaft adheres to the side.”—AEneid, iv. 73.] +</pre> + <p> + One telling Socrates that such a one was nothing improved by his travels: + “I very well believe it,” said he, “for he took himself + along with him” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quid terras alio calentes + Sole mutamus? patriae quis exsul + Se quoque fugit?” + + [“Why do we seek climates warmed by another sun? Who is the man + that by fleeing from his country, can also flee from himself?” + —Horace, Od., ii. 16, 18.] +</pre> + <p> + If a man do not first discharge both himself and his mind of the burden + with which he finds himself oppressed, motion will but make it press the + harder and sit the heavier, as the lading of a ship is of less encumbrance + when fast and bestowed in a settled posture. You do a sick man more harm + than good in removing him from place to place; you fix and establish the + disease by motion, as stakes sink deeper and more firmly into the earth by + being moved up and down in the place where they are designed to stand. + Therefore, it is not enough to get remote from the public; ‘tis not + enough to shift the soil only; a man must flee from the popular conditions + that have taken possession of his soul, he must sequester and come again + to himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rupi jam vincula, dicas + Nam luctata canis nodum arripit; attamen illi, + Quum fugit, a collo trahitur pars longa catenae.” + + [“You say, perhaps, you have broken your chains: the dog who after + long efforts has broken his chain, still in his flight drags a heavy + portion of it after him.”—Persius, Sat., v. 158.] +</pre> + <p> + We still carry our fetters along with us. ‘Tis not an absolute + liberty; we yet cast back a look upon what we have left behind us; the + fancy is still full of it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nisi purgatum est pectus, quae praelia nobis + Atque pericula tunc ingratis insinuandum? + Quantae connscindunt hominem cupedinis acres + Sollicitum curae? quantique perinde timores? + Quidve superbia, spurcitia, ac petulantia, quantas + Efficiunt clades? quid luxus desidiesque?” + + [“But unless the mind is purified, what internal combats and dangers + must we incur in spite of all our efforts! How many bitter + anxieties, how many terrors, follow upon unregulated passion! + What destruction befalls us from pride, lust, petulant anger! + What evils arise from luxury and sloth!”—Lucretius, v. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + Our disease lies in the mind, which cannot escape from itself; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In culpa est animus, qui se non effugit unquam,” + —Horace, Ep., i. 14, 13. +</pre> + <p> + and therefore is to be called home and confined within itself: that is the + true solitude, and that may be enjoyed even in populous cities and the + courts of kings, though more commodiously apart. + </p> + <p> + Now, since we will attempt to live alone, and to waive all manner of + conversation amongst them, let us so order it that our content may depend + wholly upon ourselves; let us dissolve all obligations that ally us to + others; let us obtain this from ourselves, that we may live alone in good + earnest, and live at our ease too. + </p> + <p> + Stilpo having escaped from the burning of his town, where he lost wife, + children, and goods, Demetrius Poliorcetes seeing him, in so great a ruin + of his country, appear with an undisturbed countenance, asked him if he + had received no loss? To which he made answer, No; and that, thank God, + nothing was lost of his.—[Seneca, Ep. 7.]—This also was the + meaning of the philosopher Antisthenes, when he pleasantly said, that + “men should furnish themselves with such things as would float, and + might with the owner escape the storm”;—[Diogenes Laertius, + vi. 6.] and certainly a wise man never loses anything if he have himself. + When the city of Nola was ruined by the barbarians, Paulinus, who was + bishop of that place, having there lost all he had, himself a prisoner, + prayed after this manner: “O Lord, defend me from being sensible of + this loss; for Thou knowest they have yet touched nothing of that which is + mine.”—[St. Augustin, De Civit. Dei, i. 10.]—The riches + that made him rich and the goods that made him good, were still kept + entire. This it is to make choice of treasures that can secure themselves + from plunder and violence, and to hide them in such a place into which no + one can enter and that is not to be betrayed by any but ourselves. Wives, + children, and goods must be had, and especially health, by him that can + get it; but we are not so to set our hearts upon them that our happiness + must have its dependence upon them; we must reserve a backshop, wholly our + own and entirely free, wherein to settle our true liberty, our principal + solitude and retreat. And in this we must for the most part entertain + ourselves with ourselves, and so privately that no exotic knowledge or + communication be admitted there; there to laugh and to talk, as if without + wife, children, goods, train, or attendance, to the end that when it shall + so fall out that we must lose any or all of these, it may be no new thing + to be without them. We have a mind pliable in itself, that will be + company; that has wherewithal to attack and to defend, to receive and to + give: let us not then fear in this solitude to languish under an + uncomfortable vacuity. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In solis sis tibi turba locis.” + + [“In solitude, be company for thyself.”—Tibullus, vi. 13. 12.] +</pre> + <p> + Virtue is satisfied with herself, without discipline, without words, + without effects. In our ordinary actions there is not one of a thousand + that concerns ourselves. He that thou seest scrambling up the ruins of + that wall, furious and transported, against whom so many harquebuss-shots + are levelled; and that other all over scars, pale, and fainting with + hunger, and yet resolved rather to die than to open the gates to him; dost + thou think that these men are there upon their own account? No; + peradventure in the behalf of one whom they never saw and who never + concerns himself for their pains and danger, but lies wallowing the while + in sloth and pleasure: this other slavering, blear-eyed, slovenly fellow, + that thou seest come out of his study after midnight, dost thou think he + has been tumbling over books to learn how to become a better man, wiser, + and more content? No such matter; he will there end his days, but he will + teach posterity the measure of Plautus’ verses and the true + orthography of a Latin word. Who is it that does not voluntarily exchange + his health, his repose, and his very life for reputation and glory, the + most useless, frivolous, and false coin that passes current amongst us? + Our own death does not sufficiently terrify and trouble us; let us, + moreover, charge ourselves with those of our wives, children, and family: + our own affairs do not afford us anxiety enough; let us undertake those of + our neighbours and friends, still more to break our brains and torment us: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vah! quemquamne hominem in animum instituere, aut + Parare, quod sit carius, quam ipse est sibi?” + + [“Ah! can any man conceive in his mind or realise what is dearer + than he is to himself?”—Terence, Adelph., i. I, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + Solitude seems to me to wear the best favour in such as have already + employed their most active and flourishing age in the world’s + service, after the example of Thales. We have lived enough for others; let + us at least live out the small remnant of life for ourselves; let us now + call in our thoughts and intentions to ourselves, and to our own ease and + repose. ‘Tis no light thing to make a sure retreat; it will be + enough for us to do without mixing other enterprises. Since God gives us + leisure to order our removal, let us make ready, truss our baggage, take + leave betimes of the company, and disentangle ourselves from those violent + importunities that engage us elsewhere and separate us from ourselves. + </p> + <p> + We must break the knot of our obligations, how strong soever, and + hereafter love this or that, but espouse nothing but ourselves: that is to + say, let the remainder be our own, but not so joined and so close as not + to be forced away without flaying us or tearing out part of our whole. The + greatest thing in the world is for a man to know that he is his own. + ‘Tis time to wean ourselves from society when we can no longer add + anything to it; he who is not in a condition to lend must forbid himself + to borrow. Our forces begin to fail us; let us call them in and + concentrate them in and for ourselves. He that can cast off within himself + and resolve the offices of friendship and company, let him do it. In this + decay of nature which renders him useless, burdensome, and importunate to + others, let him take care not to be useless, burdensome, and importunate + to himself. Let him soothe and caress himself, and above all things be + sure to govern himself with reverence to his reason and conscience to that + degree as to be ashamed to make a false step in their presence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rarum est enim, ut satis se quisque vereatur.” + + [“For ‘tis rarely seen that men have respect and reverence enough + for themselves.”—Quintilian, x. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + Socrates says that boys are to cause themselves to be instructed, men to + exercise themselves in well-doing, and old men to retire from all civil + and military employments, living at their own discretion, without the + obligation to any office. There are some complexions more proper for these + precepts of retirement than others. Such as are of a soft and dull + apprehension, and of a tender will and affection, not readily to be + subdued or employed, whereof I am one, both by natural condition and by + reflection, will sooner incline to this advice than active and busy souls, + which embrace: all, engage in all, are hot upon everything, which offer, + present, and give themselves up to every occasion. We are to use these + accidental and extraneous commodities, so far as they are pleasant to us, + but by no means to lay our principal foundation there; ‘tis no true + one; neither nature nor reason allows it so to be. Why therefore should + we, contrary to their laws, enslave our own contentment to the power of + another? To anticipate also the accidents of fortune, to deprive ourselves + of the conveniences we have in our own power, as several have done upon + the account of devotion, and some philosophers by reasoning; to be one’s + own servant, to lie hard, to put out our own eyes, to throw our wealth + into the river, to go in search of grief; these, by the misery of this + life, aiming at bliss in another; those by laying themselves low to avoid + the danger of falling: all such are acts of an excessive virtue. The + stoutest and most resolute natures render even their seclusion glorious + and exemplary: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tuta et parvula laudo, + Quum res deficiunt, satis inter vilia fortis + Verum, ubi quid melius contingit et unctius, idem + Hos sapere et solos aio bene vivere, quorum + Conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia villis.” + + [“When means are deficient, I laud a safe and humble condition, + content with little: but when things grow better and more easy, I + all the same say that you alone are wise and live well, whose + invested money is visible in beautiful villas.” + —Horace, Ep., i. 15, 42.] +</pre> + <p> + A great deal less would serve my turn well enough. ‘Tis enough for + me, under fortune’s favour, to prepare myself for her disgrace, and, + being at my ease, to represent to myself, as far as my imagination can + stretch, the ill to come; as we do at jousts and tiltings, where we + counterfeit war in the greatest calm of peace. I do not think Arcesilaus + the philosopher the less temperate and virtuous for knowing that he made + use of gold and silver vessels, when the condition of his fortune allowed + him so to do; I have indeed a better opinion of him than if he had denied + himself what he used with liberality and moderation. I see the utmost + limits of natural necessity: and considering a poor man begging at my + door, ofttimes more jocund and more healthy than I myself am, I put myself + into his place, and attempt to dress my mind after his mode; and running, + in like manner, over other examples, though I fancy death, poverty, + contempt, and sickness treading on my heels, I easily resolve not to be + affrighted, forasmuch as a less than I takes them with so much patience; + and am not willing to believe that a less understanding can do more than a + greater, or that the effects of precept cannot arrive to as great a height + as those of custom. And knowing of how uncertain duration these accidental + conveniences are, I never forget, in the height of all my enjoyments, to + make it my chiefest prayer to Almighty God, that He will please to render + me content with myself and the condition wherein I am. I see young men + very gay and frolic, who nevertheless keep a mass of pills in their trunk + at home, to take when they’ve got a cold, which they fear so much + the less, because they think they have remedy at hand. Every one should do + in like manner, and, moreover, if they find themselves subject to some + more violent disease, should furnish themselves with such medicines as may + numb and stupefy the part. + </p> + <p> + The employment a man should choose for such a life ought neither to be a + laborious nor an unpleasing one; otherwise ‘tis to no purpose at all + to be retired. And this depends upon every one’s liking and humour. + Mine has no manner of complacency for husbandry, and such as love it ought + to apply themselves to it with moderation: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Endeavour to make circumstances subject to me, + and not me subject to circumstances.” + —Horace, Ep., i. i, 19.] +</pre> + <p> + Husbandry is otherwise a very servile employment, as Sallust calls it; + though some parts of it are more excusable than the rest, as the care of + gardens, which Xenophon attributes to Cyrus; and a mean may be found out + betwixt the sordid and low application, so full of perpetual solicitude, + which is seen in men who make it their entire business and study, and the + stupid and extreme negligence, letting all things go at random which we + see in others + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Democriti pecus edit agellos + Cultaque, dum peregre est animus sine corpore velox.” + + [“Democritus’ cattle eat his corn and spoil his fields, whilst his + soaring mind ranges abroad without the body.” + —Horace, Ep., i, 12, 12.] +</pre> + <p> + But let us hear what advice the younger Pliny gives his friend Caninius + Rufus upon the subject of solitude: “I advise thee, in the full and + plentiful retirement wherein thou art, to leave to thy hinds the care of + thy husbandry, and to addict thyself to the study of letters, to extract + from thence something that may be entirely and absolutely thine own.” + By which he means reputation; like Cicero, who says that he would employ + his solitude and retirement from public affairs to acquire by his writings + an immortal life. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Usque adeone + Scire tuum, nihil est, nisi to scire hoc, sciat alter?” + + [“Is all that thy learning nothing, unless another knows + that thou knowest?”—Persius, Sat., i. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + It appears to be reason, when a man talks of retiring from the world, that + he should look quite out of [for] himself. These do it but by halves: they + design well enough for themselves when they shall be no more in it; but + still they pretend to extract the fruits of that design from the world, + when absent from it, by a ridiculous contradiction. + </p> + <p> + The imagination of those who seek solitude upon the account of devotion, + filling their hopes and courage with certainty of divine promises in the + other life, is much more rationally founded. They propose to themselves + God, an infinite object in goodness and power; the soul has there + wherewithal, at full liberty, to satiate her desires: afflictions and + sufferings turn to their advantage, being undergone for the acquisition of + eternal health and joy; death is to be wished and longed for, where it is + the passage to so perfect a condition; the asperity of the rules they + impose upon themselves is immediately softened by custom, and all their + carnal appetites baffled and subdued, by refusing to humour and feed them, + these being only supported by use and exercise. This sole end of another + happily immortal life is that which really merits that we should abandon + the pleasures and conveniences of this; and he who can really and + constantly inflame his soul with the ardour of this vivid faith and hope, + erects for himself in solitude a more voluptuous and delicious life than + any other sort of existence. + </p> + <p> + Neither the end, then, nor the means of this advice pleases me, for we + often fall out of the frying-pan into the fire.—[or: we always + relapse ill from fever into fever.]—This book-employment is as + painful as any other, and as great an enemy to health, which ought to be + the first thing considered; neither ought a man to be allured with the + pleasure of it, which is the same that destroys the frugal, the + avaricious, the voluptuous, and the ambitious man. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“This plodding occupation of bookes is as painfull as any other, + and as great an enemie vnto health, which ought principally to be + considered. And a man should not suffer him selfe to be inveagled + by the pleasure he takes in them.”—Florio, edit. 1613, p. 122.] +</pre> + <p> + The sages give us caution enough to beware the treachery of our desires, + and to distinguish true and entire pleasures from such as are mixed and + complicated with greater pain. For the most of our pleasures, say they, + wheedle and caress only to strangle us, like those thieves the Egyptians + called Philistae; if the headache should come before drunkenness, we + should have a care of drinking too much; but pleasure, to deceive us, + marches before and conceals her train. Books are pleasant, but if, by + being over-studious, we impair our health and spoil our goodhumour, the + best pieces we have, let us give it over; I, for my part, am one of those + who think, that no fruit derived from them can recompense so great a loss. + As men who have long felt themselves weakened by indisposition, give + themselves up at last to the mercy of medicine and submit to certain rules + of living, which they are for the future never to transgress; so he who + retires, weary of and disgusted with the common way of living, ought to + model this new one he enters into by the rules of reason, and to institute + and establish it by premeditation and reflection. He ought to have taken + leave of all sorts of labour, what advantage soever it may promise, and + generally to have shaken off all those passions which disturb the + tranquillity of body and soul, and then choose the way that best suits + with his own humour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Unusquisque sua noverit ire via.” + </pre> + <p> + In husbandry, study, hunting, and all other exercises, men are to proceed + to the utmost limits of pleasure, but must take heed of engaging further, + where trouble begins to mix with it. We are to reserve so much employment + only as is necessary to keep us in breath and to defend us from the + inconveniences that the other extreme of a dull and stupid laziness brings + along with it. There are sterile knotty sciences, chiefly hammered out for + the crowd; let such be left to them who are engaged in the world’s + service. I for my part care for no other books, but either such as are + pleasant and easy, to amuse me, or those that comfort and instruct me how + to regulate my life and death: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tacitum sylvas inter reptare salubres, + Curantem, quidquid dignum sapienti bonoque est.” + + [“Silently meditating in the healthy groves, whatever is worthy + of a wise and good man.”—Horace, Ep., i. 4, 4.] +</pre> + <p> + Wiser men, having great force and vigour of soul, may propose to + themselves a rest wholly spiritual but for me, who have a very ordinary + soul, it is very necessary to support myself with bodily conveniences; and + age having of late deprived me of those pleasures that were more + acceptable to me, I instruct and whet my appetite to those that remain, + more suitable to this other reason. We ought to hold with all our force, + both of hands and teeth, the use of the pleasures of life that our years, + one after another, snatch away from us: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Carpamus dulcia; nostrum est, + Quod vivis; cinis, et manes, et fabula fies.” + + [“Let us pluck life’s sweets, ‘tis for them we live: by and by we + shall be ashes, a ghost, a mere subject of talk.” + —Persius, Sat., v. 151.] +</pre> + <p> + Now, as to the end that Pliny and Cicero propose to us of glory, ‘tis + infinitely wide of my account. Ambition is of all others the most contrary + humour to solitude; glory and repose are things that cannot possibly + inhabit in one and the same place. For so much as I understand, these have + only their arms and legs disengaged from the crowd; their soul and + intention remain confined behind more than ever: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tun’, vetule, auriculis alienis colligis escas?” + + [“Dost thou, then, old man, collect food for others’ ears?” + —Persius, Sat., i. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + they have only retired to take a better leap, and by a stronger motion to + give a brisker charge into the crowd. Will you see how they shoot short? + Let us put into the counterpoise the advice of two philosophers, of two + very different sects, writing, the one to Idomeneus, the other to + Lucilius, their friends, to retire into solitude from worldly honours and + affairs. “You have,” say they, “hitherto lived swimming + and floating; come now and die in the harbour: you have given the first + part of your life to the light, give what remains to the shade. It is + impossible to give over business, if you do not also quit the fruit; + therefore disengage yourselves from all concern of name and glory; ‘tis + to be feared the lustre of your former actions will give you but too much + light, and follow you into your most private retreat. Quit with other + pleasures that which proceeds from the approbation of another man: and as + to your knowledge and parts, never concern yourselves; they will not lose + their effect if yourselves be the better for them. Remember him, who being + asked why he took so much pains in an art that could come to the knowledge + of but few persons? ‘A few are enough for me,’ replied he; + ‘I have enough with one; I have enough with never an one.’—[Seneca, + Ep., 7.]—He said true; you and a companion are theatre enough to one + another, or you to yourself. Let the people be to you one, and be you one + to the whole people. ‘Tis an unworthy ambition to think to derive + glory from a man’s sloth and privacy: you are to do like the beasts + of chase, who efface the track at the entrance into their den. You are no + more to concern yourself how the world talks of you, but how you are to + talk to yourself. Retire yourself into yourself, but first prepare + yourself there to receive yourself: it were a folly to trust yourself in + your own hands, if you cannot govern yourself. A man may miscarry alone as + well as in company. Till you have rendered yourself one before whom you + dare not trip, and till you have a bashfulness and respect for yourself, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Obversentur species honestae animo;” + + [“Let honest things be ever present to the mind” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + present continually to your imagination Cato, Phocion, and Aristides, in + whose presence the fools themselves will hide their faults, and make them + controllers of all your intentions; should these deviate from virtue, your + respect to those will set you right; they will keep you in this way to be + contented with yourself; to borrow nothing of any other but yourself; to + stay and fix your soul in certain and limited thoughts, wherein she may + please herself, and having understood the true and real goods, which men + the more enjoy the more they understand, to rest satisfied, without desire + of prolongation of life or name.” This is the precept of the true + and natural philosophy, not of a boasting and prating philosophy, such as + that of the two former. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0039" id="link2HCH0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIX——A CONSIDERATION UPON CICERO + </h2> + <p> + One word more by way of comparison betwixt these two. There are to be + gathered out of the writings of Cicero and the younger Pliny (but little, + in my opinion, resembling his uncle in his humours) infinite testimonies + of a beyond measure ambitious nature; and amongst others, this for one, + that they both, in the sight of all the world, solicit the historians of + their time not to forget them in their memoirs; and fortune, as if in + spite, has made the vanity of those requests live upon record down to this + age of ours, while she has long since consigned the histories themselves + to oblivion. But this exceeds all meanness of spirit in persons of such a + quality as they were, to think to derive any great renown from babbling + and prating; even to the publishing of their private letters to their + friends, and so withal, that though some of them were never sent, the + opportunity being lost, they nevertheless presented them to the light, + with this worthy excuse that they were unwilling to lose their labours and + lucubrations. Was it not very well becoming two consuls of Rome, sovereign + magistrates of the republic that commanded the world, to spend their + leisure in contriving quaint and elegant missives, thence to gain the + reputation of being versed in their own mother-tongues? What could a + pitiful schoolmaster have done worse, whose trade it was thereby to get + his living? If the acts of Xenophon and Caesar had not far transcended + their eloquence, I scarce believe they would ever have taken the pains to + have written them; they made it their business to recommend not their + speaking, but their doing. And could the perfection of eloquence have + added a lustre suitable to a great personage, certainly Scipio and Laelius + had never resigned the honour of their comedies, with all the luxuriances + and elegances of the Latin tongue, to an African slave; for that the work + was theirs, its beauty and excellence sufficiently declare; Terence + himself confesses as much, and I should take it ill from any one that + would dispossess me of that belief. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis a kind of mockery and offence to extol a man for qualities + misbecoming his condition, though otherwise commendable in themselves, but + such as ought not, however, to be his chief talent; as if a man should + commend a king for being a good painter, a good architect, a good + marksman, or a good runner at the ring: commendations that add no honour, + unless mentioned altogether and in the train of those that are properly + applicable to him, namely, justice and the science of governing and + conducting his people both in peace and war. At this rate, agriculture was + an honour to Cyrus, and eloquence and the knowledge of letters to + Charlemagne. I have in my time known some, who by writing acquired both + their titles and fortune, disown their apprenticeship, corrupt their + style, and affect ignorance in so vulgar a quality (which also our nation + holds to be rarely seen in very learned hands), and to seek a reputation + by better qualities. Demosthenes’ companions in the embassy to + Philip, extolling that prince as handsome, eloquent, and a stout drinker, + Demosthenes said that those were commendations more proper for a woman, an + advocate, or a sponge, than for a king’: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Imperet bellante prior, jacentem + Lenis in hostem.” + + [“In the fight, overthrow your enemy, but be merciful to him when + fallen.—“Horace, Carm. Saec., v. 51.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis not his profession to know either how to hunt or to dance well; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Orabunt causas alii, coelique meatus + Describent radio, et fulgentia sidera dicent; + Hic regere imperio populos sciat.” + + [“Let others plead at the bar, or describe the spheres, and point + out the glittering stars; let this man learn to rule the nations.” + —AEneid, vi. 849.] +</pre> + <p> + Plutarch says, moreover, that to appear so excellent in these less + necessary qualities is to produce witness against a man’s self, that + he has spent his time and applied his study ill, which ought to have been + employed in the acquisition of more necessary and more useful things. So + that Philip, king of Macedon, having heard that great Alexander his son + sing once at a feast to the wonder of the best musicians there: “Art + thou not ashamed,” said he to him, “to sing so well?” + And to the same Philip a musician, with whom he was disputing about some + things concerning his art: “Heaven forbid, sir,” said he, + “that so great a misfortune should ever befall you as to understand + these things better than I.” A king should be able to answer as + Iphicrates did the orator, who pressed upon him in his invective after + this manner: “And what art thou that thou bravest it at this rate? + art thou a man at arms, art thou an archer, art thou a pikeman?”—“I + am none of all this; but I know how to command all these.” And + Antisthenes took it for an argument of little value in Ismenias that he + was commended for playing excellently well upon a flute. + </p> + <p> + I know very well, that when I hear any one dwell upon the language of my + essays, I had rather a great deal he would say nothing: ‘tis not so + much to elevate the style as to depress the sense, and so much the more + offensively as they do it obliquely; and yet I am much deceived if many + other writers deliver more worth noting as to the matter, and, how well or + ill soever, if any other writer has sown things much more materials or at + all events more downright, upon his paper than myself. To bring the more + in, I only muster up the heads; should I annex the sequel, I should trebly + multiply the volume. And how many stories have I scattered up and down in + this book that I only touch upon, which, should any one more curiously + search into, they would find matter enough to produce infinite essays. + Neither those stories nor my quotations always serve simply for example, + authority, or ornament; I do not only regard them for the use I make of + them: they carry sometimes besides what I apply them to, the seed of a + more rich and a bolder matter, and sometimes, collaterally, a more + delicate sound both to myself who will say no more about it in this place, + and to others who shall be of my humour. + </p> + <p> + But returning to the speaking virtue: I find no great choice betwixt not + knowing to speak anything but ill, and not knowing to speak anything but + well. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non est ornamentum virile concimitas.” + + [“A carefully arranged dress is no manly ornament.” + —Seneca, Ep., 115.] +</pre> + <p> + The sages tell us that, as to what concerns knowledge, ‘tis nothing + but philosophy; and as to what concerns effects, nothing but virtue, which + is generally proper to all degrees and to all orders. + </p> + <p> + There is something like this in these two other philosophers, for they + also promise eternity to the letters they write to their friends; but + ‘tis after another manner, and by accommodating themselves, for a + good end, to the vanity of another; for they write to them that if the + concern of making themselves known to future ages, and the thirst of + glory, do yet detain them in the management of public affairs, and make + them fear the solitude and retirement to which they would persuade them, + let them never trouble themselves more about it, forasmuch as they shall + have credit enough with posterity to ensure them that were there nothing + else but the letters thus written to them, those letters will render their + names as known and famous as their own public actions could do. And + besides this difference, these are not idle and empty letters, that + contain nothing but a fine jingle of well-chosen words and delicate + couched phrases, but rather replete and abounding with grand discourses of + reason, by which a man may render himself not more eloquent, but more + wise, and that instruct us not to speak, but to do well. Away with that + eloquence that enchants us with itself, and not with actual things! unless + you will allow that of Cicero to be of so supreme a perfection as to form + a complete body of itself. + </p> + <p> + I shall farther add one story we read of him to this purpose, wherein his + nature will much more manifestly be laid open to us. He was to make an + oration in public, and found himself a little straitened for time to make + himself ready at his ease; when Eros, one of his slaves, brought him word + that the audience was deferred till the next day, at which he was so + ravished with joy that he enfranchised him for the good news. + </p> + <p> + Upon this subject of letters, I will add this more to what has been + already said, that it is a kind of writing wherein my friends think I can + do something; and I am willing to confess I should rather have chosen to + publish my whimsies that way than any other, had I had to whom to write; + but I wanted such a settled intercourse, as I once had, to attract me to + it, to raise my fancy, and to support me. For to traffic with the wind, as + some others have done, and to forge vain names to direct my letters to, in + a serious subject, I could never do it but in a dream, being a sworn enemy + to all manner of falsification. I should have been more diligent and more + confident had I had a judicious and indulgent friend whom to address, than + thus to expose myself to the various judgments of a whole people, and I am + deceived if I had not succeeded better. I have naturally a humorous and + familiar style; but it is a style of my own, not proper for public + business, but, like the language I speak, too compact, irregular, abrupt, + and singular; and as to letters of ceremony that have no other substance + than a fine contexture of courteous words, I am wholly to seek. I have + neither faculty nor relish for those tedious tenders of service and + affection; I believe little in them from others, and I should not forgive + myself should I say to others more than I myself believe. ‘Tis, + doubtless, very remote from the present practice; for there never was so + abject and servile prostitution of offers: life, soul, devotion, + adoration, vassal, slave, and I cannot tell what, as now; all which + expressions are so commonly and so indifferently posted to and fro by + every one and to every one, that when they would profess a greater and + more respectful inclination upon more just occasions, they have not + wherewithal to express it. I mortally hate all air of flattery, which is + the cause that I naturally fall into a shy, rough, and crude way of + speaking, that, to such as do not know me, may seem a little to relish of + disdain. I honour those most to whom I show the least honour, and where my + soul moves with the greatest cheerfulness, I easily forget the ceremonies + of look and gesture, and offer myself faintly and bluntly to them to whom + I am the most devoted: methinks they should read it in my heart, and that + the expression of my words does but injure the love I have conceived + within. To welcome, take leave, give thanks, accost, offer my service, and + such verbal formalities as the ceremonious laws of our modern civility + enjoin, I know no man so stupidly unprovided of language as myself; and I + have never been employed in writing letters of favour and recommendation, + that he, in whose behalf it was written, did not think my mediation cold + and imperfect. The Italians are great printers of letters; I do believe I + have at least an hundred several volumes of them; of all which those of + Annibale Caro seem to me to be the best. If all the paper I have scribbled + to the ladies at the time when my hand was really prompted by my passion, + were now in being, there might, peradventure, be found a page worthy to be + communicated to our young inamoratos, that are besotted with that fury. I + always write my letters post-haste—so precipitately, that though I + write intolerably ill, I rather choose to do it myself, than to employ + another; for I can find none able to follow me: and I never transcribe + any. I have accustomed the great ones who know me to endure my blots and + dashes, and upon paper without fold or margin. Those that cost me the most + pains, are the worst; when I once begin to draw it in by head and + shoulders, ‘tis a sign that I am not there. I fall too without + premeditation or design; the first word begets the second, and so to the + end of the chapter. The letters of this age consist more in fine edges and + prefaces than in matter. Just as I had rather write two letters than close + and fold up one, and always assign that employment to some other, so, when + the real business of my letter is dispatched, I would with all my heart + transfer it to another hand to add those long harangues, offers, and + prayers, that we place at the bottom, and should be glad that some new + custom would discharge us of that trouble; as also of superscribing them + with a long legend of qualities and titles, which for fear of mistakes, I + have often not written at all, and especially to men of the long robe and + finance; there are so many new offices, such a dispensation and ordering + of titles of honour, that ‘tis hard to set them forth aright yet, + being so dearly bought, they are neither to be altered nor forgotten + without offence. I find it equally in bad taste to encumber the fronts and + inscriptions of the books we commit to the press with such. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0040" id="link2HCH0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XL——THAT THE RELISH FOR GOOD AND EVIL DEPENDS IN GREAT + MEASURE UPON THE OPINION WE HAVE OF THEM + </h2> + <p> + Men (says an ancient Greek sentence)—[Manual of Epictetus, c. 10.]— + are tormented with the opinions they have of things and not by the things + themselves. It were a great victory obtained for the relief of our + miserable human condition, could this proposition be established for + certain and true throughout. For if evils have no admission into us but by + the judgment we ourselves make of them, it should seem that it is, then, + in our own power to despise them or to turn them to good. If things + surrender themselves to our mercy, why do we not convert and accommodate + them to our advantage? If what we call evil and torment is neither evil + nor torment of itself, but only that our fancy gives it that quality, it + is in us to change it, and it being in our own choice, if there be no + constraint upon us, we must certainly be very strange fools to take arms + for that side which is most offensive to us, and to give sickness, want, + and contempt a bitter and nauseous taste, if it be in our power to give + them a pleasant relish, and if, fortune simply providing the matter, + ‘tis for us to give it the form. Now, that what we call evil is not + so of itself, or at least to that degree that we make it, and that it + depends upon us to give it another taste and complexion (for all comes to + one), let us examine how that can be maintained. + </p> + <p> + If the original being of those things we fear had power to lodge itself in + us by its own authority, it would then lodge itself alike, and in like + manner, in all; for men are all of the same kind, and saving in greater + and less proportions, are all provided with the same utensils and + instruments to conceive and to judge; but the diversity of opinions we + have of those things clearly evidences that they only enter us by + composition; one person, peradventure, admits them in their true being, + but a thousand others give them a new and contrary being in them. We hold + death, poverty, and pain for our principal enemies; now, this death, which + some repute the most dreadful of all dreadful things, who does not know + that others call it the only secure harbour from the storms and tempests + of life, the sovereign good of nature, the sole support of liberty, and + the common and prompt remedy of all evils? And as the one expect it with + fear and trembling, the others support it with greater ease than life. + That one complains of its facility: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mors! utinam pavidos vitae subducere nolles. + Sed virtus to sola daret!” + + [“O death! wouldst that thou might spare the coward, but that + valour alone should pay thee tribute.”—Lucan, iv. 580.] +</pre> + <p> + Now, let us leave these boastful courages. Theodorus answered Lysimachus, + who threatened to kill him, “Thou wilt do a brave feat,” said + he, “to attain the force of a cantharides.” The majority of + philosophers are observed to have either purposely anticipated, or + hastened and assisted their own death. How many ordinary people do we see + led to execution, and that not to a simple death, but mixed with shame and + sometimes with grievous torments, appear with such assurance, whether + through firm courage or natural simplicity, that a man can discover no + change from their ordinary condition; settling their domestic affairs, + commending themselves to their friends, singing, preaching, and addressing + the people, nay, sometimes sallying into jests, and drinking to their + companions, quite as well as Socrates? + </p> + <p> + One that they were leading to the gallows told them they must not take him + through such a street, lest a merchant who lived there should arrest him + by the way for an old debt. Another told the hangman he must not touch his + neck for fear of making him laugh, he was so ticklish. Another answered + his confessor, who promised him he should that day sup with our Lord, + “Do you go then,” said he, “in my room [place]; for I + for my part keep fast to-day.” Another having called for drink, and + the hangman having drunk first, said he would not drink after him, for + fear of catching some evil disease. Everybody has heard the tale of the + Picard, to whom, being upon the ladder, they presented a common wench, + telling him (as our law does some times permit) that if he would marry her + they would save his life; he, having a while considered her and perceiving + that she halted: “Come, tie up, tie up,” said he, “she + limps.” And they tell another story of the same kind of a fellow in + Denmark, who being condemned to lose his head, and the like condition + being proposed to him upon the scaffold, refused it, by reason the girl + they offered him had hollow cheeks and too sharp a nose. A servant at + Toulouse being accused of heresy, for the sum of his belief referred + himself to that of his master, a young student, prisoner with him, + choosing rather to die than suffer himself to be persuaded that his master + could err. We read that of the inhabitants of Arras, when Louis XI. took + that city, a great many let themselves be hanged rather than they would + say, “God save the King.” And amongst that mean-souled race of + men, the buffoons, there have been some who would not leave their fooling + at the very moment of death. One that the hang man was turning off the + ladder cried: “Launch the galley,” an ordinary saying of his. + Another, whom at the point of death his friends had laid upon a bed of + straw before the fire, the physician asking him where his pain lay: + “Betwixt the bench and the fire,” said he, and the priest, to + give him extreme unction, groping for his feet which his pain had made him + pull up to him: “You will find them,” said he, “at the + end of my legs.” To one who being present exhorted him to recommend + himself to God: “Why, who goes thither?” said he; and the + other replying: “It will presently be yourself, if it be His good + pleasure.” “Shall I be sure to be there by to-morrow night?” + said he. “Do, but recommend yourself to Him,” said the other, + “and you will soon be there.” “I were best then,” + said he, “to carry my recommendations myself.” + </p> + <p> + In the kingdom of Narsingah to this day the wives of their priests are + buried alive with the bodies of their husbands; all other wives are burnt + at their husbands’ funerals, which they not only firmly but + cheerfully undergo. At the death of their king, his wives and concubines, + his favourites, all his officers, and domestic servants, who make up a + whole people, present themselves so gaily to the fire where his body is + burnt, that they seem to take it for a singular honour to accompany their + master in death. During our late wars of Milan, where there happened so + many takings and retakings of towns, the people, impatient of so many + changes of fortune, took such a resolution to die, that I have heard my + father say he there saw a list taken of five-and-twenty masters of + families who made themselves away in one week’s time: an incident + somewhat resembling that of the Xanthians, who being besieged by Brutus, + fell—men, women, and children—into such a furious appetite of + dying, that nothing can be done to evade death which they did not to avoid + life; insomuch that Brutus had much difficulty in saving a very small + number.—[“Only fifty were saved.”—Plutarch, Life + of Brutus, c. 8.] + </p> + <p> + Every opinion is of force enough to cause itself to be espoused at the + expense of life. The first article of that valiant oath that Greece took + and observed in the Median war, was that every one should sooner exchange + life for death, than their own laws for those of Persia. What a world of + people do we see in the wars betwixt the Turks and the Greeks, rather + embrace a cruel death than uncircumcise themselves to admit of baptism? An + example of which no sort of religion is incapable. + </p> + <p> + The kings of Castile having banished the Jews out of their dominions, + John, King of Portugal, in consideration of eight crowns a head, sold them + a retreat into his for a certain limited time, upon condition that the + time fixed coming to expire they should begone, and he to furnish them + with shipping to transport them into Africa. The day comes, which once + lapsed they were given to understand that such as were afterward found in + the kingdom should remain slaves; vessels were very slenderly provided; + and those who embarked in them were rudely and villainously used by the + passengers, who, besides other indignities, kept them cruising upon the + sea, one while forwards and another backwards, till they had spent all + their provisions, and were constrained to buy of them at so dear a rate + and so long withal, that they set them not on shore till they were all + stripped to the very shirts. The news of this inhuman usage being brought + to those who remained behind, the greater part of them resolved upon + slavery and some made a show of changing religion. Emmanuel, the successor + of John, being come to the crown, first set them at liberty, and + afterwards altering his mind, ordered them to depart his country, + assigning three ports for their passage. He hoped, says Bishop Osorius, no + contemptible Latin historian of these later times, that the favour of the + liberty he had given them having failed of converting them to + Christianity, yet the difficulty of committing themselves to the mercy of + the mariners and of abandoning a country they were now habituated to and + were grown very rich in, to go and expose themselves in strange and + unknown regions, would certainly do it. But finding himself deceived in + his expectation, and that they were all resolved upon the voyage, he cut + off two of the three ports he had promised them, to the end that the + length and incommodity of the passage might reduce some, or that he might + have opportunity, by crowding them all into one place, the more + conveniently to execute what he had designed, which was to force all the + children under fourteen years of age from the arms of their fathers and + mothers, to transport them from their sight and conversation, into a place + where they might be instructed and brought up in our religion. He says + that this produced a most horrid spectacle the natural affection betwixt + the parents and their children, and moreover their zeal to their ancient + belief, contending against this violent decree, fathers and mothers were + commonly seen making themselves away, and by a yet much more rigorous + example, precipitating out of love and compassion their young children + into wells and pits, to avoid the severity of this law. As to the + remainder of them, the time that had been prefixed being expired, for want + of means to transport them they again returned into slavery. Some also + turned Christians, upon whose faith, as also that of their posterity, even + to this day, which is a hundred years since, few Portuguese can yet rely; + though custom and length of time are much more powerful counsellors in + such changes than all other constraints whatever. In the town of + Castelnaudari, fifty heretic Albigeois at one time suffered themselves to + be burned alive in one fire rather than they would renounce their + opinions. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quoties non modo ductores nostri, sed universi etiam exercitus, + ad non dubiam mortem concurrerunt?” + + [“How often have not only our leaders, but whole armies, run to a + certain and manifest death.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., i. 37.] +</pre> + <p> + I have seen an intimate friend of mine run headlong upon death with a real + affection, and that was rooted in his heart by divers plausible arguments + which he would never permit me to dispossess him of, and upon the first + honourable occasion that offered itself to him, precipitate himself into + it, without any manner of visible reason, with an obstinate and ardent + desire of dying. We have several examples in our own times of persons, + even young children, who for fear of some little inconvenience have + despatched themselves. And what shall we not fear, says one of the + ancients—[Seneca, Ep., 70.]—to this purpose, if we dread that + which cowardice itself has chosen for its refuge? + </p> + <p> + Should I here produce a long catalogue of those, of all sexes and + conditions and sects, even in the most happy ages, who have either with + great constancy looked death in the face, or voluntarily sought it, and + sought it not only to avoid the evils of this life, but some purely to + avoid the satiety of living, and others for the hope of a better condition + elsewhere, I should never have done. Nay, the number is so infinite that + in truth I should have a better bargain on’t to reckon up those who + have feared it. This one therefore shall serve for all: Pyrrho the + philosopher being one day in a boat in a very great tempest, shewed to + those he saw the most affrighted about him, and encouraged them, by the + example of a hog that was there, nothing at all concerned at the storm. + Shall we then dare to say that this advantage of reason, of which we so + much boast, and upon the account of which we think ourselves masters and + emperors over the rest of all creation, was given us for a torment? To + what end serves the knowledge of things if it renders us more unmanly? if + we thereby lose the tranquillity and repose we should enjoy without it? + and if it put us into a worse condition than Pyrrho’s hog? Shall we + employ the understanding that was conferred upon us for our greatest good + to our own ruin; setting ourselves against the design of nature and the + universal order of things, which intend that every one should make use of + the faculties, members, and means he has to his own best advantage? + </p> + <p> + But it may, peradventure, be objected against me: Your rule is true enough + as to what concerns death; but what will you say of indigence? What will + you, moreover, say of pain, which Aristippus, Hieronimus, and most of the + sages have reputed the worst of evils; and those who have denied it by + word of mouth have, however, confessed it in effect? Posidonius being + extremely tormented with a sharp and painful disease, Pompeius came to + visit him, excusing himself that he had taken so unseasonable a time to + come to hear him discourse of philosophy. “The gods forbid,” + said Posidonius to him, “that pain should ever have the power to + hinder me from talking,” and thereupon fell immediately upon a + discourse of the contempt of pain: but, in the meantime, his own infirmity + was playing his part, and plagued him to purpose; to which he cried out, + “Thou mayest work thy will, pain, and torment me with all the power + thou hast, but thou shalt never make me say that thou art an evil.” + This story that they make such a clutter withal, what has it to do, I fain + would know, with the contempt of pain? He only fights it with words, and + in the meantime, if the shootings and dolours he felt did not move him, + why did he interrupt his discourse? Why did he fancy he did so great a + thing in forbearing to confess it an evil? All does not here consist in + the imagination; our fancies may work upon other things: but here is the + certain science that is playing its part, of which our senses themselves + are judges: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui nisi sunt veri, ratio quoque falsa sit omnis.” + + [“Which, if they be not true, all reasoning may also be false. + —“Lucretius, iv. 486.] +</pre> + <p> + Shall we persuade our skins that the jerks of a whip agreeably tickle us, + or our taste that a potion of aloes is vin de Graves? Pyrrho’s hog + is here in the same predicament with us; he is not afraid of death, + ‘tis true, but if you beat him he will cry out to some purpose. + Shall we force the general law of nature, which in every living creature + under heaven is seen to tremble under pain? The very trees seem to groan + under the blows they receive. Death is only felt by reason, forasmuch as + it is the motion of an instant; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aut fuit, aut veniet; nihil est praesentis in illa.” + + [“Death has been, or will come: there is nothing of the present in + it.”—Estienne de la Boetie, Satires.] + + “Morsque minus poenae, quam mora mortis, habet;” + + [“The delay of death is more painful than death itself.” + —Ovid, Ep. Ariadne to Theseus, v. 42.] +</pre> + <p> + a thousand beasts, a thousand men, are sooner dead than threatened. That + also which we principally pretend to fear in death is pain, its ordinary + forerunner: yet, if we may believe a holy father: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Malam mortem non facit, nisi quod sequitur mortem.” + + [“That which follows death makes death bad.” + —St. Augustin, De Civit. Dei, i. ii.] +</pre> + <p> + And I should yet say, more probably, that neither that which goes before + nor that which follows after is at all of the appurtenances of death. + </p> + <p> + We excuse ourselves falsely: and I find by experience that it is rather + the impatience of the imagination of death that makes us impatient of + pain, and that we find it doubly grievous as it threatens us with death. + But reason accusing our cowardice for fearing a thing so sudden, so + inevitable, and so insensible, we take the other as the more excusable + pretence. All ills that carry no other danger along with them but simply + the evils themselves, we treat as things of no danger: the toothache or + the gout, painful as they are, yet being not reputed mortal, who reckons + them in the catalogue of diseases? + </p> + <p> + But let us presuppose that in death we principally regard the pain; as + also there is nothing to be feared in poverty but the miseries it brings + along with it of thirst, hunger, cold, heat, watching, and the other + inconveniences it makes us suffer, still we have nothing to do with + anything but pain. I will grant, and very willingly, that it is the worst + incident of our being (for I am the man upon earth who the most hates and + avoids it, considering that hitherto, I thank God, I have had so little + traffic with it), but still it is in us, if not to annihilate, at least to + lessen it by patience; and though the body and the reason should mutiny, + to maintain the soul, nevertheless, in good condition. Were it not so, who + had ever given reputation to virtue; valour, force, magnanimity, and + resolution? where were their parts to be played if there were no pain to + be defied? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Avida est periculi virtus.” + + [“Courage is greedy of danger.”—Seneca, De Providentia, c. 4] +</pre> + <p> + Were there no lying upon the hard ground, no enduring, armed at all + points, the meridional heats, no feeding upon the flesh of horses and + asses, no seeing a man’s self hacked and hewed to pieces, no + suffering a bullet to be pulled out from amongst the shattered bones, no + sewing up, cauterising and searching of wounds, by what means were the + advantage we covet to have over the vulgar to be acquired? ‘Tis far + from flying evil and pain, what the sages say, that of actions equally + good, a man should most covet to perform that wherein there is greater + labour and pain. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non est enim hilaritate, nec lascivia, nec risu, aut joco + comite levitatis, sed saepe etiam tristes firmitate et + constantia sunt beati.” + + [“For men are not only happy by mirth and wantonness, by laughter + and jesting, the companion of levity, but ofttimes the serious sort + reap felicity from their firmness and constancy.” + —Cicero, De Finib. ii. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + And for this reason it has ever been impossible to persuade our + forefathers but that the victories obtained by dint of force and the + hazard of war were not more honourable than those performed in great + security by stratagem or practice: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Laetius est, quoties magno sibi constat honestum.” + + [“A good deed is all the more a satisfaction by how much the more + it has cost us”—Lucan, ix. 404.] +</pre> + <p> + Besides, this ought to be our comfort, that naturally, if the pain be + violent, ‘tis but short; and if long, nothing violent: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si gravis, brevis; + Si longus, levis.” + </pre> + <p> + Thou wilt not feel it long if thou feelest it too much; it will either put + an end to itself or to thee; it comes to the same thing; if thou canst not + support it, it will export thee: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Remember that the greatest pains are terminated by death; that + slighter pains have long intermissions of repose, and that we are + masters of the more moderate sort: so that, if they be tolerable, + we bear them; if not, we can go out of life, as from a theatre, when + it does not please us”—Cicero, De Finib. i. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + That which makes us suffer pain with so much impatience is the not being + accustomed to repose our chiefest contentment in the soul; that we do not + enough rely upon her who is the sole and sovereign mistress of our + condition. The body, saving in the greater or less proportion, has but one + and the same bent and bias; whereas the soul is variable into all sorts of + forms; and subject to herself and to her own empire, all things + whatsoever, both the senses of the body and all other accidents: and + therefore it is that we ought to study her, to inquire into her, and to + rouse up all her powerful faculties. There is neither reason, force, nor + prescription that can anything prevail against her inclination and choice. + Of so many thousands of biases that she has at her disposal, let us give + her one proper to our repose and conversation, and then we shall not only + be sheltered and secured from all manner of injury and offence, but + moreover gratified and obliged, if she will, with evils and offences. She + makes her profit indifferently of all things; error, dreams, serve her to + good use, as loyal matter to lodge us in safety and contentment. ‘Tis + plain enough to be seen that ‘tis the sharpness of our mind that + gives the edge to our pains and pleasures: beasts that have no such thing, + leave to their bodies their own free and natural sentiments, and + consequently in every kind very near the same, as appears by the + resembling application of their motions. If we would not disturb in our + members the jurisdiction that appertains to them in this, ‘tis to be + believed it would be the better for us, and that nature has given them a + just and moderate temper both to pleasure and pain; neither can it fail of + being just, being equal and common. But seeing we have enfranchised + ourselves from her rules to give ourselves up to the rambling liberty of + our own fancies, let us at least help to incline them to the most + agreeable side. Plato fears our too vehemently engaging ourselves with + pain and pleasure, forasmuch as these too much knit and ally the soul to + the body; whereas I rather, quite contrary, by reason it too much + separates and disunites them. As an enemy is made more fierce by our + flight, so pain grows proud to see us truckle under her. She will + surrender upon much better terms to them who make head against her: a man + must oppose and stoutly set himself against her. In retiring and giving + ground, we invite and pull upon ourselves the ruin that threatens us. As + the body is more firm in an encounter, the more stiffly and obstinately it + applies itself to it, so is it with the soul. + </p> + <p> + But let us come to examples, which are the proper game of folks of such + feeble force as myself; where we shall find that it is with pain as with + stones, that receive a brighter or a duller lustre according to the foil + they are set in, and that it has no more room in us than we are pleased to + allow it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tantum doluerunt, quantum doloribus se inseruerunt.” + + [“They suffered so much the more, by how much more they gave way to + suffering.”—St. Augustin, De Civit. Dei, i. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + We are more sensible of one little touch of a surgeon’s lancet than + of twenty wounds with a sword in the heat of fight. The pains of + childbearing, said by the physicians and by God himself to be great, and + which we pass through with so many ceremonies—there are whole + nations that make nothing of them. I set aside the Lacedaemonian women, + but what else do you find in the Swiss among our foot-soldiers, if not + that, as they trot after their husbands, you see them to-day carry the + child at their necks that they carried yesterday in their bellies? The + counterfeit Egyptians we have amongst us go themselves to wash theirs, so + soon as they come into the world, and bathe in the first river they meet. + Besides so many wenches as daily drop their children by stealth, as they + conceived them, that fair and noble wife of Sabinus, a patrician of Rome, + for another’s interest, endured alone, without help, without crying + out, or so much as a groan, the bearing of twins.—[Plutarch, On + Love, c. 34.]—A poor simple boy of Lacedaemon having stolen a fox + (for they more fear the shame of stupidity in stealing than we do the + punishment of the knavery), and having got it under his coat, rather + endured the tearing out of his bowels than he would discover his theft. + And another offering incense at a sacrifice, suffered himself to be burned + to the bone by a coal that fell into his sleeve, rather than disturb the + ceremony. And there have been a great number, for a sole trial of virtue, + following their institutions, who have at seven years old endured to be + whipped to death without changing their countenance. And Cicero has seen + them fight in parties, with fists, feet, and teeth, till they have fainted + and sunk down, rather than confess themselves overcome: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Custom could never conquer nature; she is ever invincible; but we + have infected the mind with shadows, delights, negligence, sloth; + we have grown effeminate through opinions and corrupt morality.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., v. 27.] +</pre> + <p> + Every one knows the story of Scaevola, that having slipped into the enemy’s + camp to kill their general, and having missed his blow, to repair his + fault, by a more strange invention and to deliver his country, he boldly + confessed to Porsenna, who was the king he had a purpose to kill, not only + his design, but moreover added that there were then in the camp a great + number of Romans, his accomplices in the enterprise, as good men as he; + and to show what a one he himself was, having caused a pan of burning + coals to be brought, he saw and endured his arm to broil and roast, till + the king himself, conceiving horror at the sight, commanded the pan to be + taken away. What would you say of him that would not vouchsafe to respite + his reading in a book whilst he was under incision? And of the other that + persisted to mock and laugh in contempt of the pains inflicted upon him; + so that the provoked cruelty of the executioners that had him in handling, + and all the inventions of tortures redoubled upon him, one after another, + spent in vain, gave him the bucklers? But he was a philosopher. But what! + a gladiator of Caesar’s endured, laughing all the while, his wounds + to be searched, lanced, and laid open: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“What ordinary gladiator ever groaned? Which of them ever changed + countenance? Which of them not only stood or fell indecorously? + Which, when he had fallen and was commanded to receive the stroke of + the sword, contracted his neck.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 17.] +</pre> + <p> + Let us bring in the women too. Who has not heard at Paris of her that + caused her face to be flayed only for the fresher complexion of a new + skin? There are who have drawn good and sound teeth to make their voices + more soft and sweet, or to place the other teeth in better order. How many + examples of the contempt of pain have we in that sex? What can they not + do, what do they fear to do, for never so little hope of an addition to + their beauty? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vallere queis cura est albos a stirpe capillos, + Et faciem, dempta pelle, referre novam.” + + [“Who carefully pluck out their grey hairs by the roots, and renew + their faces by peeling off the old skin.”—Tibullus, i. 8, 45.] +</pre> + <p> + I have seen some of them swallow sand, ashes, and do their utmost to + destroy their stomachs to get pale complexions. To make a fine Spanish + body, what racks will they not endure of girding and bracing, till they + have notches in their sides cut into the very quick, and sometimes to + death? + </p> + <p> + It is an ordinary thing with several nations at this day to wound + themselves in good earnest to gain credit to what they profess; of which + our king, relates notable examples of what he has seen in Poland and done + towards himself.—[Henry III.]—But besides this, which I know + to have been imitated by some in France, when I came from that famous + assembly of the Estates at Blois, I had a little before seen a maid in + Picardy, who to manifest the ardour of her promises, as also her + constancy, give herself, with a bodkin she wore in her hair, four or five + good lusty stabs in the arm, till the blood gushed out to some purpose. + The Turks give themselves great scars in honour of their mistresses, and + to the end they may the longer remain, they presently clap fire to the + wound, where they hold it an incredible time to stop the blood and form + the cicatrice; people that have been eyewitnesses of it have both written + and sworn it to me. But for ten aspers—[A Turkish coin worth about a + penny]—there are there every day fellows to be found that will give + themselves a good deep slash in the arms or thighs. I am willing, however, + to have the testimonies nearest to us when we have most need of them; for + Christendom furnishes us with enough. After the example of our blessed + Guide there have been many who have crucified themselves. We learn by + testimony very worthy of belief, that King St. Louis wore a hair-shirt + till in his old age his confessor gave him a dispensation to leave it off; + and that every Friday he caused his shoulders to be drubbed by his priest + with five small chains of iron which were always carried about amongst his + night accoutrements for that purpose. + </p> + <p> + William, our last Duke of Guienne, the father of that Eleanor who + transmitted that duchy to the houses of France and England, continually + for the last ten or twelve years of his life wore a suit of armour under a + religious habit by way of penance. Foulke, Count of Anjou, went as far as + Jerusalem, there to cause himself to be whipped by two of his servants, + with a rope about his neck, before the sepulchre of our Lord. But do we + not, moreover, every Good Friday, in various places, see great numbers of + men and women beat and whip themselves till they lacerate and cut the + flesh to the very bones? I have often seen it, and ‘tis without any + enchantment; and it was said there were some amongst them (for they go + disguised) who for money undertook by this means to save harmless the + religion of others, by a contempt of pain, so much the greater, as the + incentives of devotion are more effectual than those of avarice. Q. + Maximus buried his son when he was a consul, and M. Cato his when praetor + elect, and L. Paulus both his, within a few days one after another, with + such a countenance as expressed no manner of grief. I said once merrily of + a certain person, that he had disappointed the divine justice; for the + violent death of three grown-up children of his being one day sent him, + for a severe scourge, as it is to be supposed, he was so far from being + afflicted at the accident, that he rather took it for a particular grace + and favour of heaven. I do not follow these monstrous humours, though I + lost two or three at nurse, if not without grief, at least without + repining, and yet there is hardly any accident that pierces nearer to the + quick. I see a great many other occasions of sorrow, that should they + happen to me I should hardly feel; and have despised some, when they have + befallen me, to which the world has given so terrible a figure that I + should blush to boast of my constancy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ex quo intelligitur, non in natura, sed in opinione, + esse aegritudinem.” + + [“By which one may understand that grief is not in nature, but in + opinion.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iii. 28.] +</pre> + <p> + Opinion is a powerful party, bold, and without measure. Who ever so + greedily hunted after security and repose as Alexander and Caesar did + after disturbance and difficulties? Teres, the father of Sitalces, was + wont to say that “when he had no wars, he fancied there was no + difference betwixt him and his groom.” Cato the consul, to secure + some cities of Spain from revolt, only interdicting the inhabitants from + wearing arms, a great many killed themselves: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ferox gens, nullam vitam rati sine armis esse.” + + [“A fierce people, who thought there was no life without war.” + —Livy, xxxiv. 17.] +</pre> + <p> + How many do we know who have forsaken the calm and sweetness of a quiet + life at home amongst their acquaintance, to seek out the horror of + unhabitable deserts; and having precipitated themselves into so abject a + condition as to become the scorn and contempt of the world, have hugged + themselves with the conceit, even to affectation. Cardinal Borromeo, who + died lately at Milan, amidst all the jollity that the air of Italy, his + youth, birth, and great riches, invited him to, kept himself in so austere + a way of living, that the same robe he wore in summer served him for + winter too; he had only straw for his bed, and his hours of leisure from + affairs he continually spent in study upon his knees, having a little + bread and a glass of water set by his book, which was all the provision of + his repast, and all the time he spent in eating. + </p> + <p> + I know some who consentingly have acquired both profit and advancement + from cuckoldom, of which the bare name only affrights so many people. + </p> + <p> + If the sight be not the most necessary of all our senses, ‘tis at + least the most pleasant; but the most pleasant and most useful of all our + members seem to be those of generation; and yet a great many have + conceived a mortal hatred against them only for this, that they were too + pleasant, and have deprived themselves of them only for their value: as + much thought he of his eyes that put them out. The generality and more + solid sort of men look upon abundance of children as a great blessing; I, + and some others, think it as great a benefit to be without them. And when + you ask Thales why he does not marry, he tells you, because he has no mind + to leave any posterity behind him. + </p> + <p> + That our opinion gives the value to things is very manifest in the great + number of those which we do, not so much prizing them, as ourselves, and + never considering either their virtues or their use, but only how dear + they cost us, as though that were a part of their substance; and we only + repute for value in them, not what they bring to us, but what we add to + them. By which I understand that we are great economisers of our expense: + as it weighs, it serves for so much as it weighs. Our opinion will never + suffer it to want of its value: the price gives value to the diamond; + difficulty to virtue; suffering to devotion; and griping to physic. A + certain person, to be poor, threw his crowns into the same sea to which so + many come, in all parts of the world, to fish for riches. Epicurus says + that to be rich is no relief, but only an alteration, of affairs. In + truth, it is not want, but rather abundance, that creates avarice. I will + deliver my own experience concerning this affair. + </p> + <p> + I have since my emergence from childhood lived in three sorts of + conditions. The first, which continued for some twenty years, I passed + over without any other means but what were casual and depending upon the + allowance and assistance of others, without stint, but without certain + revenue. I then spent my money so much the more cheerfully, and with so + much the less care how it went, as it wholly depended upon my + overconfidence of fortune. I never lived more at my ease; I never had the + repulse of finding the purse of any of my friends shut against me, having + enjoined myself this necessity above all other necessities whatever, by no + means to fail of payment at the appointed time, which also they have a + thousand times respited, seeing how careful I was to satisfy them; so that + I practised at once a thrifty, and withal a kind of alluring, honesty. I + naturally feel a kind of pleasure in paying, as if I eased my shoulders of + a troublesome weight and freed myself from an image of slavery; as also + that I find a ravishing kind of satisfaction in pleasing another and doing + a just action. I except payments where the trouble of bargaining and + reckoning is required; and in such cases; where I can meet with nobody to + ease me of that charge, I delay them, how scandalously and injuriously + soever, all I possibly can, for fear of the wranglings for which both my + humour and way of speaking are so totally improper and unfit. There is + nothing I hate so much as driving a bargain; ‘tis a mere traffic of + cozenage and impudence, where, after an hour’s cheapening and + hesitating, both parties abandon their word and oath for five sols’ + abatement. Yet I always borrowed at great disadvantage; for, wanting the + confidence to speak to the person myself, I committed my request to the + persuasion of a letter, which usually is no very successful advocate, and + is of very great advantage to him who has a mind to deny. I, in those + days, more jocundly and freely referred the conduct of my affairs to the + stars, than I have since done to my own providence and judgment. Most good + managers look upon it as a horrible thing to live always thus in + uncertainty, and do not consider, in the first place, that the greatest + part of the world live so: how many worthy men have wholly abandoned their + own certainties, and yet daily do it, to the winds, to trust to the + inconstant favour of princes and of fortune? Caesar ran above a million of + gold, more than he was worth, in debt to become Caesar; and how many + merchants have begun their traffic by the sale of their farms, which they + sent into the Indies, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tot per impotentia freta.” + + [“Through so many ungovernable seas.”—Catullus, iv. 18.] +</pre> + <p> + In so great a siccity of devotion as we see in these days, we have a + thousand and a thousand colleges that pass it over commodiously enough, + expecting every day their dinner from the liberality of Heaven. Secondly, + they do not take notice that this certitude upon which they so much rely + is not much less uncertain and hazardous than hazard itself. I see misery + as near beyond two thousand crowns a year as if it stood close by me; for + besides that it is in the power of chance to make a hundred breaches to + poverty through the greatest strength of our riches —there being + very often no mean betwixt the highest and the lowest fortune: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fortuna vitrea est: turn, quum splendet, frangitur,” + + [“Fortune is glass: in its greatest brightness it breaks.” + —Ex Mim. P. Syrus.] +</pre> + <p> + and to turn all our barricadoes and bulwarks topsy-turvy, I find that, by + divers causes, indigence is as frequently seen to inhabit with those who + have estates as with those that have none; and that, peradventure, it is + then far less grievous when alone than when accompanied with riches. These + flow more from good management than from revenue; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Faber est suae quisque fortunae” + + [“Every one is the maker of his own fortune.” + —Sallust, De Repub. Ord., i. I.] +</pre> + <p> + and an uneasy, necessitous, busy, rich man seems to me more miserable than + he that is simply poor. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In divitiis mopes, quod genus egestatis gravissimum est.” + + [“Poor in the midst of riches, which is the sorest kind of poverty.” + —Seneca, Ep., 74.] +</pre> + <p> + The greatest and most wealthy princes are by poverty and want driven to + the most extreme necessity; for can there be any more extreme than to + become tyrants and unjust usurpers of their subjects’ goods and + estates? + </p> + <p> + My second condition of life was to have money of my own, wherein I so + ordered the matter that I had soon laid up a very notable sum out of a + mean fortune, considering with myself that that only was to be reputed + having which a man reserves from his ordinary expense, and that a man + cannot absolutely rely upon revenue he hopes to receive, how clear soever + the hope may be. For what, said I, if I should be surprised by such or + such an accident? And after such-like vain and vicious imaginations, would + very learnedly, by this hoarding of money, provide against all + inconveniences; and could, moreover, answer such as objected to me that + the number of these was too infinite, that if I could not lay up for all, + I could, however, do it at least for some and for many. Yet was not this + done without a great deal of solicitude and anxiety of mind; I kept it + very close, and though I dare talk so boldly of myself, never spoke of my + money, but falsely, as others do, who being rich, pretend to be poor, and + being poor, pretend to be rich, dispensing their consciences from ever + telling sincerely what they have: a ridiculous and shameful prudence. Was + I going a journey? Methought I was never enough provided: and the more I + loaded myself with money, the more also was I loaded with fear, one while + of the danger of the roads, another of the fidelity of him who had the + charge of my baggage, of whom, as some others that I know, I was never + sufficiently secure if I had him not always in my eye. If I chanced to + leave my cash-box behind me, O, what strange suspicions and anxiety of + mind did I enter into, and, which was worse, without daring to acquaint + anybody with it. My mind was eternally taken up with such things as these, + so that, all things considered, there is more trouble in keeping money + than in getting it. And if I did not altogether so much as I say, or was + not really so scandalously solicitous of my money as I have made myself + out to be, yet it cost me something at least to restrain myself from being + so. I reaped little or no advantage by what I had, and my expenses seemed + nothing less to me for having the more to spend; for, as Bion said, the + hairy men are as angry as the bald to be pulled; and after you are once + accustomed to it and have once set your heart upon your heap, it is no + more at your service; you cannot find in your heart to break it: ‘tis + a building that you will fancy must of necessity all tumble down to ruin + if you stir but the least pebble; necessity must first take you by the + throat before you can prevail upon yourself to touch it; and I would + sooner have pawned anything I had, or sold a horse, and with much less + constraint upon myself, than have made the least breach in that beloved + purse I had so carefully laid by. But the danger was that a man cannot + easily prescribe certain limits to this desire (they are hard to find in + things that a man conceives to be good), and to stint this good husbandry + so that it may not degenerate into avarice: men still are intent upon + adding to the heap and increasing the stock from sum to sum, till at last + they vilely deprive themselves of the enjoyment of their own proper goods, + and throw all into reserve, without making any use of them at all. + According to this rule, they are the richest people in the world who are + set to guard the walls and gates of a wealthy city. All moneyed men I + conclude to be covetous. Plato places corporal or human goods in this + order: health, beauty, strength, riches; and riches, says he, are not + blind, but very clear-sighted, when illuminated by prudence. Dionysius the + son did a very handsome act upon this subject; he was informed that one of + the Syracusans had hid a treasure in the earth, and thereupon sent to the + man to bring it to him, which he accordingly did, privately reserving a + small part of it only to himself, with which he went to another city, + where being cured of his appetite of hoarding, he began to live at a more + liberal rate; which Dionysius hearing, caused the rest of his treasure to + be restored to him, saying, that since he had learned to use it, he very + willingly returned it back to him. + </p> + <p> + I continued some years in this hoarding humour, when I know not what good + demon fortunately put me out of it, as he did the Syracusan, and made me + throw abroad all my reserve at random, the pleasure of a certain journey I + took at very great expense having made me spurn this fond love of money + underfoot; by which means I am now fallen into a third way of living (I + speak what I think of it), doubtless much more pleasant and regular, which + is, that I live at the height of my revenue; sometimes the one, sometimes + the other may perhaps exceed, but ‘tis very little and but rarely + that they differ. I live from hand to mouth, and content myself in having + sufficient for my present and ordinary expense; for as to extraordinary + occasions, all the laying up in the world would never suffice. And ‘tis + the greatest folly imaginable to expect that fortune should ever + sufficiently arm us against herself; ‘tis with our own arms that we + are to fight her; accidental ones will betray us in the pinch of the + business. If I lay up, ‘tis for some near and contemplated purpose; + not to purchase lands, of which I have no need, but to purchase pleasure: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non esse cupidum, pecunia est; non esse emacem, vertigal est.” + + [“Not to be covetous, is money; not to be acquisitive, is revenue.” + —Cicero, Paradox., vi. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + I neither am in any great apprehension of wanting, nor in desire of any + more: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Divinarum fructus est in copia; copiam declarat satietas.” + + [“The fruit of riches is in abundance; satiety declares abundance.” + —Idem, ibid., vi. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + And I am very well pleased that this reformation in me has fallen out in + an age naturally inclined to avarice, and that I see myself cleared of a + folly so common to old men, and the most ridiculous of all human follies. + </p> + <p> + Feraulez, a man that had run through both fortunes, and found that the + increase of substance was no increase of appetite either to eating or + drinking, sleeping or the enjoyment of his wife, and who on the other side + felt the care of his economics lie heavy upon his shoulders, as it does on + mine, was resolved to please a poor young man, his faithful friend, who + panted after riches, and made him a gift of all his, which were + excessively great, and, moreover, of all he was in the daily way of + getting by the liberality of Cyrus, his good master, and by the war; + conditionally that he should take care handsomely to maintain and + plentifully to entertain him as his guest and friend; which being + accordingly done, they afterwards lived very happily together, both of + them equally content with the change of their condition. ‘Tis an + example that I could imitate with all my heart; and I very much approve + the fortune of the aged prelate whom I see to have so absolutely stripped + himself of his purse, his revenue, and care of his expense, committing + them one while to one trusty servant, and another while to another, that + he has spun out a long succession of years, as ignorant, by this means, of + his domestic affairs as a mere stranger. + </p> + <p> + The confidence in another man’s virtue is no light evidence of a man’s + own, and God willingly favours such a confidence. As to what concerns him + of whom I am speaking, I see nowhere a better governed house, more nobly + and constantly maintained than his. Happy to have regulated his affairs to + so just a proportion that his estate is sufficient to do it without his + care or trouble, and without any hindrance, either in the spending or + laying it up, to his other more quiet employments, and more suitable both + to his place and liking. + </p> + <p> + Plenty, then, and indigence depend upon the opinion every one has of them; + and riches no more than glory or health have other beauty or pleasure than + he lends them by whom they are possessed. + </p> + <p> + Every one is well or ill at ease, according as he so finds himself; not he + whom the world believes, but he who believes himself to be so, is content; + and in this alone belief gives itself being and reality. Fortune does us + neither good nor hurt; she only presents us the matter and the seed, which + our soul, more powerful than she, turns and applies as she best pleases; + the sole cause and sovereign mistress of her own happy or unhappy + condition. All external accessions receive taste and colour from the + internal constitution, as clothes warm us, not with their heat, but our + own, which they are fit to cover and nourish; he who would shield + therewith a cold body, would do the same service for the cold, for so snow + and ice are preserved. And, certes, after the same manner that study is a + torment to an idle man, abstinence from wine to a drunkard, frugality to + the spendthrift, and exercise to a lazy, tender-bred fellow, so it is of + all the rest. The things are not so painful and difficult of themselves, + but our weakness or cowardice makes them so. To judge of great, and high + matters requires a suitable soul; otherwise we attribute the vice to them + which is really our own. A straight oar seems crooked in the water it does + not only import that we see the thing, but how and after what manner we + see it. + </p> + <p> + After all this, why, amongst so many discourses that by so many arguments + persuade men to despise death and to endure pain, can we not find out one + that helps us? And of so many sorts of imaginations as have so prevailed + upon others as to persuade them to do so, why does not every one apply + some one to himself, the most suitable to his own humour? If he cannot + digest a strong-working decoction to eradicate the evil, let him at least + take a lenitive to ease it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“It is an effeminate and flimsy opinion, nor more so in pain than + in pleasure, in which, while we are at our ease, we cannot bear + without a cry the sting of a bee. The whole business is to commend + thyself.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + As to the rest, a man does not transgress philosophy by permitting the + acrimony of pains and human frailty to prevail so much above measure; for + they constrain her to go back to her unanswerable replies: “If it be + ill to live in necessity, at least there is no necessity upon a man to + live in necessity”: “No man continues ill long but by his own + fault.” He who has neither the courage to die nor the heart to live, + who will neither resist nor fly, what can we do with him? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0041" id="link2HCH0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLI——NOT TO COMMUNICATE A MAN’S HONOUR + </h2> + <p> + Of all the follies of the world, that which is most universally received + is the solicitude of reputation and glory; which we are fond of to that + degree as to abandon riches, peace, life, and health, which are effectual + and substantial goods, to pursue this vain phantom and empty word, that + has neither body nor hold to be taken of it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + La fama, ch’invaghisce a un dolce suono + Gli superbi mortali, et par si bella, + E un eco, un sogno, anzi d’un sogno un’ombra, + Ch’ad ogni vento si dilegua a sgombra.” + + [“Fame, which with alluring sound charms proud mortals, and appears + so fair, is but an echo, a dream, nay, the shadow of a dream, which + at every breath vanishes and dissolves.” + —Tasso, Gerus., xiv. 63.] +</pre> + <p> + And of all the irrational humours of men, it should seem that the + philosophers themselves are among the last and the most reluctant to + disengage themselves from this: ‘tis the most restive and obstinate + of all: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quia etiam bene proficientes animos tentare non cessat.” + + [“Because it ceases not to assail even well-directed minds” + —St. Augustin, De Civit. Dei, v. 14.] +</pre> + <p> + There is not any one of which reason so clearly accuses the vanity; but it + is so deeply rooted in us that I dare not determine whether any one ever + clearly discharged himself from it or no. After you have said all and + believed all has been said to its prejudice, it produces so intestine an + inclination in opposition to your best arguments that you have little + power to resist it; for, as Cicero says, even those who most controvert + it, would yet that the books they write about it should visit the light + under their own names, and seek to derive glory from seeming to despise + it. All other things are communicable and fall into commerce: we lend our + goods and stake our lives for the necessity and service of our friends; + but to communicate a man’s honour, and to robe another with a man’s + own glory, is very rarely seen. + </p> + <p> + And yet we have some examples of that kind. Catulus Luctatius in the + Cimbrian war, having done all that in him lay to make his flying soldiers + face about upon the enemy, ran himself at last away with the rest, and + counterfeited the coward, to the end his men might rather seem to follow + their captain than to fly from the enemy; which was to abandon his own + reputation in order to cover the shame of others. When Charles V. came + into Provence in the year 1537, ‘tis said that Antonio de Leva, + seeing the emperor positively resolved upon this expedition, and believing + it would redound very much to his honour, did, nevertheless, very stiffly + oppose it in the council, to the end that the entire glory of that + resolution should be attributed to his master, and that it might be said + his own wisdom and foresight had been such as that, contrary to the + opinion of all, he had brought about so great an enterprise; which was to + do him honour at his own expense. The Thracian ambassadors coming to + comfort Archileonida, the mother of Brasidas, upon the death of her son, + and commending him to that height as to say he had not left his like + behind him, she rejected this private and particular commendation to + attribute it to the public: “Tell me not that,” said she; + “I know the city of Sparta has many citizens both greater and of + greater worth than he.” In the battle of Crecy, the Prince of Wales, + being then very young, had the vanguard committed to him: the main stress + of the battle happened to be in that place, which made the lords who were + with him, finding themselves overmatched, send to King Edward to advance + to their relief. He inquired of the condition his son was in, and being + answered that he was alive and on horseback: “I should, then, do him + wrong,” said the king, “now to go and deprive him of the + honour of winning this battle he has so long and so bravely sustained; + what hazard soever he runs, that shall be entirely his own”; and, + accordingly, would neither go nor send, knowing that if he went, it would + be said all had been lost without his succour, and that the honour of the + victory would be wholly attributed to him. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Semper enim quod postremum adjectum est, + id rem totam videtur traxisse.” + + [“For always that which is last added, seems to have accomplished + the whole affair.”—Livy, xxvii. 45.] +</pre> + <p> + Many at Rome thought, and would usually say, that the greatest of Scipio’s + acts were in part due to Laelius, whose constant practice it was still to + advance and support Scipio’s grandeur and renown, without any care + of his own. And Theopompus, king of Sparta, to him who told him the + republic could not miscarry since he knew so well how to command, “Tis + rather,” answered he, “because the people know so well how to + obey.” As women succeeding to peerages had, notwithstanding their + sex, the privilege to attend and give their votes in the trials that + appertained to the jurisdiction of peers; so the ecclesiastical peers, + notwithstanding their profession, were obliged to attend our kings in + their wars, not only with their friends and servants, but in their own + persons. As the Bishop of Beauvais did, who being with Philip Augustus at + the battle of Bouvines, had a notable share in that action; but he did not + think it fit for him to participate in the fruit and glory of that violent + and bloody trade. He with his own hand reduced several of the enemy that + day to his mercy, whom he delivered to the first gentleman he met either + to kill or receive them to quarter, referring the whole execution to this + other hand; and he did this with regard to William, Earl of Salisbury, + whom he gave up to Messire Jehan de Nesle. With a like subtlety of + conscience to that I have just named, he would kill but not wound, and for + that reason ever fought with a mace. And a certain person of my time, + being reproached by the king that he had laid hands on a priest, stiffly + and positively denied he had done any such thing: the meaning of which + was, he had cudgelled and kicked him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0042" id="link2HCH0042"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLII——OF THE INEQUALITY AMOUNGST US. + </h2> + <p> + Plutarch says somewhere that he does not find so great a difference + betwixt beast and beast as he does betwixt man and man; which he says in + reference to the internal qualities and perfections of the soul. And, in + truth, I find so vast a distance betwixt Epaminondas, according to my + judgment of him, and some that I know, who are yet men of good sense, that + I could willingly enhance upon Plutarch, and say that there is more + difference betwixt such and such a man than there is betwixt such a man + and such a beast: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Ah! how much may one man surpass another!” + —Terence, Eunuchus, ii. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + and that there are as many and innumerable degrees of mind as there are + cubits betwixt this and heaven. But as touching the estimate of men, + ‘tis strange that, ourselves excepted, no other creature is esteemed + beyond its proper qualities; we commend a horse for his strength and + sureness of foot, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Volucrem + Sic laudamus equum, facili cui plurima palma + Fervet, et exsultat rauco victoria circo,” + + [“So we praise the swift horse, for whose easy mastery many a hand + glows in applause, and victory exults in the hoarse circus. + —“Juvenal, viii. 57.] +</pre> + <p> + and not for his rich caparison; a greyhound for his speed of heels, not + for his fine collar; a hawk for her wing, not for her gesses and bells. + Why, in like manner, do we not value a man for what is properly his own? + He has a great train, a beautiful palace, so much credit, so many thousand + pounds a year: all these are about him, but not in him. You will not buy a + pig in a poke: if you cheapen a horse, you will see him stripped of his + housing-cloths, you will see him naked and open to your eye; or if he be + clothed, as they anciently were wont to present them to princes to sell, + ‘tis only on the less important parts, that you may not so much + consider the beauty of his colour or the breadth of his crupper, as + principally to examine his legs, eyes, and feet, which are the members of + greatest use: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Regibus hic mos est: ubi equos mercantur, opertos + Inspiciunt; ne, si facies, ut saepe, decora + Molli fulta pede est, emptorem inducat hiantem” + + [“This is the custom of kings: when they buy horses, they have open + inspection, lest, if a fair head, as often chances, is supported by + a weak foot, it should tempt the gaping purchaser.” + —Horace, Sat., i. 2, 86.] +</pre> + <p> + why, in giving your estimate of a man, do you prize him wrapped and + muffled up in clothes? He then discovers nothing to you but such parts as + are not in the least his own, and conceals those by which alone one may + rightly judge of his value. ‘Tis the price of the blade that you + inquire into, not of the scabbard: you would not peradventure bid a + farthing for him, if you saw him stripped. You are to judge him by himself + and not by what he wears; and, as one of the ancients very pleasantly + said: “Do you know why you repute him tall? You reckon withal the + height of his pattens.”—[Seneca, Ep. 76.]—The pedestal + is no part of the statue. Measure him without his stilts; let him lay + aside his revenues and his titles; let him present himself in his shirt. + Then examine if his body be sound and sprightly, active and disposed to + perform its functions. What soul has he? Is she beautiful, capable, and + happily provided of all her faculties? Is she rich of what is her own, or + of what she has borrowed? Has fortune no hand in the affair? Can she, + without winking, stand the lightning of swords? is she indifferent whether + her life expire by the mouth or through the throat? Is she settled, even + and content? This is what is to be examined, and by that you are to judge + of the vast differences betwixt man and man. Is he: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sapiens, sibique imperiosus, + Quern neque pauperies, neque mors, neque vincula terrent; + Responsare cupidinibus, contemnere honores + Fortis; et in seipso totus teres atque rotundus, + Externi ne quid valeat per laeve morari; + In quem manca ruit semper fortuna?” + </pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“The wise man, self-governed, whom neither poverty, nor death, + nor chains affright: who has the strength to resist his appetites + and to contemn honours: who is wholly self-contained: whom no + external objects affect: whom fortune assails in vain.” + —Horace, Sat., ii. 7,] +</pre> + <p> + such a man is five hundred cubits above kingdoms and duchies; he is an + absolute monarch in and to himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sapiens, . . . Pol! ipse fingit fortunam sibi;” + + [“The wise man is the master of his own fortune,” + —Plautus, Trin., ii. 2, 84.] +</pre> + <p> + what remains for him to covet or desire? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nonne videmus, + Nil aliud sibi naturam latrare, nisi ut, quoi + Corpore sejunctus dolor absit, mente fruatur, + Jucundo sensu, cura semotu’ metuque?” + + [“Do we not see that human nature asks no more for itself than + that, free from bodily pain, it may exercise its mind agreeably, + exempt from care and fear.”—Lucretius, ii. 16.] +</pre> + <p> + Compare with such a one the common rabble of mankind, stupid and + mean-spirited, servile, instable, and continually floating with the + tempest of various passions, that tosses and tumbles them to and fro, and + all depending upon others, and you will find a greater distance than + betwixt heaven and earth; and yet the blindness of common usage is such + that we make little or no account of it; whereas if we consider a peasant + and a king, a nobleman and a vassal, a magistrate and a private man, a + rich man and a poor, there appears a vast disparity, though they differ no + more, as a man may say, than in their breeches. + </p> + <p> + In Thrace the king was distinguished from his people after a very pleasant + and especial manner; he had a religion by himself, a god all his own, and + which his subjects were not to presume to adore, which was Mercury, + whilst, on the other hand, he disdained to have anything to do with + theirs, Mars, Bacchus, and Diana. And yet they are no other than pictures + that make no essential dissimilitude; for as you see actors in a play + representing the person of a duke or an emperor upon the stage, and + immediately after return to their true and original condition of valets + and porters, so the emperor, whose pomp and lustre so dazzle you in + public: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Scilicet grandes viridi cum luce smaragdi + Auto includuntur, teriturque thalassina vestis + Assidue, et Veneris sudorem exercita potat;” + + [“Because he wears great emeralds richly set in gold, darting green + lustre; and the sea-blue silken robe, worn with pressure, and moist + with illicit love (and absorbs the sweat of Venus).” + —Lucretius, iv. 1123.] +</pre> + <p> + do but peep behind the curtain, and you will see no thing more than an + ordinary man, and peradventure more contemptible than the meanest of his + subjects: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ille beatus introrsum est, istius bracteata felicitas est;” + + [“The one is happy in himself; the happiness of the other is + counterfeit.”—Seneca, Ep., 115.] +</pre> + <p> + cowardice, irresolution, ambition, spite, and envy agitate him as much as + another: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non enim gazae, neque consularis + Submovet lictor miseros tumultus + Mentis, et curas laqueata circum + Tecta volantes.” + + [“For not treasures, nor the consular lictor, can remove the + miserable tumults of the mind, nor cares that fly about panelled + ceilings.”—Horace, Od., ii. 16, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + Care and fear attack him even in the centre of his battalions: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Re veraque metus hominum curaeque sequaces + Nec metuunt sonitus armorum, nee fera tela; + Audacterque inter reges, rerumque potentes + Versantur, neque fulgorem reverentur ab auro.” + + [“And in truth the fears and haunting cares of men fear not the + clash of arms nor points of darts, and mingle boldly with great + kings and men in authority, nor respect the glitter of gold.” + —Lucretius, ii. 47.] +</pre> + <p> + Do fevers, gout, and apoplexies spare him any more than one of us? When + old age hangs heavy upon his shoulders, can the yeomen of his guard ease + him of the burden? When he is astounded with the apprehension of death, + can the gentlemen of his bedchamber comfort and assure him? When jealousy + or any other caprice swims in his brain, can our compliments and + ceremonies restore him to his good-humour? The canopy embroidered with + pearl and gold he lies under has no virtue against a violent fit of the + colic: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nee calidae citius decedunt corpore febres + Textilibus si in picturis, ostroque rubenti + Jactaris, quam si plebeia in veste cubandum est.” + + [“Nor do burning fevers quit you sooner if you are stretched on a + couch of rich tapestry and in a vest of purple dye, than if you be + in a coarse blanket.”—Idem, ii. 34.] +</pre> + <p> + The flatterers of Alexander the Great possessed him that he was the son of + Jupiter; but being one day wounded, and observing the blood stream from + his wound: “What say you now, my masters,” said he, “is + not this blood of a crimson colour and purely human? This is not of the + complexion of that which Homer makes to issue from the wounded gods.” + The poet Hermodorus had written a poem in honour of Antigonus, wherein he + called him the son of the sun: “He who has the emptying of my + close-stool,” said Antigonus, “knows to the contrary.” + He is but a man at best, and if he be deformed or ill-qualified from his + birth, the empire of the universe cannot set him to rights: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Puellae + Hunc rapiant; quidquid calcaverit hic, rosa fiat,” + + [“Let girls carry him off; wherever he steps let there spring up a + rose!”—Persius, Sat., ii. 38.] +</pre> + <p> + what of all that, if he be a fool? even pleasure and good fortune are not + relished without vigour and understanding: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haec perinde sunt, ut ilius animus; qui ea possidet + Qui uti scit, ei bona; illi, qui non uritur recte, mala.” + + [“Things are, as is the mind of their possessor; who knows how to + use them, to him they are good; to him who abuses them, ill.” + —Terence, Heart., i. 3, 21.] +</pre> + <p> + Whatever the benefits of fortune are, they yet require a palate to relish + them. ‘Tis fruition, and not possession, that renders us happy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“‘Tis not lands, or a heap of brass and gold, that has removed + fevers from the ailing body of the owner, or cares from his mind. + The possessor must be healthy, if he thinks to make good use of his + realised wealth. To him who is covetous or timorous his house and + estate are as a picture to a blind man, or a fomentation to a + gouty.”—Horace, Ep., i. 2, 47.] +</pre> + <p> + He is a sot, his taste is palled and flat; he no more enjoys what he has + than one that has a cold relishes the flavour of canary, or than a horse + is sensible of his rich caparison. Plato is in the right when he tells us + that health, beauty, vigour, and riches, and all the other things called + goods, are equally evil to the unjust as good to the just, and the evil on + the contrary the same. And therefore where the body and the mind are in + disorder, to what use serve these external conveniences: considering that + the least prick with a pin, or the least passion of the soul, is + sufficient to deprive one of the pleasure of being sole monarch of the + world. At the first twitch of the gout it signifies much to be called Sir + and Your Majesty! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Totus et argento conflatus, totus et auro;” + + [“Wholly made up of silver and gold.”—Tibullus, i. 2, 70.] +</pre> + <p> + does he not forget his palaces and girandeurs? If he be angry, can his + being a prince keep him from looking red and looking pale, and grinding + his teeth like a madman? Now, if he be a man of parts and of right nature, + royalty adds very little to his happiness; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si ventri bene, si lateri est, pedibusque tuffs, nil + Divitix poterunt regales addere majus;” + + [“If it is well with thy belly, thy side and thy feet, regal wealth + will be able to add nothing.”—Horace, Ep., i. 12, 5.] +</pre> + <p> + he discerns ‘tis nothing but counterfeit and gullery. Nay, perhaps + he would be of King Seleucus’ opinion, that he who knew the weight + of a sceptre would not stoop to pick it up, if he saw it lying before him, + so great and painful are the duties incumbent upon a good king.—[Plutarch, + If a Sage should Meddle with Affairs of Stale, c. 12.]—Assuredly it + can be no easy task to rule others, when we find it so hard a matter to + govern ourselves; and as to dominion, that seems so charming, the frailty + of human judgment and the difficulty of choice in things that are new and + doubtful considered, I am very much of opinion that it is far more easy + and pleasant to follow than to lead; and that it is a great settlement and + satisfaction of mind to have only one path to walk in, and to have none to + answer for but a man’s self; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut satius multo jam sit parere quietum, + Quam regere imperio res velle.” + + [“‘Tis much better quietly to obey than wish to rule.” + —Lucretius, V, 1126.] +</pre> + <p> + To which we may add that saying of Cyrus, that no man was fit to rule but + he who in his own worth was of greater value than those he was to govern; + but King Hiero in Xenophon says further, that in the fruition even of + pleasure itself they are in a worse condition than private men; forasmuch + as the opportunities and facility they have of commanding those things at + will takes off from the delight that ordinary folks enjoy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pinguis amor, nimiumque patens, in taedia nobis + Vertitur, et, stomacho dulcis ut esca, nocet.” + + [“Love in excess and too palpable turns to weariness, and, like + sweetmeats to the stomach, is injurious.”—Ovid, Amoy., ii. 19, 25.] +</pre> + <p> + Can we think that the singing boys of the choir take any great delight in + music? the satiety rather renders it troublesome and tedious to them. + Feasts, balls, masquerades and tiltings delight such as but rarely see, + and desire to see, them; but having been frequently at such + entertainments, the relish of them grows flat and insipid. Nor do women so + much delight those who make a common practice of the sport. He who will + not give himself leisure to be thirsty can never find the true pleasure of + drinking. Farces and tumbling tricks are pleasant to the spectators, but a + wearisome toil to those by whom they are performed. And that this is so, + we see that princes divert themselves sometimes in disguising their + quality, awhile to depose themselves, and to stoop to the poor and + ordinary way of living of the meanest of their people. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Plerumque gratae divitibus vices + Mundaeque parvo sub lare pauperum + Coenae, sine aulaeis et ostro, + Soliicitam explicuere frontem.” + + [“The rich are often pleased with variety; and the plain supper in a + poor cottage, without tapestry and purple, has relaxed the anxious + brow.”—Horace, Od., iii. 29, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + Nothing is so distasteful and clogging as abundance. What appetite would + not be baffled to see three hundred women at its mercy, as the grand + signor has in his seraglio? And, of his ancestors what fruition or taste + of sport did he reserve to himself, who never went hawking without seven + thousand falconers? And besides all this, I fancy that this lustre of + grandeur brings with it no little disturbance and uneasiness upon the + enjoyment of the most tempting pleasures; the great are too conspicuous + and lie too open to every one’s view. Neither do I know to what end + a man should more require of them to conceal their errors, since what is + only reputed indiscretion in us, the people in them brand with the names + of tyranny and contempt of the laws, and, besides their proclivity to + vice, are apt to hold that it is a heightening of pleasure to them, to + insult over and to trample upon public observances. Plato, indeed, in his + Goygias, defines a tyrant to be one who in a city has licence to do + whatever his own will leads him to do; and by reason of this impunity, the + display and publication of their vices do ofttimes more mischief than the + vice itself. Every one fears to be pried into and overlooked; but princes + are so, even to their very gestures, looks and thoughts, the people + conceiving they have right and title to be judges of them besides that the + blemishes of the great naturally appear greater by reason of the eminence + and lustre of the place where they are seated, and that a mole or a wart + appears greater in them than a wide gash in others. And this is the reason + why the poets feign the amours of Jupiter to be performed in the disguises + of so many borrowed shapes, and that amongst the many amorous practices + they lay to his charge, there is only one, as I remember, where he appears + in his own majesty and grandeur. + </p> + <p> + But let us return to Hiero, who further complains of the inconveniences he + found in his royalty, in that he could not look abroad and travel the + world at liberty, being as it were a prisoner in the bounds and limits of + his own dominion, and that in all his actions he was evermore surrounded + with an importunate crowd. And in truth, to see our kings sit all alone at + table, environed with so many people prating about them, and so many + strangers staring upon them, as they always are, I have often been moved + rather to pity than to envy their condition. King Alfonso was wont to say, + that in this asses were in a better condition than kings, their masters + permitting them to feed at their own ease and pleasure, a favour that + kings cannot obtain of their servants. And it has never come into my fancy + that it could be of any great benefit to the life of a man of sense to + have twenty people prating about him when he is at stool; or that the + services of a man of ten thousand livres a year, or that has taken Casale + or defended Siena, should be either more commodious or more acceptable to + him, than those of a good groom of the chamber who understands his place. + The advantages of sovereignty are in a manner but imaginary: every degree + of fortune has in it some image of principality. Caesar calls all the + lords of France, having free franchise within their own demesnes, + roitelets or petty kings; and in truth, the name of sire excepted, they go + pretty far towards kingship; for do but look into the provinces remote + from court, as Brittany for example; take notice of the train, the + vassals, the officers, the employments, service, ceremony, and state of a + lord who lives retired from court in his own house, amongst his own + tenants and servants; and observe withal the flight of his imagination; + there is nothing more royal; he hears talk of his master once a year, as + of a king of Persia, without taking any further recognition of him, than + by some remote kindred his secretary keeps in some register. And, to speak + the truth, our laws are easy enough, so easy that a gentleman of France + scarce feels the weight of sovereignty pinch his shoulders above twice in + his life. Real and effectual subjection only concerns such amongst us as + voluntarily thrust their necks under the yoke, and who design to get + wealth and honours by such services: for a man that loves his own + fireside, and can govern his house without falling by the ears with his + neighbours or engaging in suits of law, is as free as a Duke of Venice. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Paucos servitus, plures servitutem tenent.” + + [“Servitude enchains few, but many enchain themselves to + servitude.”—Seneca, Ep., 22.] +</pre> + <p> + But that which Hiero is most concerned at is, that he finds himself + stripped of all friendship, deprived of all mutual society, wherein the + true and most perfect fruition of human life consists. For what testimony + of affection and goodwill can I extract from him that owes me, whether he + will or no, all that he is able to do? Can I form any assurance of his + real respect to me, from his humble way of speaking and submissive + behaviour, when these are ceremonies it is not in his choice to deny? The + honour we receive from those that fear us is not honour; those respects + are due to royalty and not to me: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Maximum hoc regni bonum est + Quod facta domini cogitur populus sui + Quam ferre, tam laudare.” + + [“‘Tis the greatest benefit of a kingdom that the people is forced + to commend, as well as to bear the acts of the ruler.” + —Seneca, Thyestes, ii. i, 30.] +</pre> + <p> + Do I not see that the wicked and the good king, he that is hated and he + that is beloved, have the one as much reverence paid him as the other? My + predecessor was, and my successor shall be, served with the same ceremony + and state. If my subjects do me no harm, ‘tis no evidence of any + good affection; why should I look upon it as such, seeing it is not in + their power to do it if they would? No one follows me or obeys my commands + upon the account of any friendship, betwixt him and me; there can be no + contracting of friendship where there is so little relation and + correspondence: my own height has put me out of the familiarity of and + intelligence with men; there is too great disparity and disproportion + betwixt us. They follow me either upon the account of decency and custom; + or rather my fortune, than me, to increase their own. All they say to me + or do for me is but outward paint, appearance, their liberty being on all + parts restrained by the great power and authority I have over them. I see + nothing about me but what is dissembled and disguised. + </p> + <p> + The Emperor Julian being one day applauded by his courtiers for his exact + justice: “I should be proud of these praises,” said he, + “did they come from persons that durst condemn or disapprove the + contrary, in case I should do it.” All the real advantages of + princes are common to them with men of meaner condition (‘tis for + the gods to mount winged horses and feed upon ambrosia): they have no + other sleep, nor other appetite than we; the steel they arm themselves + withal is of no better temper than that we also use; their crowns neither + defend them from the rain nor the sun. + </p> + <p> + Diocletian, who wore a crown so fortunate and revered, resigned it to + retire to the felicity of a private life; and some time after the + necessity of public affairs requiring that he should reassume his charge, + he made answer to those who came to court him to it: “You would not + offer,” said he, “to persuade me to this, had you seen the + fine order of the trees I have planted in my orchard, and the fair melons + I have sown in my garden.” + </p> + <p> + In Anacharsis’ opinion, the happiest state of government would be + where, all other things being equal, precedence should be measured out by + the virtues, and repulses by the vices of men. + </p> + <p> + When King Pyrrhus prepared for his expedition into Italy, his wise + counsellor Cyneas, to make him sensible of the vanity of his ambition: + “Well, sir,” said he, “to what end do you make all this + mighty preparation?”—“To make myself master of Italy,” + replied the king. “And what after that is done?” said Cyneas. + “I will pass over into Gaul and Spain,” said the other. + “And what then?”—“I will then go to subdue Africa; + and lastly, when I have brought the whole world to my subjection, I will + sit down and rest content at my own ease.” + </p> + <p> + “For God sake, sir,” replied Cyneas, “tell me what + hinders that you may not, if you please, be now in the condition you speak + of? Why do you not now at this instant settle yourself in the state you + seem to aim at, and spare all the labour and hazard you interpose?” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nimirum, quia non cognovit, qux esset habendi + Finis, et omnino quoad crescat vera voluptas.” + + [“Forsooth because he does not know what should be the limit of + acquisition, and altogether how far real pleasure should increase.” + —Lucretius, v. 1431] +</pre> + <p> + I will conclude with an old versicle, that I think very apt to the + purpose: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mores cuique sui fingunt fortunam.” + + [“Every man frames his own fortune.” + —Cornelius Nepos, Life of Atticus] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0043" id="link2HCH0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLIII——OF SUMPTUARY LAWS + </h2> + <p> + The way by which our laws attempt to regulate idle and vain expenses in + meat and clothes, seems to be quite contrary to the end designed. The true + way would be to beget in men a contempt of silks and gold, as vain, + frivolous, and useless; whereas we augment to them the honours, and + enhance the value of such things, which, sure, is a very improper way to + create a disgust. For to enact that none but princes shall eat turbot, + shall wear velvet or gold lace, and interdict these things to the people, + what is it but to bring them into a greater esteem, and to set every one + more agog to eat and wear them? Let kings leave off these ensigns of + grandeur; they have others enough besides; those excesses are more + excusable in any other than a prince. We may learn by the example of + several nations better ways of exterior distinction of quality (which, + truly, I conceive to be very requisite in a state) enough, without + fostering to this purpose such corruption and manifest inconvenience. + ‘Tis strange how suddenly and with how much ease custom in these + indifferent things establishes itself and becomes authority. We had scarce + worn cloth a year, in compliance with the court, for the mourning of Henry + II., but that silks were already grown into such contempt with every one, + that a man so clad was presently concluded a citizen: silks were divided + betwixt the physicians and surgeons, and though all other people almost + went in the same habit, there was, notwithstanding, in one thing or other, + sufficient distinction of the several conditions of men. How suddenly do + greasy chamois and linen doublets become the fashion in our armies, whilst + all neatness and richness of habit fall into contempt? Let kings but lead + the dance and begin to leave off this expense, and in a month the business + will be done throughout the kingdom, without edict or ordinance; we shall + all follow. It should be rather proclaimed, on the contrary, that no one + should wear scarlet or goldsmiths’ work but courtesans and tumblers. + </p> + <p> + Zeleucus by the like invention reclaimed the corrupted manners of the + Locrians. His laws were, that no free woman should be allowed any more + than one maid to follow her, unless she was drunk: nor was to stir out of + the city by night, wear jewels of gold about her, or go in an embroidered + robe, unless she was a professed and public prostitute; that, bravos + excepted, no man was to wear a gold ring, nor be seen in one of those + effeminate robes woven in the city of Miletus. By which infamous + exceptions he discreetly diverted his citizens from superfluities and + pernicious pleasures, and it was a project of great utility to attract + then by honour and ambition to their duty and obedience. + </p> + <p> + Our kings can do what they please in such external reformations; their own + inclination stands in this case for a law: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quicquid principes faciunt, praecipere videntur.” + + [“What princes themselves do, they seem to prescribe.” + —Quintil., Declam., 3.] +</pre> + <p> + Whatever is done at court passes for a rule through the rest of France. + Let the courtiers fall out with these abominable breeches, that discover + so much of those parts should be concealed; these great bellied doublets, + that make us look like I know not what, and are so unfit to admit of arms; + these long effeminate locks of hair; this foolish custom of kissing what + we present to our equals, and our hands in saluting them, a ceremony in + former times only due to princes. Let them not permit that a gentleman + shall appear in place of respect without his sword, unbuttoned and + untrussed, as though he came from the house of office; and that, contrary + to the custom of our forefathers and the particular privilege of the + nobles of this kingdom, we stand a long time bare to them in what place + soever, and the same to a hundred others, so many tiercelets and + quartelets of kings we have got nowadays and other like vicious + innovations: they will see them all presently vanish and cried down. These + are, ‘tis true, but superficial errors; but they are of ill augury, + and enough to inform us that the whole fabric is crazy and tottering, when + we see the roughcast of our walls to cleave and split. + </p> + <p> + Plato in his Laws esteems nothing of more pestiferous consequence to his + city than to give young men the liberty of introducing any change in their + habits, gestures, dances, songs, and exercises, from one form to another; + shifting from this to that, hunting after novelties, and applauding the + inventors; by which means manners are corrupted and the old institutions + come to be nauseated and despised. In all things, saving only in those + that are evil, a change is to be feared; even the change of seasons, + winds, viands, and humours. And no laws are in their true credit, but such + to which God has given so long a continuance that no one knows their + beginning, or that there ever was any other. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0044" id="link2HCH0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLIV——OF SLEEP + </h2> + <p> + Reason directs that we should always go the same way, but not always at + the same pace. And, consequently, though a wise man ought not so much to + give the reins to human passions as to let him deviate from the right + path, he may, notwithstanding, without prejudice to his duty, leave it to + them to hasten or to slacken his speed, and not fix himself like a + motionless and insensible Colossus. Could virtue itself put on flesh and + blood, I believe the pulse would beat faster going on to assault than in + going to dinner: that is to say, there is a necessity she should heat and + be moved upon this account. I have taken notice, as of an extraordinary + thing, of some great men, who in the highest enterprises and most + important affairs have kept themselves in so settled and serene a calm, as + not at all to break their sleep. Alexander the Great, on the day assigned + for that furious battle betwixt him and Darius, slept so profoundly and so + long in the morning, that Parmenio was forced to enter his chamber, and + coming to his bedside, to call him several times by his name, the time to + go to fight compelling him so to do. The Emperor Otho, having put on a + resolution to kill himself that night, after having settled his domestic + affairs, divided his money amongst his servants, and set a good edge upon + a sword he had made choice of for the purpose, and now staying only to be + satisfied whether all his friends had retired in safety, he fell into so + sound a sleep that the gentlemen of his chamber heard him snore. The death + of this emperor has in it circumstances paralleling that of the great + Cato, and particularly this just related for Cato being ready to despatch + himself, whilst he only stayed his hand in expectation of the return of a + messenger he had sent to bring him news whether the senators he had sent + away were put out from the Port of Utica, he fell into so sound a sleep, + that they heard him snore in the next room; and the man, whom he had sent + to the port, having awakened him to let him know that the tempestuous + weather had hindered the senators from putting to sea, he despatched away + another messenger, and composing again himself in the bed, settled to + sleep, and slept till by the return of the last messenger he had certain + intelligence they were gone. We may here further compare him with + Alexander in the great and dangerous storm that threatened him by the + sedition of the tribune Metellus, who, attempting to publish a decree for + the calling in of Pompey with his army into the city at the time of + Catiline’s conspiracy, was only and that stoutly opposed by Cato, so + that very sharp language and bitter menaces passed betwixt them in the + senate about that affair; but it was the next day, in the forenoon, that + the controversy was to be decided, where Metellus, besides the favour of + the people and of Caesar—at that time of Pompey’s faction—was + to appear accompanied with a rabble of slaves and gladiators; and Cato + only fortified with his own courage and constancy; so that his relations, + domestics, and many virtuous people of his friends were in great + apprehensions for him; and to that degree, that some there were who passed + over the whole night without sleep, eating, or drinking, for the danger + they saw him running into; his wife and sisters did nothing but weep and + torment themselves in his house; whereas, he, on the contrary, comforted + every one, and after having supped after his usual manner, went to bed, + and slept profoundly till morning, when one of his fellow-tribunes roused + him to go to the encounter. The knowledge we have of the greatness of this + man’s courage by the rest of his life, may warrant us certainly to + judge that his indifference proceeded from a soul so much elevated above + such accidents, that he disdained to let it take any more hold of his + fancy than any ordinary incident. + </p> + <p> + In the naval engagement that Augustus won of Sextus Pompeius in Sicily, + just as they were to begin the fight, he was so fast asleep that his + friends were compelled to wake him to give the signal of battle: and this + was it that gave Mark Antony afterwards occasion to reproach him that he + had not the courage so much as with open eyes to behold the order of his + own squadrons, and not to have dared to present himself before the + soldiers, till first Agrippa had brought him news of the victory obtained. + But as to the young Marius, who did much worse (for the day of his last + battle against Sylla, after he had marshalled his army and given the word + and signal of battle, he laid him down under the shade of a tree to repose + himself, and fell so fast asleep that the rout and flight of his men could + hardly waken him, he having seen nothing of the fight), he is said to have + been at that time so extremely spent and worn out with labour and want of + sleep, that nature could hold out no longer. Now, upon what has been said, + the physicians may determine whether sleep be so necessary that our lives + depend upon it: for we read that King Perseus of Macedon, being prisoner + at Rome, was killed by being kept from sleep; but Pliny instances such as + have lived long without sleep. Herodotus speaks of nations where the men + sleep and wake by half-years, and they who write the life of the sage + Epimenides affirm that he slept seven-and-fifty years together. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0045" id="link2HCH0045"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLV——OF THE BATTLE OF DREUX + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [December 19, 1562, in which the Catholics, under the command of the + Duc de Guise and the Constable de Montmorenci, defeated the + Protestants, commanded by the Prince de Conde. See Sismondi, Hist. + des Francais, vol. xviii., p. 354.] +</pre> + <p> + Our battle of Dreux is remarkable for several extraordinary incidents; but + such as have no great kindness for M. de Guise, nor much favour his + reputation, are willing to have him thought to blame, and that his making + a halt and delaying time with the forces he commanded, whilst the + Constable, who was general of the army, was racked through and through + with the enemy’s artillery, his battalion routed, and himself taken + prisoner, is not to be excused; and that he had much better have run the + hazard of charging the enemy in flank, than staying for the advantage of + falling in upon the rear, to suffer so great and so important a loss. But, + besides what the event demonstrated, he who will consider it without + passion or prejudice will easily be induced to confess that the aim and + design, not of a captain only, but of every private soldier, ought to + regard the victory in general, and that no particular occurrences, how + nearly soever they may concern his own interest, should divert him from + that pursuit. Philopoemen, in an encounter with Machanidas, having sent + before a good strong party of his archers and slingers to begin the + skirmish, and these being routed and hotly pursued by the enemy, who, + pushing on the fortune of their arms, and in that pursuit passing by the + battalion where Philopoemen was, though his soldiers were impatient to + fall on, he did not think fit to stir from his post nor to present himself + to the enemy to relieve his men, but having suffered these to be chased + and cut in pieces before his face, charged in upon the enemy’s foot + when he saw them left unprotected by the horse, and notwithstanding that + they were Lacedaemonians, yet taking them in the nick, when thinking + themselves secure of the victory, they began to disorder their ranks; he + did this business with great facility, and then put himself in pursuit of + Machanidas. Which case is very like that of Monsieur de Guise. + </p> + <p> + In that bloody battle betwixt Agesilaus and the Boeotians, which Xenophon, + who was present at it, reports to be the sharpest that he had ever seen, + Agesilaus waived the advantage that fortune presented him, to let the + Boeotian battalions pass by and then to charge them in the rear, how + certain soever he might make himself of the victory, judging it would + rather be an effect of conduct than valour, to proceed that way; and + therefore, to show his prowess, rather chose with a marvellous ardour of + courage to charge them in the front; but he was well beaten and well + wounded for his pains, and constrained at last to disengage himself, and + to take the course he had at first neglected; opening his battalion to + give way to this torrent of Boeotians, and they being passed by, taking + notice that they marched in disorder, like men who thought themselves out + of danger, he pursued and charged them in flank; yet could not so prevail + as to bring it to so general a rout but that they leisurely retreated, + still facing about upon him till they had retired to safety. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0046" id="link2HCH0046"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLVI——OF NAMES + </h2> + <p> + What variety of herbs soever are shufed together in the dish, yet the + whole mass is swallowed up under one name of a sallet. In like manner, + under the consideration of names, I will make a hodge-podge of divers + articles. + </p> + <p> + Every nation has certain names, that, I know not why, are taken in no good + sense, as with us, John, William, Benedict. In the genealogy of princes, + also, there seem to be certain names fatally affected, as the Ptolemies of + Egypt, the Henries in England, the Charleses in France, the Baldwins in + Flanders, and the Williams of our ancient Aquitaine, from whence, ‘tis + said, the name of Guyenne has its derivation; which would seem far fetched + were there not as crude derivations in Plato himself. + </p> + <p> + Item, ‘tis a frivolous thing in itself, but nevertheless worthy to + be recorded for the strangeness of it, that is written by an eyewitness, + that Henry, Duke of Normandy, son of Henry II., king of England, making a + great feast in France, the concourse of nobility and gentry was so great, + that being, for sport’s sake, divided into troops, according to + their names, in the first troop, which consisted of Williams, there were + found an hundred and ten knights sitting at the table of that name, + without reckoning the ordinary gentlemen and servants. + </p> + <p> + It is as pleasant to distinguish the tables by the names of the guests as + it was in the Emperor Geta to distinguish the several courses of his meat + by the first letters of the meats themselves; so that those that began + with B were served up together, as brawn, beef, bream, bustards, + becca-ficos; and so of the others. Item, there is a saying that it is a + good thing to have a good name, that is to say, credit and a good repute; + but besides this, it is really convenient to have a well-sounding name, + such as is easy of pronunciation and easy to be remembered, by reason that + kings and other great persons do by that means the more easily know and + the more hardly forget us; and indeed of our own servants we more + frequently call and employ those whose names are most ready upon the + tongue. I myself have seen Henry II., when he could not for his heart hit + of a gentleman’s name of our country of Gascony, and moreover was + fain to call one of the queen’s maids of honour by the general name + of her race, her own family name being so difficult to pronounce or + remember; and Socrates thinks it worthy a father’s care to give fine + names to his children. + </p> + <p> + Item, ‘tis said that the foundation of Notre Dame la Grande at + Poitiers took its original from hence that a debauched young fellow + formerly living in that place, having got to him a wench, and, at her + first coming in, asking her name, and being answered that it was Mary, he + felt himself so suddenly pierced through with the awe of religion and the + reverence to that sacred name of the Blessed Virgin, that he not only + immediately sent the girl away, but became a reformed man and so continued + the remainder of his life; and that, in consideration of this miracle, + there was erected upon the place where this young man’s house stood, + first a chapel dedicated to our Lady and afterwards the church that we now + see standing there. This vocal and auricular reproof wrought upon the + conscience, and that right into the soul; this that follows, insinuated + itself merely by the senses. Pythagoras being in company with some wild + young fellows, and perceiving that, heated with the feast, they comploted + to go violate an honest house, commanded the singing wench to alter her + wanton airs; and by a solemn, grave, and spondaic music, gently enchanted + and laid asleep their ardour. + </p> + <p> + Item, will not posterity say that our modern reformation has been + wonderfully delicate and exact, in having not only combated errors and + vices, and filled the world with devotion, humility, obedience, peace, and + all sorts of virtue; but in having proceeded so far as to quarrel with our + ancient baptismal names of Charles, Louis, Francis, to fill the world with + Methuselahs, Ezekiels, and Malachis, names of a more spiritual sound? A + gentleman, a neighbour of mine, a great admirer of antiquity, and who was + always extolling the excellences of former times in comparison with this + present age of ours, did not, amongst the rest, forget to dwell upon the + lofty and magnificent sound of the gentleman’s names of those days, + Don Grumedan, Quedregan, Agesilan, which, but to hear named he conceived + to denote other kind of men than Pierre, Guillot, and Michel. + </p> + <p> + Item, I am mightily pleased with Jacques Amyot for leaving, throughout a + whole French oration, the Latin names entire, without varying and garbling + them to give them a French cadence. It seemed a little harsh and rough at + first; but already custom, by the authority of his Plutarch, has overcome + that novelty. I have often wished that such as write histories in Latin + would leave our names as they find them and as they are; for in making + Vaudemont into Vallemontanus, and metamorphosing names to make them suit + better with the Greek or Latin, we know not where we are, and with the + persons of the men lose the benefit of the story. + </p> + <p> + To conclude, ‘tis a scurvy custom and of very ill consequence that + we have in our kingdom of France to call every one by the name of his + manor or seigneury; ‘tis the thing in the world that the most + prejudices and confounds families and descents. A younger brother of a + good family, having a manor left him by his father, by the name of which + he has been known and honoured, cannot handsomely leave it; ten years + after his decease it falls into the hand of a stranger, who does the same: + do but judge whereabouts we shall be concerning the knowledge of these + men. We need look no further for examples than our own royal family, where + every partition creates a new surname, whilst, in the meantime, the + original of the family is totally lost. There is so great liberty taken in + these mutations, that I have not in my time seen any one advanced by + fortune to any extraordinary condition who has not presently had + genealogical titles added to him, new and unknown to his father, and who + has not been inoculated into some illustrious stem by good luck; and the + obscurest families are the most apt for falsification. How many gentlemen + have we in France who by their own account are of royal extraction? more, + I think, than who will confess they are not. Was it not a pleasant passage + of a friend of mine? There were, several gentlemen assembled together + about the dispute of one seigneur with another; which other had, in truth, + some preeminence of titles and alliances above the ordinary gentry. Upon + the debate of this prerogative, every one, to make himself equal to him, + alleged, this one extraction, that another; this, the near resemblance of + name, that, of arms; another, an old worm-eaten patent; the very least of + them was great-grandchild to some foreign king. When they came to sit + down, to dinner, my friend, instead of taking his place amongst them, + retiring with most profound conges, entreated the company to excuse him + for having hitherto lived with them at the saucy rate of a companion; but + being now better informed of their quality, he would begin to pay them the + respect due to their birth and grandeur, and that it would ill become him + to sit down among so many princes—ending this farce with a thousand + reproaches: “Let us, in God’s name, satisfy ourselves with + what our fathers were contented with, with what we are. We are great + enough, if we rightly understand how to maintain it. Let us not disown the + fortune and condition of our ancestors, and let us lay aside these + ridiculous pretences, that can never be wanting to any one that has the + impudence to allege them.” + </p> + <p> + Arms have no more security than surnames. I bear azure powdered with + trefoils or, with a lion’s paw of the same armed gules in fesse. + What privilege has this to continue particularly in my house? A son-in-law + will transport it into another family, or some paltry purchaser will make + them his first arms. There is nothing wherein there is more change and + confusion. + </p> + <p> + But this consideration leads me, perforce, into another subject. Let us + pry a little narrowly into, and, in God’s name, examine upon what + foundation we erect this glory and reputation for which the world is + turned topsy-turvy: wherein do we place this renown that we hunt after + with so much pains? It is, in the end, Peter or William that carries it, + takes it into his possession, and whom it only concerns. O what a valiant + faculty is hope, that in a mortal subject, and in a moment, makes nothing + of usurping infinity, immensity, eternity, and of supplying its master’s + indigence, at its pleasure, with all things he can imagine or desire! + Nature has given us this passion for a pretty toy to play withal. And this + Peter or William, what is it but a sound, when all is done? or three or + four dashes with a pen, so easy to be varied that I would fain know to + whom is to be attributed the glory of so many victories, to Guesquin, to + Glesquin, or to Gueaquin? and yet there would be something of greater + moment in the case than in Lucian, that Sigma should serve Tau with a + process; for + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non levia aut ludicra petuntur + Praemia;” + + [“They aim at no slight or jocular rewards.”—AEneid, xii. 764.] +</pre> + <p> + the chase is there in very good earnest: the question is, which of these + letters is to be rewarded for so many sieges, battles, wounds, + imprisonments, and services done to the crown of France by this famous + constable? Nicholas Denisot—[Painter and poet, born at Le Mans,1515.]— + never concerned himself further than the letters of his name, of which he + has altered the whole contexture to build up by anagram the Count d’Alsinois, + whom he has handsomely endowed with the glory of his poetry and painting. + The historian Suetonius was satisfied with only the meaning of his name, + which made him cashier his father’s surname, Lenis, to leave + Tranquillus successor to the reputation of his writings. Who would believe + that Captain Bayard should have no honour but what he derives from the + deeds of Peter Terrail; and that Antonio Iscalin should suffer himself to + his face to be robbed of the honour of so many navigations and commands at + sea and land by Captain Paulin and the Baron de la Garde? Secondly, these + are dashes of the pen common to a thousand people. How many are there, in + every family, of the same name and surname? and how many more in several + families, ages, and countries? History tells us of three of the name of + Socrates, of five Platos, of eight Aristotles, of seven Xenophons, of + twenty Demetrii, and of twenty Theodores; and how many more she was not + acquainted with we may imagine. Who hinders my groom from calling himself + Pompey the Great? But after all, what virtue, what authority, or what + secret springs are there that fix upon my deceased groom, or the other + Pompey, who had his head cut off in Egypt, this glorious renown, and these + so much honoured flourishes of the pen, so as to be of any advantage to + them? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Id cinerem et manes credis curare sepultos?” + + [“Do you believe the dead regard such things?”—AEneid, iv. 34.] +</pre> + <p> + What sense have the two companions in greatest esteem amongst me, + Epaminondas, of this fine verse that has been so many ages current in his + praise, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Consiliis nostris laus est attrita Laconum;” + + [“The glory of the Spartans is extinguished by my plans. + —“Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., v. 17.] +</pre> + <p> + or Africanus, of this other, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “A sole exoriente supra Maeotis Paludes + Nemo est qui factis me aequiparare queat.” + + [“From where the sun rises over the Palus Maeotis, to where it sets, + there is no one whose acts can compare with mine”—Idem, ibid.] +</pre> + <p> + Survivors indeed tickle themselves with these fine phrases, and by them + incited to jealousy and desire, inconsiderately and according to their own + fancy, attribute to the dead this their own feeling, vainly flattering + themselves that they shall one day in turn be capable of the same + character. However: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ad haec se + Romanus Graiusque, et Barbaras induperator + Erexit; caucus discriminis atque laboris + Inde habuit: tanto major famae sitis est, quam + Virtutis.” + + [“For these the Roman, the Greek, and the Barbarian commander hath + aroused himself; he has incurred thence causes of danger and toil: + so much greater is the thirst for fame than for virtue.” + —Juvenal, x. 137.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0047" id="link2HCH0047"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLVII——OF THE UNCERTAINTY OF OUR JUDGMENT + </h2> + <h3> + Well says this verse: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“There is everywhere much liberty of speech.”—Iliad, xx. 249.] +</pre> + <p> + For example: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Hannibal conquered, but knew not how to make the best use of his + victorious venture.”—Petrarch, Son., 83.] +</pre> + <p> + Such as would improve this argument, and condemn the oversight of our + leaders in not pushing home the victory at Moncontour, or accuse the King + of Spain of not knowing how to make the best use of the advantage he had + against us at St. Quentin, may conclude these oversights to proceed from a + soul already drunk with success, or from a spirit which, being full and + overgorged with this beginning of good fortune, had lost the appetite of + adding to it, already having enough to do to digest what it had taken in: + he has his arms full, and can embrace no more: unworthy of the benefit + fortune has conferred upon him and the advantage she had put into his + hands: for what utility does he reap from it, if, notwithstanding, he give + his enemy respite to rally and make head against him? What hope is there + that he will dare at another time to attack an enemy reunited and + recomposed, and armed anew with anger and revenge, who did not dare to + pursue them when routed and unmanned by fear? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum fortuna calet, dum conficit omnia terror.” + + [“Whilst fortune is fresh, and terror finishes all.” + —Lucan, vii. 734.] +</pre> + <p> + But withal, what better opportunity can he expect than that he has lost? + ‘Tis not here, as in fencing, where the most hits gain the prize; + for so long as the enemy is on foot, the game is new to begin, and that is + not to be called a victory that puts not an end to the war. In the + encounter where Caesar had the worst, near the city of Oricum, he + reproached Pompey’s soldiers that he had been lost had their general + known how to overcome; and afterwards clawed him in a very different + fashion when it came to his turn. + </p> + <p> + But why may not a man also argue, on the contrary, that it is the effect + of a precipitous and insatiate spirit not to know how to bound and + restrain its coveting; that it is to abuse the favours of God to exceed + the measure He has prescribed them: and that again to throw a man’s + self into danger after a victory obtained is again to expose himself to + the mercy of fortune: that it is one of the greatest discretions in the + rule of war not to drive an enemy to despair? Sylla and Marius in the + social war, having defeated the Marsians, seeing yet a body of reserve + that, prompted by despair, was coming on like enraged brutes to dash in + upon them, thought it not convenient to stand their charge. Had not + Monsieur de Foix’s ardour transported him so furiously to pursue the + remains of the victory of Ravenna, he had not obscured it by his own + death. And yet the recent memory of his example served to preserve + Monsieur d’Anguien from the same misfortune at the battle of + Serisoles. ‘Tis dangerous to attack a man you have deprived of all + means to escape but by his arms, for necessity teaches violent + resolutions: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Gravissimi sunt morsus irritatae necessitatis.” + + [“Irritated necessity bites deepest.”—Portius Latro., Declam.] + + “Vincitur haud gratis, jugulo qui provocat hostem.” + + [“He is not readily beaten who provokes the enemy by shewing + his throat.”—or: “He who presents himself to his foe, sells his + life dear.”—Lucan, iv. 275.] +</pre> + <p> + This was it that made Pharax withhold the King of Lacedaemon, who had won + a battle against the Mantineans, from going to charge a thousand Argians, + who had escaped in an entire body from the defeat, but rather let them + steal off at liberty that he might not encounter valour whetted and + enraged by mischance. Clodomir, king of Aquitaine, after his victory + pursuing Gondemar, king of Burgundy, beaten and making off as fast as he + could for safety, compelled him to face about and make head, wherein his + obstinacy deprived him of the fruit of his conquest, for he there lost his + life. + </p> + <p> + In like manner, if a man were to choose whether he would have his soldiers + richly and sumptuously accoutred or armed only for the necessity of the + matter in hand, this argument would step in to favour the first, of which + opinion was Sertorius, Philopcemen, Brutus, Caesar, and others, that it is + to a soldier an enflaming of courage and a spur himself in brave attire; + and withal a motive to be more obstinate in fight, having his arms, which + are in a manner his estate and whole inheritance to defend; which is the + reason, says Xenophon, why those of Asia carried their wives and + concubines, with their choicest jewels and greatest wealth, along with + them to the wars. But then these arguments would be as ready to stand up + for the other side; that a general ought rather to lessen in his men their + solicitude of preserving themselves than to increase it; that by such + means they will be in a double fear of hazarding their persons, as it will + be a double temptation to the enemy to fight with greater resolution where + so great booty and so rich spoils are to be obtained; and this very thing + has been observed in former times, notably to encourage the Romans against + the Samnites. Antiochus, shewing Hannibal the army he had raised, + wonderfully splendid and rich in all sorts of equipage, asked him if the + Romans would be satisfied with that army? “Satisfied,” replied + the other, “yes, doubtless, were their avarice never so great.” + Lycurgus not only forbad his soldiers all manner of bravery in their + equipage, but, moreover, to strip their conquered enemies, because he + would, as he said, that poverty and frugality should shine with the rest + of the battle. + </p> + <p> + At sieges and elsewhere, where occasion draws us near to the enemy, we + willingly suffer our men to brave, rate, and affront him with all sorts of + injurious language; and not without some colour of reason: for it is of no + little consequence to take from them all hopes of mercy and composition, + by representing to them that there is no fair quarter to be expected from + an enemy they have incensed to that degree, nor other remedy remaining but + in victory. And yet Vitellius found himself deceived in this way of + proceeding; for having to do with Otho, weaker in the valour of his + soldiers, long unaccustomed to war and effeminated with the delights of + the city, he so nettled them at last with injurious language, reproaching + them with cowardice and regret for the mistresses and entertainments they + had left behind at Rome, that by this means he inspired them with such + resolution as no exhortation had had the power to have done, and himself + made them fall upon him, with whom their own captains before could by no + means prevail. And, indeed, when they are injuries that touch to the + quick, it may very well fall out that he who went but unwillingly to work + in the behalf of his prince will fall to’t with another sort of + mettle when the quarrel is his own. + </p> + <p> + Considering of how great importance is the preservation of the general of + an army, and that the universal aim of an enemy is levelled directly at + the head, upon which all the others depend, the course seems to admit of + no dispute, which we know has been taken by so many great captains, of + changing their habit and disguising their persons upon the point of going + to engage. Nevertheless, the inconvenience a man by so doing runs into is + not less than that he thinks to avoid; for the captain, by this means + being concealed from the knowledge of his own men, the courage they should + derive from his presence and example happens by degrees to cool and to + decay; and not seeing the wonted marks and ensigns of their leader, they + presently conclude him either dead, or that, despairing of the business, + he is gone to shift for himself. And experience shows us that both these + ways have been successful and otherwise. What befell Pyrrhus in the battle + he fought against the Consul Levinus in Italy will serve us to both + purposes; for though by shrouding his person under the armour of Megacles + and making him wear his own, he undoubtedly preserved his own life, yet, + by that very means, he was withal very near running into the other + mischief of losing the battle. Alexander, Caesar, and Lucullus loved to + make themselves known in a battle by rich accoutrements and armour of a + particular lustre and colour: Agis, Agesilaus, and that great Gilippus, on + the contrary, used to fight obscurely armed, and without any imperial + attendance or distinction. + </p> + <p> + Amongst other oversights Pompey is charged withal at the battle of + Pharsalia, he is condemned for making his army stand still to receive the + enemy’s charge; by “reason that” (I shall here steal + Plutarch’s own words, which are better than mine) “he by so + doing deprived himself of the violent impression the motion of running + adds to the first shock of arms, and hindered that clashing of the + combatants against one another which is wont to give them greater + impetuosity and fury; especially when they come to rush in with their + utmost vigour, their courages increasing by the shouts and the career; + ‘tis to render the soldiers’ ardour, as a man may say, more + reserved and cold.” This is what he says. But if Caesar had come by + the worse, why might it not as well have been urged by another, that, on + the contrary, the strongest and most steady posture of fighting is that + wherein a man stands planted firm without motion; and that they who are + steady upon the march, closing up, and reserving their force within + themselves for the push of the business, have a great advantage against + those who are disordered, and who have already spent half their breath in + running on precipitately to the charge? Besides that an army is a body + made up of so many individual members, it is impossible for it to move in + this fury with so exact a motion as not to break the order of battle, and + that the best of them are not engaged before their fellows can come on to + help them. In that unnatural battle betwixt the two Persian brothers, the + Lacedaemonian Clearchus, who commanded the Greeks of Cyrus’ party, + led them on softly and without precipitation to the charge; but, coming + within fifty paces, hurried them on full speed, hoping in so short a + career both to keep their order and to husband their breath, and at the + same time to give the advantage of impetuosity and impression both to + their persons and their missile arms. Others have regulated this question + as to their armies thus if your enemy come full drive upon you, stand firm + to receive him; if he stand to receive you, run full drive upon him. + </p> + <p> + In the expedition of the Emperor Charles V. into Provence, King Francis + was put to choose either to go meet him in Italy or to await him in his + own dominions; wherein, though he very well considered of how great + advantage it was to preserve his own territory entire and clear from the + troubles of war, to the end that, being unexhausted of its stores, it + might continually supply men and money at need; that the necessity of war + requires at every turn to spoil and lay waste the country before us, which + cannot very well be done upon one’s own; to which may be added, that + the country people do not so easily digest such a havoc by those of their + own party as from an enemy, so that seditions and commotions might by such + means be kindled amongst us; that the licence of pillage and plunder + (which are not to be tolerated at home) is a great ease and refreshment + against the fatigues and sufferings of war; and that he who has no other + prospect of gain than his bare pay will hardly be kept from running home, + being but two steps from his wife and his own house; that he who lays the + cloth is ever at the charge of the feast; that there is more alacrity in + assaulting than defending; and that the shock of a battle’s loss in + our own bowels is so violent as to endanger the disjointing of the whole + body, there being no passion so contagious as that of fear, that is so + easily believed, or that so suddenly diffuses itself; and that the cities + that should hear the rattle of this tempest at their gates, that should + take in their captains and soldiers yet trembling and out of breath, would + be in danger in this heat and hurry to precipitate themselves upon some + untoward resolution: notwithstanding all this, so it was that he chose to + recall the forces he had beyond the mountains and to suffer the enemy to + come to him. For he might, on the other hand, imagine that, being at home + and amongst his friends, he could not fail of plenty of all manner of + conveniences; the rivers and passes he had at his devotion would bring him + in both provisions and money in all security, and without the trouble of + convoy; that he should find his subjects by so much the more affectionate + to him, by how much their danger was more near and pressing; that having + so many cities and barriers to secure him, it would be in his power to + give the law of battle at his own opportunity and advantage; and that, if + it pleased him to delay the time, under cover and at his ease he might see + his enemy founder and defeat himself with the difficulties he was certain + to encounter, being engaged in a hostile country, where before, behind, + and on every side war would be made upon him; no means to refresh himself + or to enlarge his quarters, should diseases infest them, or to lodge his + wounded men in safety; no money, no victuals, but at the point of the + lance; no leisure to repose and take breath; no knowledge of the ways or + country to secure him from ambushes and surprises; and in case of losing a + battle, no possible means of saving the remains. Neither is there want of + example in both these cases. + </p> + <p> + Scipio thought it much better to go and attack his enemy’s + territories in Africa than to stay at home to defend his own and to fight + him in Italy, and it succeeded well with him. But, on the contrary, + Hannibal in the same war ruined himself by abandoning the conquest of a + foreign country to go and defend his own. The Athenians having left the + enemy in their own dominions to go over into Sicily, were not favoured by + fortune in their design; but Agathocles, king of Syracuse, found her + favourable to him when he went over into Africa and left the war at home. + </p> + <p> + By which examples we are wont to conclude, and with some reason, that + events, especially in war, for the most part depend upon fortune, who will + not be governed by nor submit unto human reasons and prudence, according + to the poet: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et male consultis pretium est: prudentia fallit + Nec fortune probat causas, sequiturque merentes, + Sed vaga per cunctos nullo discrimine fertur. + Scilicet est aliud, quod nos cogatque regatque + Majus, et in proprias ducat mortalia leges.” + + [“And there is value in ill counsel: prudence deceives: nor does + fortune inquire into causes, nor aid the most deserving, but turns + hither and thither without discrimination. Indeed there is a + greater power which directs and rules us, and brings mortal affairs + under its own laws.”—Manilius, iv. 95.] +</pre> + <p> + But, to take the thing right, it should seem that our counsels and + deliberations depend as much upon fortune as anything else we do, and that + she engages also our arguments in her uncertainty and confusion. “We + argue rashly and adventurously,” says Timaeus in Plato, “by + reason that, as well as ourselves, our discourses have great participation + in the temerity of chance.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0048" id="link2HCH0048"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLVIII——OF WAR HORSES, OR DESTRIERS + </h2> + <p> + I here have become a grammarian, I who never learned any language but by + rote, and who do not yet know adjective, conjunction, or ablative. I think + I have read that the Romans had a sort of horses by them called ‘funales’ + or ‘dextrarios’, which were either led horses, or horses laid + on at several stages to be taken fresh upon occasion, and thence it is + that we call our horses of service ‘destriers’; and our + romances commonly use the phrase of ‘adestrer’ for ‘accompagner’, + to accompany. They also called those that were trained in such sort, that + running full speed, side by side, without bridle or saddle, the Roman + gentlemen, armed at all pieces, would shift and throw themselves from one + to the other, ‘desultorios equos’. The Numidian men-at-arms + had always a led horse in one hand, besides that they rode upon, to change + in the heat of battle: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quibus, desultorum in modum, binos trahentibus equos, inter + acerrimam saepe pugnam, in recentem equum, ex fesso, armatis + transultare mos erat: tanta velocitas ipsis, tamque docile + equorum genus.” + + [“To whom it was a custom, leading along two horses, often in the + hottest fight, to leap armed from a tired horse to a fresh one; so + active were the men, and the horses so docile.”—Livy, xxiii. 29.] +</pre> + <p> + There are many horses trained to help their riders so as to run upon any + one, that appears with a drawn sword, to fall both with mouth and heels + upon any that front or oppose them: but it often happens that they do more + harm to their friends than to their enemies; and, moreover, you cannot + loose them from their hold, to reduce them again into order, when they are + once engaged and grappled, by which means you remain at the mercy of their + quarrel. It happened very ill to Artybius, general of the Persian army, + fighting, man to man, with Onesilus, king of Salamis, to be mounted upon a + horse trained after this manner, it being the occasion of his death, the + squire of Onesilus cleaving the horse down with a scythe betwixt the + shoulders as it was reared up upon his master. And what the Italians + report, that in the battle of Fornova, the horse of Charles VIII., with + kicks and plunges, disengaged his master from the enemy that pressed upon + him, without which he had been slain, sounds like a very great chance, if + it be true. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [In the narrative which Philip de Commines has given of this battle, + in which he himself was present (lib. viii. ch. 6), he tells us + of wonderful performances by the horse on which the king was + mounted. The name of the horse was Savoy, and it was the most + beautiful horse he had ever seen. During the battle the king was + personally attacked, when he had nobody near him but a valet de + chambre, a little fellow, and not well armed. “The king,” says + Commines, “had the best horse under him in the world, and therefore + he stood his ground bravely, till a number of his men, not a great + way from him, arrived at the critical minute.”] +</pre> + <p> + The Mamalukes make their boast that they have the most ready horses of any + cavalry in the world; that by nature and custom they were taught to know + and distinguish the enemy, and to fall foul upon them with mouth and + heels, according to a word or sign given; as also to gather up with their + teeth darts and lances scattered upon the field, and present them to their + riders, on the word of command. ‘T is said, both of Caesar and + Pompey, that amongst their other excellent qualities they were both very + good horsemen, and particularly of Caesar, that in his youth, being + mounted on the bare back, without saddle or bridle, he could make the + horse run, stop, and turn, and perform all its airs, with his hands behind + him. As nature designed to make of this person, and of Alexander, two + miracles of military art, so one would say she had done her utmost to arm + them after an extraordinary manner for every one knows that Alexander’s + horse, Bucephalus, had a head inclining to the shape of a bull; that he + would suffer himself to be mounted and governed by none but his master, + and that he was so honoured after his death as to have a city erected to + his name. Caesar had also one which had forefeet like those of a man, his + hoofs being divided in the form of fingers, which likewise was not to be + ridden, by any but Caesar himself, who, after his death, dedicated his + statue to the goddess Venus. + </p> + <p> + I do not willingly alight when I am once on horseback, for it is the place + where, whether well or sick, I find myself most at ease. Plato recommends + it for health, as also Pliny says it is good for the stomach and the + joints. Let us go further into this matter since here we are. + </p> + <p> + We read in Xenophon a law forbidding any one who was master of a horse to + travel on foot. Trogus Pompeius and Justin say that the Parthians were + wont to perform all offices and ceremonies, not only in war but also all + affairs whether public or private, make bargains, confer, entertain, take + the air, and all on horseback; and that the greatest distinction betwixt + freemen and slaves amongst them was that the one rode on horseback and the + other went on foot, an institution of which King Cyrus was the founder. + </p> + <p> + There are several examples in the Roman history (and Suetonius more + particularly observes it of Caesar) of captains who, on pressing + occasions, commanded their cavalry to alight, both by that means to take + from them all hopes of flight, as also for the advantage they hoped in + this sort of fight. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quo baud dubie superat Romanus,” + + [“Wherein the Roman does questionless excel.”—Livy, ix. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + says Livy. And so the first thing they did to prevent the mutinies and + insurrections of nations of late conquest was to take from them their arms + and horses, and therefore it is that we so often meet in Caesar: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Arma proferri, jumenta produci, obsides dari jubet.” + + [“He commanded the arms to be produced, the horses brought out, + hostages to be given.”—De Bello Gall., vii. II.] +</pre> + <p> + The Grand Signior to this day suffers not a Christian or a Jew to keep a + horse of his own throughout his empire. + </p> + <p> + Our ancestors, and especially at the time they had war with the English, + in all their greatest engagements and pitched battles fought for the most + part on foot, that they might have nothing but their own force, courage, + and constancy to trust to in a quarrel of so great concern as life and + honour. You stake (whatever Chrysanthes in Xenophon says to the contrary) + your valour and your fortune upon that of your horse; his wounds or death + bring your person into the same danger; his fear or fury shall make you + reputed rash or cowardly; if he have an ill mouth or will not answer to + the spur, your honour must answer for it. And, therefore, I do not think + it strange that those battles were more firm and furious than those that + are fought on horseback: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Caedebant pariter, pariterque ruebant + Victores victique; neque his fuga nota, neque illis.” + + [“They fought and fell pell-mell, victors and vanquished; nor was + flight thought of by either.”—AEneid, x. 756.] +</pre> + <p> + Their battles were much better disputed. Nowadays there are nothing but + routs: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Primus clamor atque impetus rem decernit.” + + [“The first shout and charge decides the business.”—Livy, xxv. 41.] +</pre> + <p> + And the means we choose to make use of in so great a hazard should be as + much as possible at our own command: wherefore I should advise to choose + weapons of the shortest sort, and such of which we are able to give the + best account. A man may repose more confidence in a sword he holds in his + hand than in a bullet he discharges out of a pistol, wherein there must be + a concurrence of several circumstances to make it perform its office, the + powder, the stone, and the wheel: if any of which fail it endangers your + fortune. A man himself strikes much surer than the air can direct his + blow: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et, quo ferre velint, permittere vulnera ventis + Ensis habet vires; et gens quaecumque virorum est, + Bella gerit gladiis.” + + [“And so where they choose to carry [the arrows], the winds allow + the wounds; the sword has strength of arm: and whatever nation of + men there is, they wage war with swords.”—Lucan, viii. 384.] +</pre> + <p> + But of that weapon I shall speak more fully when I come to compare the + arms of the ancients with those of modern use; only, by the way, the + astonishment of the ear abated, which every one grows familiar with in a + short time, I look upon it as a weapon of very little execution, and hope + we shall one day lay it aside. That missile weapon which the Italians + formerly made use of both with fire and by sling was much more terrible: + they called a certain kind of javelin, armed at the point with an iron + three feet long, that it might pierce through and through an armed man, + Phalarica, which they sometimes in the field darted by hand, sometimes + from several sorts of engines for the defence of beleaguered places; the + shaft being rolled round with flax, wax, rosin, oil, and other combustible + matter, took fire in its flight, and lighting upon the body of a man or + his target, took away all the use of arms and limbs. And yet, coming to + close fight, I should think they would also damage the assailant, and that + the camp being as it were planted with these flaming truncheons, would + produce a common inconvenience to the whole crowd: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Magnum stridens contorta Phalarica venit, + Fulminis acta modo.” + + [“The Phalarica, launched like lightning, flies through + the air with a loud rushing sound.”—AEneid, ix. 705.] +</pre> + <p> + They had, moreover, other devices which custom made them perfect in (which + seem incredible to us who have not seen them), by which they supplied the + effects of our powder and shot. They darted their spears with so great + force, as ofttimes to transfix two targets and two armed men at once, and + pin them together. Neither was the effect of their slings less certain of + execution or of shorter carriage: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Culling round stones from the beach for their slings; and with + these practising over the waves, so as from a great distance to + throw within a very small circuit, they became able not only to + wound an enemy in the head, but hit any other part at pleasure.” + —Livy, xxxviii. 29.] +</pre> + <p> + Their pieces of battery had not only the execution but the thunder of our + cannon also: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ad ictus moenium cum terribili sonitu editos, + pavor et trepidatio cepit.” + + [“At the battery of the walls, performed with a terrible noise, + the defenders began to fear and tremble.”—Idem, ibid., 5.] +</pre> + <p> + The Gauls, our kinsmen in Asia, abominated these treacherous missile arms, + it being their use to fight, with greater bravery, hand to hand: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“They are not so much concerned about large gashes-the bigger and + deeper the wound, the more glorious do they esteem the combat but + when they find themselves tormented by some arrow-head or bullet + lodged within, but presenting little outward show of wound, + transported with shame and anger to perish by so imperceptible a + destroyer, they fall to the ground.”—-Livy, xxxviii. 21.] +</pre> + <p> + A pretty description of something very like an arquebuse-shot. The ten + thousand Greeks in their long and famous retreat met with a nation who + very much galled them with great and strong bows, carrying arrows so long + that, taking them up, one might return them back like a dart, and with + them pierce a buckler and an armed man through and through. The engines, + that Dionysius invented at Syracuse to shoot vast massy darts and stones + of a prodigious greatness with so great impetuosity and at so great a + distance, came very near to our modern inventions. + </p> + <p> + But in this discourse of horses and horsemanship, we are not to forget the + pleasant posture of one Maistre Pierre Pol, a doctor of divinity, upon his + mule, whom Monstrelet reports always to have ridden sideways through the + streets of Paris like a woman. He says also, elsewhere, that the Gascons + had terrible horses, that would wheel in their full speed, which the + French, Picards, Flemings, and Brabanters looked upon as a miracle, + “having never seen the like before,” which are his very words. + </p> + <p> + Caesar, speaking of the Suabians: “in the charges they make on + horseback,” says he, “they often throw themselves off to fight + on foot, having taught their horses not to stir in the meantime from the + place, to which they presently run again upon occasion; and according to + their custom, nothing is so unmanly and so base as to use saddles or pads, + and they despise such as make use of those conveniences: insomuch that, + being but a very few in number, they fear not to attack a great many.” + That which I have formerly wondered at, to see a horse made to perform all + his airs with a switch only and the reins upon his neck, was common with + the Massilians, who rid their horses without saddle or bridle: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et gens, quae nudo residens Massylia dorso, + Ora levi flectit, fraenorum nescia, virga.” + + [“The Massylians, mounted on the bare backs of their horses, + bridleless, guide them by a mere switch.”—Lucan, iv. 682.] + + “Et Numidae infraeni cingunt.” + + [“The Numidians guiding their horses without bridles.” + —AEneid, iv. 41.] + + “Equi sine fraenis, deformis ipse cursus, + rigida cervice et extento capite currentium.” + + [“The career of a horse without a bridle is ungraceful; the neck + extended stiff, and the nose thrust out.”—Livy, xxxv. II.] +</pre> + <p> + King Alfonso,—[Alfonso XI., king of Leon and Castile, died 1350.]— + he who first instituted the Order of the Band or Scarf in Spain, amongst + other rules of the order, gave them this, that they should never ride mule + or mulet, upon penalty of a mark of silver; this I had lately out of + Guevara’s Letters. Whoever gave these the title of Golden Epistles + had another kind of opinion of them than I have. The Courtier says, that + till his time it was a disgrace to a gentleman to ride on one of these + creatures: but the Abyssinians, on the contrary, the nearer they are to + the person of Prester John, love to be mounted upon large mules, for the + greatest dignity and grandeur. + </p> + <p> + Xenophon tells us, that the Assyrians were fain to keep their horses + fettered in the stable, they were so fierce and vicious; and that it + required so much time to loose and harness them, that to avoid any + disorder this tedious preparation might bring upon them in case of + surprise, they never sat down in their camp till it was first well + fortified with ditches and ramparts. His Cyrus, who was so great a master + in all manner of horse service, kept his horses to their due work, and + never suffered them to have anything to eat till first they had earned it + by the sweat of some kind of exercise. The Scythians when in the field and + in scarcity of provisions used to let their horses blood, which they + drank, and sustained themselves by that diet: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Venit et epoto Sarmata pastus equo.” + + [“The Scythian comes, who feeds on horse-flesh” + —Martial, De Spectaculis Libey, Epigr. iii. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + Those of Crete, being besieged by Metellus, were in so great necessity for + drink that they were fain to quench their thirst with their horses urine.—[Val. + Max., vii. 6, ext. 1.] + </p> + <p> + To shew how much cheaper the Turkish armies support themselves than our + European forces, ‘tis said that besides the soldiers drink nothing + but water and eat nothing but rice and salt flesh pulverised (of which + every one may easily carry about with him a month’s provision), they + know how to feed upon the blood of their horses as well as the Muscovite + and Tartar, and salt it for their use. + </p> + <p> + These new-discovered people of the Indies [Mexico and Yucatan D.W.], when + the Spaniards first landed amongst them, had so great an opinion both of + the men and horses, that they looked upon the first as gods and the other + as animals ennobled above their nature; insomuch that after they were + subdued, coming to the men to sue for peace and pardon, and to bring them + gold and provisions, they failed not to offer of the same to the horses, + with the same kind of harangue to them they had made to the others: + interpreting their neighing for a language of truce and friendship. + </p> + <p> + In the other Indies, to ride upon an elephant was the first and royal + place of honour; the second to ride in a coach with four horses; the third + to ride upon a camel; and the last and least honour to be carried or drawn + by one horse only. Some one of our late writers tells us that he has been + in countries in those parts where they ride upon oxen with pads, stirrups, + and bridles, and very much at their ease. + </p> + <p> + Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, in a battle with the Samnites, seeing + his horse, after three or four charges, had failed of breaking into the + enemy’s battalion, took this course, to make them unbridle all their + horses and spur their hardest, so that having nothing to check their + career, they might through weapons and men open the way to his foot, who + by that means gave them a bloody defeat. The same command was given by + Quintus Fulvius Flaccus against the Celtiberians: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“You will do your business with greater advantage of your horses’ + strength, if you send them unbridled upon the enemy, as it is + recorded the Roman horse to their great glory have often done; their + bits being taken off, they charged through and again back through + the enemy’s ranks with great slaughter, breaking down all their + spears.”—Idem, xl. 40.] +</pre> + <p> + The Duke of Muscovy was anciently obliged to pay this reverence to the + Tartars, that when they sent an embassy to him he went out to meet them on + foot, and presented them with a goblet of mares’ milk (a beverage of + greatest esteem amongst them), and if, in drinking, a drop fell by chance + upon their horse’s mane, he was bound to lick it off with his + tongue. The army that Bajazet had sent into Russia was overwhelmed with so + dreadful a tempest of snow, that to shelter and preserve themselves from + the cold, many killed and embowelled their horses, to creep into their + bellies and enjoy the benefit of that vital heat. Bajazet, after that + furious battle wherein he was overthrown by Tamerlane, was in a hopeful + way of securing his own person by the fleetness of an Arabian mare he had + under him, had he not been constrained to let her drink her fill at the + ford of a river in his way, which rendered her so heavy and indisposed, + that he was afterwards easily overtaken by those that pursued him. They + say, indeed, that to let a horse stale takes him off his mettle, but as to + drinking, I should rather have thought it would refresh him. + </p> + <p> + Croesus, marching his army through certain waste lands near Sardis, met + with an infinite number of serpents, which the horses devoured with great + appetite, and which Herodotus says was a prodigy of ominous portent to his + affairs. + </p> + <p> + We call a horse entire, that has his mane and ears so, and no other will + pass muster. The Lacedaemonians, having defeated the Athenians in Sicily, + returning triumphant from the victory into the city of Syracuse, amongst + other insolences, caused all the horses they had taken to be shorn and led + in triumph. Alexander fought with a nation called Dahas, whose discipline + it was to march two and two together armed on one horse, to the war; and + being in fight, one of them alighted, and so they fought on horseback and + on foot, one after another by turns. + </p> + <p> + I do not think that for graceful riding any nation in the world excels the + French. A good horseman, according to our way of speaking, seems rather to + have respect to the courage of the man than address in riding. Of all that + ever I saw, the most knowing in that art, who had the best seat and the + best method in breaking horses, was Monsieur de Carnavalet, who served our + King Henry II. + </p> + <p> + I have seen a man ride with both his feet upon the saddle, take off his + saddle, and at his return take it up again and replace it, riding all the + while full speed; having galloped over a cap, make at it very good shots + backwards with his bow; take up anything from the ground, setting one foot + on the ground and the other in the stirrup: with twenty other ape’s + tricks, which he got his living by. + </p> + <p> + There has been seen in my time at Constantinople two men upon one horse, + who, in the height of its speed, would throw themselves off and into the + saddle again by turn; and one who bridled and saddled his horse with + nothing but his teeth; an other who betwixt two horses, one foot upon one + saddle and the other upon another, carrying the other man upon his + shoulders, would ride full career, the other standing bolt upright upon + and making very good shots with his bow; several who would ride full speed + with their heels upward, and their heads upon the saddle betwixt several + scimitars, with the points upwards, fixed in the harness. When I was a + boy, the prince of Sulmona, riding an unbroken horse at Naples, prone to + all sorts of action, held reals—[A small coin of Spain, the Two + Sicilies, &c.]—under his knees and toes, as if they had been + nailed there, to shew the firmness of his seat. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0049" id="link2HCH0049"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLIX——OF ANCIENT CUSTOMS + </h2> + <p> + I should willingly pardon our people for admitting no other pattern or + rule of perfection than their own peculiar manners and customs; for + ‘tis a common vice, not of the vulgar only, but almost of all men, + to walk in the beaten road their ancestors have trod before them. I am + content, when they see Fabricius or Laelius, that they look upon their + countenance and behaviour as barbarous, seeing they are neither clothed + nor fashioned according to our mode. But I find fault with their singular + indiscretion in suffering themselves to be so blinded and imposed upon by + the authority of the present usage as every month to alter their opinion, + if custom so require, and that they should so vary their judgment in their + own particular concern. When they wore the busk of their doublets up as + high as their breasts, they stiffly maintained that they were in their + proper place; some years after it was slipped down betwixt their thighs, + and then they could laugh at the former fashion as uneasy and intolerable. + The fashion now in use makes them absolutely condemn the other two with so + great resolution and so universal consent, that a man would think there + was a certain kind of madness crept in amongst them, that infatuates their + understandings to this strange degree. Now, seeing that our change of + fashions is so prompt and sudden, that the inventions of all the tailors + in the world cannot furnish out new whim-whams enow to feed our vanity + withal, there will often be a necessity that the despised forms must again + come in vogue, these immediately after fall into the same contempt; and + that the same judgment must, in the space of fifteen or twenty years, take + up half-a-dozen not only divers but contrary opinions, with an incredible + lightness and inconstancy; there is not any of us so discreet, who suffers + not himself to be gulled with this contradiction, and both in external and + internal sight to be insensibly blinded. + </p> + <p> + I wish to muster up here some old customs that I have in memory, some of + them the same with ours, the others different, to the end that, bearing in + mind this continual variation of human things, we may have our judgment + more clearly and firmly settled. + </p> + <p> + The thing in use amongst us of fighting with rapier and cloak was in + practice amongst the Romans also: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sinistras sagis involvunt, gladiosque distringunt,” + + [“They wrapt their cloaks upon the left arm, and drew their + swords.”—De Bello Civili, i. 75.] +</pre> + <p> + says Caesar; and he observes a vicious custom of our nation, that + continues yet amongst us, which is to stop passengers we meet upon the + road, to compel them to give an account who they are, and to take it for + an affront and just cause of quarrel if they refuse to do it. + </p> + <p> + At the Baths, which the ancients made use of every day before they went to + dinner, and as frequently as we wash our hands, they at first only bathed + their arms and legs; but afterwards, and by a custom that has continued + for many ages in most nations of the world, they bathed stark naked in + mixed and perfumed water, looking upon it as a great simplicity to bathe + in mere water. The most delicate and affected perfumed themselves all over + three or four times a day. They often caused their hair to be pinched off, + as the women of France have some time since taken up a custom to do their + foreheads, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quod pectus, quod crura tibi, quod brachia veilis,” + + [“You pluck the hairs out of your breast, your arms, and thighs.” + —Martial, ii. 62, i.] +</pre> + <p> + though they had ointments proper for that purpose: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Psilotro nitet, aut acids latet oblita creta.” + + [“She shines with unguents, or with chalk dissolved in vinegar.” + —Idem, vi. 93, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + They delighted to lie soft, and alleged it as a great testimony of + hardiness to lie upon a mattress. They ate lying upon beds, much after the + manner of the Turks in this age: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Inde thoro pater AEneas sic orsus ab alto.” + + [“Thus Father AEneas, from his high bed of state, spoke.” + —AEneid, ii. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + And ‘tis said of the younger Cato, that after the battle of + Pharsalia, being entered into a melancholy disposition at the ill posture + of the public affairs, he took his repasts always sitting, assuming a + strict and austere course of life. It was also their custom to kiss the + hands of great persons; the more to honour and caress them. And meeting + with friends, they always kissed in salutation, as do the Venetians: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Gratatusque darem cum dulcibus oscula verbis.” + + [“And kindest words I would mingle with kisses.” + —Ovid, De Pont., iv. 9, 13] +</pre> + <p> + In petitioning or saluting any great man, they used to lay their hands + upon his knees. Pasicles the philosopher, brother of Crates, instead of + laying his hand upon the knee laid it upon the private parts, and being + roughly repulsed by him to whom he made that indecent compliment: “What,” + said he, “is not that part your own as well as the other?” + —[Diogenes Laertius, vi. 89.]—They used to eat fruit, as we + do, after dinner. They wiped their fundaments (let the ladies, if they + please, mince it smaller) with a sponge, which is the reason that ‘spongia’ + is a smutty word in Latin; which sponge was fastened to the end of a + stick, as appears by the story of him who, as he was led along to be + thrown to the wild beasts in the sight of the people, asking leave to do + his business, and having no other way to despatch himself, forced the + sponge and stick down his throat and choked himself.—[Seneca, Ep., + 70.] They used to wipe, after coition, with perfumed wool: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “At tibi nil faciam; sed Iota mentula lana.” + </pre> + <p> + They had in the streets of Rome vessels and little tubs for passengers to + urine in: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pusi saepe lacum propter se, ac dolia curta. + Somno devincti, credunt extollere vestem.” + + [“The little boys in their sleep often think they are near the + public urinal, and raise their coats to make use of it.” + —Lucretius, iv.] +</pre> + <p> + They had collation betwixt meals, and had in summer cellars of snow to + cool their wine; and some there were who made use of snow in winter, not + thinking their wine cool enough, even at that cold season of the year. The + men of quality had their cupbearers and carvers, and their buffoons to + make them sport. They had their meat served up in winter upon chafing + dishes, which were set upon the table, and had portable kitchens (of which + I myself have seen some) wherein all their service was carried about with + them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Has vobis epulas habete, lauti + Nos offendimur ambulante caena.” + + [“Do you, if you please, esteem these feasts: we do not like the + ambulatory suppers.”—Martial, vii. 48, 4.] +</pre> + <p> + In summer they had a contrivance to bring fresh and clear rills through + their lower rooms, wherein were great store of living fish, which the + guests took out with their own hands to be dressed every man according to + his own liking. Fish has ever had this pre-eminence, and keeps it still, + that the grandees, as to them, all pretend to be cooks; and indeed the + taste is more delicate than that of flesh, at least to my fancy. But in + all sorts of magnificence, debauchery, and voluptuous inventions of + effeminacy and expense, we do, in truth, all we can to parallel them; for + our wills are as corrupt as theirs: but we want ability to equal them. Our + force is no more able to reach them in their vicious, than in their + virtuous, qualities, for both the one and the other proceeded from a + vigour of soul which was without comparison greater in them than in us; + and souls, by how much the weaker they are, by so much have they less + power to do either very well or very ill. + </p> + <p> + The highest place of honour amongst them was the middle. The name going + before, or following after, either in writing or speaking, had no + signification of grandeur, as is evident by their writings; they will as + soon say Oppius and Caesar, as Caesar and Oppius; and me and thee, as thee + and me. This is the reason that made me formerly take notice in the life + of Flaminius, in our French Plutarch, of one passage, where it seems as if + the author, speaking of the jealousy of honour betwixt the AEtolians and + Romans, about the winning of a battle they had with their joined forces + obtained, made it of some importance, that in the Greek songs they had put + the AEtolians before the Romans: if there be no amphibology in the words + of the French translation. + </p> + <p> + The ladies, in their baths, made no scruple of admitting men amongst them, + and moreover made use of their serving-men to rub and anoint them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Inguina succinctus nigri tibi servus aluta + Stat, quoties calidis nuda foveris aquis.” + + [“A slave—his middle girded with a black apron—stands before you, + when, naked, you take a hot bath.”—Martial, vii. 35, i.] +</pre> + <p> + They all powdered themselves with a certain powder, to moderate their + sweats. + </p> + <p> + The ancient Gauls, says Sidonius Apollinaris, wore their hair long before + and the hinder part of the head shaved, a fashion that begins to revive in + this vicious and effeminate age. + </p> + <p> + The Romans used to pay the watermen their fare at their first stepping + into the boat, which we never do till after landing: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum aes exigitur, dum mula ligatur, + Tota abit hora.” + + [“Whilst the fare’s paying, and the mule is being harnessed, a whole + hour’s time is past.”—Horace, Sat. i. 5, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + The women used to lie on the side of the bed next the wall: and for that + reason they called Caesar, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Spondam regis Nicomedis,” + + [“The bed of King Nicomedes.”—Suetonius, Life of Caesar, 49.] +</pre> + <p> + They took breath in their drinking, and watered their wine + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis puer ocius + Restinguet ardentis Falerni + Pocula praetereunte lympha?” + + [“What boy will quickly come and cool the heat of the Falernian + wine with clear water?”—Horace, Od., ii. z, 18.] +</pre> + <p> + And the roguish looks and gestures of our lackeys were also in use amongst + them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O Jane, a tergo quern nulls ciconia pinsit, + Nec manus, auriculas imitari est mobilis albas, + Nec lingua, quantum sitiat canis Appula, tantum.” + + [“O Janus, whom no crooked fingers, simulating a stork, peck at + behind your back, whom no quick hands deride behind you, by + imitating the motion of the white ears of the ass, against whom no + mocking tongue is thrust out, as the tongue of the thirsty Apulian + dog.”—Persius, i. 58.] +</pre> + <p> + The Argian and Roman ladies mourned in white, as ours did formerly and + should do still, were I to govern in this point. But there are whole books + on this subject. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0050" id="link2HCH0050"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER L——OF DEMOCRITUS AND HERACLITUS + </h2> + <p> + The judgment is an utensil proper for all subjects, and will have an oar + in everything: which is the reason, that in these Essays I take hold of + all occasions where, though it happen to be a subject I do not very well + understand, I try, however, sounding it at a distance, and finding it too + deep for my stature, I keep me on the shore; and this knowledge that a man + can proceed no further, is one effect of its virtue, yes, one of those of + which it is most proud. One while in an idle and frivolous subject, I try + to find out matter whereof to compose a body, and then to prop and support + it; another while, I employ it in a noble subject, one that has been + tossed and tumbled by a thousand hands, wherein a man can scarce possibly + introduce anything of his own, the way being so beaten on every side that + he must of necessity walk in the steps of another: in such a case, ‘tis + the work of the judgment to take the way that seems best, and of a + thousand paths, to determine that this or that is the best. I leave the + choice of my arguments to fortune, and take that she first presents to me; + they are all alike to me, I never design to go through any of them; for I + never see all of anything: neither do they who so largely promise to show + it others. Of a hundred members and faces that everything has, I take one, + onewhile to look it over only, another while to ripple up the skin, and + sometimes to pinch it to the bones: I give a stab, not so wide but as deep + as I can, and am for the most part tempted to take it in hand by some new + light I discover in it. Did I know myself less, I might perhaps venture to + handle something or other to the bottom, and to be deceived in my own + inability; but sprinkling here one word and there another, patterns cut + from several pieces and scattered without design and without engaging + myself too far, I am not responsible for them, or obliged to keep close to + my subject, without varying at my own liberty and pleasure, and giving up + myself to doubt and uncertainty, and to my own governing method, + ignorance. + </p> + <p> + All motion discovers us: the very same soul of Caesar, that made itself so + conspicuous in marshalling and commanding the battle of Pharsalia, was + also seen as solicitous and busy in the softer affairs of love and + leisure. A man makes a judgment of a horse, not only by seeing him when he + is showing off his paces, but by his very walk, nay, and by seeing him + stand in the stable. + </p> + <p> + Amongst the functions of the soul, there are some of a lower and meaner + form; he who does not see her in those inferior offices as well as in + those of nobler note, never fully discovers her; and, peradventure, she is + best shown where she moves her simpler pace. The winds of passions take + most hold of her in her highest flights; and the rather by reason that she + wholly applies herself to, and exercises her whole virtue upon, every + particular subject, and never handles more than one thing at a time, and + that not according to it, but according to herself. Things in respect to + themselves have, peradventure, their weight, measures, and conditions; but + when we once take them into us, the soul forms them as she pleases. Death + is terrible to Cicero, coveted by Cato, indifferent to Socrates. Health, + conscience, authority, knowledge, riches, beauty, and their contraries, + all strip themselves at their entering into us, and receive a new robe, + and of another fashion, from the soul; and of what colour, brown, bright, + green, dark, and of what quality, sharp, sweet, deep, or superficial, as + best pleases each of them, for they are not agreed upon any common + standard of forms, rules, or proceedings; every one is a queen in her own + dominions. Let us, therefore, no more excuse ourselves upon the external + qualities of things; it belongs to us to give ourselves an account of + them. Our good or ill has no other dependence but on ourselves. ‘Tis + there that our offerings and our vows are due, and not to fortune she has + no power over our manners; on the contrary, they draw and make her follow + in their train, and cast her in their own mould. Why should not I judge of + Alexander at table, ranting and drinking at the prodigious rate he + sometimes used to do? + </p> + <p> + Or, if he played at chess? what string of his soul was not touched by this + idle and childish game? I hate and avoid it, because it is not play + enough, that it is too grave and serious a diversion, and I am ashamed to + lay out as much thought and study upon it as would serve to much better + uses. He did not more pump his brains about his glorious expedition into + the Indies, nor than another in unravelling a passage upon which depends + the safety of mankind. To what a degree does this ridiculous diversion + molest the soul, when all her faculties are summoned together upon this + trivial account! and how fair an opportunity she herein gives every one to + know and to make a right judgment of himself? I do not more thoroughly + sift myself in any other posture than this: what passion are we exempted + from in it? Anger, spite, malice, impatience, and a vehement desire of + getting the better in a concern wherein it were more excusable to be + ambitious of being overcome; for to be eminent, to excel above the common + rate in frivolous things, nowise befits a man of honour. What I say in + this example may be said in all others. Every particle, every employment + of man manifests him equally with any other. + </p> + <p> + Democritus and Heraclitus were two philosophers, of whom the first, + finding human condition ridiculous and vain, never appeared abroad but + with a jeering and laughing countenance; whereas Heraclitus commiserating + that same condition of ours, appeared always with a sorrowful look, and + tears in his eyes: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Alter + Ridebat, quoties a limine moverat unum + Protuleratque pedem; flebat contrarius alter.” + + [“The one always, as often as he had stepped one pace from his + threshold, laughed, the other always wept.”—Juvenal, Sat., x. 28.] + + [Or, as Voltaire: “Life is a comedy to those who think; + a tragedy to those who feel.” D.W.] +</pre> + <p> + I am clearly for the first humour; not because it is more pleasant to + laugh than to weep, but because it expresses more contempt and + condemnation than the other, and I think we can never be despised + according to our full desert. Compassion and bewailing seem to imply some + esteem of and value for the thing bemoaned; whereas the things we laugh at + are by that expressed to be of no moment. I do not think that we are so + unhappy as we are vain, or have in us so much malice as folly; we are not + so full of mischief as inanity; nor so miserable as we are vile and mean. + And therefore Diogenes, who passed away his time in rolling himself in his + tub, and made nothing of the great Alexander, esteeming us no better than + flies or bladders puffed up with wind, was a sharper and more penetrating, + and, consequently in my opinion, a juster judge than Timon, surnamed the + Man-hater; for what a man hates he lays to heart. This last was an enemy + to all mankind, who passionately desired our ruin, and avoided our + conversation as dangerous, proceeding from wicked and depraved natures: + the other valued us so little that we could neither trouble nor infect him + by our example; and left us to herd one with another, not out of fear, but + from contempt of our society: concluding us as incapable of doing good as + evil. + </p> + <p> + Of the same strain was Statilius’ answer, when Brutus courted him + into the conspiracy against Caesar; he was satisfied that the enterprise + was just, but he did not think mankind worthy of a wise man’s + concern’; according to the doctrine of Hegesias, who said, that a + wise man ought to do nothing but for himself, forasmuch as he only was + worthy of it: and to the saying of Theodorus, that it was not reasonable a + wise man should hazard himself for his country, and endanger wisdom for a + company of fools. Our condition is as ridiculous as risible. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0051" id="link2HCH0051"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LI——OF THE VANITY OF WORDS + </h2> + <p> + A rhetorician of times past said, that to make little things appear great + was his profession. This was a shoemaker, who can make a great shoe for a + little foot.—[A saying of Agesilaus.]—They would in Sparta + have sent such a fellow to be whipped for making profession of a tricky + and deceitful act; and I fancy that Archidamus, who was king of that + country, was a little surprised at the answer of Thucydides, when + inquiring of him, which was the better wrestler, Pericles, or he, he + replied, that it was hard to affirm; for when I have thrown him, said he, + he always persuades the spectators that he had no fall and carries away + the prize. —[Quintilian, ii. 15.]—The women who paint, pounce, + and plaster up their ruins, filling up their wrinkles and deformities, are + less to blame, because it is no great matter whether we see them in their + natural complexions; whereas these make it their business to deceive not + our sight only but our judgments, and to adulterate and corrupt the very + essence of things. The republics that have maintained themselves in a + regular and well-modelled government, such as those of Lacedaemon and + Crete, had orators in no very great esteem. Aristo wisely defined rhetoric + to be “a science to persuade the people;” Socrates and Plato + “an art to flatter and deceive.” And those who deny it in the + general description, verify it throughout in their precepts. The + Mohammedans will not suffer their children to be instructed in it, as + being useless, and the Athenians, perceiving of how pernicious consequence + the practice of it was, it being in their city of universal esteem, + ordered the principal part, which is to move the affections, with their + exordiums and perorations, to be taken away. ‘Tis an engine invented + to manage and govern a disorderly and tumultuous rabble, and that never is + made use of, but like physic to the sick, in a discomposed state. In those + where the vulgar or the ignorant, or both together, have been all-powerful + and able to give the law, as in those of Athens, Rhodes, and Rome, and + where the public affairs have been in a continual tempest of commotion, to + such places have the orators always repaired. And in truth, we shall find + few persons in those republics who have pushed their fortunes to any great + degree of eminence without the assistance of eloquence. + </p> + <p> + Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, Lucullus, Lentulus, Metellus, thence took their + chiefest spring, to mount to that degree of authority at which they at + last arrived, making it of greater use to them than arms, contrary to the + opinion of better times; for, L. Volumnius speaking publicly in favour of + the election of Q. Fabius and Pub. Decius, to the consular dignity: + “These are men,” said he, “born for war and great in + execution; in the combat of the tongue altogether wanting; spirits truly + consular. The subtle, eloquent, and learned are only good for the city, to + make praetors of, to administer justice.”—[Livy, x. 22.] + </p> + <p> + Eloquence most flourished at Rome when the public affairs were in the + worst condition and most disquieted with intestine commotions; as a free + and untilled soil bears the worst weeds. By which it should seem that a + monarchical government has less need of it than any other: for the + stupidity and facility natural to the common people, and that render them + subject to be turned and twined and, led by the ears by this charming + harmony of words, without weighing or considering the truth and reality of + things by the force of reason: this facility, I say, is not easily found + in a single person, and it is also more easy by good education and advice + to secure him from the impression of this poison. There was never any + famous orator known to come out of Persia or Macedon. + </p> + <p> + I have entered into this discourse upon the occasion of an Italian I + lately received into my service, and who was clerk of the kitchen to the + late Cardinal Caraffa till his death. I put this fellow upon an account of + his office: when he fell to discourse of this palate-science, with such a + settled countenance and magisterial gravity, as if he had been handling + some profound point of divinity. He made a learned distinction of the + several sorts of appetites; of that a man has before he begins to eat, and + of those after the second and third service; the means simply to satisfy + the first, and then to raise and actuate the other two; the ordering of + the sauces, first in general, and then proceeded to the qualities of the + ingredients and their effects; the differences of salads according to + their seasons, those which ought to be served up hot, and which cold; the + manner of their garnishment and decoration to render them acceptable to + the eye. After which he entered upon the order of the whole service, full + of weighty and important considerations: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec minimo sane discrimine refert, + Quo gestu lepores, et quo gallina secetur;” + + [“Nor with less discrimination observes how we should carve a hare, + and how a hen.” or, (“Nor with the least discrimination relates how + we should carve hares, and how cut up a hen.)” + —Juvenal, Sat., v. 123.] +</pre> + <p> + and all this set out with lofty and magnificent words, the very same we + make use of when we discourse of the government of an empire. Which + learned lecture of my man brought this of Terence into my memory: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hoc salsum est, hoc adustum est, hoc lautum est, parum: + Illud recte: iterum sic memento: sedulo + Moneo, qux possum, pro mea sapientia. + Postremo, tanquam in speculum, in patinas, + Demea, Inspicere jubeo, et moneo, quid facto usus sit.” + + [“This is too salt, that’s burnt, that’s not washed enough; that’s + well; remember to do so another time. Thus do I ever advise them to + have things done properly, according to my capacity; and lastly, + Demea, I command my cooks to look into every dish as if it were a + mirror, and tell them what they should do.” + —Terence, Adelph., iii. 3, 71.] +</pre> + <p> + And yet even the Greeks themselves very much admired and highly applauded + the order and disposition that Paulus AEmilius observed in the feast he + gave them at his return from Macedon. But I do not here speak of effects, + I speak of words only. + </p> + <p> + I do not know whether it may have the same operation upon other men that + it has upon me, but when I hear our architects thunder out their bombast + words of pilasters, architraves, and cornices, of the Corinthian and Doric + orders, and suchlike jargon, my imagination is presently possessed with + the palace of Apollidon; when, after all, I find them but the paltry + pieces of my own kitchen door. + </p> + <p> + To hear men talk of metonomies, metaphors, and allegories, and other + grammar words, would not one think they signified some rare and exotic + form of speaking? And yet they are phrases that come near to the babble of + my chambermaid. + </p> + <p> + And this other is a gullery of the same stamp, to call the offices of our + kingdom by the lofty titles of the Romans, though they have no similitude + of function, and still less of authority and power. And this also, which I + doubt will one day turn to the reproach of this age of ours, unworthily + and indifferently to confer upon any we think fit the most glorious + surnames with which antiquity honoured but one or two persons in several + ages. Plato carried away the surname of Divine, by so universal a consent + that never any one repined at it, or attempted to take it from him; and + yet the Italians, who pretend, and with good reason, to more sprightly + wits and sounder sense than the other nations of their time, have lately + bestowed the same title upon Aretin, in whose writings, save tumid phrases + set out with smart periods, ingenious indeed but far-fetched and + fantastic, and the eloquence, be it what it may, I see nothing in him + above the ordinary writers of his time, so far is he from approaching the + ancient divinity. And we make nothing of giving the surname of great to + princes who have nothing more than ordinary in them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0052" id="link2HCH0052"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LII——OF THE PARSIMONY OF THE ANCIENTS + </h2> + <p> + Attilius Regulus, general of the Roman army in Africa, in the height of + all his glory and victories over the Carthaginians, wrote to the Republic + to acquaint them that a certain hind he had left in trust with his estate, + which was in all but seven acres of land, had run away with all his + instruments of husbandry, and entreating therefore, that they would please + to call him home that he might take order in his own affairs, lest his + wife and children should suffer by this disaster. Whereupon the Senate + appointed another to manage his business, caused his losses to be made + good, and ordered his family to be maintained at the public expense. + </p> + <p> + The elder Cato, returning consul from Spain, sold his warhorse to save the + money it would have cost in bringing it back by sea into Italy; and being + Governor of Sardinia, he made all his visits on foot, without other train + than one officer of the Republic who carried his robe and a censer for + sacrifices, and for the most part carried his trunk himself. He bragged + that he had never worn a gown that cost above ten crowns, nor had ever + sent above tenpence to the market for one day’s provision; and that + as to his country houses, he had not one that was rough-cast on the + outside. + </p> + <p> + Scipio AEmilianus, after two triumphs and two consulships, went an embassy + with no more than seven servants in his train. ‘Tis said that Homer + had never more than one, Plato three, and Zeno, founder of the sect of + Stoics, none at all. Tiberius Gracchus was allowed but fivepence halfpenny + a day when employed as public minister about the public affairs, and being + at that time the greatest man of Rome. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0053" id="link2HCH0053"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LIII——OF A SAYING OF CAESAR + </h2> + <p> + If we would sometimes bestow a little consideration upon ourselves, and + employ the time we spend in prying into other men’s actions, and + discovering things without us, in examining our own abilities we should + soon perceive of how infirm and decaying material this fabric of ours is + composed. Is it not a singular testimony of imperfection that we cannot + establish our satisfaction in any one thing, and that even our own fancy + and desire should deprive us of the power to choose what is most proper + and useful for us? A very good proof of this is the great dispute that has + ever been amongst the philosophers, of finding out man’s sovereign + good, that continues yet, and will eternally continue, without solution or + accord: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum abest quod avemus, id exsuperare videtur + Caetera; post aliud, quum contigit illud, avemus, + Et sitis aequa tenet.” + + [“While that which we desire is wanting, it seems to surpass all the + rest; then, when we have got it, we want something else; ‘tis ever + the same thirst”—Lucretius, iii. 1095.] +</pre> + <p> + Whatever it is that falls into our knowledge and possession, we find that + it satisfies not, and we still pant after things to come and unknown, + inasmuch as those present do not suffice for us; not that, in my judgment, + they have not in them wherewith to do it, but because we seize them with + an unruly and immoderate haste: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam quum vidit hic, ad victum qux flagitat usus, + Et per quae possent vitam consistere tutam, + Omnia jam ferme mortalibus esse parata; + Divitiis homines, et honore, et laude potentes + Aflluere, atque bona natorum excellere fama; + Nec minus esse domi cuiquam tamen anxia corda, + Atque animi ingratis vitam vexare querelis + Causam, quae infestis cogit saevire querelis, + Intellegit ibi; vitium vas efficere ipsum, + Omniaque, illius vitio, corrumpier intus, + Qux collata foris et commoda quomque venirent.” + + [“For when he saw that almost all things necessarily required for + subsistence, and which may render life comfortable, are already + prepared to their hand, that men may abundantly attain wealth, + honour, praise, may rejoice in the reputation of their children, yet + that, notwithstanding, every one has none the less in his heart and + home anxieties and a mind enslaved by wearing complaints, he saw + that the vessel itself was in fault, and that all good things which + were brought into it from without were spoilt by its own + imperfections.”—Lucretius, vi. 9.] +</pre> + <p> + Our appetite is irresolute and fickle; it can neither keep nor enjoy + anything with a good grace: and man concluding it to be the fault of the + things he is possessed of, fills himself with and feeds upon the idea of + things he neither knows nor understands, to which he devotes his hopes and + his desires, paying them all reverence and honour, according to the saying + of Caesar: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Communi fit vitio naturae, ut invisis, latitantibus + atque incognitis rebus magis confidamas, + vehementiusque exterreamur.” + + [“‘Tis the common vice of nature, that we at once repose most + confidence, and receive the greatest apprehensions, from things + unseen, concealed, and unknown.”—De Bello Civil, xi. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0054" id="link2HCH0054"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LIV——OF VAIN SUBTLETIES + </h2> + <p> + There are a sort of little knacks and frivolous subtleties from which men + sometimes expect to derive reputation and applause: as poets, who compose + whole poems with every line beginning with the same letter; we see the + shapes of eggs, globes, wings, and hatchets cut out by the ancient Greeks + by the measure of their verses, making them longer or shorter, to + represent such or such a figure. Of this nature was his employment who + made it his business to compute into how many several orders the letters + of the alphabet might be transposed, and found out that incredible number + mentioned in Plutarch. I am mightily pleased with the humour of him, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Alexander, as may be seen in Quintil., Institut. Orat., lib. + ii., cap. 20, where he defines Maratarexvia to be a certain + unnecessary imitation of art, which really does neither good nor + harm, but is as unprofitable and ridiculous as was the labour of + that man who had so perfectly learned to cast small peas through the + eye of a needle at a good distance that he never missed one, and was + justly rewarded for it, as is said, by Alexander, who saw the + performance, with a bushel of peas.”—Coste.] +</pre> + <p> + who having a man brought before him that had learned to throw a grain of + millet with such dexterity and assurance as never to miss the eye of a + needle; and being afterwards entreated to give something for the reward of + so rare a performance, he pleasantly, and in my opinion justly, ordered a + certain number of bushels of the same grain to be delivered to him, that + he might not want wherewith to exercise so famous an art. ‘Tis a + strong evidence of a weak judgment when men approve of things for their + being rare and new, or for their difficulty, where worth and usefulness + are not conjoined to recommend them. + </p> + <p> + I come just now from playing with my own family at who could find out the + most things that hold by their two extremities; as Sire, which is a title + given to the greatest person in the nation, the king, and also to the + vulgar, as merchants, but never to any degree of men between. The women of + great quality are called Dames, inferior gentlewomen, Demoiselles, and the + meanest sort of women, Dames, as the first. The cloth of state over our + tables is not permitted but in the palaces of princes and in taverns. + Democritus said, that gods and beasts had sharper sense than men, who are + of a middle form. The Romans wore the same habit at funerals and feasts. + It is most certain that an extreme fear and an extreme ardour of courage + equally trouble and relax the belly. The nickname of Trembling with which + they surnamed Sancho XII., king of Navarre, tells us that valour will + cause a trembling in the limbs as well as fear. Those who were arming that + king, or some other person, who upon the like occasion was wont to be in + the same disorder, tried to compose him by representing the danger less he + was going to engage himself in: “You understand me ill,” said + he, “for could my flesh know the danger my courage will presently + carry it into, it would sink down to the ground.” The faintness that + surprises us from frigidity or dislike in the exercises of Venus are also + occasioned by a too violent desire and an immoderate heat. Extreme + coldness and extreme heat boil and roast. Aristotle says, that sows of + lead will melt and run with cold and the rigour of winter just as with a + vehement heat. Desire and satiety fill all the gradations above and below + pleasure with pain. Stupidity and wisdom meet in the same centre of + sentiment and resolution, in the suffering of human accidents. The wise + control and triumph over ill, the others know it not: these last are, as a + man may say, on this side of accidents, the others are beyond them, who + after having well weighed and considered their qualities, measured and + judged them what they are, by virtue of a vigorous soul leap out of their + reach; they disdain and trample them underfoot, having a solid and + well-fortified soul, against which the darts of fortune, coming to strike, + must of necessity rebound and blunt themselves, meeting with a body upon + which they can fix no impression; the ordinary and middle condition of men + are lodged betwixt these two extremities, consisting of such as perceive + evils, feel them, and are not able to support them. Infancy and + decrepitude meet in the imbecility of the brain; avarice and profusion in + the same thirst and desire of getting. + </p> + <p> + A man may say with some colour of truth that there is an Abecedarian + ignorance that precedes knowledge, and a doctoral ignorance that comes + after it: an ignorance that knowledge creates and begets, at the same time + that it despatches and destroys the first. Of mean understandings, little + inquisitive, and little instructed, are made good Christians, who by + reverence and obedience simply believe and are constant in their belief. + In the average understandings and the middle sort of capacities, the error + of opinion is begotten; they follow the appearance of the first + impression, and have some colour of reason on their side to impute our + walking on in the old beaten path to simplicity and stupidity, meaning us + who have not informed ourselves by study. The higher and nobler souls, + more solid and clear-sighted, make up another sort of true believers, who + by a long and religious investigation of truth, have obtained a clearer + and more penetrating light into the Scriptures, and have discovered the + mysterious and divine secret of our ecclesiastical polity; and yet we see + some, who by the middle step, have arrived at that supreme degree with + marvellous fruit and confirmation, as to the utmost limit of Christian + intelligence, and enjoy their victory with great spiritual consolation, + humble acknowledgment of the divine favour, reformation of manners, and + singular modesty. I do not intend with these to rank those others, who to + clear themselves from all suspicion of their former errors and to satisfy + us that they are sound and firm, render themselves extremely indiscreet + and unjust, in the carrying on our cause, and blemish it with infinite + reproaches of violence and oppression. The simple peasants are good + people, and so are the philosophers, or whatever the present age calls + them, men of strong and clear reason, and whose souls are enriched with an + ample instruction of profitable sciences. The mongrels who have disdained + the first form of the ignorance of letters, and have not been able to + attain to the other (sitting betwixt two stools, as I and a great many + more of us do), are dangerous, foolish, and importunate; these are they + that trouble the world. And therefore it is that I, for my own part, + retreat as much as I can towards the first and natural station, whence I + so vainly attempted to advance. + </p> + <p> + Popular and purely natural poesy + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“The term poesie populaire was employed, for the first time, in the + French language on this occasion. Montaigne created the expression, + and indicated its nature.”—Ampere.] +</pre> + <p> + has in it certain artless graces, by which she may come into comparison + with the greatest beauty of poetry perfected by art: as we see in our + Gascon villanels and the songs that are brought us from nations that have + no knowledge of any manner of science, nor so much as the use of writing. + The middle sort of poesy betwixt these two is despised, of no value, + honour, or esteem. + </p> + <p> + But seeing that the path once laid open to the fancy, I have found, as it + commonly falls out, that what we have taken for a difficult exercise and a + rare subject, prove to be nothing so, and that after the invention is once + warm, it finds out an infinite number of parallel examples. I shall only + add this one—that, were these Essays of mine considerable enough to + deserve a critical judgment, it might then, I think, fall out that they + would not much take with common and vulgar capacities, nor be very + acceptable to the singular and excellent sort of men; the first would not + understand them enough, and the last too much; and so they may hover in + the middle region. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0055" id="link2HCH0055"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LV——OF SMELLS + </h2> + <p> + It has been reported of some, as of Alexander the Great, that their sweat + exhaled an odoriferous smell, occasioned by some rare and extraordinary + constitution, of which Plutarch and others have been inquisitive into the + cause. But the ordinary constitution of human bodies is quite otherwise, + and their best and chiefest excellency is to be exempt from smell. Nay, + the sweetness even of the purest breath has nothing in it of greater + perfection than to be without any offensive smell, like those of healthful + children, which made Plautus say of a woman: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mulier tum bene olet, ubi nihil olet.” + + [“She smells sweetest, who smells not at all.” + —Plautus, Mostel, i. 3, 116.] +</pre> + <p> + And such as make use of fine exotic perfumes are with good reason to be + suspected of some natural imperfection which they endeavour by these + odours to conceal. To smell, though well, is to stink: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rides nos, Coracine, nil olentes + Malo, quam bene olere, nil olere.” + + [“You laugh at us, Coracinus, because we are not scented; I would, + rather than smell well, not smell at all.”—Martial, vi. 55, 4.] +</pre> + <p> + And elsewhere: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Posthume, non bene olet, qui bene semper olet.” + + [“Posthumus, he who ever smells well does not smell well.” + —Idem, ii. 12, 14.] +</pre> + <p> + I am nevertheless a great lover of good smells, and as much abominate the + ill ones, which also I scent at a greater distance, I think, than other + men: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Namque sagacius unus odoror, + Polypus, an gravis hirsutis cubet hircus in aliis + Quam canis acer, ubi latest sus.” + + [“My nose is quicker to scent a fetid sore or a rank armpit, than a + dog to smell out the hidden sow.”—Horace, Epod., xii. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + Of smells, the simple and natural seem to me the most pleasing. Let the + ladies look to that, for ‘tis chiefly their concern: amid the most + profound barbarism, the Scythian women, after bathing, were wont to powder + and crust their faces and all their bodies with a certain odoriferous drug + growing in their country, which being cleansed off, when they came to have + familiarity with men they were found perfumed and sleek. ‘Tis not to + be believed how strangely all sorts of odours cleave to me, and how apt my + skin is to imbibe them. He that complains of nature that she has not + furnished mankind with a vehicle to convey smells to the nose had no + reason; for they will do it themselves, especially to me; my very + mustachios, which are full, perform that office; for if I stroke them but + with my gloves or handkerchief, the smell will not out a whole day; they + manifest where I have been, and the close, luscious, devouring, viscid + melting kisses of youthful ardour in my wanton age left a sweetness upon + my lips for several hours after. And yet I have ever found myself little + subject to epidemic diseases, that are caught, either by conversing with + the sick or bred by the contagion of the air, and have escaped from those + of my time, of which there have been several sorts in our cities and + armies. We read of Socrates, that though he never departed from Athens + during the frequent plagues that infested the city, he only was never + infected. + </p> + <p> + Physicians might, I believe, extract greater utility from odours than they + do, for I have often observed that they cause an alteration in me and work + upon my spirits according to their several virtues; which makes me approve + of what is said, that the use of incense and perfumes in churches, so + ancient and so universally received in all nations and religions, was + intended to cheer us, and to rouse and purify the senses, the better to + fit us for contemplation. + </p> + <p> + I could have been glad, the better to judge of it, to have tasted the + culinary art of those cooks who had so rare a way of seasoning exotic + odours with the relish of meats; as it was particularly observed in the + service of the king of Tunis, who in our days—[Muley-Hassam, in + 1543.] —landed at Naples to have an interview with Charles the + Emperor. His dishes were larded with odoriferous drugs, to that degree of + expense that the cookery of one peacock and two pheasants amounted to a + hundred ducats to dress them after their fashion; and when the carver came + to cut them up, not only the dining-room, but all the apartments of his + palace and the adjoining streets were filled with an aromatic vapour which + did not presently vanish. + </p> + <p> + My chiefest care in choosing my lodgings is always to avoid a thick and + stinking air; and those beautiful cities, Venice and Paris, very much + lessen the kindness I have for them, the one by the offensive smell of her + marshes, and the other of her dirt. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0056" id="link2HCH0056"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LVI——OF PRAYERS + </h2> + <p> + I propose formless and undetermined fancies, like those who publish + doubtful questions, to be after a disputed upon in the schools, not to + establish truth but to seek it; and I submit them to the judgments of + those whose office it is to regulate, not my writings and actions only, + but moreover my very thoughts. Let what I here set down meet with + correction or applause, it shall be of equal welcome and utility to me, + myself beforehand condemning as absurd and impious, if anything shall be + found, through ignorance or inadvertency, couched in this rhapsody, + contrary to the holy resolutions and prescriptions of the Catholic + Apostolic and Roman Church, into which I was born and in which I will die. + And yet, always submitting to the authority of their censure, which has an + absolute power over me, I thus rashly venture at everything, as in + treating upon this present subject. + </p> + <p> + I know not if or no I am wrong, but since, by a particular favour of the + divine bounty, a certain form of prayer has been prescribed and dictated + to us, word by word, from the mouth of God Himself, I have ever been of + opinion that we ought to have it in more frequent use than we yet have; + and if I were worthy to advise, at the sitting down to and rising from our + tables, at our rising from and going to bed, and in every particular + action wherein prayer is used, I would that Christians always make use of + the Lord’s Prayer, if not alone, yet at least always. The Church may + lengthen and diversify prayers, according to the necessity of our + instruction, for I know very well that it is always the same in substance + and the same thing: but yet such a privilege ought to be given to that + prayer, that the people should have it continually in their mouths; for it + is most certain that all necessary petitions are comprehended in it, and + that it is infinitely proper for all occasions. ‘Tis the only prayer + I use in all places and conditions, and which I still repeat instead of + changing; whence it also happens that I have no other so entirely by heart + as that. + </p> + <p> + It just now came into my mind, whence it is we should derive that error of + having recourse to God in all our designs and enterprises, to call Him to + our assistance in all sorts of affairs, and in all places where our + weakness stands in need of support, without considering whether the + occasion be just or otherwise; and to invoke His name and power, in what + state soever we are, or action we are engaged in, howsoever vicious. He is + indeed, our sole and unique protector, and can do all things for us: but + though He is pleased to honour us with this sweet paternal alliance, He + is, notwithstanding, as just as He is good and mighty; and more often + exercises His justice than His power, and favours us according to that, + and not according to our petitions. + </p> + <p> + Plato in his Laws, makes three sorts of belief injurious to the gods; + “that there are none; that they concern not themselves about our + affairs; that they never refuse anything to our vows, offerings, and + sacrifices.” The first of these errors (according to his opinion, + never continued rooted in any man from his infancy to his old age); the + other two, he confesses, men might be obstinate in. + </p> + <p> + God’s justice and His power are inseparable; ‘tis in vain we + invoke His power in an unjust cause. We are to have our souls pure and + clean, at that moment at least wherein we pray to Him, and purified from + all vicious passions; otherwise we ourselves present Him the rods + wherewith to chastise us; instead of repairing anything we have done + amiss, we double the wickedness and the offence when we offer to Him, to + whom we are to sue for pardon, an affection full of irreverence and + hatred. Which makes me not very apt to applaud those whom I observe to be + so frequent on their knees, if the actions nearest to the prayer do not + give me some evidence of amendment and reformation: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si, nocturnus adulter, + Tempora Santonico velas adoperta cucullo.” + + [“If a night adulterer, thou coverest thy head with a Santonic + cowl.”—Juvenal, Sat., viii. 144.—The Santones were the people + who inhabited Saintonge in France, from whom the Romans derived the + use of hoods or cowls covering the head and face.] +</pre> + <p> + And the practice of a man who mixes devotion with an execrable life seems + in some sort more to be condemned than that of a man conformable to his + own propension and dissolute throughout; and for that reason it is that + our Church denies admittance to and communion with men obstinate and + incorrigible in any notorious wickedness. We pray only by custom and for + fashion’s sake; or rather, we read or pronounce our prayers aloud, + which is no better than an hypocritical show of devotion; and I am + scandalised to see a man cross himself thrice at the Benedicite, and as + often at Grace (and the more, because it is a sign I have in great + veneration and continual use, even when I yawn), and to dedicate all the + other hours of the day to acts of malice, avarice, and injustice. One hour + to God, the rest to the devil, as if by composition and compensation. + ‘Tis a wonder to see actions so various in themselves succeed one + another with such an uniformity of method as not to interfere nor suffer + any alteration, even upon the very confines and passes from the one to the + other. What a prodigious conscience must that be that can be at quiet + within itself whilst it harbours under the same roof, with so agreeing and + so calm a society, both the crime and the judge? + </p> + <p> + A man whose whole meditation is continually working upon nothing but + impurity which he knows to be so odious to Almighty God, what can he say + when he comes to speak to Him? He draws back, but immediately falls into a + relapse. If the object of divine justice and the presence of his Maker + did, as he pretends, strike and chastise his soul, how short soever the + repentance might be, the very fear of offending the Infinite Majesty would + so often present itself to his imagination that he would soon see himself + master of those vices that are most natural and vehement in him. But what + shall we say of those who settle their whole course of life upon the + profit and emolument of sins, which they know to be mortal? How many + trades and vocations have we admitted and countenanced amongst us, whose + very essence is vicious? And he that, confessing himself to me, + voluntarily told me that he had all his lifetime professed and practised a + religion, in his opinion damnable and contrary to that he had in his + heart, only to preserve his credit and the honour of his employments, how + could his courage suffer so infamous a confession? What can men say to the + divine justice upon this subject? + </p> + <p> + Their repentance consisting in a visible and manifest reparation, they + lose the colour of alleging it both to God and man. Are they so impudent + as to sue for remission without satisfaction and without penitence? I look + upon these as in the same condition with the first: but the obstinacy is + not there so easy to be overcome. This contrariety and volubility of + opinion so sudden, so violent, that they feign, are a kind of miracle to + me: they present us with the state of an indigestible agony of mind. + </p> + <p> + It seemed to me a fantastic imagination in those who, these late years + past, were wont to reproach every man they knew to be of any extraordinary + parts, and made profession of the Catholic religion, that it was but + outwardly; maintaining, moreover, to do him honour forsooth, that whatever + he might pretend to the contrary he could not but in his heart be of their + reformed opinion. An untoward disease, that a man should be so riveted to + his own belief as to fancy that others cannot believe otherwise than as he + does; and yet worse, that they should entertain so vicious an opinion of + such great parts as to think any man so qualified, should prefer any + present advantage of fortune to the promises of eternal life and the + menaces of eternal damnation. They may believe me: could anything have + tempted my youth, the ambition of the danger and difficulties in the late + commotions had not been the least motives. + </p> + <p> + It is not without very good reason, in my opinion, that the Church + interdicts the promiscuous, indiscreet, and irreverent use of the holy and + divine Psalms, with which the Holy Ghost inspired King David. We ought not + to mix God in our actions, but with the highest reverence and caution; + that poesy is too holy to be put to no other use than to exercise the + lungs and to delight our ears; it ought to come from the conscience, and + not from the tongue. It is not fit that a prentice in his shop, amongst + his vain and frivolous thoughts, should be permitted to pass away his time + and divert himself with such sacred things. Neither is it decent to see + the Holy Book of the holy mysteries of our belief tumbled up and down a + hall or a kitchen they were formerly mysteries, but are now become sports + and recreations. ‘Tis a book too serious and too venerable to be + cursorily or slightly turned over: the reading of the scripture ought to + be a temperate and premeditated act, and to which men should always add + this devout preface, ‘sursum corda’, preparing even the body + to so humble and composed a gesture and countenance as shall evidence a + particular veneration and attention. Neither is it a book for everyone to + fist, but the study of select men set apart for that purpose, and whom + Almighty God has been pleased to call to that office and sacred function: + the wicked and ignorant grow worse by it. ‘Tis, not a story to tell, + but a history to revere, fear, and adore. Are not they then pleasant men + who think they have rendered this fit for the people’s handling by + translating it into the vulgar tongue? Does the understanding of all + therein contained only stick at words? Shall I venture to say further, + that by coming so near to understand a little, they are much wider of the + whole scope than before. A pure and simple ignorance and wholly depending + upon the exposition of qualified persons, was far more learned and + salutary than this vain and verbal knowledge, which has only temerity and + presumption. + </p> + <p> + And I do further believe that the liberty every one has taken to disperse + the sacred writ into so many idioms carries with it a great deal more of + danger than utility. The Jews, Mohammedans, and almost all other peoples, + have reverentially espoused the language wherein their mysteries were + first conceived, and have expressly, and not without colour of reason, + forbidden the alteration of them into any other. Are we assured that in + Biscay and in Brittany there are enough competent judges of this affair to + establish this translation into their own language? The universal Church + has not a more difficult and solemn judgment to make. In preaching and + speaking the interpretation is vague, free, mutable, and of a piece by + itself; so ‘tis not the same thing. + </p> + <p> + One of our Greek historians age justly censures the age he lived in, + because the secrets of the Christian religion were dispersed into the + hands of every mechanic, to expound and argue upon, according to his own + fancy, and that we ought to be much ashamed, we who by God’s + especial favour enjoy the pure mysteries of piety, to suffer them to be + profaned by the ignorant rabble; considering that the Gentiles expressly + forbad Socrates, Plato, and the other sages to inquire into or so much as + mention the things committed to the priests of Delphi; and he says, + moreover, that the factions of princes upon theological subjects are + armed not with zeal but fury; that zeal springs from the divine wisdom + and justice, and governs itself with prudence and moderation, but + degenerates into hatred and envy, producing tares and nettles instead of + corn and wine when conducted by human passions. And it was truly said by + another, who, advising the Emperor Theodosius, told him that disputes did + not so much rock the schisms of the Church asleep, as it roused and + animated heresies; that, therefore, all contentions and dialectic + disputations were to be avoided, and men absolutely to acquiesce in the + prescriptions and formulas of faith established by the ancients. And the + Emperor Andronicus having overheard some great men at high words in his + palace with Lapodius about a point of ours of great importance, gave them + so severe a check as to threaten to cause them to be thrown into the + river if they did not desist. The very women and children nowadays take + upon them to lecture the oldest and most experienced men about the + ecclesiastical laws; whereas the first of those of Plato forbids them to + inquire so much as into the civil laws, which were to stand instead of + divine ordinances; and, allowing the old men to confer amongst themselves + or with the magistrate about those things, he adds, provided it be not in + the presence of young or profane persons. + </p> + <p> + A bishop has left in writing that at the other end of the world there is + an isle, by the ancients called Dioscorides, abundantly fertile in all + sorts of trees and fruits, and of an exceedingly healthful air; the + inhabitants of which are Christians, having churches and altars, only + adorned with crosses without any other images, great observers of fasts + and feasts, exact payers of their tithes to the priests, and so chaste, + that none of them is permitted to have to do with more than one woman in + his life—[What Osorius says is that these people only had one wife + at a time.]—as to the rest, so content with their condition, that + environed with the sea they know nothing of navigation, and so simple that + they understand not one syllable of the religion they profess and wherein + they are so devout: a thing incredible to such as do not know that the + Pagans, who are so zealous idolaters, know nothing more of their gods than + their bare names and their statues. The ancient beginning of ‘Menalippus’, + a tragedy of Euripides, ran thus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O Jupiter! for that name alone + Of what thou art to me is known.” + </pre> + <p> + I have also known in my time some men’s writings found fault with + for being purely human and philosophical, without any mixture of theology; + and yet, with some show of reason, it might, on the contrary, be said that + the divine doctrine, as queen and regent of the rest, better keeps her + state apart, that she ought to be sovereign throughout, not subsidiary and + suffragan, and that, peradventure, grammatical, rhetorical, logical + examples may elsewhere be more suitably chosen, as also the material for + the stage, games, and public entertainments, than from so sacred a matter; + that divine reasons are considered with greater veneration and attention + by themselves, and in their own proper style, than when mixed with and + adapted to human discourse; that it is a fault much more often observed + that the divines write too humanly, than that the humanists write not + theologically enough. Philosophy, says St. Chrysostom, has long been + banished the holy schools, as an handmaid altogether useless and thought + unworthy to look, so much as in passing by the door, into the sanctuary of + the holy treasures of the celestial doctrine; that the human way of + speaking is of a much lower form and ought not to adopt for herself the + dignity and majesty of divine eloquence. Let who will ‘verbis + indisciplinatis’ talk of fortune, destiny, accident, good and evil + hap, and other suchlike phrases, according to his own humour; I for my + part propose fancies merely human and merely my own, and that simply as + human fancies, and separately considered, not as determined by any decree + from heaven, incapable of doubt or dispute; matter of opinion, not matter + of faith; things which I discourse of according to my own notions, not as + I believe, according to God; after a laical, not clerical, and yet always + after a very religious manner, as children prepare their exercises, not to + instruct but to be instructed. + </p> + <p> + And might it not be said, that an edict enjoining all people but such as + are public professors of divinity, to be very reserved in writing of + religion, would carry with it a very good colour of utility and justice + —and to me, amongst the rest peradventure, to hold my prating? I + have been told that even those who are not of our Church nevertheless + amongst themselves expressly forbid the name of God to be used in common + discourse, nor so much even by way of interjection, exclamation, assertion + of a truth, or comparison; and I think them in the right: upon what + occasion soever we call upon God to accompany and assist us, it ought + always to be done with the greatest reverence and devotion. + </p> + <p> + There is, as I remember, a passage in Xenophon where he tells us that we + ought so much the more seldom to call upon God, by how much it is hard to + compose our souls to such a degree of calmness, patience, and devotion as + it ought to be in at such a time; otherwise our prayers are not only vain + and fruitless, but vicious: “forgive us,” we say, “our + trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us”; what do we + mean by this petition but that we present to God a soul free from all + rancour and revenge? And yet we make nothing of invoking God’s + assistance in our vices, and inviting Him into our unjust designs: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae, nisi seductis, nequeas committere divis” + + [“Which you can only impart to the gods, when you have gained them + over.”—Persius, ii. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + the covetous man prays for the conservation of his vain and superfluous + riches; the ambitious for victory and the good conduct of his fortune; the + thief calls Him to his assistance, to deliver him from the dangers and + difficulties that obstruct his wicked designs, or returns Him thanks for + the facility he has met with in cutting a man’s throat; at the door + of the house men are going to storm or break into by force of a petard, + they fall to prayers for success, their intentions and hopes of cruelty, + avarice, and lust. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hoc igitur, quo to Jovis aurem impellere tentas, + Dic agedum Staio: ‘proh Jupiter! O bone, clamet, + Jupiter!’ At sese non clamet Jupiter ipse.” + + [“This therefore, with which you seek to draw the ear of Jupiter, + say to Staius. ‘O Jupiter! O good Jupiter!’ let him cry. Think + you Jupiter himself would not cry out upon it?”—Persius, ii. 21.] +</pre> + <p> + Marguerite, Queen of Navarre,—[In the Heptameron.]—tells of a + young prince, who, though she does not name him, is easily enough by his + great qualities to be known, who going upon an amorous assignation to lie + with an advocate’s wife of Paris, his way thither being through a + church, he never passed that holy place going to or returning from his + pious exercise, but he always kneeled down to pray. Wherein he would + employ the divine favour, his soul being full of such virtuous + meditations, I leave others to judge, which, nevertheless, she instances + for a testimony of singular devotion. But this is not the only proof we + have that women are not very fit to treat of theological affairs. + </p> + <p> + A true prayer and religious reconciling of ourselves to Almighty God + cannot enter into an impure soul, subject at the very time to the dominion + of Satan. He who calls God to his assistance whilst in a course of vice, + does as if a cut-purse should call a magistrate to help him, or like those + who introduce the name of God to the attestation of a lie. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tacito mala vota susurro + Concipimus.” + + [“We whisper our guilty prayers.”—-Lucan, v. 104.] +</pre> + <p> + There are few men who durst publish to the world the prayers they make to + Almighty God: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haud cuivis promptum est, murmurque, humilesque susurros + Tollere de templis, et aperto vivere voto” + + [“‘Tis not convenient for every one to bring the prayers he mutters + out of the temple, and to give his wishes to the public ear. + —“Persius, ii. 6.] +</pre> + <p> + and this is the reason why the Pythagoreans would have them always public + and heard by every one, to the end they might not prefer indecent or + unjust petitions as this man: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Clare quum dixit, Apollo! + Labra movet, metuens audiri: Pulcra Laverna, + Da mihi fallere, da justum sanctumque videri; + Noctem peccatis, et fraudibus objice nubem.” + + [“When he has clearly said Apollo! he moves his lips, fearful to be + heard; he murmurs: O fair Laverna, grant me the talent to deceive; + grant me to appear holy and just; shroud my sins with night, and + cast a cloud over my frauds.”—Horace, Ep., i. 16, 59.—(Laverna + was the goddess of thieves.)] +</pre> + <p> + The gods severely punished the wicked prayers of OEdipus in granting them: + he had prayed that his children might amongst themselves determine the + succession to his throne by arms, and was so miserable as to see himself + taken at his word. We are not to pray that all things may go as we would + have them, but as most concurrent with prudence. + </p> + <p> + We seem, in truth, to make use of our prayers as of a kind of jargon, and + as those do who employ holy words about sorceries and magical operations; + and as if we reckoned the benefit we are to reap from them as depending + upon the contexture, sound, and jingle of words, or upon the grave + composing of the countenance. For having the soul contaminated with + concupiscence, not touched with repentance, or comforted by any late + reconciliation with God, we go to present Him such words as the memory + suggests to the tongue, and hope from thence to obtain the remission of + our sins. There is nothing so easy, so sweet, and so favourable, as the + divine law: it calls and invites us to her, guilty and abominable as we + are; extends her arms and receives us into her bosom, foul and polluted as + we at present are, and are for the future to be. But then, in return, we + are to look upon her with a respectful eye; we are to receive this pardon + with all gratitude and submission, and for that instant at least, wherein + we address ourselves to her, to have the soul sensible of the ills we have + committed, and at enmity with those passions that seduced us to offend + her; neither the gods nor good men (says Plato) will accept the present of + a wicked man: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Immunis aram si terigit manus, + Non sumptuosa blandior hostia + Mollivit aversos Penates + Farre pio et saliente mica.” + + [“If a pure hand has touched the altar, the pious offering of a + small cake and a few grains of salt will appease the offended gods + more effectually than costly sacrifices.” + —Horace, Od., iii. 23, 17.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0057" id="link2HCH0057"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LVII——OF AGE + </h2> + <p> + I cannot allow of the way in which we settle for ourselves the duration of + our life. I see that the sages contract it very much in comparison of the + common opinion: “what,” said the younger Cato to those who + would stay his hand from killing himself, “am I now of an age to be + reproached that I go out of the world too soon?” And yet he was but + eight-and-forty years old. He thought that to be a mature and advanced + age, considering how few arrive unto it. And such as, soothing their + thoughts with I know not what course of nature, promise to themselves some + years beyond it, could they be privileged from the infinite number of + accidents to which we are by a natural subjection exposed, they might have + some reason so to do. What am idle conceit is it to expect to die of a + decay of strength, which is the effect of extremest age, and to propose to + ourselves no shorter lease of life than that, considering it is a kind of + death of all others the most rare and very seldom seen? We call that only + a natural death; as if it were contrary to nature to see a man break his + neck with a fall, be drowned in shipwreck, be snatched away with a + pleurisy or the plague, and as if our ordinary condition did not expose us + to these inconveniences. Let us no longer flatter ourselves with these + fine words; we ought rather, peradventure, to call that natural which is + general, common, and universal. + </p> + <p> + To die of old age is a death rare, extraordinary, and singular, and, + therefore, so much less natural than the others; ‘tis the last and + extremest sort of dying: and the more remote, the less to be hoped for. It + is, indeed, the bourn beyond which we are not to pass, and which the law + of nature has set as a limit, not to be exceeded; but it is, withal, a + privilege she is rarely seen to give us to last till then. ‘Tis a + lease she only signs by particular favour, and it may be to one only in + the space of two or three ages, and then with a pass to boot, to carry him + through all the traverses and difficulties she has strewed in the way of + this long career. And therefore my opinion is, that when once forty years + we should consider it as an age to which very few arrive. For seeing that + men do not usually proceed so far, it is a sign that we are pretty well + advanced; and since we have exceeded the ordinary bounds, which is the + just measure of life, we ought not to expect to go much further; having + escaped so many precipices of death, whereinto we have seen so many other + men fall, we should acknowledge that so extraordinary a fortune as that + which has hitherto rescued us from those eminent perils, and kept us alive + beyond the ordinary term of living, is not like to continue long. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis a fault in our very laws to maintain this error: these say that + a man is not capable of managing his own estate till he be five-and-twenty + years old, whereas he will have much ado to manage his life so long. + Augustus cut off five years from the ancient Roman standard, and declared + that thirty years old was sufficient for a judge. Servius Tullius + superseded the knights of above seven-and-forty years of age from the + fatigues of war; Augustus dismissed them at forty-five; though methinks it + seems a little unreasonable that men should be sent to the fireside till + five-and-fifty or sixty years of age. I should be of opinion that our + vocation and employment should be as far as possible extended for the + public good: I find the fault on the other side, that they do not employ + us early enough. This emperor was arbiter of the whole world at nineteen, + and yet would have a man to be thirty before he could be fit to determine + a dispute about a gutter. + </p> + <p> + For my part, I believe our souls are adult at twenty as much as they are + ever like to be, and as capable then as ever. A soul that has not by that + time given evident earnest of its force and virtue will never after come + to proof. The natural qualities and virtues produce what they have of + vigorous and fine, within that term or never, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si l’espine rion picque quand nai, + A pene que picque jamai,” + + [“If the thorn does not prick at its birth, + ‘twill hardly ever prick at all.”] +</pre> + <p> + as they say in Dauphin. + </p> + <p> + Of all the great human actions I ever heard or read of, of what sort + soever, I have observed, both in former ages and our own, more were + performed before the age of thirty than after; and this ofttimes in the + very lives of the same men. May I not confidently instance in those of + Hannibal and his great rival Scipio? The better half of their lives they + lived upon the glory they had acquired in their youth; great men after, + ‘tis true, in comparison of others; but by no means in comparison of + themselves. As to my own particular, I do certainly believe that since + that age, both my understanding and my constitution have rather decayed + than improved, and retired rather than advanced. ‘Tis possible, that + with those who make the best use of their time, knowledge and experience + may increase with their years; but vivacity, promptitude, steadiness, and + other pieces of us, of much greater importance, and much more essentially + our own, languish and decay: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ubi jam validis quassatum est viribus aevi + Corpus, et obtusis ceciderunt viribus artus, + Claudicat ingenium, delirat linguaque, mensque.” + + [“When once the body is shaken by the violence of time, + blood and vigour ebbing away, the judgment halts, + the tongue and the mind dote.”—Lucretius, iii. 452.] +</pre> + <p> + Sometimes the body first submits to age, sometimes the mind; and I have + seen enough who have got a weakness in their brains before either in their + legs or stomach; and by how much the more it is a disease of no great pain + to the sufferer, and of obscure symptoms, so much greater is the danger. + For this reason it is that I complain of our laws, not that they keep us + too long to our work, but that they set us to work too late. For the + frailty of life considered, and to how many ordinary and natural rocks it + is exposed, one ought not to give up so large a portion of it to + childhood, idleness, and apprenticeship. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Which Cotton thus renders: “Birth though noble, ought not to share + so large a vacancy, and so tedious a course of education.” Florio + (1613) makes the passage read as-follows: “Methinks that, + considering the weakness of our life, and seeing the infinite number + of ordinary rocks and natural dangers it is subject unto, we should + not, so soon as we come into the world, allot so large a share + thereof unto unprofitable wantonness in youth, ill-breeding + idleness, and slow-learning prentisage.”] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0077" id="link2H_4_0077"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK THE SECOND + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0058" id="link2HCH0058"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I——OF THE INCONSTANCY OF OUR ACTIONS + </h2> + <p> + Such as make it their business to oversee human actions, do not find + themselves in anything so much perplexed as to reconcile them and bring + them into the world’s eye with the same lustre and reputation; for + they commonly so strangely contradict one another that it seems impossible + they should proceed from one and the same person. We find the younger + Marius one while a son of Mars and another a son of Venus. Pope Boniface + VIII. entered, it is said, into his Papacy like a fox, behaved himself in + it like a lion, and died like a dog; and who could believe it to be the + same Nero, the perfect image of all cruelty, who, having the sentence of a + condemned man brought to him to sign, as was the custom, cried out, + “O that I had never been taught to write!” so much it went to + his heart to condemn a man to death. All story is full of such examples, + and every man is able to produce so many to himself, or out of his own + practice or observation, that I sometimes wonder to see men of + understanding give themselves the trouble of sorting these pieces, + considering that irresolution appears to me to be the most common and + manifest vice of our nature witness the famous verse of the player + Publius: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Malum consilium est, quod mutari non potest.” + + [“‘Tis evil counsel that will admit no change.” + —Pub. Mim., ex Aul. Gell., xvii. 14.] +</pre> + <p> + There seems some reason in forming a judgment of a man from the most usual + methods of his life; but, considering the natural instability of our + manners and opinions, I have often thought even the best authors a little + out in so obstinately endeavouring to make of us any constant and solid + contexture; they choose a general air of a man, and according to that + interpret all his actions, of which, if they cannot bend some to a + uniformity with the rest, they are presently imputed to dissimulation. + Augustus has escaped them, for there was in him so apparent, sudden, and + continual variety of actions all the whole course of his life, that he has + slipped away clear and undecided from the most daring critics. I can more + hardly believe a man’s constancy than any other virtue, and believe + nothing sooner than the contrary. He that would judge of a man in detail + and distinctly, bit by bit, would oftener be able to speak the truth. It + is a hard matter, from all antiquity, to pick out a dozen men who have + formed their lives to one certain and constant course, which is the + principal design of wisdom; for to comprise it all in one word, says one + of the ancients, and to contract all the rules of human life into one, + “it is to will, and not to will, always one and the same thing: I + will not vouchsafe,” says he, “to add, provided the will be + just, for if it be not just, it is impossible it should be always one.” + I have indeed formerly learned that vice is nothing but irregularity, and + want of measure, and therefore ‘tis impossible to fix constancy to + it. ‘Tis a saying of. Demosthenes, “that the beginning oh all + virtue is consultation and deliberation; the end and perfection, + constancy.” If we would resolve on any certain course by reason, we + should pitch upon the best, but nobody has thought on’t: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quod petit, spernit; repetit, quod nuper omisit; + AEstuat, et vitae disconvenit ordine toto.” + + [“That which he sought he despises; what he lately lost, he seeks + again. He fluctuates, and is inconsistent in the whole order of + life.”—Horace, Ep., i. I, 98.] +</pre> + <p> + Our ordinary practice is to follow the inclinations of our appetite, be it + to the left or right, upwards or downwards, according as we are wafted by + the breath of occasion. We never meditate what we would have till the + instant we have a mind to have it; and change like that little creature + which receives its colour from what it is laid upon. What we but just now + proposed to ourselves we immediately alter, and presently return again to + it; ‘tis nothing but shifting and inconsistency: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ducimur, ut nervis alienis mobile lignum.” + + [“We are turned about like the top with the thong of others.” + —Idem, Sat., ii. 7, 82.] +</pre> + <p> + We do not go, we are driven; like things that float, now leisurely, then + with violence, according to the gentleness or rapidity of the current: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nonne videmus, + Quid sibi quisque velit, nescire, et quaerere semper + Commutare locum, quasi onus deponere possit?” + + [“Do we not see them, uncertain what they want, and always asking + for something new, as if they could get rid of the burthen.” + —Lucretius, iii. 1070.] +</pre> + <p> + Every day a new whimsy, and our humours keep motion with the time. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tales sunt hominum mentes, quali pater ipse + Juppiter auctificas lustravit lumine terras.” + + [“Such are the minds of men, that they change as the light with + which father Jupiter himself has illumined the increasing earth.” + —Cicero, Frag. Poet, lib. x.] +</pre> + <p> + We fluctuate betwixt various inclinations; we will nothing freely, nothing + absolutely, nothing constantly. In any one who had prescribed and + established determinate laws and rules in his head for his own conduct, we + should perceive an equality of manners, an order and an infallible + relation of one thing or action to another, shine through his whole life; + Empedocles observed this discrepancy in the Agrigentines, that they gave + themselves up to delights, as if every day was their last, and built as if + they had been to live for ever. The judgment would not be hard to make, as + is very evident in the younger Cato; he who therein has found one step, it + will lead him to all the rest; ‘tis a harmony of very according + sounds, that cannot jar. But with us ‘t is quite contrary; every + particular action requires a particular judgment. The surest way to steer, + in my opinion, would be to take our measures from the nearest allied + circumstances, without engaging in a longer inquisition, or without + concluding any other consequence. I was told, during the civil disorders + of our poor kingdom, that a maid, hard by the place where I then was, had + thrown herself out of a window to avoid being forced by a common soldier + who was quartered in the house; she was not killed by the fall, and + therefore, repeating her attempt would have cut her own throat, had she + not been prevented; but having, nevertheless, wounded herself to some show + of danger, she voluntarily confessed that the soldier had not as yet + importuned her otherwise; than by courtship, earnest solicitation, and + presents; but that she was afraid that in the end he would have proceeded + to violence, all which she delivered with such a countenance and accent, + and withal embrued in her own blood, the highest testimony of her virtue, + that she appeared another Lucretia; and yet I have since been very well + assured that both before and after she was not so difficult a piece. And, + according to my host’s tale in Ariosto, be as handsome a man and as + worthy a gentleman as you will, do not conclude too much upon your + mistress’s inviolable chastity for having been repulsed; you do not + know but she may have a better stomach to your muleteer. + </p> + <p> + Antigonus, having taken one of his soldiers into a great degree of favour + and esteem for his valour, gave his physicians strict charge to cure him + of a long and inward disease under which he had a great while languished, + and observing that, after his cure, he went much more coldly to work than + before, he asked him what had so altered and cowed him: “Yourself, + sir,” replied the other, “by having eased me of the pains that + made me weary of my life.” Lucullus’s soldier having been + rifled by the enemy, performed upon them in revenge a brave exploit, by + which having made himself a gainer, Lucullus, who had conceived a good + opinion of him from that action, went about to engage him in some + enterprise of very great danger, with all the plausible persuasions and + promises he could think of; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Verbis, quae timido quoque possent addere mentem” + + [“Words which might add courage to any timid man.” + —Horace, Ep., ii. 2, 1, 2.] +</pre> + <p> + “Pray employ,” answered he, “some miserable plundered + soldier in that affair”: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quantumvis rusticus, ibit, + Ibit eo, quo vis, qui zonam perdidit, inquit;” + + [“Some poor fellow, who has lost his purse, will go whither you + wish, said he.”—Horace, Ep., ii. 2, 39.] +</pre> + <p> + and flatly refused to go. When we read that Mahomet having furiously rated + Chasan, Bassa of the Janissaries, because he had seen the Hungarians break + into his squadrons, and himself behave very ill in the business, and that + Chasan, instead of any other answer, rushed furiously alone, scimitar in + hand, into the first body of the enemy, where he was presently cut to + pieces, we are not to look upon that action, peradventure, so much as + vindication as a turn of mind, not so much natural valour as a sudden + despite. The man you saw yesterday so adventurous and brave, you must not + think it strange to see him as great a poltroon the next: anger, + necessity, company, wine, or the sound of the trumpet had roused his + spirits; this is no valour formed and established by reason, but + accidentally created by such circumstances, and therefore it is no wonder + if by contrary circumstances it appear quite another thing. + </p> + <p> + These supple variations and contradictions so manifest in us, have given + occasion to some to believe that man has two souls; other two distinct + powers that always accompany and incline us, the one towards good and the + other towards ill, according to their own nature and propension; so abrupt + a variety not being imaginable to flow from one and the same source. + </p> + <p> + For my part, the puff of every accident not only carries me along with it + according to its own proclivity, but moreover I discompose and trouble + myself by the instability of my own posture; and whoever will look + narrowly into his own bosom, will hardly find himself twice in the same + condition. I give to my soul sometimes one face and sometimes another, + according to the side I turn her to. If I speak variously of myself, it is + because I consider myself variously; all the contrarieties are there to be + found in one corner or another; after one fashion or another: bashful, + insolent; chaste, lustful; prating, silent; laborious, delicate; + ingenious, heavy; melancholic, pleasant; lying, true; knowing, ignorant; + liberal, covetous, and prodigal: I find all this in myself, more or less, + according as I turn myself about; and whoever will sift himself to the + bottom, will find in himself, and even in his own judgment, this + volubility and discordance. I have nothing to say of myself entirely, + simply, and solidly without mixture and confusion. ‘Distinguo’ + is the most universal member of my logic. Though I always intend to speak + well of good things, and rather to interpret such things as fall out in + the best sense than otherwise, yet such is the strangeness of our + condition, that we are often pushed on to do well even by vice itself, if + well-doing were not judged by the intention only. One gallant action, + therefore, ought not to conclude a man valiant; if a man were brave + indeed, he would be always so, and upon all occasions. If it were a habit + of valour and not a sally, it would render a man equally resolute in all + accidents; the same alone as in company; the same in lists as in a battle: + for, let them say what they will, there is not one valour for the pavement + and another for the field; he would bear a sickness in his bed as bravely + as a wound in the field, and no more fear death in his own house than at + an assault. We should not then see the same man charge into a breach with + a brave assurance, and afterwards torment himself like a woman for the + loss of a trial at law or the death of a child; when, being an infamous + coward, he is firm in the necessities of poverty; when he shrinks at the + sight of a barber’s razor, and rushes fearless upon the swords of + the enemy, the action is commendable, not the man. + </p> + <p> + Many of the Greeks, says Cicero,—[Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 27.]— + cannot endure the sight of an enemy, and yet are courageous in sickness; + the Cimbrians and Celtiberians quite contrary; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nihil enim potest esse aequabile, + quod non a certa ratione proficiscatur.” + + [“Nothing can be regular that does not proceed from a fixed ground + of reason.”—Idem, ibid., c. 26.] +</pre> + <p> + No valour can be more extreme in its kind than that of Alexander: but it + is of but one kind, nor full enough throughout, nor universal. + Incomparable as it is, it has yet some blemishes; of which his being so + often at his wits’ end upon every light suspicion of his captains + conspiring against his life, and the carrying himself in that inquisition + with so much vehemence and indiscreet injustice, and with a fear that + subverted his natural reason, is one pregnant instance. The superstition, + also, with which he was so much tainted, carries along with it some image + of pusillanimity; and the excess of his penitence for the murder of Clytus + is also a testimony of the unevenness of his courage. All we perform is no + other than a cento, as a man may say, of several pieces, and we would + acquire honour by a false title. Virtue cannot be followed but for + herself, and if one sometimes borrows her mask to some other purpose, she + presently pulls it away again. ‘Tis a vivid and strong tincture + which, when the soul has once thoroughly imbibed it, will not out but with + the piece. And, therefore, to make a right judgment of a man, we are long + and very observingly to follow his trace: if constancy does not there + stand firm upon her own proper base, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cui vivendi via considerata atque provisa est,” + + [“If the way of his life is thoroughly considered and traced out.” + —Cicero, Paradox, v. 1.] +</pre> + <p> + if the variety of occurrences makes him alter his pace (his path, I mean, + for the pace may be faster or slower) let him go; such an one runs before + the wind, “Avau le dent,” as the motto of our Talebot has it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis no wonder, says one of the ancients, that chance has so great a + dominion over us, since it is by chance we live. It is not possible for + any one who has not designed his life for some certain end, it is + impossible for any one to arrange the pieces, who has not the whole form + already contrived in his imagination. Of what use are colours to him that + knows not what he is to paint? No one lays down a certain design for his + life, and we only deliberate thereof by pieces. The archer ought first to + know at what he is to aim, and then accommodate his arm, bow, string, + shaft, and motion to it; our counsels deviate and wander, because not + levelled to any determinate end. No wind serves him who addresses his + voyage to no certain, port. I cannot acquiesce in the judgment given by + one in the behalf of Sophocles, who concluded him capable of the + management of domestic affairs, against the accusation of his son, from + having read one of his tragedies. + </p> + <p> + Neither do I allow of the conjecture of the Parians, sent to regulate the + Milesians sufficient for such a consequence as they from thence derived + coming to visit the island, they took notice of such grounds as were best + husbanded, and such country-houses as were best governed; and having taken + the names of the owners, when they had assembled the citizens, they + appointed these farmers for new governors and magistrates; concluding that + they, who had been so provident in their own private concerns, would be so + of the public too. We are all lumps, and of so various and inform a + contexture, that every piece plays, every moment, its own game, and there + is as much difference betwixt us and ourselves as betwixt us and others: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Magnam rem puta, unum hominem agere.” + + [“Esteem it a great thing always to act as one and the same + man.”—Seneca, Ep., 150.] +</pre> + <p> + Since ambition can teach man valour, temperance, and liberality, and even + justice too; seeing that avarice can inspire the courage of a shop-boy, + bred and nursed up in obscurity and ease, with the assurance to expose + himself so far from the fireside to the mercy of the waves and angry + Neptune in a frail boat; that she further teaches discretion and prudence; + and that even Venus can inflate boys under the discipline of the rod with + boldness and resolution, and infuse masculine courage into the heart of + tender virgins in their mothers’ arms: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hac duce, custodes furtim transgressa jacentes, + Ad juvenem tenebris sola puella venit:” + + [“She leading, the maiden, furtively passing by the recumbent + guards, goes alone in the darkness to the youth.” + —Tibullus, ii. 2, 75.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘tis not all the understanding has to do, simply to judge us by our + outward actions; it must penetrate the very soul, and there discover by + what springs the motion is guided. But that being a high and hazardous + undertaking, I could wish that fewer would attempt it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0059" id="link2HCH0059"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II——OF DRUNKENNESS + </h2> + <p> + The world is nothing but variety and disemblance, vices are all alike, as + they are vices, and peradventure the Stoics understand them so; but + although they are equally vices, yet they are not all equal vices; and he + who has transgressed the ordinary bounds a hundred paces: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum,” + + [“Beyond or within which the right cannot exist.” + —Horace, Sat., i, 1, 107.] +</pre> + <p> + should not be in a worse condition than he that has advanced but ten, is + not to be believed; or that sacrilege is not worse than stealing a + cabbage: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec vincet ratio hoc, tantumdem ut peccet, idemque, + Qui teneros caules alieni fregerit horti, + Et qui nocturnus divum sacra legerit.” + </pre> + <p> + There is in this as great diversity as in anything whatever. The + confounding of the order and measure of sins is dangerous: murderers, + traitors, and tyrants get too much by it, and it is not reasonable they + should flatter their consciences, because another man is idle, lascivious, + or not assiduous at his devotion. Every one overrates the offence of his + companions, but extenuates his own. Our very instructors themselves rank + them sometimes, in my opinion, very ill. As Socrates said that the + principal office of wisdom was to distinguish good from evil, we, the best + of whom are vicious, ought also to say the same of the science of + distinguishing betwixt vice and vice, without which, and that very exactly + performed, the virtuous and the wicked will remain confounded and + unrecognised. + </p> + <p> + Now, amongst the rest, drunkenness seems to me to be a gross and brutish + vice. The soul has greater part in the rest, and there are some vices that + have something, if a man may so say, of generous in them; there are vices + wherein there is a mixture of knowledge, diligence, valour, prudence, + dexterity, and address; this one is totally corporeal and earthly. And the + rudest nation this day in Europe is that alone where it is in fashion. + Other vices discompose the understanding: this totally overthrows it and + renders the body stupid: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cum vini vis penetravit . . . + Consequitur gravitas membrorum, praepediuntur + Crura vacillanti, tardescit lingua, madet mens, + Nant oculi; clamor, singultus, jurgia, gliscunt.” + + [“When the power of wine has penetrated us, a heaviness of the limbs + follows, the legs of the tottering person are impeded; the tongue + grows torpid, the mind is dimmed, the eyes swim; noise, hiccup, and + quarrels arise.—“Lucretius, i. 3, 475.] +</pre> + <p> + The worst state of man is that wherein he loses the knowledge and + government of himself. And ‘tis said amongst other things upon this + subject, that, as the must fermenting in a vessel, works up to the top + whatever it has in the bottom, so wine, in those who have drunk beyond + measure, vents the most inward secrets: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tu sapientum + Curas et arcanum jocoso + Consilium retegis Lyaeo.” + + [“Thou disclosest to the merry Lyacus the cares and secret + counsel of the wise.”—Horace, Od., xxi. 1, 114.] + + [Lyacus, a name given to Bacchus.] +</pre> + <p> + Josephus tells us that by giving an ambassador the enemy had sent to him + his full dose of liquor, he wormed out his secrets. And yet, Augustus, + committing the most inward secrets of his affairs to Lucius Piso, who + conquered Thrace, never found him faulty in the least, no more than + Tiberias did Cossus, with whom he intrusted his whole counsels, though we + know they were both so given to drink that they have often been fain to + carry both the one and the other drunk out of the Senate: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hesterno inflatum venas ut semper, Lyaeo.” + + [“Their veins full, as usual, of yesterday’s wine.” + —Virgil, Egl., vi. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + And the design of killing Caesar was as safely communicated to Cimber, + though he would often be drunk, as to Cassius, who drank nothing but + water. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [As to which Cassius pleasantly said: “What, shall I bear + a tyrant, I who cannot bear wine?”] +</pre> + <p> + We see our Germans, when drunk as the devil, know their post, remember the + word, and keep to their ranks: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec facilis victoria de madidis, et + Blaesis, atque mero titubantibus.” + + [“Nor is a victory easily obtained over men so drunk, they can + scarce speak or stand.”—Juvenal, Sat., xv. 47.] +</pre> + <p> + I could not have believed there had been so profound, senseless, and dead + a degree of drunkenness had I not read in history that Attalus having, to + put a notable affront upon him, invited to supper the same Pausanias, who + upon the very same occasion afterwards killed Philip of Macedon, a king + who by his excellent qualities gave sufficient testimony of his education + in the house and company of Epaminondas, made him drink to such a pitch + that he could after abandon his beauty, as of a hedge strumpet, to the + muleteers and servants of the basest office in the house. And I have been + further told by a lady whom I highly honour and esteem, that near Bordeaux + and about Castres where she lives, a country woman, a widow of chaste + repute, perceiving in herself the first symptoms of breeding, innocently + told her neighbours that if she had a husband she should think herself + with child; but the causes of suspicion every day more and more + increasing, and at last growing up to a manifest proof, the poor woman was + reduced to the necessity of causing it to be proclaimed in her parish + church, that whoever had done that deed and would frankly confess it, she + did not only promise to forgive, but moreover to marry him, if he liked + the motion; whereupon a young fellow that served her in the quality of a + labourer, encouraged by this proclamation, declared that he had one + holiday found her, having taken too much of the bottle, so fast asleep by + the chimney and in so indecent a posture, that he could conveniently do + his business without waking her; and they yet live together man and wife. + </p> + <p> + It is true that antiquity has not much decried this vice; the writings + even of several philosophers speak very tenderly of it, and even amongst + the Stoics there are some who advise folks to give themselves sometimes + the liberty to drink, nay, to drunkenness, to refresh the soul: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hoc quoque virtutum quondam certamine, magnum + Socratem palmam promeruisse ferunt.” + + [“In this trial of power formerly they relate that the great + Socrates deserved the palm.”—Cornet. Gallus, Ep., i. 47.] +</pre> + <p> + That censor and reprover of others, Cato, was reproached that he was a + hard drinker: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Narratur et prisci Catonis + Saepe mero caluisse virtus.” + + [“And of old Cato it is said, that his courage was often warmed with + wine.”—Horace, Od., xxi. 3, 11.—Cato the Elder.] +</pre> + <p> + Cyrus, that so renowned king, amongst the other qualities by which he + claimed to be preferred before his brother Artaxerxes, urged this + excellence, that he could drink a great deal more than he. And in the best + governed nations this trial of skill in drinking is very much in use. I + have heard Silvius, an excellent physician of Paris, say that lest the + digestive faculties of the stomach should grow idle, it were not amiss + once a month to rouse them by this excess, and to spur them lest they + should grow dull and rusty; and one author tells us that the Persians used + to consult about their most important affairs after being well warmed with + wine. + </p> + <p> + My taste and constitution are greater enemies to this vice than my + discourse; for besides that I easily submit my belief to the authority of + ancient opinions, I look upon it indeed as an unmanly and stupid vice, but + less malicious and hurtful than the others, which, almost all, more + directly jostle public society. And if we cannot please ourselves but it + must cost us something, as they hold, I find this vice costs a man’s + conscience less than the others, besides that it is of no difficult + preparation, nor hard to be found, a consideration not altogether to be + despised. A man well advanced both in dignity and age, amongst three + principal commodities that he said remained to him of life, reckoned to me + this for one, and where would a man more justly find it than amongst the + natural conveniences? But he did not take it right, for delicacy and the + curious choice of wines is therein to be avoided. If you found your + pleasure upon drinking of the best, you condemn yourself to the penance of + drinking of the worst. Your taste must be more indifferent and free; so + delicate a palate is not required to make a good toper. The Germans drink + almost indifferently of all wines with delight; their business is to pour + down and not to taste; and it’s so much the better for them: their + pleasure is so much the more plentiful and nearer at hand. + </p> + <p> + Secondly, to drink, after the French fashion, but at two meals, and then + very moderately, is to be too sparing of the favours of the god. There is + more time and constancy required than so. The ancients spent whole nights + in this exercise, and ofttimes added the day following to eke it out, and + therefore we are to take greater liberty and stick closer to our work. I + have seen a great lord of my time, a man of high enterprise and famous + success, that without setting himself to’t, and after his ordinary + rate of drinking at meals, drank not much less than five quarts of wine, + and at his going away appeared but too wise and discreet, to the detriment + of our affairs. The pleasure we hold in esteem for the course of our lives + ought to have a greater share of our time dedicated to it; we should, like + shopboys and labourers, refuse no occasion nor omit any opportunity of + drinking, and always have it in our minds. Methinks we every day abridge + and curtail the use of wine, and that the after breakfasts, dinner + snatches, and collations I used to see in my father’s house, when I + was a boy, were more usual and frequent then than now. + </p> + <p> + Is it that we pretend to a reformation? Truly, no: but it may be we are + more addicted to Venus than our fathers were. They are two exercises that + thwart and hinder one another in their vigour. Lechery weakens our stomach + on the one side; and on the other sobriety renders us more spruce and + amorous for the exercise of love. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis wonderful what strange stories I have heard my father tell of + the chastity of that age wherein he lived. It was for him to say it, being + both by art and nature cut out and finished for the service of ladies. He + spoke well and little: ever mixing his language with some illustration out + of authors most in use, especially in Spanish, and among the Spanish he + whom they called Marcus Aurelius—[ Guevara’s Golden Book of + Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.]—was ordinarily in his mouth. His + behaviour was gently grave, humble, and very modest; he was very + solicitous of neatness and propriety both in his person and clothes, + whether on horseback or afoot, he was monstrously punctual in his word; + and of a conscience and religion generally tending rather towards + superstition than otherwise. For a man of little stature, very strong, + well proportioned, and well knit; of a pleasing countenance inclining to + brown, and very adroit in all noble exercises. I have yet in the house to + be seen canes poured full of lead, with which they say he exercised his + arms for throwing the bar or the stone, or in fencing; and shoes with + leaden soles to make him lighter for running or leaping. Of his vaulting + he has left little miracles behind him: I have seen him when past three + score laugh at our exercises, and throw himself in his furred gown into + the saddle, make the tour of a table upon his thumbs and scarce ever mount + the stairs into his chamber without taking three or four steps at a time. + But as to what I was speaking of before; he said there was scarce one + woman of quality of ill fame in the whole province: he would tell of + strange confidences, and some of them his own, with virtuous women, free + from any manner of suspicion of ill, and for his own part solemnly swore + he was a virgin at his marriage; and yet it was after a long practice of + arms beyond the mountains, of which wars he left us a journal under his + own hand, wherein he has given a precise account from point to point of + all passages, both relating to the public and to himself. And he was, + moreover, married at a well advanced maturity, in the year 1528, the + three-and-thirtieth year of his age, upon his way home from Italy. But let + us return to our bottles. + </p> + <p> + The incommodities of old age, that stand in need of some refreshment and + support, might with reason beget in me a desire of this faculty, it being + as it were the last pleasure the course of years deprives us of. The + natural heat, say the good-fellows, first seats itself in the feet: that + concerns infancy; thence it mounts into the middle region, where it makes + a long abode and produces, in my opinion, the sole true pleasures of human + life; all other pleasures in comparison sleep; towards the end, like a + vapour that still mounts upward, it arrives at the throat, where it makes + its final residence, and concludes the progress. I do not, nevertheless, + understand how a man can extend the pleasure of drinking beyond thirst, + and forge in his imagination an appetite artificial and against nature; my + stomach would not proceed so far; it has enough to do to deal with what it + takes in for its necessity. My constitution is not to care for drink but + as following eating and washing down my meat, and for that reason my last + draught is always the greatest. And seeing that in old age we have our + palate furred with phlegms or depraved by some other ill constitution, the + wine tastes better to us as the pores are cleaner washed and laid more + open. At least, I seldom taste the first glass well. Anacharsis wondered + that the Greeks drank in greater glasses towards the end of a meal than at + the beginning; which was, I suppose, for the same reason the Germans do + the same, who then begin the battle of drink. + </p> + <p> + Plato forbids children wine till eighteen years of age, and to get drunk + till forty; but, after forty, gives them leave to please themselves, and + to mix a little liberally in their feasts the influence of Dionysos, that + good deity who restores to younger men their gaiety and to old men their + youth; who mollifies the passions of the soul, as iron is softened by + fire; and in his Lazes allows such merry meetings, provided they have a + discreet chief to govern and keep them in order, as good and of great + utility; drunkenness being, he says, a true and certain trial of every one’s + nature, and, withal, fit to inspire old men with mettle to divert + themselves in dancing and music; things of great use, and that they dare + not attempt when sober. He, moreover, says that wine is able to supply the + soul with temperance and the body with health. Nevertheless, these + restrictions, in part borrowed from the Carthaginians, please him: that + men forbear excesses in the expeditions of war; that every judge and + magistrate abstain from it when about the administrations of his place or + the consultations of the public affairs; that the day is not to be + employed with it, that being a time due to other occupations, nor the + night on which a man intends to get children. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis said that the philosopher Stilpo, when oppressed with age, + purposely hastened his end by drinking pure wine. The same thing, but not + designed by him, despatched also the philosopher Arcesilaus. + </p> + <p> + But ‘tis an old and pleasant question, whether the soul of a wise + man can be overcome by the strength of wine? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si munitae adhibet vim sapientiae.” + </pre> + <p> + To what vanity does the good opinion we have of ourselves push us? The + most regular and most perfect soul in the world has but too much to do to + keep itself upright, and from being overthrown by its own weakness. There + is not one of a thousand that is right and settled so much as one minute + in a whole life, and that may not very well doubt, whether according to + her natural condition she ever can be; but to join constancy to it is her + utmost perfection; I mean when nothing should jostle and discompose her, + which a thousand accidents may do. ‘Tis to much purpose that the + great poet Lucretius keeps such a clatter with his philosophy, when, + behold! he goes mad with a love philtre. Is it to be imagined that an + apoplexy will not stun Socrates as well as a porter? Some men have + forgotten their own names by the violence of a disease; and a slight wound + has turned the judgment of others topsy-turvy. Let him be as wise as he + will, after all he is but a man; and than that what is there more frail, + more miserable, or more nothing? Wisdom does not force our natural + dispositions, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sudores itaque, et pallorem exsistere toto + Corpore, et infringi linguam, vocemque aboriri, + Caligare oculos, sonere aures, succidere artus, + Demque concidere, ex animi terrore, videmus.” + + [“Sweat and paleness come over the whole body, the tongue is + rendered powerless, the voice dies away, the eyes are darkened, + there is ringing in the ears, the limbs sink under us by the + influence of fear.”—Lucretius, iii. 155.] +</pre> + <p> + he must shut his eyes against the blow that threatens him; he must tremble + upon the margin of a precipice, like a child; nature having reserved these + light marks of her authority, not to be forced by our reason and the stoic + virtue, to teach man his mortality and our weakness; he turns pale with + fear, red with shame, and groans with the cholic, if not with desperate + outcry, at least with hoarse and broken voice: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Humani a se nihil alienum putet.” + + [“Let him not think himself exempt from that which is incidental to + men in general.”—Terence, Heauton, i. 1, 25.] +</pre> + <p> + The poets, that feign all things at pleasure, dare not acquit their + greatest heroes of tears: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sic fatur lacrymans, classique immittit habenas.” + + [“Thus he speaks, weeping, and then sets sail with his fleet.” + —Aeneid, vi. i.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis sufficient for a man to curb and moderate his inclinations, for + totally to suppress them is not in him to do. Even our great Plutarch, + that excellent and perfect judge of human actions, when he sees Brutus and + Torquatus kill their children, begins to doubt whether virtue could + proceed so far, and to question whether these persons had not rather been + stimulated by some other passion.—[Plutarch, Life of Publicola, c. + 3.] —All actions exceeding the ordinary bounds are liable to + sinister interpretation, for as much as our liking no more holds with what + is above than with what is below it. + </p> + <p> + Let us leave that other sect, that sets up an express profession of + scornful superiority—[The Stoics.]—: but when even in that + sect, reputed the most quiet and gentle, we hear these rhodomontades of + Metrodorus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Occupavi te, Fortuna, atque cepi: omnesque aditus tuos + interclusi ut ad me aspirare non posses;” + + [“Fortune, I have got the better of thee, and have made all the + avenues so sure thou canst not come at me.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., v. 9.] +</pre> + <p> + when Anaxarchus, by command of Nicocreon the tyrant of Cyprus, was put + into a stone mortar, and laid upon with mauls of iron, ceases not to say, + “Strike, batter, break; ‘tis not Anaxarchus, ‘tis but + his sheath that you pound and bray so”; when we hear our martyrs cry + out to the tyrant from the middle of the flame, “This side is + roasted enough, fall to and eat, it is enough done; fall to work with the + other;” when we hear the child in Josephus’ torn piece-meal + with pincers, defying Antiochus, and crying out with a constant and + assured voice: “Tyrant, thou losest thy labour, I am still at ease; + where is the pain, where are the torments with which thou didst so + threaten me? Is this all thou canst do? My constancy torments thee more + than thy cruelty does me. O pitiful coward, thou faintest, and I grow + stronger; make me complain, make me bend, make me yield if thou canst; + encourage thy guards, cheer up thy executioners; see, see they faint, and + can do no more; arm them, flesh them anew, spur them up”; truly, a + man must confess that there is some phrenzy, some fury, how holy soever, + that at that time possesses those souls. When we come to these Stoical + sallies: “I had rather be mad than voluptuous,” a saying of + Antisthenes. When Sextius tells us, “he had rather be fettered with + affliction than pleasure”: when Epicurus takes upon him to play with + his gout, and, refusing health and ease, defies all torments, and + despising the lesser pains, as disdaining to contend with them, he covets + and calls out for others sharper, more violent, and more worthy of him; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Spumantemque dari, pecora inter inertia, votis + Optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte leonem:” + + [“And instead of timid beasts, wishes the foaming boar or tawny lion + would come from the mountain.”—AEneid, iv. 158.] +</pre> + <p> + who but must conclude that these are wild sallies pushed on by a courage + that has broken loose from its place? Our soul cannot from her own seat + reach so high; ‘tis necessary she must leave it, raise herself up, + and, taking the bridle in her teeth, transport her man so far that he + shall afterwards himself be astonished at what he has done; as, in war, + the heat of battle impels generous soldiers to perform things of so + infinite danger, as afterwards, recollecting them, they themselves are the + first to wonder at; as it also fares with the poets, who are often rapt + with admiration of their own writings, and know not where again to find + the track through which they performed so fine a Career; which also is in + them called fury and rapture. And as Plato says, ‘tis to no purpose + for a sober-minded man to knock at the door of poesy: so Aristotle says, + that no excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness; and he has + reason to call all transports, how commendable soever, that surpass our + own judgment and understanding, madness; forasmuch as wisdom is a regular + government of the soul, which is carried on with measure and proportion, + and for which she is to herself responsible. Plato argues thus, that the + faculty of prophesying is so far above us, that we must be out of + ourselves when we meddle with it, and our prudence must either be + obstructed by sleep or sickness, or lifted from her place by some + celestial rapture. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0060" id="link2HCH0060"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III——A CUSTOM OF THE ISLE OF CEA + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Cos. Cea is the form of the name given by Pliny] +</pre> + <p> + If to philosophise be, as ‘tis defined, to doubt, much more to write + at random and play the fool, as I do, ought to be reputed doubting, for it + is for novices and freshmen to inquire and to dispute, and for the + chairman to moderate and determine. + </p> + <p> + My moderator is the authority of the divine will, that governs us without + contradiction, and that is seated above these human and vain + contestations. + </p> + <p> + Philip having forcibly entered into Peloponnesus, and some one saying to + Damidas that the Lacedaemonians were likely very much to suffer if they + did not in time reconcile themselves to his favour: “Why, you + pitiful fellow,” replied he, “what can they suffer who do not + fear to die?” It being also asked of Agis, which way a man might + live free? “Why,” said he, “by despising death.” + These, and a thousand other sayings to the same purpose, distinctly sound + of something more than the patient attending the stroke of death when it + shall come; for there are several accidents in life far worse to suffer + than death itself. Witness the Lacedaemonian boy taken by Antigonus, and + sold for a slave, who being by his master commanded to some base + employment: “Thou shalt see,” says the boy, “whom thou + hast bought; it would be a shame for me to serve, being so near the reach + of liberty,” and having so said, threw himself from the top of the + house. Antipater severely threatening the Lacedaemonians, that he might + the better incline them to acquiesce in a certain demand of his: “If + thou threatenest us with more than death,” replied they, “we + shall the more willingly die”; and to Philip, having written them + word that he would frustrate all their enterprises: “What, wilt thou + also hinder us from dying?” This is the meaning of the sentence, + “That the wise man lives as long as he ought, not so long as he can; + and that the most obliging present Nature has made us, and which takes + from us all colour of complaint of our condition, is to have delivered + into our own custody the keys of life; she has only ordered, one door into + life, but a hundred thousand ways out. We may be straitened for earth to + live upon, but earth sufficient to die upon can never be wanting, as + Boiocalus answered the Romans.”—[Tacitus, Annal., xiii. 56.]—Why + dost thou complain of this world? it detains thee not; thy own cowardice + is the cause, if thou livest in pain. There needs no more to die but to + will to die: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ubique mors est; optime hoc cavit deus. + Eripere vitam nemo non homini potest; + At nemo mortem; mille ad hanc aditus patent.” + + [“Death is everywhere: heaven has well provided for that. Any one + may deprive us of life; no one can deprive us of death. To death + there are a thousand avenues.”—Seneca, Theb:, i, I, 151.] +</pre> + <p> + Neither is it a recipe for one disease only; death is the infallible cure + of all; ‘tis a most assured port that is never to be feared, and + very often to be sought. It comes all to one, whether a man give himself + his end, or stays to receive it by some other means; whether he pays + before his day, or stay till his day of payment come; from whencesoever it + comes, it is still his; in what part soever the thread breaks, there’s + the end of the clue. The most voluntary death is the finest. Life depends + upon the pleasure of others; death upon our own. We ought not to + accommodate ourselves to our own humour in anything so much as in this. + Reputation is not concerned in such an enterprise; ‘tis folly to be + concerned by any such apprehension. Living is slavery if the liberty of + dying be wanting. The ordinary method of cure is carried on at the expense + of life; they torment us with caustics, incisions, and amputations of + limbs; they interdict aliment and exhaust our blood; one step farther and + we are cured indeed and effectually. Why is not the jugular vein as much + at our disposal as the median vein? For a desperate disease a desperate + cure. Servius the grammarian, being tormented with the gout, could think + of no better remedy than to apply poison to his legs, to deprive them of + their sense; let them be gouty at their will, so they were insensible of + pain. God gives us leave enough to go when He is pleased to reduce us to + such a condition that to live is far worse than to die. ‘Tis + weakness to truckle under infirmities, but it’s madness to nourish + them. The Stoics say, that it is living according to nature in a wise man + to, take his leave of life, even in the height of prosperity, if he do it + opportunely; and in a fool to prolong it, though he be miserable, provided + he be not indigent of those things which they repute to be according to + nature. As I do not offend the law against thieves when I embezzle my own + money and cut my own purse; nor that against incendiaries when I burn my + own wood; so am I not under the lash of those made against murderers for + having deprived myself of my own life. Hegesias said, that as the + condition of life did, so the condition of death ought to depend upon our + own choice. And Diogenes meeting the philosopher Speusippus, so blown up + with an inveterate dropsy that he was fain to be carried in a litter, and + by him saluted with the compliment, “I wish you good health.” + “No health to thee,” replied the other, “who art content + to live in such a condition.” + </p> + <p> + And in fact, not long after, Speusippus, weary of so languishing a state + of life, found a means to die. + </p> + <p> + But this does not pass without admitting a dispute: for many are of + opinion that we cannot quit this garrison of the world without the express + command of Him who has placed us in it; and that it appertains to God who + has placed us here, not for ourselves only but for His Glory and the + service of others, to dismiss us when it shall best please Him, and not + for us to depart without His licence: that we are not born for ourselves + only, but for our country also, the laws of which require an account from + us upon the score of their own interest, and have an action of + manslaughter good against us; and if these fail to take cognisance of the + fact, we are punished in the other world as deserters of our duty: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Proxima deinde tenent maesti loca, qui sibi letum + Insontes peperere manu, lucemque perosi + Proiecere animas.” + + [“Thence the sad ones occupy the next abodes, who, though free + from guilt, were by their own hands slain, and, hating light, + sought death.”—AEneid, vi. 434.] +</pre> + <p> + There is more constancy in suffering the chain we are tied to than in + breaking it, and more pregnant evidence of fortitude in Regulus than in + Cato; ‘tis indiscretion and impatience that push us on to these + precipices: no accidents can make true virtue turn her back; she seeks and + requires evils, pains, and grief, as the things by which she is nourished + and supported; the menaces of tyrants, racks, and tortures serve only to + animate and rouse her: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Duris ut ilex tonsa bipennibus + Nigrae feraci frondis in Algido, + Per damma, percmdes, ab ipso + Ducit opes, animumque ferro.” + + [“As in Mount Algidus, the sturdy oak even from the axe itself + derives new vigour and life.”—Horace, Od., iv. 4, 57.] +</pre> + <p> + And as another says: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non est, ut putas, virtus, pater, + Timere vitam; sed malis ingentibus + Obstare, nec se vertere, ac retro dare.” + + [“Father, ‘tis no virtue to fear life, but to withstand great + misfortunes, nor turn back from them.”—Seneca, Theb., i. 190.] +</pre> + <p> + Or as this: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rebus in adversis facile est contemnere mortem + Fortius ille facit, qui miser esse potest.” + + [“It is easy in adversity to despise death; but he acts more + bravely, who can live wretched.”—Martial, xi. 56, 15.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis cowardice, not virtue, to lie squat in a furrow, under a tomb, + to evade the blows of fortune; virtue never stops nor goes out of her + path, for the greatest storm that blows: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si fractus illabatur orbis, + Impavidum ferient ruinae.” + + [“Should the world’s axis crack, the ruins will but crush + a fearless head.”—Horace, Od., iii. 3, 7.] +</pre> + <p> + For the most part, the flying from other inconveniences brings us to this; + nay, endeavouring to evade death, we often run into its very mouth: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hic, rogo, non furor est, ne moriare, mori?” + + [“Tell me, is it not madness, that one should die for fear + of dying?”—Martial, ii. 80, 2.] +</pre> + <p> + like those who, from fear of a precipice, throw themselves headlong into + it; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Multos in summa pericula misfit + Venturi timor ipse mali: fortissimus ille est, + Qui promptus metuenda pati, si cominus instent, + Et differre potest.” + + [“The fear of future ills often makes men run into extreme danger; + he is truly brave who boldly dares withstand the mischiefs he + apprehends, when they confront him and can be deferred.” + —Lucan, vii. 104.] + + “Usque adeo, mortis formidine, vitae + Percipit humanos odium, lucisque videndae, + Ut sibi consciscant moerenti pectore lethum + Obliti fontem curarum hunc esse timorem.” + + [“Death to that degree so frightens some men, that causing them to + hate both life and light, they kill themselves, miserably forgetting + that this same fear is the fountain of their cares.” + —Lucretius, iii. 79.] +</pre> + <p> + Plato, in his Laws, assigns an ignominious sepulture to him who has + deprived his nearest and best friend, namely himself, of life and his + destined course, being neither compelled so to do by public judgment, by + any sad and inevitable accident of fortune, nor by any insupportable + disgrace, but merely pushed on by cowardice and the imbecility of a + timorous soul. And the opinion that makes so little of life, is + ridiculous; for it is our being, ‘tis all we have. Things of a + nobler and more elevated being may, indeed, reproach ours; but it is + against nature for us to contemn and make little account of ourselves; + ‘tis a disease particular to man, and not discerned in any other + creatures, to hate and despise itself. And it is a vanity of the same + stamp to desire to be something else than what we are; the effect of such + a desire does not at all touch us, forasmuch as it is contradicted and + hindered in itself. He that desires of a man to be made an angel, does + nothing for himself; he would be never the better for it; for, being no + more, who shall rejoice or be sensible of this benefit for him. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Debet enim, misere cui forti, aegreque futurum est, + Ipse quoque esse in eo turn tempore, cum male possit + Accidere.” + + [“For he to whom misery and pain are to be in the future, must + himself then exist, when these ills befall him.” + —Idem, ibid., 874.] +</pre> + <p> + Security, indolence, impassability, the privation of the evils of this + life, which we pretend to purchase at the price of dying, are of no manner + of advantage to us: that man evades war to very little purpose who can + have no fruition of peace; and as little to the purpose does he avoid + trouble who cannot enjoy repose. + </p> + <p> + Amongst those of the first of these two opinions, there has been great + debate, what occasions are sufficient to justify the meditation of + self-murder, which they call “A reasonable exit.”—[ + Diogenes Laertius, Life of Zeno.]—For though they say that men must + often die for trivial causes, seeing those that detain us in life are of + no very great weight, yet there is to be some limit. There are fantastic + and senseless humours that have prompted not only individual men, but + whole nations to destroy themselves, of which I have elsewhere given some + examples; and we further read of the Milesian virgins, that by a frantic + compact they hanged themselves one after another till the magistrate took + order in it, enacting that the bodies of such as should be found so hanged + should be drawn by the same halter stark naked through the city. When + Therykion tried to persuade Cleomenes to despatch himself, by reason of + the ill posture of his affairs, and, having missed a death of more honour + in the battle he had lost, to accept of this the second in honour to it, + and not to give the conquerors leisure to make him undergo either an + ignominious death or an infamous life; Cleomenes, with a courage truly + Stoic and Lacedaemonian, rejected his counsel as unmanly and mean; “that,” + said he, “is a remedy that can never be wanting, but which a man is + never to make use of, whilst there is an inch of hope remaining”: + telling him, “that it was sometimes constancy and valour to live; + that he would that even his death should be of use to his country, and + would make of it an act of honour and virtue.” Therykion, + notwithstanding, thought himself in the right, and did his own business; + and Cleomenes afterwards did the same, but not till he had first tried the + utmost malevolence of fortune. All the inconveniences in the world are not + considerable enough that a man should die to evade them; and, besides, + there being so many, so sudden and unexpected changes in human things, it + is hard rightly to judge when we are at the end of our hope: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sperat et in saeva victus gladiator arena, + Sit licet infesto pollice turba minax.” + + [“The gladiator conquered in the lists hopes on, though the + menacing spectators, turning their thumb, order him to die.” + —Pentadius, De Spe, ap. Virgilii Catadecta.] +</pre> + <p> + All things, says an old adage, are to be hoped for by a man whilst he + lives; ay, but, replies Seneca, why should this rather be always running + in a man’s head that fortune can do all things for the living man, + than this, that fortune has no power over him that knows how to die? + Josephus, when engaged in so near and apparent danger, a whole people + being violently bent against him, that there was no visible means of + escape, nevertheless, being, as he himself says, in this extremity + counselled by one of his friends to despatch himself, it was well for him + that he yet maintained himself in hope, for fortune diverted the accident + beyond all human expectation, so that he saw himself delivered without any + manner of inconvenience. Whereas Brutus and Cassius, on the contrary, + threw away the remains of the Roman liberty, of which they were the sole + protectors, by the precipitation and temerity wherewith they killed + themselves before the due time and a just occasion. Monsieur d’Anguien, + at the battle of Serisolles, twice attempted to run himself through, + despairing of the fortune of the day, which went indeed very untowardly on + that side of the field where he was engaged, and by that precipitation was + very near depriving himself of the enjoyment of so brave a victory. I have + seen a hundred hares escape out of the very teeth of the greyhounds: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aliquis carnifici suo superstes fuit.” + + [“Some have survived their executioners.”—Seneca, Ep., 13.] + + “Multa dies, variusque labor mutabilis nevi + Rettulit in melius; multos alterna revisens + Lusit, et in solido rursus fortuna locavit.” + + [“Length of days, and the various labour of changeful time, have + brought things to a better state; fortune turning, shews a reverse + face, and again restores men to prosperity.”—AEneid, xi. 425.] +</pre> + <p> + Piny says there are but three sorts of diseases, to escape which a man has + good title to destroy himself; the worst of which is the stone in the + bladder, when the urine is suppressed. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“In the quarto edition of these essays, in 1588, Pliny is said to + mention two more, viz., a pain in the stomach and a headache, which, + he says (lib. xxv. c. 9.), were the only three distempers almost + for which men killed themselves.”] +</pre> + <p> + Seneca says those only which for a long time are discomposing the + functions of the soul. And some there have been who, to avoid a worse + death, have chosen one to their own liking. Democritus, general of the + AEtolians, being brought prisoner to Rome, found means to make his escape + by night: but close pursued by his keepers, rather than suffer himself to + be retaken, he fell upon his own sword and died. Antinous and Theodotus, + their city of Epirus being reduced by the Romans to the last extremity, + gave the people counsel universally to kill themselves; but, these + preferring to give themselves up to the enemy, the two chiefs went to seek + the death they desired, rushing furiously upon the enemy, with intention + to strike home but not to ward a blow. The Island of Gozzo being taken + some years ago by the Turks, a Sicilian, who had two beautiful daughters + marriageable, killed them both with his own hand, and their mother, + running in to save them, to boot, which having done, sallying out of the + house with a cross-bow and harquebus, with two shots he killed two of the + Turks nearest to his door, and drawing his sword, charged furiously in + amongst the rest, where he was suddenly enclosed and cut to pieces, by + that means delivering his family and himself from slavery and dishonour. + The Jewish women, after having circumcised their children, threw them and + themselves down a precipice to avoid the cruelty of Antigonus. I have been + told of a person of condition in one of our prisons, that his friends, + being informed that he would certainly be condemned, to avoid the ignominy + of such a death suborned a priest to tell him that the only means of his + deliverance was to recommend himself to such a saint, under such and such + vows, and to fast eight days together without taking any manner of + nourishment, what weakness or faintness soever he might find in himself + during the time; he followed their advice, and by that means destroyed + himself before he was aware, not dreaming of death or any danger in the + experiment. Scribonia advising her nephew Libo to kill himself rather than + await the stroke of justice, told him that it was to do other people’s + business to preserve his life to put it after into the hands of those who + within three or four days would fetch him to execution, and that it was to + serve his enemies to keep his blood to gratify their malice. + </p> + <p> + We read in the Bible that Nicanor, the persecutor of the law of God, + having sent his soldiers to seize upon the good old man Razis, surnamed in + honour of his virtue the father of the Jews: the good man, seeing no other + remedy, his gates burned down, and the enemies ready to seize him, + choosing rather to die nobly than to fall into the hands of his wicked + adversaries and suffer himself to be cruelly butchered by them, contrary + to the honour of his rank and quality, stabbed himself with his own sword, + but the blow, for haste, not having been given home, he ran and threw + himself from the top of a wall headlong among them, who separating + themselves and making room, he pitched directly upon his head; + notwithstanding which, feeling yet in himself some remains of life, he + renewed his courage, and starting up upon his feet all bloody and wounded + as he was, and making his way through the crowd to a precipitous rock, + there, through one of his wounds, drew out his bowels, which, tearing and + pulling to pieces with both his hands, he threw amongst his pursuers, all + the while attesting and invoking the Divine vengeance upon them for their + cruelty and injustice. + </p> + <p> + Of violences offered to the conscience, that against the chastity of woman + is, in my opinion, most to be avoided, forasmuch as there is a certain + pleasure naturally mixed with it, and for that reason the dissent therein + cannot be sufficiently perfect and entire, so that the violence seems to + be mixed with a little consent of the forced party. The ecclesiastical + history has several examples of devout persons who have embraced death to + secure them from the outrages prepared by tyrants against their religion + and honour. Pelagia and Sophronia, both canonised, the first of these + precipitated herself with her mother and sisters into the river to avoid + being forced by some soldiers, and the last also killed herself to avoid + being ravished by the Emperor Maxentius. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +It may, peradventure, be an honour to us in future ages, that a learned +author of this present time, and a Parisian, takes a great deal of pains +to persuade the ladies of our age rather to take any other course than to +enter into the horrid meditation of such a despair. I am sorry he had +never heard, that he might have inserted it amongst his other stories, +the saying of a woman, which was told me at Toulouse, who had passed +through the handling of some soldiers: “God be praised,” said she, “that +once at least in my life I have had my fill without sin.” In truth, +these cruelties are very unworthy the French good nature, and also, God +be thanked, our air is very well purged of them since this good advice: +tis enough that they say “no” in doing it, according to the rule of the +good Marot. + + “Un doulx nenny, avec un doulx sourire + Est tant honneste.”—Marot. +</pre> + <p> + History is everywhere full of those who by a thousand ways have exchanged + a painful and irksome life for death. Lucius Aruntius killed himself, to + fly, he said, both the future and the past. Granius Silvanus and Statius + Proximus, after having been pardoned by Nero, killed themselves; either + disdaining to live by the favour of so wicked a man, or that they might + not be troubled, at some other time, to obtain a second pardon, + considering the proclivity of his nature to suspect and credit accusations + against worthy men. Spargapises, son of Queen Tomyris, being a prisoner of + war to Cyrus, made use of the first favour Cyrus shewed him, in commanding + him to be unbound, to kill himself, having pretended to no other benefit + of liberty, but only to be revenged of himself for the disgrace of being + taken. Boges, governor in Eion for King Xerxes, being besieged by the + Athenian army under the conduct of Cimon, refused the conditions offered, + that he might safe return into Asia with all his wealth, impatient to + survive the loss of a place his master had given him to keep; wherefore, + having defended the city to the last extremity, nothing being left to eat, + he first threw all the gold and whatever else the enemy could make booty + of into the river Strymon, and then causing a great pile to be set on + fire, and the throats of all the women, children, concubines, and servants + to be cut, he threw their bodies into the fire, and at last leaped into it + himself. + </p> + <p> + Ninachetuen, an Indian lord, so soon as he heard the first whisper of the + Portuguese Viceroy’s determination to dispossess him, without any + apparent cause, of his command in Malacca, to transfer it to the King of + Campar, he took this resolution with himself: he caused a scaffold, more + long than broad, to be erected, supported by columns royally adorned with + tapestry and strewed with flowers and abundance of perfumes; all which + being prepared, in a robe of cloth of gold, set full of jewels of great + value, he came out into the street, and mounted the steps to the scaffold, + at one corner of which he had a pile lighted of aromatic wood. Everybody + ran to see to what end these unusual preparations were made; when + Ninachetuen, with a manly but displeased countenance, set forth how much + he had obliged the Portuguese nation, and with how unspotted fidelity he + had carried himself in his charge; that having so often, sword in hand, + manifested in the behalf of others, that honour was much more dear to him + than life, he was not to abandon the concern of it for himself: that + fortune denying him all means of opposing the affront designed to be put + upon him, his courage at least enjoined him to free himself from the sense + of it, and not to serve for a fable to the people, nor for a triumph to + men less deserving than himself; which having said he leaped into the + fire. + </p> + <p> + Sextilia, wife of Scaurus, and Paxaea, wife of Labeo, to encourage their + husbands to avoid the dangers that pressed upon them, wherein they had no + other share than conjugal affection, voluntarily sacrificed their own + lives to serve them in this extreme necessity for company and example. + What they did for their husbands, Cocceius Nerva did for his country, with + less utility though with equal affection: this great lawyer, flourishing + in health, riches, reputation, and favour with the Emperor, had no other + cause to kill himself but the sole compassion of the miserable state of + the Roman Republic. Nothing can be added to the beauty of the death of the + wife of Fulvius, a familiar favourite of Augustus: Augustus having + discovered that he had vented an important secret he had entrusted him + withal, one morning that he came to make his court, received him very + coldly and looked frowningly upon him. He returned home, full of, despair, + where he sorrowfully told his wife that, having fallen into this + misfortune, he was resolved to kill himself: to which she roundly replied, + “‘tis but reason you should, seeing that having so often + experienced the incontinence of my tongue, you could not take warning: but + let me kill myself first,” and without any more saying ran herself + through the body with a sword. Vibius Virrius, despairing of the safety of + his city besieged by the Romans and of their mercy, in the last + deliberation of his city’s senate, after many arguments conducing to + that end, concluded that the most noble means to escape fortune was by + their own hands: telling them that the enemy would have them in honour, + and Hannibal would be sensible how many faithful friends he had abandoned; + inviting those who approved of his advice to come to a good supper he had + ready at home, where after they had eaten well, they would drink together + of what he had prepared; a beverage, said he, that will deliver our bodies + from torments, our souls from insult, and our eyes and ears from the sense + of so many hateful mischiefs, as the conquered suffer from cruel and + implacable conquerors. I have, said he, taken order for fit persons to + throw our bodies into a funeral pile before my door so soon as we are + dead. Many enough approved this high resolution, but few imitated it; + seven-and-twenty senators followed him, who, after having tried to drown + the thought of this fatal determination in wine, ended the feast with the + mortal mess; and embracing one another, after they had jointly deplored + the misfortune of their country, some retired home to their own houses, + others stayed to be burned with Vibius in his funeral pyre; and were all + of them so long in dying, the vapour of the wine having prepossessed the + veins, and by that means deferred the effect of poison, that some of them + were within an hour of seeing the enemy inside the walls of Capua, which + was taken the next morning, and of undergoing the miseries they had at so + dear a rate endeavoured to avoid. Jubellius Taurea, another citizen of the + same country, the Consul Fulvius returning from the shameful butchery he + had made of two hundred and twenty-five senators, called him back fiercely + by name, and having made him stop: “Give the word,” said he, + “that somebody may dispatch me after the massacre of so many others, + that thou mayest boast to have killed a much more valiant man than + thyself.” Fulvius, disdaining him as a man out of his wits, and also + having received letters from Rome censuring the inhumanity of his + execution which tied his hands, Jubellius proceeded: “Since my + country has been taken, my friends dead, and having with my own hands + slain my wife and children to rescue them from the desolation of this + ruin, I am denied to die the death of my fellow-citizens, let me borrow + from virtue vengeance on this hated life,” and therewithal drawing a + short sword he carried concealed about him, he ran it through his own + bosom, falling down backward, and expiring at the consul’s feet. + </p> + <p> + Alexander, laying siege to a city of the Indies, those within, finding + themselves very hardly set, put on a vigorous resolution to deprive him of + the pleasure of his victory, and accordingly burned themselves in general, + together with their city, in despite of his humanity: a new kind of war, + where the enemies sought to save them, and they to destroy themselves, + doing to make themselves sure of death, all that men do to secure life. + </p> + <p> + Astapa, a city of Spain, finding itself weak in walls and defence to + withstand the Romans, the inhabitants made a heap of all their riches and + furniture in the public place; and, having ranged upon this heap all the + women and children, and piled them round with wood and other combustible + matter to take sudden fire, and left fifty of their young men for the + execution of that whereon they had resolved, they made a desperate sally, + where for want of power to overcome, they caused themselves to be every + man slain. The fifty, after having massacred every living soul throughout + the whole city, and put fire to this pile, threw themselves lastly into + it, finishing their generous liberty, rather after an insensible, than + after a sorrowful and disgraceful manner, giving the enemy to understand, + that if fortune had been so pleased, they had as well the courage to + snatch from them victory as they had to frustrate and render it dreadful, + and even mortal to those who, allured by the splendour of the gold melting + in this flame, having approached it, a great number were there suffocated + and burned, being kept from retiring by the crowd that followed after. + </p> + <p> + The Abydeans, being pressed by King Philip, put on the same resolution; + but, not having time, they could not put it ‘in effect. The king, + who was struck with horror at the rash precipitation of this execution + (the treasure and movables that they had condemned to the flames being + first seized), drawing off his soldiers, granted them three days’ + time to kill themselves in, that they might do it with more order and at + greater ease: which time they filled with blood and slaughter beyond the + utmost excess of all hostile cruelty, so that not so much as any one soul + was left alive that had power to destroy itself. There are infinite + examples of like popular resolutions which seem the more fierce and cruel + in proportion as the effect is more universal, and yet are really less so + than when singly executed; what arguments and persuasion cannot do with + individual men, they can do with all, the ardour of society ravishing + particular judgments. + </p> + <p> + The condemned who would live to be executed in the reign of Tiberius, + forfeited their goods and were denied the rites of sepulture; those who, + by killing themselves, anticipated it, were interred, and had liberty to + dispose of their estates by will. + </p> + <p> + But men sometimes covet death out of hope of a greater good. “I + desire,” says St. Paul, “to be with Christ,” and “who + shall rid me of these bands?” Cleombrotus of Ambracia, having read + Plato’s Pheedo, entered into so great a desire of the life to come + that, without any other occasion, he threw himself into the sea. By which + it appears how improperly we call this voluntary dissolution, despair, to + which the eagerness of hope often inclines us, and, often, a calm and + temperate desire proceeding from a mature and deliberate judgment. Jacques + du Chastel, bishop of Soissons, in St. Louis’s foreign expedition, + seeing the king and whole army upon the point of returning into France, + leaving the affairs of religion imperfect, took a resolution rather to go + into Paradise; wherefore, having taken solemn leave of his friends, he + charged alone, in the sight of every one, into the enemy’s army, + where he was presently cut to pieces. In a certain kingdom of the new + discovered world, upon a day of solemn procession, when the idol they + adore is drawn about in public upon a chariot of marvellous greatness; + besides that many are then seen cutting off pieces of their flesh to offer + to him, there are a number of others who prostrate themselves upon the + place, causing themselves to be crushed and broken to pieces under the + weighty wheels, to obtain the veneration of sanctity after death, which is + accordingly paid them. The death of the bishop, sword in hand, has more of + magnanimity in it, and less of sentiment, the ardour of combat taking away + part of the latter. + </p> + <p> + There are some governments who have taken upon them to regulate the + justice and opportunity of voluntary death. In former times there was kept + in our city of Marseilles a poison prepared out of hemlock, at the public + charge, for those who had a mind to hasten their end, having first, before + the six hundred, who were their senate, given account of the reasons and + motives of their design, and it was not otherwise lawful, than by leave + from the magistrate and upon just occasion to do violence to themselves.—[Valerius + Maximus, ii. 6, 7.]—The same law was also in use in other places. + </p> + <p> + Sextus Pompeius, in his expedition into Asia, touched at the isle of Cea + in Negropont: it happened whilst he was there, as we have it from one that + was with him, that a woman of great quality, having given an account to + her citizens why she was resolved to put an end to her life, invited + Pompeius to her death, to render it the more honourable, an invitation + that he accepted; and having long tried in vain by the power of his + eloquence, which was very great, and persuasion, to divert her from that + design, he acquiesced in the end in her own will. She had passed the age + of four score and ten in a very happy state, both of body and mind; being + then laid upon her bed, better dressed than ordinary and leaning upon her + elbow, “The gods,” said she, “O Sextus Pompeius, and + rather those I leave than those I go to seek, reward thee, for that thou + hast not disdained to be both the counsellor of my life and the witness of + my death. For my part, having always experienced the smiles of fortune, + for fear lest the desire of living too long may make me see a contrary + face, I am going, by a happy end, to dismiss the remains of my soul, + leaving behind two daughters of my body and a legion of nephews”; + which having said, with some exhortations to her family to live in peace, + she divided amongst them her goods, and recommending her domestic gods to + her eldest daughter, she boldly took the bowl that contained the poison, + and having made her vows and prayers to Mercury to conduct her to some + happy abode in the other world, she roundly swallowed the mortal poison. + This being done, she entertained the company with the progress of its + operation, and how the cold by degrees seized the several parts of her + body one after another, till having in the end told them it began to seize + upon her heart and bowels, she called her daughters to do the last office + and close her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Pliny tells us of a certain Hyperborean nation where, by reason of the + sweet temperature of the air, lives rarely ended but by the voluntary + surrender of the inhabitants, who, being weary of and satiated with + living, had the custom, at a very old age, after having made good cheer, + to precipitate themselves into the sea from the top of a certain rock, + assigned for that service. Pain and the fear of a worse death seem to me + the most excusable incitements. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0061" id="link2HCH0061"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV——TO-MORROW’S A NEW DAY + </h2> + <p> + I give, as it seems to me, with good reason the palm to Jacques Amyot of + all our French writers, not only for the simplicity and purity of his + language, wherein he excels all others, nor for his constancy in going + through so long a work, nor for the depth of his knowledge, having been + able so successfully to smooth and unravel so knotty and intricate an + author (for let people tell me what they will, I understand nothing of + Greek; but I meet with sense so well united and maintained throughout his + whole translation, that certainly he either knew the true fancy of the + author, or having, by being long conversant with him, imprinted a vivid + and general idea of that of Plutarch in his soul, he has delivered us + nothing that either derogates from or contradicts him), but above all, I + am the most taken with him for having made so discreet a choice of a book + so worthy and of so great utility wherewith to present his country. We + ignorant fellows had been lost, had not this book raised us out of the + dirt; by this favour of his we dare now speak and write; the ladies are + able to read to schoolmasters; ‘tis our breviary. If this good man + be yet living, I would recommend to him Xenophon, to do as much by that; + ‘tis a much more easy task than the other, and consequently more + proper for his age. And, besides, though I know not how, methinks he does + briskly—and clearly enough trip over steps another would have + stumbled at, yet nevertheless his style seems to be more his own where he + does not encounter those difficulties, and rolls away at his own ease. + </p> + <p> + I was just now reading this passage where Plutarch says of himself, that + Rusticus being present at a declamation of his at Rome, there received a + packet from the emperor, and deferred to open it till all was done: for + which, says he, all the company highly applauded the gravity of this + person. ‘Tis true, that being upon the subject of curiosity and of + that eager passion for news, which makes us with so much indiscretion and + impatience leave all to entertain a newcomer, and without any manner of + respect or outcry, tear open on a sudden, in what company soever, the + letters that are delivered to us, he had reason to applaud the gravity of + Rusticus upon this occasion; and might moreover have added to it the + commendation of his civility and courtesy, that would not interrupt the + current of his declamation. But I doubt whether any one can commend his + prudence; for receiving unexpected letters, and especially from an + emperor, it might have fallen out that the deferring to read them might + have been of great prejudice. The vice opposite to curiosity is + negligence, to which I naturally incline, and wherein I have seen some men + so extreme that one might have found letters sent them three or four days + before, still sealed up in their pockets. + </p> + <p> + I never open any letters directed to another; not only those intrusted + with me, but even such as fortune has guided to my hand; and am angry with + myself if my eyes unawares steal any contents of letters of importance he + is reading when I stand near a great man. Never was man less inquisitive + or less prying into other men’s affairs than I. + </p> + <p> + In our fathers’ days, Monsieur de Boutieres had like to have lost + Turin from having, while engaged in good company at supper, delayed to + read information that was sent him of the treason plotted against that + city where he commanded. And this very Plutarch has given me to + understand, that Julius Caesar had preserved himself, if, going to the + Senate the day he was assassinated by the conspirators, he had read a note + which was presented to him by, the way. He tells also the story of + Archias, the tyrant of Thebes, that the night before the execution of the + design Pelopidas had plotted to kill him to restore his country to + liberty, he had a full account sent him in writing by another Archias, an + Athenian, of the whole conspiracy, and that, this packet having been + delivered to him while he sat at supper, he deferred the opening of it, + saying, which afterwards turned to a proverb in Greece, “Business + to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + A wise man may, I think, out of respect to another, as not to disturb the + company, as Rusticus did, or not to break off another affair of importance + in hand, defer to read or hear any new thing that is brought him; but for + his own interest or particular pleasure, especially if he be a public + minister, that he will not interrupt his dinner or break his sleep is + inexcusable. And there was anciently at Rome, the consular place, as they + called it, which was the most honourable at the table, as being a place of + most liberty, and of more convenient access to those who came in to speak + to the person seated there; by which it appears, that being at meat, they + did not totally abandon the concern of other affairs and incidents. But + when all is said, it is very hard in human actions to give so exact a rule + upon moral reasons, that fortune will not therein maintain her own right. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0062" id="link2HCH0062"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V——OF CONSCIENCE + </h2> + <p> + The Sieur de la Brousse, my brother, and I, travelling one day together + during the time of our civil wars, met a gentleman of good sort. He was of + the contrary party, though I did not know so much, for he pretended + otherwise: and the mischief on’t is, that in this sort of war the + cards are so shuffled, your enemy not being distinguished from yourself by + any apparent mark either of language or habit, and being nourished under + the same law, air, and manners, it is very hard to avoid disorder and + confusion. This made me afraid myself of meeting any of our troops in a + place where I was not known, that I might not be in fear to tell my name, + and peradventure of something worse; as it had befallen me before, where, + by such a mistake, I lost both men and horses, and amongst others an + Italian gentleman my page, whom I bred with the greatest care and + affection, was miserably slain, in whom a youth of great promise and + expectation was extinguished. But the gentleman my brother and I met had + so desperate, half-dead a fear upon him at meeting with any horse, or + passing by any of the towns that held for the King, that I at last + discovered it to be alarms of conscience. It seemed to the poor man as if + through his visor and the crosses upon his cassock, one would have + penetrated into his bosom and read the most secret intentions of his + heart; so wonderful is the power of conscience. It makes us betray, + accuse, and fight against ourselves, and for want of other witnesses, to + give evidence against ourselves: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Occultum quatiens animo tortore flagellum.” + + [“The torturer of the soul brandishing a sharp scourge within.” + —Juvenal, iii. 195.] +</pre> + <p> + This story is in every child’s mouth: Bessus the Paeonian, being + reproached for wantonly pulling down a nest of young sparrows and killing + them, replied, that he had reason to do so, seeing that those little birds + never ceased falsely to accuse him of the murder of his father. This + parricide had till then been concealed and unknown, but the revenging fury + of conscience caused it to be discovered by him himself, who was to suffer + for it. Hesiod corrects the saying of Plato, that punishment closely + follows sin, it being, as he says, born at the same time with it. Whoever + expects punishment already suffers it, and whoever has deserved it expects + it. Wickedness contrives torments against itself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Malum consilium consultori pessimum.” + + [“Ill designs are worst to the contriver.” + —Apud Aul. Gellium, iv. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + as the wasp stings and hurts another, but most of all itself, for it there + loses its sting and its use for ever, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vitasque in vulnere ponunt.” + + [“And leave their own lives in the wound.” + —Virgil, Geo., iv. 238.] +</pre> + <p> + Cantharides have somewhere about them, by a contrariety of nature, a + counterpoison against their poison. In like manner, at the same time that + men take delight in vice, there springs in the conscience a displeasure + that afflicts us sleeping and waking with various tormenting imaginations: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quippe ubi se multi, per somnia saepe loquentes, + Aut morbo delirantes, protraxe ferantur, + Et celata diu in medium peccata dedisse.” + + [“Surely where many, often talking in their sleep, or raving in + disease, are said to have betrayed themselves, and to have given + publicity to offences long concealed.”—Lucretius, v. 1157.] +</pre> + <p> + Apollodorus dreamed that he saw himself flayed by the Scythians and + afterwards boiled in a cauldron, and that his heart muttered these words + “I am the cause of all these mischiefs that have befallen thee.” + Epicurus said that no hiding-hole could conceal the wicked, since they + could never assure themselves of being hid whilst their conscience + discovered them to themselves. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Prima est haec ultio, quod se + Judice nemo nocens absohitur.” + + [“Tis the first punishment of sin that no man absolves himself.” or: + “This is the highest revenge, that by its judgment no offender is + absolved.”—Juvenal, xiii. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + As an ill conscience fills us with fear, so a good one gives us greater + confidence and assurance; and I can truly say that I have gone through + several hazards with a more steady pace in consideration of the secret + knowledge I had of my own will and the innocence of my intentions: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Conscia mens ut cuique sua est, ita concipit intra + Pectora pro facto spemque metumque suo.” + + [“As a man’s conscience is, so within hope or fear prevails, suiting + to his design.”—Ovid, Fast., i. 485.] +</pre> + <p> + Of this are a thousand examples; but it will be enough to instance three + of one and the same person. Scipio, being one day accused before the + people of Rome of some crimes of a very high nature, instead of excusing + himself or flattering his judges: “It will become you well,” + said he, “to sit in judgment upon a head, by whose means you have + the power to judge all the world.” Another time, all the answer he + gave to several impeachments brought against him by a tribune of the + people, instead of making his defence: “Let us go, citizens,” + said he, “let us go render thanks to the gods for the victory they + gave me over the Carthaginians as this day,” and advancing himself + before towards the Temple, he had presently all the assembly and his very + accuser himself following at his heels. And Petilius, having been set on + by Cato to demand an account of the money that had passed through his + hands in the province of Antioch, Scipio being come into the senate to + that purpose, produced a book from under his robe, wherein he told them + was an exact account of his receipts and disbursements; but being required + to deliver it to the prothonotary to be examined, he refused, saying, he + would not do himself so great a disgrace; and in the presence of the whole + senate tore the book with his own hands to pieces. I do not believe that + the most seared conscience could have counterfeited so great an assurance. + He had naturally too high a spirit and was accustomed to too high a + fortune, says Titius Livius, to know how to be criminal, and to lower + himself to the meanness of defending his innocence. The putting men to the + rack is a dangerous invention, and seems to be rather a trial of patience + than of truth. Both he who has the fortitude to endure it conceals the + truth, and he who has not: for why should pain sooner make me confess what + really is, than force me to say what is not? And, on the contrary, if he + who is not guilty of that whereof he is accused, has the courage to + undergo those torments, why should not he who is guilty have the same, so + fair a reward as life being in his prospect? I believe the ground of this + invention proceeds from the consideration of the force of conscience: for, + to the guilty, it seems to assist the rack to make him confess his fault + and to shake his resolution; and, on the other side, that it fortifies the + innocent against the torture. But when all is done, ‘tis, in plain + truth, a trial full of uncertainty and danger what would not a man say, + what would not a man do, to avoid so intolerable torments? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Etiam innocentes cogit mentiri dolor.” + + [“Pain will make even the innocent lie.”—Publius Syrus, De Dolore.] +</pre> + <p> + Whence it comes to pass, that him whom the judge has racked that he may + not die innocent, he makes him die both innocent and racked. A thousand + and a thousand have charged their own heads by false confessions, amongst + whom I place Philotas, considering the circumstances of the trial + Alexander put upon him and the progress of his torture. But so it is that + some say it is the least evil human weakness could invent; very inhumanly, + notwithstanding, and to very little purpose, in my opinion. + </p> + <p> + Many nations less barbarous in this than the Greeks and Romans who call + them so, repute it horrible and cruel to torment and pull a man to pieces + for a fault of which they are yet in doubt. How can he help your + ignorance? Are not you unjust, that, not to kill him without cause, do + worse than kill him? And that this is so, do but observe how often men + prefer to die without reason than undergo this examination, more painful + than execution itself; and that oft-times by its extremity anticipates + execution, and perform it. I know not where I had this story, but it + exactly matches the conscience of our justice in this particular. A + country-woman, to a general of a very severe discipline, accused one of + his soldiers that he had taken from her children the little soup meat she + had left to nourish them withal, the army having consumed all the rest; + but of this proof there was none. The general, after having cautioned the + woman to take good heed to what she said, for that she would make herself + guilty of a false accusation if she told a lie, and she persisting, he + presently caused the soldier’s belly to be ripped up to clear the + truth of the fact, and the woman was found to be right. An instructive + sentence. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0063" id="link2HCH0063"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI——USE MAKES PERFECT + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis not to be expected that argument and instruction, though we + never so voluntarily surrender our belief to what is read to us, should be + of force to lead us on so far as to action, if we do not, over and above, + exercise and form the soul by experience to the course for which we design + it; it will, otherwise, doubtless find itself at a loss when it comes to + the pinch of the business. This is the reason why those amongst the + philosophers who were ambitious to attain to a greater excellence, were + not contented to await the severities of fortune in the retirement and + repose of their own habitations, lest he should have surprised them raw + and inexpert in the combat, but sallied out to meet her, and purposely + threw themselves into the proof of difficulties. Some of them abandoned + riches to exercise themselves in a voluntary poverty; others sought out + labour and an austerity of life, to inure them to hardships and + inconveniences; others have deprived themselves of their dearest members, + as of sight, and of the instruments of generation, lest their too + delightful and effeminate service should soften and debauch the stability + of their souls. + </p> + <p> + But in dying, which is the greatest work we have to do, practice can give + us no assistance at all. A man may by custom fortify himself against pain, + shame, necessity, and such-like accidents, but as to death, we can + experiment it but once, and are all apprentices when we come to it. There + have, anciently, been men so excellent managers of their time that they + have tried even in death itself to relish and taste it, and who have bent + their utmost faculties of mind to discover what this passage is, but they + are none of them come back to tell us the news: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nemo expergitus exstat, + Frigida quern semel est vitai pausa sequuta.” + + [“No one wakes who has once fallen into the cold sleep of death.” + —Lucretius, iii. 942] +</pre> + <p> + Julius Canus, a noble Roman, of singular constancy and virtue, having been + condemned to die by that worthless fellow Caligula, besides many + marvellous testimonies that he gave of his resolution, as he was just + going to receive the stroke of the executioner, was asked by a + philosopher, a friend of his: “Well, Canus, whereabout is your soul + now? what is she doing? What are you thinking of?”—“I + was thinking,” replied the other, “to keep myself ready, and + the faculties of my mind full settled and fixed, to try if in this short + and quick instant of death, I could perceive the motion of the soul when + she parts from the body, and whether she has any sentiment at the + separation, that I may after come again if I can, to acquaint my friends + with it.” This man philosophises not unto death only, but in death + itself. What a strange assurance was this, and what bravery of courage, to + desire his death should be a lesson to him, and to have leisure to think + of other things in so great an affair: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jus hoc animi morientis habebat.” + + [“This mighty power of mind he had dying."-Lucan, viii. 636.] +</pre> + <p> + And yet I fancy, there is a certain way of making it familiar to us, and + in some sort of making trial what it is. We may gain experience, if not + entire and perfect, yet such, at least, as shall not be totally useless to + us, and that may render us more confident and more assured. If we cannot + overtake it, we may approach it and view it, and if we do not advance so + far as the fort, we may at least discover and make ourselves acquainted + with the avenues. It is not without reason that we are taught to consider + sleep as a resemblance of death: with how great facility do we pass from + waking to sleeping, and with how little concern do we lose the knowledge + of light and of ourselves. Peradventure, the faculty of sleeping would + seem useless and contrary to nature, since it deprives us of all action + and sentiment, were it not that by it nature instructs us that she has + equally made us to die as to live; and in life presents to us the eternal + state she reserves for us after it, to accustom us to it and to take from + us the fear of it. But such as have by violent accident fallen into a + swoon, and in it have lost all sense, these, methinks, have been very near + seeing the true and natural face of death; for as to the moment of the + passage, it is not to be feared that it brings with it any pain or + displeasure, forasmuch as we can have no feeling without leisure; our + sufferings require time, which in death is so short, and so precipitous, + that it must necessarily be insensible. They are the approaches that we + are to fear, and these may fall within the limits of experience. + </p> + <p> + Many things seem greater by imagination than they are in effect; I have + passed a good part of my life in a perfect and entire health; I say, not + only entire, but, moreover, sprightly and wanton. This state, so full of + verdure, jollity, and vigour, made the consideration of sickness so + formidable to me, that when I came to experience it, I found the attacks + faint and easy in comparison with what I had apprehended. Of this I have + daily experience; if I am under the shelter of a warm room, in a stormy + and tempestuous night, I wonder how people can live abroad, and am + afflicted for those who are out in the fields: if I am there myself, I do + not wish to be anywhere else. This one thing of being always shut up in a + chamber I fancied insupportable: but I was presently inured to be so + imprisoned a week, nay a month together, in a very weak, disordered, and + sad condition; and I have found that, in the time of my health, I much + more pitied the sick, than I think myself to be pitied when I am so, and + that the force of my imagination enhances near one-half of the essence and + reality of the thing. I hope that when I come to die I shall find it the + same, and that, after all, it is not worth the pains I take, so much + preparation and so much assistance as I call in, to undergo the stroke. + But, at all events, we cannot give ourselves too much advantage. + </p> + <p> + In the time of our third or second troubles (I do not well remember + which), going one day abroad to take the air, about a league from my own + house, which is seated in the very centre of all the bustle and mischief + of the late civil wars in France; thinking myself in all security and so + near to my retreat that I stood in need of no better equipage, I had taken + a horse that went very easy upon his pace, but was not very strong. Being + upon my return home, a sudden occasion falling out to make use of this + horse in a kind of service that he was not accustomed to, one of my train, + a lusty, tall fellow, mounted upon a strong German horse, that had a very + ill mouth, fresh and vigorous, to play the brave and set on ahead of his + fellows, comes thundering full speed in the very track where I was, + rushing like a Colossus upon the little man and the little horse, with + such a career of strength and weight, that he turned us both over and + over, topsy-turvy with our heels in the air: so that there lay the horse + overthrown and stunned with the fall, and I ten or twelve paces from him + stretched out at length, with my face all battered and broken, my sword + which I had had in my hand, above ten paces beyond that, and my belt + broken all to pieces, without motion or sense any more than a stock. + ‘Twas the only swoon I was ever in till that hour in my life. Those + who were with me, after having used all the means they could to bring me + to myself, concluding me dead, took me up in their arms, and carried me + with very much difficulty home to my house, which was about half a French + league from thence. On the way, having been for more than two hours given + over for a dead man, I began to move and to fetch my breath; for so great + abundance of blood was fallen into my stomach, that nature had need to + rouse her forces to discharge it. They then raised me upon my feet, where + I threw off a whole bucket of clots of blood, as this I did also several + times by the way. This gave me so much ease, that I began to recover a + little life, but so leisurely and by so small advances, that my first + sentiments were much nearer the approaches of death than life: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Perche, dubbiosa ancor del suo ritorno, + Non s’assicura attonita la mente.” + + [“For the soul, doubtful as to its return, could not compose itself” + —Tasso, Gierus. Lib., xii. 74.] +</pre> + <p> + The remembrance of this accident, which is very well imprinted in my + memory, so naturally representing to me the image and idea of death, has + in some sort reconciled me to that untoward adventure. When I first began + to open my eyes, it was with so perplexed, so weak and dead a sight, that + I could yet distinguish nothing but only discern the light: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Come quel ch’or apre, or’chiude + Gli occhi, mezzo tra’l sonno e l’esser desto.” + + [“As a man that now opens, now shuts his eyes, between sleep + and waking.”—Tasso, Gierus. Lib., viii., 26.] +</pre> + <p> + As to the functions of the soul, they advanced with the same pace and + measure with those of the body. I saw myself all bloody, my doublet being + stained all over with the blood I had vomited. The first thought that came + into my mind was that I had a harquebuss shot in my head, and indeed, at + the time there were a great many fired round about us. Methought my life + but just hung upon my, lips: and I shut my eyes, to help, methought, to + thrust it out, and took a pleasure in languishing and letting myself go. + It was an imagination that only superficially floated upon my soul, as + tender and weak as all the rest, but really, not only exempt from anything + displeasing, but mixed with that sweetness that people feel when they + glide into a slumber. + </p> + <p> + I believe it is the very same condition those people are in, whom we see + swoon with weakness in the agony of death we pity them without cause, + supposing them agitated with grievous dolours, or that their souls suffer + under painful thoughts. It has ever been my belief, contrary to the + opinion of many, and particularly of La Boetie, that those whom we see so + subdued and stupefied at the approaches of their end, or oppressed with + the length of the disease, or by accident of an apoplexy or falling + sickness, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vi morbi saepe coactus + Ante oculos aliquis nostros, ut fulminis ictu, + Concidit, et spumas agit; ingemit, et tremit artus; + Desipit, extentat nervos, torquetur, anhelat, + Inconstanter, et in jactando membra fatigat;” + + [“Often, compelled by the force of disease, some one as + thunderstruck falls under our eyes, and foams, groans, and trembles, + stretches, twists, breathes irregularly, and in paroxysms wears out + his strength.”—Lucretius, iii. 485.] +</pre> + <p> + or hurt in the head, whom we hear to mutter, and by fits to utter grievous + groans; though we gather from these signs by which it seems as if they had + some remains of consciousness, and that there are movements of the body; I + have always believed, I say, both the body and the soul benumbed and + asleep, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vivit, et est vitae nescius ipse suae,” + + [“He lives, and does not know that he is alive.” + —Ovid, Trist., i. 3, 12.] +</pre> + <p> + and could not believe that in so great a stupefaction of the members and + so great a defection of the senses, the soul could maintain any force + within to take cognisance of herself, and that, therefore, they had no + tormenting reflections to make them consider and be sensible of the misery + of their condition, and consequently were not much to be pitied. + </p> + <p> + I can, for my part, think of no state so insupportable and dreadful, as to + have the soul vivid and afflicted, without means to declare itself; as one + should say of such as are sent to execution with their tongues first cut + out (were it not that in this kind of dying, the most silent seems to me + the most graceful, if accompanied with a grave and constant countenance); + or if those miserable prisoners, who fall into the hands of the base + hangman soldiers of this age, by whom they are tormented with all sorts of + inhuman usage to compel them to some excessive and impossible ransom; + kept, in the meantime, in such condition and place, where they have no + means of expressing or signifying their thoughts and their misery. The + poets have feigned some gods who favour the deliverance of such as suffer + under a languishing death: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hunc ego Diti + Sacrum jussa fero, teque isto corpore solvo.” + + [“I bidden offer this sacred thing to Pluto, and from that body + dismiss thee.”—AEneid, iv. 782.] +</pre> + <p> + both the interrupted words, and the short and irregular answers one gets + from them sometimes, by bawling and keeping a clutter about them; or the + motions which seem to yield some consent to what we would have them do, + are no testimony, nevertheless, that they live, an entire life at least. + So it happens to us in the yawning of sleep, before it has fully possessed + us, to perceive, as in a dream, what is done about us, and to follow the + last things that are said with a perplexed and uncertain hearing which + seems but to touch upon the borders of the soul; and to make answers to + the last words that have been spoken to us, which have more in them of + chance than sense. + </p> + <p> + Now seeing I have in effect tried it, I have no doubt but I have hitherto + made a right judgment; for first, being in a swoon, I laboured to rip open + the buttons of my doublet with my nails, for my sword was gone; and yet I + felt nothing in my imagination that hurt me; for we have many motions in + us that do not proceed from our direction; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Semianimesque micant digiti, ferrumque retractant;” + + [“Half-dead fingers grope about, and grasp again the sword.” + —AEneid, x. 396.] +</pre> + <p> + so falling people extend their arms before them by a natural impulse, + which prompts our limbs to offices and motions without any commission from + our reason. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Falciferos memorant currus abscindere membra . . . + Ut tremere in terra videatur ab artubus id quod + Decidit abscissum; cum mens tamen atque hominis vis + Mobilitate mali, non quit sentire dolorem.” + + [“They relate that scythe-bearing chariots mow off limbs, so that + they quiver on the ground; and yet the mind of him from whom the + limb is taken by the swiftness of the blow feels no pain.” + —Lucretius, iii. 642.] +</pre> + <p> + My stomach was so oppressed with the coagulated blood, that my hands moved + to that part, of their own voluntary motion, as they frequently do to the + part that itches, without being directed by our will. There are several + animals, and even men, in whom one may perceive the muscles to stir and + tremble after they are dead. Every one experimentally knows that there are + some members which grow stiff and flag without his leave. Now, those + passions which only touch the outward bark of us, cannot be said to be + ours: to make them so, there must be a concurrence of the whole man; and + the pains which are felt by the hand or the foot while we are sleeping, + are none of ours. + </p> + <p> + As I drew near my own house, where the alarm of my fall was already got + before me, and my family were come out to meet me, with the hubbub usual + in such cases, not only did I make some little answer to some questions + which were asked me; but they moreover tell me, that I was sufficiently + collected to order them to bring a horse to my wife whom on the road, I + saw struggling and tiring herself which is hilly and rugged. This should + seem to proceed from a soul its functions; but it was nothing so with me. + I knew not what I said or did, and they were nothing but idle thoughts in + the clouds, that were stirred up by the senses of the eyes and ears, and + proceeded not from me. I knew not for all that, whence I came or whither I + went, neither was I capable to weigh and consider what was said to me: + these were light effects, that the senses produced of themselves as of + custom; what the soul contributed was in a dream, lightly touched, licked + and bedewed by the soft impression of the senses. Notwithstanding, my + condition was, in truth, very easy and quiet; I had no affliction upon me, + either for others or myself; it was an extreme languor and weakness, + without any manner of pain. I saw my own house, but knew it not. When they + had put me to bed I found an inexpressible sweetness in that repose; for I + had been desperately tugged and lugged by those poor people who had taken + the pains to carry me upon their arms a very great and a very rough way, + and had in so doing all quite tired out themselves, twice or thrice one + after another. They offered me several remedies, but I would take none, + certainly believing that I was mortally wounded in the head. And, in + earnest, it had been a very happy death, for the weakness of my + understanding deprived me of the faculty of discerning, and that of my + body of the sense of feeling; I was suffering myself to glide away so + sweetly and after so soft and easy a manner, that I scarce find any other + action less troublesome than that was. But when I came again to myself and + to resume my faculties: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut tandem sensus convaluere mei,” + + [“When at length my lost senses again returned.” + —Ovid, Trist., i. 3, 14.] +</pre> + <p> + which was two or three hours after, I felt myself on a sudden involved in + terrible pain, having my limbs battered and ground with my fall, and was. + so ill for two or three nights after, that I thought I was once more dying + again, but a more painful death, having concluded myself as good as dead + before, and to this hour am sensible of the bruises of that terrible + shock. I will not here omit, that the last thing I could make them beat + into my head, was the memory of this accident, and I had it over and over + again repeated to me, whither I was going, from whence I came, and at what + time of the day this mischance befell me, before I could comprehend it. As + to the manner of my fall, that was concealed from me in favour to him who + had been the occasion, and other flim-flams were invented. But a long time + after, and the very next day that my memory began to return and to + represent to me the state wherein I was, at the instant that I perceived + this horse coming full drive upon me (for I had seen him at my heels, and + gave myself for gone, but this thought had been so sudden, that fear had + had no leisure to introduce itself) it seemed to me like a flash of + lightning that had pierced my soul, and that I came from the other world. + </p> + <p> + This long story of so light an accident would appear vain enough, were it + not for the knowledge I have gained by it for my own use; for I do really + find, that to get acquainted with death, needs no more but nearly to + approach it. Every one, as Pliny says, is a good doctrine to himself, + provided he be capable of discovering himself near at hand. Here, this is + not my doctrine, ‘tis my study; and is not the lesson of another, + but my own; and if I communicate it, it ought not to be ill taken, for + that which is of use to me, may also, peradventure, be useful to another. + As to the rest, I spoil nothing, I make use of nothing but my own; and if + I play the fool, ‘tis at my own expense, and nobody else is + concerned in’t; for ‘tis a folly that will die with me, and + that no one is to inherit. We hear but of two or three of the ancients, + who have beaten this path, and yet I cannot say if it was after this + manner, knowing no more of them but their names. No one since has followed + the track: ‘tis a rugged road, more so than it seems, to follow a + pace so rambling and uncertain, as that of the soul; to penetrate the dark + profundities of its intricate internal windings; to choose and lay hold of + so many little nimble motions; ‘tis a new and extraordinary + undertaking, and that withdraws us from the common and most recommended + employments of the world. ‘Tis now many years since that my thoughts + have had no other aim and level than myself, and that I have only pried + into and studied myself: or, if I study any other thing, ‘tis to + apply it to or rather in myself. And yet I do not think it a fault, if, as + others do by other much less profitable sciences, I communicate what I + have learned in this, though I am not very well pleased with my own + progress. There is no description so difficult, nor doubtless of so great + utility, as that of a man’s self: and withal, a man must curl his + hair and set out and adjust himself, to appear in public: now I am + perpetually tricking myself out, for I am eternally upon my own + description. Custom has made all speaking of a man’s self vicious, + and positively interdicts it, in hatred to the boasting that seems + inseparable from the testimony men give of themselves: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In vitium ducit culpae fuga.” + + [“The avoiding a mere fault often leads us into a greater.” + Or: “The escape from a fault leads into a vice” + —Horace, De Arte Poetics, verse 31.] +</pre> + <p> + Instead of blowing the child’s nose, this is to take his nose off + altogether. I think the remedy worse than the disease. But, allowing it to + be true that it must of necessity be presumption to entertain people with + discourses of one’s self, I ought not, pursuing my general design, + to forbear an action that publishes this infirmity of mine, nor conceal + the fault which I not only practise but profess. Notwithstanding, to speak + my thought freely, I think that the custom of condemning wine, because + some people will be drunk, is itself to be condemned; a man cannot abuse + anything but what is good in itself; and I believe that this rule has only + regard to the popular vice. They are bits for calves, with which neither + the saints whom we hear speak so highly of themselves, nor the + philosophers, nor the divines will be curbed; neither will I, who am as + little the one as the other, If they do not write of it expressly, at all + events, when the occasions arise, they don’t hesitate to put + themselves on the public highway. Of what does Socrates treat more largely + than of himself? To what does he more direct and address the discourses of + his disciples, than to speak of themselves, not of the lesson in their + book, but of the essence and motion of their souls? We confess ourselves + religiously to God and our confessor; as our neighbours, do to all the + people. But some will answer that we there speak nothing but accusation + against ourselves; why then, we say all; for our very virtue itself is + faulty and penetrable. My trade and art is to live; he that forbids me to + speak according to my own sense, experience, and practice, may as well + enjoin an architect not to speak of building according to his own + knowledge, but according to that of his neighbour; according to the + knowledge of another, and not according to his own. If it be vainglory for + a man to publish his own virtues, why does not Cicero prefer the eloquence + of Hortensius, and Hortensius that of Cicero? Peradventure they mean that + I should give testimony of myself by works and effects, not barely by + words. I chiefly paint my thoughts, a subject void of form and incapable + of operative production; ‘tis all that I can do to couch it in this + airy body of the voice; the wisest and devoutest men have lived in the + greatest care to avoid all apparent effects. Effects would more speak of + fortune than of me; they manifest their own office and not mine, but + uncertainly and by conjecture; patterns of some one particular virtue. I + expose myself entire; ‘tis a body where, at one view, the veins, + muscles, and tendons are apparent, every of them in its proper place; here + the effects of a cold; there of the heart beating, very dubiously. I do + not write my own acts, but myself and my essence. + </p> + <p> + I am of opinion that a man must be very cautious how he values himself, + and equally conscientious to give a true report, be it better or worse, + impartially. If I thought myself perfectly good and wise, I would rattle + it out to some purpose. To speak less of one’s self than what one + really is is folly, not modesty; and to take that for current pay which is + under a man’s value is pusillanimity and cowardice, according to, + Aristotle. No virtue assists itself with falsehood; truth is never matter + of error. To speak more of one’s self than is really true is not + always mere presumption; ‘tis, moreover, very often folly; to, be + immeasurably pleased with what one is, and to fall into an indiscreet + self-love, is in my opinion the substance of this vice. The most sovereign + remedy to cure it, is to do quite contrary to what these people direct + who, in forbidding men to speak of themselves, consequently, at the same + time, interdict thinking of themselves too. Pride dwells in the thought; + the tongue can have but a very little share in it. + </p> + <p> + They fancy that to think of one’s self is to be delighted with one’s + self; to frequent and converse with one’s self, to be overindulgent; + but this excess springs only in those who take but a superficial view of + themselves, and dedicate their main inspection to their affairs; who call + it mere reverie and idleness to occupy one’s self with one’s + self, and the building one’s self up a mere building of castles in + the air; who look upon themselves as a third person only, a stranger. If + any one be in rapture with his own knowledge, looking only on those below + him, let him but turn his eye upward towards past ages, and his pride will + be abated, when he shall there find so many thousand wits that trample him + under foot. If he enter into a flattering presumption of his personal + valour, let him but recollect the lives of Scipio, Epaminondas; so many + armies, so many nations, that leave him so far behind them. No particular + quality can make any man proud, that will at the same time put the many + other weak and imperfect ones he has in the other scale, and the + nothingness of human condition to make up the weight. Because Socrates had + alone digested to purpose the precept of his god, “to know himself,” + and by that study arrived at the perfection of setting himself at nought, + he only was reputed worthy the title of a sage. Whosoever shall so know + himself, let him boldly speak it out. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0064" id="link2HCH0064"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII——OF RECOMPENSES OF HONOUR + </h2> + <p> + They who write the life of Augustus Caesar,—[Suetonius, Life of + Augustus, c. 25.]—observe this in his military discipline, that he + was wonderfully liberal of gifts to men of merit, but that as to the true + recompenses of honour he was as sparing; yet he himself had been gratified + by his uncle with all the military recompenses before he had ever been in + the field. It was a pretty invention, and received into most governments + of the world, to institute certain vain and in themselves valueless + distinctions to honour and recompense virtue, such as the crowns of + laurel, oak, and myrtle, the particular fashion of some garment, the + privilege to ride in a coach in the city, or at night with a torch, some + peculiar place assigned in public assemblies, the prerogative of certain + additional names and titles, certain distinctions in the bearing of coats + of arms, and the like, the use of which, according to the several humours + of nations, has been variously received, and yet continues. + </p> + <p> + We in France, as also several of our neighbours, have orders of knighthood + that are instituted only for this end. And ‘tis, in earnest, a very + good and profitable custom to find out an acknowledgment for the worth of + rare and excellent men, and to satisfy them with rewards that are not at + all chargeable either to prince or people. And that which has always been + found by ancient experience, and which we have heretofore observed among + ourselves, that men of quality have ever been more jealous of such + recompenses than of those wherein there was gain and profit, is not + without very good ground and reason. If with the reward, which ought to be + simply a recompense of honour, they should mix other commodities and add + riches, this mixture, instead of procuring an increase of estimation, + would debase and abate it. The Order of St. Michael, which has been so + long in repute amongst us, had no greater commodity than that it had no + communication with any other commodity, which produced this effect, that + formerly there was no office or title whatever to which the gentry + pretended with so great desire and affection as they did to that; no + quality that carried with it more respect and grandeur, valour and worth + more willingly embracing and with greater ambition aspiring to a + recompense purely its own, and rather glorious than profitable. For, in + truth, other gifts have not so great a dignity of usage, by reason they + are laid out upon all sorts of occasions; with money a man pays the wages + of a servant, the diligence of a courier, dancing, vaulting, speaking, and + the meanest offices we receive; nay, and reward vice with it too, as + flattery, treachery, and pimping; and therefore ‘tis no wonder if + virtue less desires and less willingly receives this common sort of + payment, than that which is proper and peculiar to her, throughout + generous and noble. Augustus had reason to be more sparing of this than + the other, insomuch that honour is a privilege which derives its principal + essence from rarity; and so virtue itself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cui malus est nemo, quis bonus esse potest?” + + [“To whom no one is ill who can be good?"-Martial, xii. 82.] +</pre> + <p> + We do not intend it for a commendation when we say that such a one is + careful in the education of his children, by reason it is a common act, + how just and well done soever; no more than we commend a great tree, where + the whole forest is the same. I do not think that any citizen of Sparta + glorified himself much upon his valour, it being the universal virtue of + the whole nation; and as little upon his fidelity and contempt of riches. + There is no recompense becomes virtue, how great soever, that is once + passed into a custom; and I know not withal whether we can ever call it + great, being common. + </p> + <p> + Seeing, then, that these remunerations of honour have no other value and + estimation but only this, that few people enjoy them, ‘tis but to be + liberal of them to bring them down to nothing. And though there should be + now more men found than in former times worthy of our order, the + estimation of it nevertheless should not be abated, nor the honour made + cheap; and it may easily happen that more may merit it; for there is no + virtue that so easily spreads as that of military valour. There is another + virtue, true, perfect, and philosophical, of which I do not speak, and + only make use of the word in our common acceptation, much greater than + this and more full, which is a force and assurance of the soul, equally + despising all sorts of adverse accidents, equable, uniform, and constant, + of which ours is no more than one little ray. Use, education, example, and + custom can do all in all to the establishment of that whereof I am + speaking, and with great facility render it common, as by the experience + of our civil wars is manifest enough; and whoever could at this time unite + us all, Catholic and Huguenot, into one body, and set us upon some brave + common enterprise, we should again make our ancient military reputation + flourish. It is most certain that in times past the recompense of this + order had not only a regard to valour, but had a further prospect; it + never was the reward of a valiant soldier but of a great captain; the + science of obeying was not reputed worthy of so honourable a guerdon. + There was therein a more universal military expertness required, and that + comprehended the most and the greatest qualities of a military man: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neque enim eaedem militares et imperatorix artes sunt,” + + [“For the arts of soldiery and generalship are not the same.” + —Livy, xxv. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + as also, besides, a condition suitable to such a dignity. But, I say, + though more men were worthy than formerly, yet ought it not to be more + liberally distributed, and it were better to fall short in not giving it + at all to whom it should be due, than for ever to lose, as we have lately + done, the fruit of so profitable an invention. No man of spirit will deign + to advantage himself with what is in common with many; and such of the + present time as have least merited this recompense themselves make the + greater show of disdaining it, in order thereby to be ranked with those to + whom so much wrong has been done by the unworthy conferring and debasing + the distinction which was their particular right. + </p> + <p> + Now, to expect that in obliterating and abolishing this, suddenly to + create and bring into credit a like institution, is not a proper attempt + for so licentious and so sick a time as this wherein we now are; and it + will fall out that the last will from its birth incur the same + inconveniences that have ruined the other.—[Montaigne refers to the + Order of the Saint-Esprit, instituted by Henry III. in 1578.]—The + rules for dispensing this new order had need to be extremely clipt and + bound under great restrictions, to give it authority; and this tumultuous + season is incapable of such a curb: besides that, before this can be + brought into repute, ‘tis necessary that the memory of the first, + and of the contempt into which it is fallen, be buried in oblivion. + </p> + <p> + This place might naturally enough admit of some discourse upon the + consideration of valour, and the difference of this virtue from others; + but, Plutarch having so often handled this subject, I should give myself + an unnecessary trouble to repeat what he has said. But this is worth + considering: that our nation places valour, vaillance, in the highest + degree of virtue, as its very word evidences, being derived from valeur, + and that, according to our use, when we say a man of high worth a good + man, in our court style—‘tis to say a valiant man, after the + Roman way; for the general appellation of virtue with them takes etymology + from vis, force. The proper, sole, and essential profession of, the French + noblesse is that of arms: and ‘tis likely that the first virtue that + discovered itself amongst men and has given to some advantage over others, + was that by which the strongest and most valiant have mastered the weaker, + and acquired a particular authority and reputation, whence came to it that + dignified appellation; or else, that these nations, being very warlike, + gave the pre-eminence to that of the virtues which was most familiar to + them; just as our passion and the feverish solicitude we have of the + chastity of women occasions that to say, a good woman, a woman of worth, a + woman of honour and virtue, signifies merely a chaste woman as if, to + oblige them to that one duty, we were indifferent as to all the rest, and + gave them the reins in all other faults whatever to compound for that one + of incontinence. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0065" id="link2HCH0065"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII——OF THE AFFECTION OF FATHERS TO THEIR CHILDREN + </h2> + <h3> + To Madame D’Estissac. + </h3> + <p> + MADAM, if the strangeness and novelty of my subject, which are wont to + give value to things, do not save me, I shall never come off with honour + from this foolish attempt: but ‘tis so fantastic, and carries a face + so unlike the common use, that this, peradventure, may make it pass. + ‘Tis a melancholic humour, and consequently a humour very much an + enemy to my natural complexion, engendered by the pensiveness of the + solitude into which for some years past I have retired myself, that first + put into my head this idle fancy of writing. Wherein, finding myself + totally unprovided and empty of other matter, I presented myself to myself + for argument and subject. ‘Tis the only book in the world of its + kind, and of a wild and extravagant design. There is nothing worth remark + in this affair but that extravagancy: for in a subject so vain and + frivolous, the best workman in the world could not have given it a form + fit to recommend it to any manner of esteem. + </p> + <p> + Now, madam, having to draw my own picture to the life, I had omitted one + important feature, had I not therein represented the honour I have ever + had for you and your merits; which I have purposely chosen to say in the + beginning of this chapter, by reason that amongst the many other excellent + qualities you are mistress of, that of the tender love you have manifested + to your children, is seated in one of the highest places. Whoever knows at + what age Monsieur D’Estissac, your husband, left you a widow, the + great and honourable matches that have since been offered to you, as many + as to any lady of your condition in France, the constancy and steadiness + wherewith, for so many years, you have sustained so many sharp + difficulties, the burden and conduct of affairs, which have persecuted you + in every corner of the kingdom, and are not yet weary of tormenting you, + and the happy direction you have given to all these, by your sole prudence + or good fortune, will easily conclude with me that we have not so vivid an + example as yours of maternal affection in our times. I praise God, madam, + that it has been so well employed; for the great hopes Monsieur D’Estissac, + your son, gives of himself, render sufficient assurance that when he comes + of age you will reap from him all the obedience and gratitude of a very + good man. But, forasmuch as by reason of his tender years, he has not been + capable of taking notice of those offices of extremest value he has in so + great number received from you, I will, if these papers shall one day + happen to fall into his hands, when I shall neither have mouth nor speech + left to deliver it to him, that he shall receive from me a true account of + those things, which shall be more effectually manifested to him by their + own effects, by which he will understand that there is not a gentleman in + France who stands more indebted to a mother’s care; and that he + cannot, in the future, give a better nor more certain testimony of his own + worth and virtue than by acknowledging you for that excellent mother you + are. + </p> + <p> + If there be any law truly natural, that is to say, any instinct that is + seen universally and perpetually imprinted in both beasts and men (which + is not without controversy), I can say, that in my opinion, next to the + care every animal has of its own preservation, and to avoid that which may + hurt him, the affection that the begetter bears to his offspring holds the + second place in this rank. And seeing that nature appears to have + recommended it to us, having regard to the extension and progression of + the successive pieces of this machine of hers, ‘tis no wonder if, on + the contrary, that of children towards their parents is not so great. To + which we may add this other Aristotelian consideration, that he who + confers a benefit on any one, loves him better than he is beloved by him + again: that he to whom is owing, loves better than he who owes; and that + every artificer is fonder of his work, than, if that work had sense, it + would be of him; by reason that it is dear to us to be, and to be consists + in movement and action; therefore every one has in some sort a being in + his work. He who confers a benefit exercises a fine and honest action; he + who receives it exercises the useful only. Now the useful is much less + lovable than the honest; the honest is stable and permanent, supplying him + who has done it with a continual gratification. The useful loses itself, + easily slides away, and the memory of it is neither so fresh nor so + pleasing. Those things are dearest to us that have cost us most, and + giving is more chargeable than receiving. + </p> + <p> + Since it has pleased God to endue us with some capacity of reason, to the + end we may not, like brutes, be servilely subject and enslaved to the laws + common to both, but that we should by judgment and a voluntary liberty + apply ourselves to them, we ought, indeed, something to yield to the + simple authority of nature, but not suffer ourselves to be tyrannically + hurried away and transported by her; reason alone should have the conduct + of our inclinations. I, for my part, have a strange disgust for those + propensions that are started in us without the mediation and direction of + the judgment, as, upon the subject I am speaking of, I cannot entertain + that passion of dandling and caressing infants scarcely born, having as + yet neither motion of soul nor shape of body distinguishable, by which + they can render themselves amiable, and have not willingly suffered them + to be nursed near me. A true and regular affection ought to spring and + increase with the knowledge they give us of themselves, and then, if they + are worthy of it, the natural propension walking hand in hand with reason, + to cherish them with a truly paternal love; and so to judge, also, if they + be otherwise, still rendering ourselves to reason, notwithstanding the + inclination of nature. ‘Tis oft-times quite otherwise; and, most + commonly, we find ourselves more taken with the running up and down, the + games, and puerile simplicities of our children, than we do, afterwards, + with their most complete actions; as if we had loved them for our sport, + like monkeys, and not as men; and some there are, who are very liberal in + buying them balls to play withal, who are very close-handed for the least + necessary expense when they come to age. Nay, it looks as if the jealousy + of seeing them appear in and enjoy the world when we are about to leave + it, rendered us more niggardly and stingy towards them; it vexes us that + they tread upon our heels, as if to solicit us to go out; if this were to + be feared, since the order of things will have it so that they cannot, to + speak the truth, be nor live, but at the expense of our being and life, we + should never meddle with being fathers at all. + </p> + <p> + For my part, I think it cruelty and injustice not to receive them into the + share and society of our goods, and not to make them partakers in the + intelligence of our domestic affairs when they are capable, and not to + lessen and contract our own expenses to make the more room for theirs, + seeing we beget them to that effect. ‘Tis unjust that an old fellow, + broken and half dead, should alone, in a corner of the chimney, enjoy the + money that would suffice for the maintenance and advancement of many + children, and suffer them, in the meantime, to lose their’ best + years for want of means to advance themselves in the public service and + the knowledge of men. A man by this course drives them to despair, and to + seek out by any means, how unjust or dishonourable soever, to provide for + their own support: as I have, in my time, seen several young men of good + extraction so addicted to stealing, that no correction could cure them of + it. I know one of a very good family, to whom, at the request of a brother + of his, a very honest and brave gentleman, I once spoke on this account, + who made answer, and confessed to me roundly, that he had been put upon + this paltry practice by the severity and avarice of his father; but that + he was now so accustomed to it he could not leave it off. And, at that + very time, he was trapped stealing a lady’s rings, having come into + her chamber, as she was dressing with several others. He put me in mind of + a story I had heard of another gentleman, so perfect and accomplished in + this fine trade in his youth, that, after he came to his estate and + resolved to give it over, he could not hold his hands, nevertheless, if he + passed by a shop where he saw anything he liked, from catching it up, + though it put him to the shame of sending afterwards to pay for it. And I + have myself seen several so habituated to this quality that even amongst + their comrades they could not forbear filching, though with intent to + restore what they had taken. I am a Gascon, and yet there is no vice I so + little understand as that; I hate it something more by disposition than I + condemn it by reason; I do not so much as desire anything of another man’s. + This province of ours is, in plain truth, a little more decried than the + other parts of the kingdom; and yet we have several times seen, in our + times, men of good families of other provinces, in the hands of justice, + convicted of abominable thefts. I fear this vice is, in some sort, to be + attributed to the fore-mentioned vice of the fathers. + </p> + <p> + And if a man should tell me, as a lord of very good understanding once + did, that “he hoarded up wealth, not to extract any other fruit and + use from his parsimony, but to make himself honoured and sought after by + his relations; and that age having deprived him of all other power, it was + the only remaining remedy to maintain his authority in his family, and to + keep him from being neglected and despised by all around,” in truth, + not only old age, but all other imbecility, according to Aristotle, is the + promoter of avarice; that is something, but it is physic for a disease + that a man should prevent the birth of. A father is very miserable who has + no other hold on his children’s affection than the need they have of + his assistance, if that can be called affection; he must render himself + worthy to be respected by his virtue and wisdom, and beloved by his + kindness and the sweetness of his manners; even the very ashes of a rich + matter have their value; and we are wont to have the bones and relics of + worthy men in regard and reverence. No old age can be so decrepid in a man + who has passed his life in honour, but it must be venerable, especially to + his children, whose soul he must have trained up to their duty by reason, + not by necessity and the need they have of him, nor by harshness and + compulsion: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et errat longe mea quidem sententia + Qui imperium credat esse gravius, aut stabilius, + Vi quod fit, quam illud, quod amicitia adjungitur.” + + [“He wanders far from the truth, in my opinion, who thinks that + government more absolute and durable which is acquired by force than + that which is attached to friendship.”—Terence, Adelph., i. I, 40.] +</pre> + <p> + I condemn all violence in the education of a tender soul that is designed + for honour and liberty. There is I know not what of servile in rigour and + constraint; and I am of opinion that what is not to be done by reason, + prudence, and address, is never to be affected by force. I myself was + brought up after that manner; and they tell me that in all my first age I + never felt the rod but twice, and then very slightly. I practised the same + method with my children, who all of them died at nurse, except Leonora, my + only daughter, and who arrived to the age of five years and upward without + other correction for her childish faults (her mother’s indulgence + easily concurring) than words only, and those very gentle; in which kind + of proceeding, though my end and expectation should be both frustrated, + there are other causes enough to lay the fault on without blaming my + discipline, which I know to be natural and just, and I should, in this, + have yet been more religious towards the males, as less born to subjection + and more free; and I should have made it my business to fill their hearts + with ingenuousness and freedom. I have never observed other effects of + whipping than to render boys more cowardly, or more wilfully obstinate. + </p> + <p> + Do we desire to be beloved of our children? Will we remove from them all + occasion of wishing our death though no occasion of so horrid a wish can + either be just or excusable? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nullum scelus rationem habet.” + + [“No wickedness has reason.”—Livy, xxviii. 28] +</pre> + <p> + Let us reasonably accommodate their lives with what is in our power. In + order to this, we should not marry so young that our age shall in a manner + be confounded with theirs; for this inconvenience plunges us into many + very great difficulties, and especially the gentry of the nation, who are + of a condition wherein they have little to do, and who live upon their + rents only: for elsewhere, with people who live by their labour, the + plurality and company of children is an increase to the common stock; they + are so many new tools and instruments wherewith to grow rich. + </p> + <p> + I married at three-and-thirty years of age, and concur in the opinion of + thirty-five, which is said to be that of Aristotle. Plato will have nobody + marry before thirty; but he has reason to laugh at those who undertook the + work of marriage after five-and-fifty, and condemns their offspring as + unworthy of aliment and life. Thales gave the truest limits, who, young + and being importuned by his mother to marry, answered, “That it was + too soon,” and, being grown into years and urged again, “That + it was too late.” A man must deny opportunity to every inopportune + action. The ancient Gauls’ looked upon it as a very horrid thing for + a man to have society with a woman before he was twenty years of age, and + strictly recommended to the men who designed themselves for war the + keeping their virginity till well grown in years, forasmuch as courage is + abated and diverted by intercourse with women: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ma, or congiunto a giovinetta sposa, + E lieto omai de’ figli, era invilito + Negli affetti di padre et di marito.” + + [“Now, married to a young wife and happy in children, he was + demoralised by his love as father and husband.” + —Tasso, Gierus., x. 39.] +</pre> + <p> + Muley Hassam, king of Tunis, he whom the Emperor Charles V. restored to + his kingdom, reproached the memory of his father Mahomet with the + frequentation of women, styling him loose, effeminate, and a getter of + children.—[Of whom he had thirty-four.]—The Greek history + observes of Iccus the Tarentine, of Chryso, Astyllus, Diopompos, and + others, that to keep their bodies in order for the Olympic games and such + like exercises, they denied themselves during that preparation all + commerce with Venus. In a certain country of the Spanish Indies men were + not permitted to marry till after forty age, and yet the girls were + allowed at ten. ‘Tis not time for a gentleman of thirty years old to + give place to his son who is twenty; he is himself in a condition to serve + both in the expeditions of war and in the court of his prince; has need of + all his appurtenances; and yet, doubtless, he ought to surrender a share, + but not so great an one as to forget himself for others; and for such an + one the answer that fathers have ordinarily in their mouths, “I will + not put off my clothes, before I go to bed,” serves well. + </p> + <p> + But a father worn out with age and infirmities, and deprived by weakness + and want of health of the common society of men, wrongs himself and his to + amass a great heap of treasure. He has lived long enough, if he be wise, + to have a mind to strip himself to go to bed, not to his very shirt, I + confess, but to that and a good, warm dressing-gown; the remaining pomps, + of which he has no further use, he ought voluntarily to surrender to + those, to whom by the order of nature they belong. ‘Tis reason he + should refer the use of those things to them, seeing that nature has + reduced him to such a state that he cannot enjoy them himself; otherwise + there is doubtless malice and envy in the case. The greatest act of the + Emperor Charles V. was that when, in imitation of some of the ancients of + his own quality, confessing it but reason to strip ourselves when our + clothes encumber and grow too heavy for us, and to lie down when our legs + begin to fail us, he resigned his possessions, grandeur, and power to his + son, when he found himself failing in vigour, and steadiness for the + conduct of his affairs suitable with the glory he had therein acquired: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne + Peccet ad extremum ridendus, et ilia ducat.” + + [“Dismiss the old horse in good time, lest, failing in the lists, + the spectators laugh.”—Horace, Epist., i., I, 8.] +</pre> + <p> + This fault of not perceiving betimes and of not being sensible of the + feebleness and extreme alteration that age naturally brings both upon body + and mind, which, in my opinion, is equal, if indeed the soul has not more + than half, has lost the reputation of most of the great men in the world. + I have known in my time, and been intimately acquainted with persons of + great authority, whom one might easily discern marvellously lapsed from + the sufficiency I knew they were once endued with, by the reputation they + had acquired in their former years, whom I could heartily, for their own + sakes, have wished at home at their ease, discharged of their public or + military employments, which were now grown too heavy for their shoulders. + I have formerly been very familiar in a gentleman’s house, a widower + and very old, though healthy and cheerful enough: this gentleman had + several daughters to marry and a son already of ripe age, which brought + upon him many visitors, and a great expense, neither of which well pleased + him, not only out of consideration of frugality, but yet more for having, + by reason of his age, entered into a course of life far differing from + ours. I told him one day a little boldly, as I used to do, that he would + do better to give us younger folk room, and to leave his principal house + (for he had but that well placed and furnished) to his son, and himself + retire to an estate he had hard by, where nobody would trouble his repose, + seeing he could not otherwise avoid being importuned by us, the condition + of his children considered. He took my advice afterwards, and found an + advantage in so doing. + </p> + <p> + I do not mean that a man should so instal them as not to reserve to + himself a liberty to retract; I, who am now arrived to the age wherein + such things are fit to be done, would resign to them the enjoyment of my + house and goods, but with a power of revocation if they should give me + cause to alter my mind; I would leave to them the use, that being no + longer convenient for me; and, of the general authority and power over + all, would reserve as much as—I thought good to myself; having + always held that it must needs be a great satisfaction to an aged father + himself to put his children into the way of governing his affairs, and to + have power during his own life to control their behaviour, supplying them + with instruction and advice from his own experience, and himself to + transfer the ancient honour and order of his house into the hands of those + who are to succeed him, and by that means to satisfy himself as to the + hopes he may conceive of their future conduct. And in order to this I + would not avoid their company; I would observe them near at hand, and + partake, according to the condition of my age, of their feasts and + jollities. If I did not live absolutely amongst them, which I could not do + without annoying them and their friends, by reason of the morosity of my + age and the restlessness of my infirmities, and without violating also the + rules and order of living I should then have set down to myself, I would, + at least, live near them in some retired part of my house, not the best in + show, but the most commodious. Nor as I saw some years ago, a dean of St. + Hilary of Poitiers given up to such a solitude, that at the time I came + into his chamber it had been two and twenty years that he had not stepped + one foot out of it, and yet had all his motions free and easy, and was in + good health, saving a cold that fell upon his lungs; he would, hardly once + in a week, suffer any one to come in to see him; he always kept himself + shut up in his chamber alone, except that a servant brought him, once a + day, something to eat, and did then but just come in and go out again. His + employment was to walk up and down, and read some book, for he was a bit + of a scholar; but, as to the rest, obstinately bent to die in this + retirement, as he soon after did. I would endeavour by pleasant + conversation to create in my children a warm and unfeigned friendship and + good-will towards me, which in well-descended natures is not hard to do; + for if they be furious brutes, of which this age of ours produces + thousands, we are then to hate and avoid them as such. + </p> + <p> + I am angry at the custom of forbidding children to call their father by + the name of father, and to enjoin them another, as more full of respect + and reverence, as if nature had not sufficiently provided for our + authority. We call Almighty God Father, and disdain to have our children + call us so; I have reformed this error in my family.—[As did Henry + IV. of France]—And ‘tis also folly and injustice to deprive + children, when grown up, of familiarity with their father, and to carry a + scornful and austere countenance toward them, thinking by that to keep + them in awe and obedience; for it is a very idle farce that, instead of + producing the effect designed, renders fathers distasteful, and, which is + worse, ridiculous to their own children. They have youth and vigour in + possession, and consequently the breath and favour of the world; and + therefore receive these fierce and tyrannical looks—mere scarecrows— + of a man without blood, either in his heart or veins, with mockery and + contempt. Though I could make myself feared, I had yet much rather make + myself beloved: there are so many sorts of defects in old age, so much + imbecility, and it is so liable to contempt, that the best acquisition a + man can make is the kindness and affection of his own family; command and + fear are no longer his weapons. Such an one I have known who, having been + very imperious in his youth, when he came to be old, though he might have + lived at his full ease, would ever strike, rant, swear, and curse: the + most violent householder in France: fretting himself with unnecessary + suspicion and vigilance. And all this rumble and clutter but to make his + family cheat him the more; of his barn, his kitchen, cellar, nay, and his + very purse too, others had the greatest use and share, whilst he keeps his + keys in his pocket much more carefully than his eyes. Whilst he hugs + himself with the pitiful frugality of a niggard table, everything goes to + rack and ruin in every corner of his house, in play, drink, all sorts of + profusion, making sport in their junkets with his vain anger and fruitless + parsimony. Every one is a sentinel against him, and if, by accident, any + wretched fellow that serves him is of another humour, and will not join + with the rest, he is presently rendered suspected to him, a bait that old + age very easily bites at of itself. How often has this gentleman boasted + to me in how great awe he kept his family, and how exact an obedience and + reverence they paid him! How clearly he saw into his own affairs! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ille solos nescit omnia.” + + [“He alone is ignorant of all that is passing.” + —Terence, Adelph., iv. 2, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + I do not know any one that can muster more parts, both natural and + acquired, proper to maintain dominion, than he; yet he is fallen from it + like a child. For this reason it is that I have picked out him, amongst + several others that I know of the same humour, for the greatest example. + It were matter for a question in the schools, whether he is better thus or + otherwise. In his presence, all submit to and bow to him, and give so much + way to his vanity that nobody ever resists him; he has his fill of + assents, of seeming fear, submission, and respect. Does he turn away a + servant? he packs up his bundle, and is gone; but ‘tis no further + than just out of his sight: the steps of old age are so slow, the senses + so troubled, that he will live and do his old office in the same house a + year together without being perceived. + </p> + <p> + And after a fit interval of time, letters are pretended to come from a + great way off; very humble, suppliant; and full of promises of amendment, + by virtue of which he is again received into favour. Does Monsieur make + any bargain, or prepare any despatch that does not please? ‘tis + suppressed, and causes afterwards forged to excuse the want of execution + in the one or answer in the other. No letters being first brought to him, + he never sees any but those that shall seem fit for his knowledge. If by + accident they fall first into his own hand, being used to trust somebody + to read them to him; he reads extempore what he thinks fit, and often + makes such a one ask him pardon who abuses and rails at him in his letter. + In short, he sees nothing, but by an image prepared and designed + beforehand and the most satisfactory they can invent, not to rouse and + awaken his ill humour and choler. I have seen, under various aspects, + enough of these modes of domestic government, long-enduring, constant, to + the like effect. + </p> + <p> + Women are evermore addicted to cross their husbands: they lay hold with + both hands on all occasions to contradict and oppose them; the first + excuse serves for a plenary justification. I have seen one who robbed her + husband wholesale, that, as she told her confessor, she might distribute + the more liberal alms. Let who will trust to that religious dispensation. + No management of affairs seems to them of sufficient dignity, if + proceeding from the husband’s assent; they must usurp it either by + insolence or cunning, and always injuriously, or else it has not the grace + and authority they desire. When, as in the case I am speaking of, ‘tis + against a poor old man and for the children, then they make use of this + title to serve their passion with glory; and, as for a common service, + easily cabal, and combine against his government and dominion. If they be + males grown up in full and flourishing health, they presently corrupt, + either by force or favour, steward, receivers, and all the rout. Such as + have neither wife nor son do not so easily fall into this misfortune; but + withal more cruelly and unworthily. Cato the elder in his time said: So + many servants, so many enemies; consider, then, whether according to the + vast difference between the purity of the age he lived in and the + corruption of this of ours, he does not seem to shew us that wife, son, + and servant, are so many enemies to us? ‘Tis well for old age that + it is always accompanied by want of observation, ignorance, and a + proneness to being deceived. For should we see how we are used and would + not acquiesce, what would become of us? especially in such an age as this, + where the very judges who are to determine our controversies are usually + partisans to the young, and interested in the cause. In case the discovery + of this cheating escape me, I cannot at least fail to discern that I am + very fit to be cheated. And can a man ever enough exalt the value of a + friend, in comparison with these civil ties? The very image of it which I + see in beasts, so pure and uncorrupted, how religiously do I respect it! + If others deceive me, yet do I not, at least, deceive myself in thinking I + am able to defend myself from them, or in cudgelling my brains to make + myself so. I protect myself from such treasons in my own bosom, not by an + unquiet and tumultuous curiosity, but rather by diversion and resolution. + When I hear talk of any one’s condition, I never trouble myself to + think of him; I presently turn my eyes upon myself to see in what + condition I am; whatever concerns another relates to me; the accident that + has befallen him gives me caution, and rouses me to turn my defence that + way. We every day and every hour say things of another that we might + properly say of ourselves, could we but apply our observation to our own + concerns, as well as extend it to others. And several authors have in this + manner prejudiced their own cause by running headlong upon those they + attack, and darting those shafts against their enemies, that are more + properly, and with greater advantage, to be turned upon themselves. + </p> + <p> + The late Mareschal de Montluc having lost his son, who died in the island + of Madeira, in truth a very worthy gentleman and of great expectation, did + to me, amongst his other regrets, very much insist upon what a sorrow and + heart-breaking it was that he had never made himself familiar with him; + and by that humour of paternal gravity and grimace to have lost the + opportunity of having an insight into and of well knowing, his son, as + also of letting him know the extreme affection he had for him, and the + worthy opinion he had of his virtue. “That poor boy,” said he, + “never saw in me other than a stern and disdainful countenance, and + is gone in a belief that I neither knew how to love him nor esteem him + according to his desert. For whom did I reserve the discovery of that + singular affection I had for him in my soul? Was it not he himself, who + ought to have had all the pleasure of it, and all the obligation? I + constrained and racked myself to put on, and maintain this vain disguise, + and have by that means deprived myself of the pleasure of his + conversation, and, I doubt, in some measure, his affection, which could + not but be very cold to me, having never other from me than austerity, nor + felt other than a tyrannical manner of proceeding.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Madame de Sevigne tells us that she never read this passage without + tears in her eyes. “My God!” she exclaims, “how full is this book + of good sense!” Ed.] +</pre> + <p> + I find this complaint to be rational and rightly apprehended: for, as I + myself know by too certain experience, there is no so sweet consolation in + the loss of friends as the conscience of having had no reserve or secret + for them, and to have had with them a perfect and entire communication. Oh + my friend,—[La Boetie.] am I the better for being sensible of this; + or am I the worse? I am, doubtless, much the better. I am consoled and + honoured, in the sorrow for his death. Is it not a pious and a pleasing + office of my life to be always upon my friend’s obsequies? Can there + be any joy equal to this privation? + </p> + <p> + I open myself to my family, as much as I can, and very willingly let them + know the state of my opinion and good will towards them, as I do to + everybody else: I make haste to bring out and present myself to them; for + I will not have them mistaken in me, in anything. Amongst other particular + customs of our ancient Gauls, this, as Caesar reports,—[De Bello + Gall., vi. r8.]—was one, that the sons never presented themselves + before their fathers, nor durst ever appear in their company in public, + till they began to bear arms; as if they would intimate by this, that it + was also time for their fathers to receive them into their familiarity and + acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + I have observed yet another sort of indiscretion in fathers of my time, + that, not contented with having deprived their children, during their own + long lives, of the share they naturally ought to have had in their + fortunes, they afterwards leave to their wives the same authority over + their estates, and liberty to dispose of them according to their own + fancy. And I have known a certain lord, one of the principal officers of + the crown, who, having in reversion above fifty thousand crowns yearly + revenue, died necessitous and overwhelmed with debt at above fifty years + of age; his mother in her extremest decrepitude being yet in possession of + all his property by the will of his father, who had, for his part, lived + till near fourscore years old. This appears to me by no means reasonable. + And therefore I think it of very little advantage to a man, whose affairs + are well enough, to seek a wife who encumbers his estate with a very great + fortune; there is no sort of foreign debt that brings more ruin to + families than this: my predecessors have ever been aware of that danger + and provided against it, and so have I. But those who dissuade us from + rich wives, for fear they should be less tractable and kind, are out in + their advice to make a man lose a real commodity for so frivolous a + conjecture. It costs an unreasonable woman no more to pass over one reason + than another; they cherish themselves most where they are most wrong. + Injustice allures them, as the honour of their virtuous actions does the + good; and the more riches they bring with them, they are so much the more + good-natured, as women, who are handsome, are all the more inclined and + proud to be chaste. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis reasonable to leave the administration of affairs to the + mothers, till the children are old enough, according to law, to manage + them; but the father has brought them, up very ill, if he cannot hope + that, when they come to maturity, they will have more wisdom and ability + in the management of affairs than his wife, considering the ordinary + weakness of the sex. It were, notwithstanding, to say the truth, more + against nature to make the mothers depend upon the discretion of their + children; they ought to be plentifully provided for, to maintain + themselves according to their quality and age, by reason that necessity + and indigence are much more unbecoming and insupportable to them than to + men; the son should rather be cut short than the mother. + </p> + <p> + In general, the most judicious distribution of our goods, when we come to + die, is, in my opinion, to let them be distributed according to the custom + of the country; the laws have considered the matter better than we know + how to do, and ‘tis wiser to let them fail in their appointment, + than rashly to run the hazard of miscarrying in ours. Nor are the goods + properly ours, since, by civil prescription and without us, they are all + destined to certain successors. And although we have some liberty beyond + that, yet I think we ought not, without great and manifest cause, to take + away that from one which his fortune has allotted him, and to which the + public equity gives him title; and that it is against reason to abuse this + liberty, in making it serve our own frivolous and private fancies. My + destiny has been kind to me in not presenting me with occasions to tempt + me and divert my affection from the common and legitimate institution. I + see many with whom ‘tis time lost to employ a long exercise of good + offices: a word ill taken obliterates ten years’ merit; he is happy + who is in a position to oil their goodwill at this last passage. The last + action carries it, not the best and most frequent offices, but the most + recent and present do the work. These are people that play with their + wills as with apples or rods, to gratify or chastise every action of those + who pretend to an interest in their care. ‘Tis a thing of too great + weight and consequence to be so tumbled and tossed and altered every + moment, and wherein the wise determine once for all, having above all + things regard to reason and the public observance. We lay these masculine + substitutions too much to heart, proposing a ridiculous eternity to our + names. We are, moreover, too superstitious in vain conjectures as to the + future, that we derive from the words and actions of children. + Peradventure they might have done me an injustice, in dispossessing me of + my right, for having been the most dull and heavy, the most slow and + unwilling at my book, not of all my brothers only, but of all the boys in + the whole province: whether about learning my lesson, or about any bodily + exercise. ‘Tis a folly to make an election out of the ordinary + course upon the credit of these divinations wherein we are so often + deceived. If the ordinary rule of descent were to be violated, and the + destinies corrected in the choice they have made of our heirs, one might + more plausibly do it upon the account of some remarkable and enormous + personal deformity, a permanent and incorrigible defect, and in the + opinion of us French, who are great admirers of beauty, an important + prejudice. + </p> + <p> + The pleasant dialogue betwixt Plato’s legislator and his citizens + will be an ornament to this place, “What,” said they, feeling + themselves about to die, “may we not dispose of our own to whom we + please? God! what cruelty that it shall not be lawful for us, according as + we have been served and attended in our sickness, in our old age, in our + affairs, to give more or less to those whom we have found most diligent + about us, at our own fancy and discretion!” To which the legislator + answers thus: + </p> + <p> + “My friends, who are now, without question, very soon to die, it is + hard for you in the condition you are, either to know yourselves, or what + is yours, according to the delphic inscription. I, who make the laws, am + of opinion, that you neither are yourselves your own, nor is that yours of + which you are possessed. Both your goods and you belong to your families, + as well those past as those to come; but, further, both your family and + goods much more appertain to the public. Wherefore, lest any flatterer in + your old age or in your sickness, or any passion of your own, should + unseasonably prevail with you to make an unjust will, I shall take care to + prevent that inconvenience; but, having respect both to the universal + interests of the city and that of your particular family, I shall + establish laws, and make it by good reasons appear, that private + convenience ought to give place to the common benefit. Go then cheerfully + where human necessity calls you. It is for me, who regard no more the one + thing than the other, and who, as much as in me lies, am provident of the + public interest, to have a care as to what you leave behind you.” + </p> + <p> + To return to my subject: it appears to me that women are very rarely born, + to whom the prerogative over men, the maternal and natural excepted, is in + any sort due, unless it be for the punishment of such, as in some amorous + fever have voluntarily submitted themselves to them: but that in no way + concerns the old ones, of whom we are now speaking. This consideration it + is which has made us so willingly to enact and give force to that law, + which was never yet seen by any one, by which women are excluded the + succession to our crown: and there is hardly a government in the world + where it is not pleaded, as it is here, by the probability of reason that + authorises it, though fortune has given it more credit in some places than + in others. ‘Tis dangerous to leave the disposal of our succession to + their judgment, according to the choice they shall make of children, which + is often fantastic and unjust; for the irregular appetites and depraved + tastes they have during the time of their being with child, they have at + all other times in the mind. We commonly see them fond of the most weak, + ricketty, and deformed children; or of those, if they have such, as are + still hanging at the breast. For, not having sufficient force of reason to + choose and embrace that which is most worthy, they the more willingly + suffer themselves to be carried away, where the impressions of nature are + most alone; like animals that know their young no longer than they give + them suck. As to the rest, it is easy by experience to be discerned that + this natural affection to which we give so great authority has but very + weak roots. For a very little profit, we every day tear their own children + out of the mothers’ arms, and make them take ours in their room: we + make them abandon their own to some pitiful nurse, to whom we disdain to + commit ours, or to some she-goat, forbidding them, not only to give them + suck, what danger soever they run thereby, but, moreover, to take any + manner of care of them, that they may wholly be occupied with the care of + and attendance upon ours; and we see in most of them an adulterate + affection, more vehement than the natural, begotten by custom toward the + foster children, and a greater solicitude for the preservation of those + they have taken charge of, than of their own. And that which I was saying + of goats was upon this account; that it is ordinary all about where I + live, to see the countrywomen, when they want milk of their own for their + children, to call goats to their assistance; and I have at this hour two + men-servants that never sucked women’s milk more than eight days + after they were born. These goats are immediately taught to come to suckle + the little children, know their voices when they cry, and come running to + them. If any other than this foster-child be presented to them, they + refuse to let it suck; and the child in like manner will refuse to suck + another goat. I saw one the other day from whom they had taken away the + goat that used to nourish it, by reason the father had only borrowed it of + a neighbour; the child would not touch any other they could bring, and + died, doubtless of hunger. Beasts as easily alter and corrupt their + natural affection as we: I believe that in what Herodotus relates of a + certain district of Lybia, there are many mistakes; he says that the women + are there in common; but that the child, so soon as it can go, finds him + out in the crowd for his father, to whom he is first led by his natural + inclination. + </p> + <p> + Now, to consider this simple reason for loving our children, that we have + begot them, therefore calling them our second selves, it appears, + methinks, that there is another kind of production proceeding from us, + that is of no less recommendation: for that which we engender by the soul, + the issue of our understanding, courage, and abilities, springs from + nobler parts than those of the body, and that are much more our own: we + are both father and mother in this generation. These cost us a great deal + more and bring us more honour, if they have anything of good in them. For + the value of our other children is much more theirs than ours; the share + we have in them is very little; but of these all the beauty, all the grace + and value, are ours; and also they more vividly represent us than the + others. Plato adds, that these are immortal children that immortalise and + deify their fathers, as Lycurgus, Solon, Minos. Now, histories being full + of examples of the common affection of fathers to their children, it seems + not altogether improper to introduce some few of this other kind. + Heliodorus, that good bishop of Trikka, rather chose to lose the dignity, + profit, and devotion of so venerable a prelacy, than to lose his daughter; + a daughter that continues to this day very graceful and comely; but, + peradventure, a little too curiously and wantonly tricked, and too amorous + for an ecclesiastical and sacerdotal daughter. There was one Labienus at + Rome, a man of great worth and authority, and amongst other qualities + excellent in all sorts of literature, who was, as I take it, the son of + that great Labienus, the chief of Caesar’s captains in the wars of + Gaul; and who, afterwards, siding with Pompey the great, so valiantly + maintained his cause, till he was by Caesar defeated in Spain. This + Labienus, of whom I am now speaking, had several enemies, envious of his + good qualities, and, tis likely, the courtiers and minions of the emperors + of his time who were very angry at his freedom and the paternal humour + which he yet retained against tyranny, with which it is to be supposed he + had tinctured his books and writings. His adversaries prosecuted several + pieces he had published before the magistrates at Rome, and prevailed so + far against him, as to have them condemned to the fire. It was in him that + this new example of punishment was begun, which was afterwards continued + against others at Rome, to punish even writing and studies with death. + There would not be means and matter enough of cruelty, did we not mix with + them things that nature has exempted from all sense and suffering, as + reputation and the products of the mind, and did we not communicate + corporal punishments to the teachings and monuments of the Muses. Now, + Labienus could not suffer this loss, nor survive these his so dear issue, + and therefore caused himself to be conveyed and shut up alive in the + monument of his ancestors, where he made shift to kill and bury himself at + once. ‘Tis hard to shew a more vehement paternal affection than + this. Cassius Severus, a man of great eloquence and his very intimate + friend, seeing his books burned, cried out that by the same sentence they + should as well condemn him to the fire too, seeing that he carried in his + memory all that they contained. The like accident befel Cremutius Cordus, + who being accused of having in his books commended Brutus and Cassius, + that dirty, servile, and corrupt Senate, worthy a worse master than + Tiberius, condemned his writings to the flame. He was willing to bear them + company, and killed himself with fasting. The good Lucan, being condemned + by that rascal Nero, at the last gasp of his life, when the greater part + of his blood was already spent through the veins of his arms, which he had + caused his physician to open to make him die, and when the cold had seized + upon all his extremities, and began to approach his vital parts, the last + thing he had in his memory was some of the verses of his Battle of + Phaysalia, which he recited, dying with them in his mouth. What was this, + but taking a tender and paternal leave of his children, in imitation of + the valedictions and embraces, wherewith we part from ours, when we come + to die, and an effect of that natural inclination, that suggests to our + remembrance in this extremity those things which were dearest to us during + the time of our life? + </p> + <p> + Can we believe that Epicurus who, as he says himself, dying of the + intolerable pain of the stone, had all his consolation in the beauty of + the doctrine he left behind him, could have received the same satisfaction + from many children, though never so well-conditioned and brought up, had + he had them, as he did from the production of so many rich writings? Or + that, had it been in his choice to have left behind him a deformed and + untoward child or a foolish and ridiculous book, he, or any other man of + his understanding, would not rather have chosen to have run the first + misfortune than the other? It had been, for example, peradventure, an + impiety in St. Augustin, if, on the one hand, it had been proposed to him + to bury his writings, from which religion has received so great fruit, or + on the other to bury his children, had he had them, had he not rather + chosen to bury his children. And I know not whether I had not much rather + have begot a very beautiful one, through society with the Muses, than by + lying with my wife. To this, such as it is, what I give it I give + absolutely and irrevocably, as men do to their bodily children. That + little I have done for it, is no more at my own disposal; it may know many + things that are gone from me, and from me hold that which I have not + retained; and which, as well as a stranger, I should borrow thence, should + I stand in need. If I am wiser than my book, it is richer than I. There + are few men addicted to poetry, who would not be much prouder to be the + father to the AEneid than to the handsomest youth of Rome; and who would + not much better bear the loss of the one than of the other. For according + to Aristotle, the poet, of all artificers, is the fondest of his work. + ‘Tis hard to believe that Epaminondas, who boasted that in lieu of + all posterity he left two daughters behind him that would one day do their + father honour (meaning the two victories he obtained over the + Lacedaemonians), would willingly have consented to exchange these for the + most beautiful creatures of all Greece; or that Alexander or Caesar ever + wished to be deprived of the grandeur of their glorious exploits in war, + for the convenience of children and heirs, how perfect and accomplished + soever. Nay, I make a great question, whether Phidias or any other + excellent sculptor would be so solicitous of the preservation and + continuance of his natural children, as he would be of a rare statue, + which with long labour and study he had perfected according to art. And to + those furious and irregular passions that have sometimes inflamed fathers + towards their own daughters, and mothers towards their own sons, the like + is also found in this other sort of parentage: witness what is related of + Pygmalion who, having made the statue of a woman of singular beauty, fell + so passionately in love with this work of his, that the gods in favour of + his passion inspired it with life. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tentatum mollescit ebur, positoque rigore, + Subsidit digitis.” + + [“The ivory grows soft under his touch and yields to his fingers.” + —Ovid, Metam., x. 283.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0066" id="link2HCH0066"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX——OF THE ARMS OF THE PARTHIANS + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis an ill custom and unmanly that the gentlemen of our time have + got, not to put on arms but just upon the point of the most extreme + necessity, and to lay them by again, so soon as ever there is any show of + the danger being over; hence many disorders arise; for every one bustling + and running to his arms just when he should go to charge, has his cuirass + to buckle on when his companions are already put to rout. Our ancestors + were wont to give their head-piece, lance and gauntlets to be carried, but + never put off the other pieces so long as there was any work to be done. + Our troops are now cumbered and rendered unsightly with the clutter of + baggage and servants who cannot be from their masters, by reason they + carry their arms. Titus Livius speaking of our nation: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Intolerantissima laboris corpora vix arma humeris gerebant.” + + [“Bodies most impatient of labour could scarce endure to wear + their arms on their shoulders.”—Livy, x. 28.] +</pre> + <p> + Many nations do yet, and did anciently, go to war without defensive arms, + or with such, at least, as were of very little proof: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tegmina queis capitum, raptus de subere cortex.” + + [“To whom the coverings of the heads were the bark of the + cork-tree.”—AEneid, vii. 742.] +</pre> + <p> + Alexander, the most adventurous captain that ever was, very seldom wore + armour, and such amongst us as slight it, do not by that much harm to the + main concern; for if we see some killed for want of it, there are few less + whom the lumber of arms helps to destroy, either by being overburthened, + crushed, and cramped with their weight, by a rude shock, or otherwise. + For, in plain truth, to observe the weight and thickness of the armour we + have now in use, it seems as if we only sought to defend ourselves, and + are rather loaded than secured by it. We have enough to do to support its + weight, being so manacled and immured, as if we were only to contend with + our own arms, and as if we had not the same obligation to defend them, + that they have to defend us. Tacitus gives a pleasant description of the + men-at-arms among our ancient Gauls, who were so armed as only to be able + to stand, without power to harm or to be harmed, or to rise again if once + struck down. Lucullus, seeing certain soldiers of the Medes, who formed + the van of Tigranes’ army, heavily armed and very uneasy, as if in + prisons of iron, thence conceived hopes with great ease to defeat them, + and by them began his charge and victory. And now that our musketeers are + in credit, I believe some invention will be found out to immure us for our + safety, and to draw us to the war in castles, such as those the ancients + loaded their elephants withal. + </p> + <p> + This humour is far differing from that of the younger Scipio, who sharply + reprehended his soldiers for having planted caltrops under water, in a + ditch by which those of the town he held besieged might sally out upon + him; saying, that those who assaulted should think of attacking, and not + to fear; suspecting, with good reason, that this stop they had put to the + enemies, would make themselves less vigilant upon their guard. He said + also to a young man, who showed him a fine buckler he had, that he was + very proud of, “It is a very fine buckler indeed, but a Roman + soldier ought to repose greater confidence in his right hand than in his + left.” + </p> + <p> + Now ‘tis nothing but the not being used to wear it that makes the + weight of our armour so intolerable: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “L’usbergo in dosso haveano, et l’elmo in testa, + Due di questi guerrier, de’ quali io canto; + Ne notte o di, d’ appoi ch’ entraro in questa + Stanza, gl’haveano mai messi da canto; + Che facile a portar come la vesta + Era lor, perche in uso l’havean tanto:” + + [“Two of the warriors, of whom I sing, had on their backs their + cuirass and on their heads their casque, and never had night or day + once laid them by, whilst here they were; those arms, by long + practice, were grown as light to bear as a garment” + —Ariosto, Cant., MI. 30.] +</pre> + <p> + the Emperor Caracalla was wont to march on foot, completely armed, at the + head of his army. The Roman infantry always carried not only a morion, a + sword, and a shield (for as to arms, says Cicero, they were so accustomed + to have them always on, that they were no more trouble to them than their + own limbs): + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Arma enim membra militis esse dicunt.” + </pre> + <p> + but, moreover, fifteen days’ provision, together with a certain + number of stakes, wherewith to fortify their camp, sixty pounds in weight. + And Marius’ soldiers, laden at the same rate, were inured to march + in order of battle five leagues in five hours, and sometimes, upon any + urgent occasion, six. + </p> + <p> + Their military discipline was much ruder than ours, and accordingly + produced much greater effects. The younger Scipio, reforming his army in + Spain, ordered his soldiers to eat standing, and nothing that was drest. + The jeer that was given a Lacedaemonian soldier is marvellously pat to + this purpose, who, in an expedition of war, was reproached for having been + seen under the roof of a house: they were so inured to hardship that, let + the weather be what it would, it was a shame to be seen under any other + cover than the roof of heaven. We should not march our people very far at + that rate. + </p> + <p> + As to what remains, Marcellinus, a man bred up in the Roman wars, + curiously observes the manner of the Parthians arming themselves, and the + rather, for being so different from that of the Romans. “They had,” + says he, “armour so woven as to have all the scales fall over one + another like so many little feathers; which did nothing hinder the motion + of the body, and yet were of such resistance, that our darts hitting upon + them, would rebound” (these were the coats of mail our forefathers + were so constantly wont to use). And in another place: “they had,” + says he, “strong and able horses, covered with thick tanned hides of + leather, and were themselves armed ‘cap-a-pie’ with great + plates of iron, so artificially ordered, that in all parts of the limbs, + which required bending, they lent themselves to the motion. One would have + said, that they had been men of iron; having armour for the head so neatly + fitted, and so naturally representing the form of a face, that they were + nowhere vulnerable, save at two little round holes, that gave them a + little light, corresponding with their eyes, and certain small chinks + about their nostrils, through which they, with great difficulty, breathed,” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Flexilis inductis animatur lamina membris, + Horribilis visu; credas simulacra moveri + Ferrea, cognatoque viros spirare metallo. + Par vestitus equis: ferrata fronte minantur, + Ferratosque movent, securi vulneris, armos.” + + [“Plates of steel are placed over the body, so flexible that, + dreadful to be seen, you would think these not living men, but + moving images. The horses are similarly armed, and, secured from + wounds, move their iron shoulders.”—Claud, In Ruf., ii. 358.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis a description drawing very near resembling the equipage of the + men-at-arms in France, with their barded horses. Plutarch says, that + Demetrius caused two complete suits of armour to be made for himself and + for Alcimus, a captain of the greatest note and authority about him, of + six score pounds weight each, whereas the ordinary suits weighed but half + as much. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0067" id="link2HCH0067"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X——OF BOOKS + </h2> + <p> + I make no doubt but that I often happen to speak of things that are much + better and more truly handled by those who are masters of the trade. You + have here purely an essay of my natural parts, and not of those acquired: + and whoever shall catch me tripping in ignorance, will not in any sort get + the better of me; for I should be very unwilling to become responsible to + another for my writings, who am not so to myself, nor satisfied with them. + Whoever goes in quest of knowledge, let him fish for it where it is to be + found; there is nothing I so little profess. These are fancies of my own, + by which I do not pretend to discover things but to lay open myself; they + may, peradventure, one day be known to me, or have formerly been, + according as fortune has been able to bring me in place where they have + been explained; but I have utterly forgotten it; and if I am a man of some + reading, I am a man of no retention; so that I can promise no certainty, + more than to make known to what point the knowledge I now have has risen. + Therefore, let none lay stress upon the matter I write, but upon my method + in writing it. Let them observe, in what I borrow, if I have known how to + choose what is proper to raise or help the invention, which is always my + own. For I make others say for me, not before but after me, what, either + for want of language or want of sense, I cannot myself so well express. I + do not number my borrowings, I weigh them; and had I designed to raise + their value by number, I had made them twice as many; they are all, or + within a very few, so famed and ancient authors, that they seem, methinks, + themselves sufficiently to tell who they are, without giving me the + trouble. In reasons, comparisons, and arguments, if I transplant any into + my own soil, and confound them amongst my own, I purposely conceal the + author, to awe the temerity of those precipitate censors who fall upon all + sorts of writings, particularly the late ones, of men yet living; and in + the vulgar tongue which puts every one into a capacity of criticising and + which seem to convict the conception and design as vulgar also. I will + have them give Plutarch a fillip on my nose, and rail against Seneca when + they think they rail at me. I must shelter my own weakness under these + great reputations. I shall love any one that can unplume me, that is, by + clearness of understanding and judgment, and by the sole distinction of + the force and beauty of the discourse. For I who, for want of memory, am + at every turn at a loss to, pick them out of their national livery, am yet + wise enough to know, by the measure of my own abilities, that my soil is + incapable of producing any of those rich flowers that I there find + growing; and that all the fruits of my own growth are not worth any one of + them. For this, indeed, I hold myself responsible; if I get in my own way; + if there be any vanity and defect in my writings which I do not of myself + perceive nor can discern, when pointed out to me by another; for many + faults escape our eye, but the infirmity of judgment consists in not being + able to discern them, when by another laid open to us. Knowledge and truth + may be in us without judgment, and judgment also without them; but the + confession of ignorance is one of the finest and surest testimonies of + judgment that I know. I have no other officer to put my writings in rank + and file, but only fortune. As things come into my head, I heap them one + upon another; sometimes they advance in whole bodies, sometimes in single + file. I would that every one should see my natural and ordinary pace, + irregular as it is; I suffer myself to jog on at my own rate. Neither are + these subjects which a man is not permitted to be ignorant in, or casually + and at a venture, to discourse of. I could wish to have a more perfect + knowledge of things, but I will not buy it so dear as it costs. My design + is to pass over easily, and not laboriously, the remainder of my life; + there is nothing that I will cudgel my brains about; no, not even + knowledge, of what value soever. + </p> + <p> + I seek, in the reading of books, only to please myself by an honest + diversion; or, if I study, ‘tis for no other science than what + treats of the knowledge of myself, and instructs me how to die and how to + live well. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Has meus ad metas sudet oportet equus.” + + [“My horse must work according to my step.” + —Propertius, iv.] +</pre> + <p> + I do not bite my nails about the difficulties I meet with in my reading; + after a charge or two, I give them over. Should I insist upon them, I + should both lose myself and time; for I have an impatient understanding, + that must be satisfied at first: what I do not discern at once is by + persistence rendered more obscure. I do nothing without gaiety; + continuation and a too obstinate endeavour, darkens, stupefies, and tires + my judgment. My sight is confounded and dissipated with poring; I must + withdraw it, and refer my discovery to new attempts; just as, to judge + rightly of the lustre of scarlet, we are taught to pass the eye lightly + over it, and again to run it over at several sudden and reiterated + glances. If one book do not please me, I take another; and I never meddle + with any, but at such times as I am weary of doing nothing. I care not + much for new ones, because the old seem fuller and stronger; neither do I + converse much with Greek authors, because my judgment cannot do its work + with imperfect intelligence of the material. + </p> + <p> + Amongst books that are simply pleasant, of the moderns, Boccaccio’s + Decameron, Rabelais, and the Basia of Johannes Secundus (if those may be + ranged under the title) are worth reading for amusement. As to the Amadis, + and such kind of stuff, they had not the credit of arresting even my + childhood. And I will, moreover, say, whether boldly or rashly, that this + old, heavy soul of mine is now no longer tickled with Ariosto, no, nor + with the worthy Ovid; his facility and inventions, with which I was + formerly so ravished, are now of no more relish, and I can hardly have the + patience to read them. I speak my opinion freely of all things, even of + those that, perhaps, exceed my capacity, and that I do not conceive to be, + in any wise, under my jurisdiction. And, accordingly, the judgment I + deliver, is to show the measure of my own sight, and not of the things I + make so bold to criticise. When I find myself disgusted with Plato’s + ‘Axiochus’, as with a work, with due respect to such an author + be it spoken, without force, my judgment does not believe itself: it is + not so arrogant as to oppose the authority of so many other famous + judgments of antiquity, which it considers as its tutors and masters, and + with whom it is rather content to err; in such a case, it condemns itself + either to stop at the outward bark, not being able to penetrate to the + heart, or to consider it by sortie false light. It is content with only + securing itself from trouble and disorder; as to its own weakness, it + frankly acknowledges and confesses it. It thinks it gives a just + interpretation to the appearances by its conceptions presented to it; but + they are weak and imperfect. Most of the fables of AEsop have diverse + senses and meanings, of which the mythologists chose some one that + quadrates well to the fable; but, for the most part, ‘tis but the + first face that presents itself and is superficial only; there yet remain + others more vivid, essential, and profound, into which they have not been + able to penetrate; and just so ‘tis with me. + </p> + <p> + But, to pursue the business of this essay, I have always thought that, in + poesy, Virgil, Lucretius, Catullus, and Horace by many degrees excel the + rest; and signally, Virgil in his Georgics, which I look upon as the most + accomplished piece in poetry; and in comparison of which a man may easily + discern that there are some places in his AEneids, to which the author + would have given a little more of the file, had he had leisure: and the + fifth book of his AEneids seems to me the most perfect. I also love Lucan, + and willingly read him, not so much for his style, as for his own worth, + and the truth and solidity of his opinions and judgments. As for good + Terence, the refined elegance and grace of the Latin tongue, I find him + admirable in his vivid representation of our manners and the movements of + the soul; our actions throw me at every turn upon him; and I cannot read + him so often that I do not still discover some new grace and beauty. Such + as lived near Virgil’s time complained that some should compare + Lucretius to him. I am of opinion that the comparison is, in truth, very + unequal: a belief that, nevertheless, I have much ado to assure myself in, + when I come upon some excellent passage in Lucretius. But if they were so + angry at this comparison, what would they say to the brutish and barbarous + stupidity of those who, nowadays, compare him with Ariosto? Would not + Ariosto himself say? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O seclum insipiens et inficetum!” + + [“O stupid and tasteless age.”—Catullus, xliii. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + I think the ancients had more reason to be angry with those who compared + Plautus with Terence, though much nearer the mark, than Lucretius with + Virgil. It makes much for the estimation and preference of Terence, that + the father of Roman eloquence has him so often, and alone of his class, in + his mouth; and the opinion that the best judge of Roman poets —[Horace, + De Art. Poetica, 279.]—has passed upon his companion. I have often + observed that those of our times, who take upon them to write comedies (in + imitation of the Italians, who are happy enough in that way of writing), + take three or four plots of those of Plautus or Terence to make one of + their own, and , crowd five or six of Boccaccio’s novels into one + single comedy. That which makes them so load themselves with matter is the + diffidence they have of being able to support themselves with their own + strength. They must find out something to lean to; and not having of their + own stuff wherewith to entertain us, they bring in the story to supply the + defect of language. It is quite otherwise with my author; the elegance and + perfection of his way of speaking makes us lose the appetite of his plot; + his refined grace and elegance of diction everywhere occupy us: he is so + pleasant throughout, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Liquidus, puroque simillimus amni,” + + [“Liquid, and likest the pure river.” + —Horace, Ep., ii. s, 120.] +</pre> + <p> + and so possesses the soul with his graces that we forget those of his + fable. This same consideration carries me further: I observe that the best + of the ancient poets have avoided affectation and the hunting after, not + only fantastic Spanish and Petrarchic elevations, but even the softer and + more gentle touches, which are the ornament of all succeeding poesy. And + yet there is no good judgment that will condemn this in the ancients, and + that does not incomparably more admire the equal polish, and that + perpetual sweetness and flourishing beauty of Catullus’s epigrams, + than all the stings with which Martial arms the tails of his. This is by + the same reason that I gave before, and as Martial says of himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Minus illi ingenio laborandum fuit, + in cujus locum materia successerat:” + + [“He had the less for his wit to do that the subject itself + supplied what was necessary.”—Martial, praef. ad lib. viii.] +</pre> + <p> + The first, without being moved, or without getting angry, make themselves + sufficiently felt; they have matter enough of laughter throughout, they + need not tickle themselves; the others have need of foreign assistance; as + they have the less wit they must have the more body; they mount on + horseback, because they are not able to stand on their own legs. As in our + balls, those mean fellows who teach to dance, not being able to represent + the presence and dignity of our noblesse, are fain to put themselves + forward with dangerous jumping, and other strange motions and tumblers + tricks; and the ladies are less put to it in dance; where there are + various coupees, changes, and quick motions of body, than in some other of + a more sedate kind, where they are only to move a natural pace, and to + represent their ordinary grace and presence. And so I have seen good + drolls, when in their own everyday clothes, and with the same face they + always wear, give us all the pleasure of their art, when their + apprentices, not yet arrived at such a pitch of perfection, are fain to + meal their faces, put themselves into ridiculous disguises, and make a + hundred grotesque faces to give us whereat to laugh. This conception of + mine is nowhere more demonstrable than in comparing the AEneid with + Orlando Furioso; of which we see the first, by dint of wing, flying in a + brave and lofty place, and always following his point: the latter, + fluttering and hopping from tale to tale, as from branch to branch, not + daring to trust his wings but in very short flights, and perching at every + turn, lest his breath and strength should fail. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Excursusque breves tentat.” + + [“And he attempts short excursions.” + —Virgil, Georgics, iv. 194.] +</pre> + <p> + These, then, as to this sort of subjects, are the authors that best please + me. + </p> + <p> + As to what concerns my other reading, that mixes a little more profit with + the pleasure, and whence I learn how to marshal my opinions and + conditions, the books that serve me to this purpose are Plutarch, since he + has been translated into French, and Seneca. Both of these have this + notable convenience suited to my humour, that the knowledge I there seek + is discoursed in loose pieces, that do not require from me any trouble of + reading long, of which I am incapable. Such are the minor works of the + first and the epistles of the latter, which are the best and most + profiting of all their writings. ‘Tis no great attempt to take one + of them in hand, and I give over at pleasure; for they have no sequence or + dependence upon one another. These authors, for the most part, concur in + useful and true opinions; and there is this parallel betwixt them, that + fortune brought them into the world about the same century: they were both + tutors to two Roman emperors: both sought out from foreign countries: both + rich and both great men. Their instruction is the cream of philosophy, and + delivered after a plain and pertinent manner. Plutarch is more uniform and + constant; Seneca more various and waving: the last toiled and bent his + whole strength to fortify virtue against weakness, fear, and vicious + appetites; the other seems more to slight their power, and to disdain to + alter his pace and to stand upon his guard. Plutarch’s opinions are + Platonic, gentle, and accommodated to civil society; those of the other + are Stoical and Epicurean, more remote from the common use, but, in my + opinion, more individually commodious and more firm. Seneca seems to lean + a little to the tyranny of the emperors of his time, and only seems; for I + take it for certain that he speaks against his judgment when he condemns + the action of the generous murderers of Caesar. Plutarch is frank + throughout: Seneca abounds with brisk touches and sallies; Plutarch with + things that warm and move you more; this contents and pays you better: he + guides us, the other pushes us on. + </p> + <p> + As to Cicero, his works that are most useful to my design are they that + treat of manners and rules of our life. But boldly to confess the truth + (for since one has passed the barriers of impudence, there is no bridle), + his way of writing appears to me negligent and uninviting: for his + prefaces, definitions, divisions, and etymologies take up the greatest + part of his work: whatever there is of life and marrow is smothered and + lost in the long preparation. When I have spent an hour in reading him, + which is a great deal for me, and try to recollect what I have thence + extracted of juice and substance, for the most part I find nothing but + wind; for he is not yet come to the arguments that serve to his purpose, + and to the reasons that properly help to form the knot I seek. For me, who + only desire to become more wise, not more learned or eloquent, these + logical and Aristotelian dispositions of parts are of no use. I would have + a man begin with the main proposition. I know well enough what death and + pleasure are; let no man give himself the trouble to anatomise them to me. + I look for good and solid reasons, at the first dash, to instruct me how + to stand their shock, for which purpose neither grammatical subtleties nor + the quaint contexture of words and argumentations are of any use at all. I + am for discourses that give the first charge into the heart of the + redoubt; his languish about the subject; they are proper for the schools, + for the bar, and for the pulpit, where we have leisure to nod, and may + awake, a quarter of an hour after, time enough to find again the thread of + the discourse. It is necessary to speak after this manner to judges, whom + a man has a design to gain over, right or wrong, to children and common + people, to whom a man must say all, and see what will come of it. I would + not have an author make it his business to render me attentive: or that he + should cry out fifty times Oyez! as the heralds do. The Romans, in their + religious exercises, began with ‘Hoc age’ as we in ours do + with ‘Sursum corda’; these are so many words lost to me: I + come already fully prepared from my chamber. I need no allurement, no + invitation, no sauce; I eat the meat raw, so that, instead of whetting my + appetite by these preparatives, they tire and pall it. Will the licence of + the time excuse my sacrilegious boldness if I censure the dialogism of + Plato himself as also dull and heavy, too much stifling the matter, and + lament so much time lost by a man, who had so many better things to say, + in so many long and needless preliminary interlocutions? My ignorance will + better excuse me in that I understand not Greek so well as to discern the + beauty of his language. I generally choose books that use sciences, not + such as only lead to them. The two first, and Pliny, and their like, have + nothing of this Hoc age; they will have to do with men already instructed; + or if they have, ‘tis a substantial Hoc age; and that has a body by + itself. I also delight in reading the Epistles to Atticus, not only + because they contain a great deal of the history and affairs of his time, + but much more because I therein discover much of his own private humours; + for I have a singular curiosity, as I have said elsewhere, to pry into the + souls and the natural and true opinions of the authors, with whom I + converse. A man may indeed judge of their parts, but not of their manners + nor of themselves, by the writings they exhibit upon the theatre of the + world. I have a thousand times lamented the loss of the treatise Brutus + wrote upon Virtue, for it is well to learn the theory from those who best + know the practice. + </p> + <p> + But seeing the matter preached and the preacher are different things, I + would as willingly see Brutus in Plutarch, as in a book of his own. I + would rather choose to be certainly informed of the conference he had in + his tent with some particular friends of his the night before a battle, + than of the harangue he made the next day to his army; and of what he did + in his closet and his chamber, than what he did in the public square and + in the senate. As to Cicero, I am of the common opinion that, learning + excepted, he had no great natural excellence. He was a good citizen, of an + affable nature, as all fat, heavy men, such as he was, usually are; but + given to ease, and had, in truth, a mighty share of vanity and ambition. + Neither do I know how to excuse him for thinking his poetry fit to be + published; ‘tis no great imperfection to make ill verses, but it is + an imperfection not to be able to judge how unworthy his verses were of + the glory of his name. For what concerns his eloquence, that is totally + out of all comparison, and I believe it will never be equalled. The + younger Cicero, who resembled his father in nothing but in name, whilst + commanding in Asia, had several strangers one day at his table, and, + amongst the rest, Cestius seated at the lower end, as men often intrude to + the open tables of the great. Cicero asked one of his people who that man + was, who presently told him his name; but he, as one who had his thoughts + taken up with something else, and who had forgotten the answer made him, + asking three or four times, over and over again; the same question, the + fellow, to deliver himself from so many answers and to make him know him + by some particular circumstance; “‘tis that Cestius,” + said he, “of whom it was told you, that he makes no great account of + your father’s eloquence in comparison of his own.” At which + Cicero, being suddenly nettled, commanded poor Cestius presently to be + seized, and caused him to be very well whipped in his own presence; a very + discourteous entertainer! Yet even amongst those, who, all things + considered, have reputed his, eloquence incomparable, there have been + some, who have not stuck to observe some faults in it: as that great + Brutus his friend, for example, who said ‘twas a broken and feeble + eloquence, ‘fyactam et elumbem’. The orators also, nearest to + the age wherein he lived, reprehended in him the care he had of a certain + long cadence in his periods, and particularly took notice of these words, + ‘esse videatur’, which he there so often makes use of. For my + part, I more approve of a shorter style, and that comes more roundly off. + He does, though, sometimes shuffle his parts more briskly together, but + ‘tis very seldom. I have myself taken notice of this one passage: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ego vero me minus diu senem mallem, + quam esse senem, antequam essem.” + + [“I had rather be old a brief time, than be old before old age. + —“Cicero, De Senect., c. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + The historians are my right ball, for they are pleasant and easy, and + where man, in general, the knowledge of whom I hunt after, appears more + vividly and entire than anywhere else: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The easiest of my amusements, the right ball at tennis being that + which coming to the player from the right hand, is much easier + played with.—Coste.] +</pre> + <p> + the variety and truth of his internal qualities, in gross and piecemeal, + the diversity of means by which he is united and knit, and the accidents + that threaten him. Now those that write lives, by reason they insist more + upon counsels than events, more upon what sallies from within, than upon + what happens without, are the most proper for my reading; and, therefore, + above all others, Plutarch is the man for me. I am very sorry we have not + a dozen Laertii,—[Diogenes Laertius, who wrote the Lives of the + Philosophers]—or that he was not further extended; for I am equally + curious to know the lives and fortunes of these great instructors of the + world, as to know the diversities of their doctrines and opinions. In this + kind of study of histories, a man must tumble over, without distinction, + all sorts of authors, old and new, French or foreign, there to know the + things of which they variously treat. But Caesar, in my opinion, + particularly deserves to be studied, not for the knowledge of the history + only, but for himself, so great an excellence and perfection he has above + all the rest, though Sallust be one of the number. In earnest, I read this + author with more reverence and respect than is usually allowed to human + writings; one while considering him in his person, by his actions and + miraculous greatness, and another in the purity and inimitable polish of + his language, wherein he not only excels all other historians, as Cicero + confesses, but, peradventure, even Cicero himself; speaking of his enemies + with so much sincerity in his judgment, that, the false colours with which + he strives to palliate his evil cause, and the ordure of his pestilent + ambition excepted, I think there is no fault to be objected against him, + saving this, that he speaks too sparingly of himself, seeing so many great + things could not have been performed under his conduct, but that his own + personal acts must necessarily have had a greater share in them than he + attributes to them. + </p> + <p> + I love historians, whether of the simple sort, or of the higher order. The + simple, who have nothing of their own to mix with it, and who only make it + their business to collect all that comes to their knowledge, and + faithfully to record all things, without choice or discrimination, leave + to us the entire judgment of discerning the truth. Such, for example, + amongst others, is honest Froissart, who has proceeded in his undertaking + with so frank a plainness that, having committed an error, he is not + ashamed to confess and correct it in the place where the finger has been + laid, and who represents to us even the variety of rumours that were then + spread abroad, and the different reports that were made to him; ‘tis + the naked and inform matter of history, and of which every one may make + his profit, according to his understanding. The more excellent sort of + historians have judgment to pick out what is most worthy to be known; and, + of two reports, to examine which is the most likely to be true: from the + condition of princes and their humours, they conclude their counsels, and + attribute to them words proper for the occasion; such have title to assume + the authority of regulating our belief to what they themselves believe; + but certainly, this privilege belongs to very few. For the middle sort of + historians, of which the most part are, they spoil all; they will chew our + meat for us; they take upon them to judge of, and consequently, to incline + the history to their own fancy; for if the judgment lean to one side, a + man cannot avoid wresting and writhing his narrative to that bias; they + undertake to select things worthy to be known, and yet often conceal from + us such a word, such a private action, as would much better instruct us; + omit, as incredible, such things as they do not understand, and + peradventure some, because they cannot express good French or Latin. Let + them display their eloquence and intelligence, and judge according to + their own fancy: but let them, withal, leave us something to judge of + after them, and neither alter nor disguise, by their abridgments and at + their own choice, anything of the substance of the matter, but deliver it + to us pure and entire in all its dimensions. + </p> + <p> + For the most part, and especially in these latter ages, persons are culled + out for this work from amongst the common people, upon the sole + consideration of well-speaking, as if we were to learn grammar from them; + and the men so chosen have fair reason, being hired for no other end and + pretending to nothing but babble, not to be very solicitous of any part + but that, and so, with a fine jingle of words, prepare us a pretty + contexture of reports they pick up in the streets. The only good histories + are those that have been written themselves who held command in the + affairs whereof they write, or who participated in the conduct of them, + or, at least, who have had the conduct of others of the same nature. Such + are almost all the Greek and Roman histories: for, several eye-witnesses + having written of the same subject, in the time when grandeur and learning + commonly met in the same person, if there happen to be an error, it must + of necessity be a very slight one, and upon a very doubtful incident. What + can a man expect from a physician who writes of war, or from a mere + scholar, treating of the designs of princes? If we could take notice how + scrupulous the Romans were in this, there would need but this example: + Asinius Pollio found in the histories of Caesar himself something + misreported, a mistake occasioned; either by reason he could not have his + eye in all parts of his army at once and had given credit to some + individual persons who had not delivered him a very true account; or else, + for not having had too perfect notice given him by his lieutenants of what + they had done in his absence.—[Suetonius, Life of Caesar, c. 56.]—By + which we may see, whether the inquisition after truth be not very + delicate, when a man cannot believe the report of a battle from the + knowledge of him who there commanded, nor from the soldiers who were + engaged in it, unless, after the method of a judicial inquiry, the + witnesses be confronted and objections considered upon the proof of the + least detail of every incident. In good earnest the knowledge we have of + our own affairs, is much more obscure: but that has been sufficiently + handled by Bodin, and according to my own sentiment —[In the work by + jean Bodin, entitled “Methodus ad facilem historiarum cognitionem.” + 1566.]—A little to aid the weakness of my memory (so extreme that it + has happened to me more than once, to take books again into my hand as new + and unseen, that I had carefully read over a few years before, and + scribbled with my notes) I have adopted a custom of late, to note at the + end of every book (that is, of those I never intend to read again) the + time when I made an end on’t, and the judgment I had made of it, to + the end that this might, at least, represent to me the character and + general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it; and I will here + transcribe some of those annotations. + </p> + <p> + I wrote this, some ten years ago, in my Guicciardini (of what language + soever my books speak to me in, I always speak to them in my own): “He + is a diligent historiographer, from whom, in my opinion, a man may learn + the truth of the affairs of his time, as exactly as from any other; in the + most of which he was himself also a personal actor, and in honourable + command. There is no appearance that he disguised anything, either upon + the account of hatred, favour, or vanity; of which the free censures he + passes upon the great ones, and particularly those by whom he was advanced + and employed in commands of great trust and honour, as Pope Clement VII., + give ample testimony. As to that part which he thinks himself the best at, + namely, his digressions and discourses, he has indeed some very good, and + enriched with fine features; but he is too fond of them: for, to leave + nothing unsaid, having a subject so full, ample, almost infinite, he + degenerates into pedantry and smacks a little of scholastic prattle. I + have also observed this in him, that of so many souls and so many effects, + so many motives and so many counsels as he judges, he never attributes any + one to virtue, religion, or conscience, as if all these were utterly + extinct in the world: and of all the actions, how brave soever in outward + show they appear in themselves, he always refers the cause and motive to + some vicious occasion or some prospect of profit. It is impossible to + imagine but that, amongst such an infinite number of actions as he makes + mention of, there must be some one produced by the way of honest reason. + No corruption could so universally have infected men that some one would + not escape the contagion which makes me suspect that his own taste was + vicious, whence it might happen that he judged other men by himself.” + </p> + <p> + In my Philip de Commines there is this written: “You will here find + the language sweet and delightful, of a natural simplicity, the narration + pure, with the good faith of the author conspicuous therein; free from + vanity, when speaking of himself, and from affection or envy, when + speaking of others: his discourses and exhortations rather accompanied + with zeal and truth, than with any exquisite sufficiency; and, throughout, + authority and gravity, which bespeak him a man of good extraction, and + brought up in great affairs.” + </p> + <p> + Upon the Memoirs of Monsieur du Bellay I find this: “‘Tis + always pleasant to read things written by those that have experienced how + they ought to be carried on; but withal, it cannot be denied but there is + a manifest decadence in these two lords—[Martin du Bellay and + Guillaume de Langey, brothers, who jointly wrote the Memoirs.]—from + the freedom and liberty of writing that shine in the elder historians, + such as the Sire de Joinville, the familiar companion of St. Louis; + Eginhard, chancellor to Charlemagne; and of later date, Philip de + Commines. What we have here is rather an apology for King Francis, against + the Emperor Charles V., than history. I will not believe that they have + falsified anything, as to matter of fact; but they make a common practice + of twisting the judgment of events, very often contrary to reason, to our + advantage, and of omitting whatsoever is ticklish to be handled in the + life of their master; witness the proceedings of Messieurs de Montmorency + and de Biron, which are here omitted: nay, so much as the very name of + Madame d’Estampes is not here to be found. Secret actions an + historian may conceal; but to pass over in silence what all the world + knows and things that have drawn after them public and such high + consequences, is an inexcusable defect. In fine, whoever has a mind to + have a perfect knowledge of King Francis and the events of his reign, let + him seek it elsewhere, if my advice may prevail. The only profit a man can + reap from these Memoirs is in the special narrative of battles and other + exploits of war wherein these gentlemen were personally engaged; in some + words and private actions of the princes of their time, and in the + treaties and negotiations carried on by the Seigneur de Langey, where + there are everywhere things worthy to be known, and discourses above the + vulgar strain.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0068" id="link2HCH0068"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI——OF CRUELTY + </h2> + <p> + I fancy virtue to be something else, and something more noble, than good + nature, and the mere propension to goodness, that we are born into the + world withal. Well-disposed and well-descended souls pursue, indeed, the + same methods, and represent in their actions the same face that virtue + itself does: but the word virtue imports, I know not what, more great and + active than merely for a man to suffer himself, by a happy disposition, to + be gently and quietly drawn to the rule of reason. He who, by a natural + sweetness and facility, should despise injuries received, would doubtless + do a very fine and laudable thing; but he who, provoked and nettled to the + quick by an offence, should fortify himself with the arms of reason + against the furious appetite of revenge, and after a great conflict, + master his own passion, would certainly do a great deal more. The first + would do well; the latter virtuously: one action might be called goodness, + and the other virtue; for methinks, the very name of virtue presupposes + difficulty and contention, and cannot be exercised without an opponent. + ‘Tis for this reason, perhaps, that we call God good, mighty, + liberal and just; but we do not call Him virtuous, being that all His + operations are natural and without endeavour.—[Rousseau, in his + Emile, book v., adopts this passage almost in the same words.]— It + has been the opinion of many philosophers, not only Stoics, but Epicureans—and + this addition— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Montaigne stops here to make his excuse for thus naming the + Epicureans with the Stoics, in conformity to the general opinion + that the Epicureans were not so rigid in their morals as the Stoics, + which is not true in the main, as he demonstrates at one view. This + involved Montaigne in a tedious parenthesis, during which it is + proper that the reader be attentive, that he may not entirely lose + the thread of the argument. In some later editions of this author, + it has been attempted to remedy this inconvenience, but without + observing that Montaigne’s argument is rendered more feeble and + obscure by such vain repetitions: it is a licence that ought not to + be taken, because he who publishes the work of another, ought to + give it as the other composed ft. But, in Mr Cotton’s translation, + he was so puzzled with this enormous parenthesis that he has quite + left it out”—Coste.] +</pre> + <p> + I borrow from the vulgar opinion, which is false, notwithstanding the + witty conceit of Arcesilaus in answer to one, who, being reproached that + many scholars went from his school to the Epicurean, but never any from + thence to his school, said in answer, “I believe it indeed; numbers + of capons being made out of cocks, but never any cocks out of capons.” + —[Diogenes Laertius, Life of Archesilaus, lib. iv., 43.]—For, + in truth, the Epicurean sect is not at all inferior to the Stoic in + steadiness, and the rigour of opinions and precepts. And a certain Stoic, + showing more honesty than those disputants, who, in order to quarrel with + Epicurus, and to throw the game into their hands, make him say what he + never thought, putting a wrong construction upon his words, clothing his + sentences, by the strict rules of grammar, with another meaning, and a + different opinion from that which they knew he entertained in his mind and + in his morals, the Stoic, I say, declared that he abandoned the Epicurean + sect, upon this among other considerations, that he thought their road too + lofty and inaccessible; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“And those are called lovers of pleasure, being in effect + lovers of honour and justice, who cultivate and observe all + the virtues.”—Cicero, Ep. Fam., xv. i, 19.] +</pre> + <p> + These philosophers say that it is not enough to have the soul seated in a + good place, of a good temper, and well disposed to virtue; it is not + enough to have our resolutions and our reasoning fixed above all the power + of fortune, but that we are, moreover, to seek occasions wherein to put + them to the proof: they would seek pain, necessity, and contempt to + contend with them and to keep the soul in breath: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Multum sibi adjicit virtus lacessita.” + + [“Virtue is much strengthened by combats.” + or: “Virtue attacked adds to its own force.” + —Seneca, Ep., 13.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis one of the reasons why Epaminondas, who was yet of a third + sect, —[The Pythagorean.]—refused the riches fortune presented + to him by very lawful means; because, said he, I am to contend with + poverty, in which extreme he maintained himself to the last. Socrates put + himself, methinks, upon a ruder trial, keeping for his exercise a + confounded scolding wife, which was fighting at sharps. Metellus having, + of all the Roman senators, alone attempted, by the power of virtue, to + withstand the violence of Saturninus, tribune of the people at Rome, who + would, by all means, cause an unjust law to pass in favour of the commons, + and, by so doing, having incurred the capital penalties that Saturninus + had established against the dissentient, entertained those who, in this + extremity, led him to execution with words to this effect: That it was a + thing too easy and too base to do ill; and that to do well where there was + no danger was a common thing; but that to do well where there was danger + was the proper office of a man of virtue. These words of Metellus very + clearly represent to us what I would make out, viz., that virtue refuses + facility for a companion; and that the easy, smooth, and descending way by + which the regular steps of a sweet disposition of nature are conducted is + not that of a true virtue; she requires a rough and stormy passage; she + will have either exotic difficulties to wrestle with, like that of + Metellus, by means whereof fortune delights to interrupt the speed of her + career, or internal difficulties, that the inordinate appetites and + imperfections of our condition introduce to disturb her. + </p> + <p> + I am come thus far at my ease; but here it comes into my head that the + soul of Socrates, the most perfect that ever came to my knowledge, should + by this rule be of very little recommendation; for I cannot conceive in + that person any the least motion of a vicious inclination: I cannot + imagine there could be any difficulty or constraint in the course of his + virtue: I know his reason to be so powerful and sovereign over him that + she would never have suffered a vicious appetite so much as to spring in + him. To a virtue so elevated as his, I have nothing to oppose. Methinks I + see him march, with a victorious and triumphant pace, in pomp and at his + ease, without opposition or disturbance. If virtue cannot shine bright, + but by the conflict of contrary appetites, shall we then say that she + cannot subsist without the assistance of vice, and that it is from her + that she derives her reputation and honour? What then, also, would become + of that brave and generous Epicurean pleasure, which makes account that it + nourishes virtue tenderly in her lap, and there makes it play and wanton, + giving it for toys to play withal, shame, fevers, poverty, death, and + torments? If I presuppose that a perfect virtue manifests itself in + contending, in patient enduring of pain, and undergoing the uttermost + extremity of the gout; without being moved in her seat; if I give her + troubles and difficulty for her necessary objects: what will become of a + virtue elevated to such a degree, as not only to despise pain, but, + moreover, to rejoice in it, and to be tickled with the throes of a sharp + colic, such as the Epicureans have established, and of which many of them, + by their actions, have given most manifest proofs? As have several others, + who I find to have surpassed in effects even the very rules of their + discipline. Witness the younger Cato: When I see him die, and tearing out + his own bowels, I am not satisfied simply to believe that he had then his + soul totally exempt from all trouble and horror: I cannot think that he + only maintained himself in the steadiness that the Stoical rules + prescribed him; temperate, without emotion, and imperturbed. There was, + methinks, something in the virtue of this man too sprightly and fresh to + stop there; I believe that, without doubt, he felt a pleasure and delight + in so noble an action, and was more pleased in it than in any other of his + life: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sic abiit a vita, ut causam moriendi nactum se esse gauderet.” + + [“He quitted life rejoicing that a reason for dying had arisen.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., i. 30.] +</pre> + <p> + I believe it so thoroughly that I question whether he would have been + content to have been deprived of the occasion of so brave an exploit; and + if the goodness that made him embrace the public concern more than his + own, withheld me not, I should easily fall into an opinion that he thought + himself obliged to fortune for having put his virtue upon so brave a + trial, and for having favoured that theif—[Caesar]—in treading + underfoot the ancient liberty of his country. Methinks I read in this + action I know not what exaltation in his soul, and an extraordinary and + manly emotion of pleasure, when he looked upon the generosity and height + of his enterprise: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Deliberate morte ferocior,” + + [“The more courageous from the deliberation to die.” + —Horace, Od., i. 37, 29.] +</pre> + <p> + not stimulated with any hope of glory, as the popular and effeminate + judgments of some have concluded (for that consideration was too mean and + low to possess so generous, so haughty, and so determined a heart as his), + but for the very beauty of the thing in itself, which he who had the + handling of the springs discerned more clearly and in its perfection than + we are able to do. Philosophy has obliged me in determining that so brave + an action had been indecently placed in any other life than that of Cato; + and that it only appertained to his to end so; notwithstanding, and + according to reason, he commanded his son and the senators who accompanied + him to take another course in their affairs: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Catoni, quum incredibilem natura tribuisset gravitatem, + eamque ipse perpetue constantia roboravisset, semperque + in proposito consilio permansisset, moriendum potius, + quam tyranni vultus aspiciendus, erat.” + + [“Cato, whom nature had given incredible dignity, which he had + fortified by perpetual constancy, ever remaining of his + predetermined opinion, preferred to die rather than to look + on the countenance of a tyrant.”—Cicero, De Ofc., i. 31.] +</pre> + <p> + Every death ought to hold proportion with the life before it; we do not + become others for dying. I always interpret the death by the life + preceding; and if any one tell me of a death strong and constant in + appearance, annexed to a feeble life, I conclude it produced by some + feeble cause, and suitable to the life before. The easiness then of his + death and the facility of dying he had acquired by the vigour of his soul; + shall we say that it ought to abate anything of the lustre of his virtue? + And who, that has his brain never so little tinctured with the true + philosophy, can be content to imagine Socrates only free from fear and + passion in the accident of his prison, fetters, and condemnation? and that + will not discover in him not only firmness and constancy (which was his + ordinary condition), but, moreover, I know not what new satisfaction, and + a frolic cheerfulness in his last words and actions? In the start he gave + with the pleasure of scratching his leg when his irons were taken off, + does he not discover an equal serenity and joy in his soul for being freed + from past inconveniences, and at the same time to enter into the knowledge + of the things to come? Cato shall pardon me, if he please; his death + indeed is more tragical and more lingering; but yet this is, I know not + how, methinks, finer. Aristippus, to one that was lamenting this death: + “The gods grant me such an one,” said he. A man discerns in + the soul of these two great men and their imitators (for I very much doubt + whether there were ever their equals) so perfect a habitude to virtue, + that it was turned to a complexion. It is no longer a laborious virtue, + nor the precepts of reason, to maintain which the soul is so racked, but + the very essence of their soul, its natural and ordinary habit; they have + rendered it such by a long practice of philosophical precepts having lit + upon a rich and fine nature; the vicious passions that spring in us can + find no entrance into them; the force and vigour of their soul stifle and + extinguish irregular desires, so soon as they begin to move. + </p> + <p> + Now, that it is not more noble, by a high and divine resolution, to hinder + the birth of temptations, and to be so formed to virtue, that the very + seeds of vice are rooted out, than to hinder by main force their progress; + and, having suffered ourselves to be surprised with the first motions of + the passions, to arm ourselves and to stand firm to oppose their progress, + and overcome them; and that this second effect is not also much more + generous than to be simply endowed with a facile and affable nature, of + itself disaffected to debauchery and vice, I do not think can be doubted; + for this third and last sort of virtue seems to render a man innocent, but + not virtuous; free from doing ill, but not apt enough to do well: + considering also, that this condition is so near neighbour to imperfection + and cowardice, that I know not very well how to separate the confines and + distinguish them: the very names of goodness and innocence are, for this + reason, in some sort grown into contempt. I very well know that several + virtues, as chastity, sobriety, and temperance, may come to a man through + personal defects. Constancy in danger, if it must be so called, the + contempt of death, and patience in misfortunes, may ofttimes be found in + men for want of well judging of such accidents, and not apprehending them + for such as they are. Want of apprehension and stupidity sometimes + counterfeit virtuous effects as I have often seen it happen, that men have + been commended for what really merited blame. An Italian lord once said + this, in my presence, to the disadvantage of his own nation: that the + subtlety of the Italians, and the vivacity of their conceptions were so + great, and they foresaw the dangers and accidents that might befall them + so far off, that it was not to be thought strange, if they were often, in + war, observed to provide for their safety, even before they had discovered + the peril; that we French and the Spaniards, who were not so cunning, went + on further, and that we must be made to see and feel the danger before we + would take the alarm; but that even then we could not stick to it. But the + Germans and Swiss, more gross and heavy, had not the sense to look about + them, even when the blows were falling about their ears. Peradventure, he + only talked so for mirth’s sake; and yet it is most certain that in + war raw soldiers rush into dangers with more precipitancy than after they + have been cudgelled*—(The original has eschauldex—scalded) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haud ignarus . . . . quantum nova gloria in armis, + Et praedulce decus, primo certamine possit.” + + [“Not ignorant how much power the fresh glory of arms and sweetest + honour possess in the first contest.”—AEneid, xi. 154] +</pre> + <p> + For this reason it is that, when we judge of a particular action, we are + to consider the circumstances, and the whole man by whom it is performed, + before we give it a name. + </p> + <p> + To instance in myself: I have sometimes known my friends call that + prudence in me, which was merely fortune; and repute that courage and + patience, which was judgment and opinion; and attribute to me one title + for another, sometimes to my advantage and sometimes otherwise. As to the + rest, I am so far from being arrived at the first and most perfect degree + of excellence, where virtue is turned into habit, that even of the second + I have made no great proofs. I have not been very solicitous to curb the + desires by which I have been importuned. My virtue is a virtue, or rather + an innocence, casual and accidental. If I had been born of a more + irregular complexion, I am afraid I should have made scurvy work; for I + never observed any great stability in my soul to resist passions, if they + were never so little vehement: I know not how to nourish quarrels and + debates in my own bosom, and, consequently, owe myself no great thanks + that I am free from several vices: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si vitiis mediocribus et mea paucis + Mendosa est natura, alioqui recta, velut si + Egregio inspersos reprehendas corpore naevos:” + + [“If my nature be disfigured only with slight and few vices, and is + otherwise just, it is as if you should blame moles on a fair body.” + —Horatius, Sat., i. 6, 65.] +</pre> + <p> + I owe it rather to my fortune than my reason. She has caused me to be + descended of a race famous for integrity and of a very good father; I know + not whether or no he has infused into me part of his humours, or whether + domestic examples and the good education of my infancy have insensibly + assisted in the work, or, if I was otherwise born so: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Seu Libra, seu me Scorpius adspicit + Formidolosus, pars violentior + Natalis hors, seu tyrannus + Hesperive Capricornus undae:” + + [“Whether the Balance or dread Scorpio, more potent over my natal + hour, aspects me, or Capricorn, supreme over the Hesperian sea.” + —Horace, Od., ii. 117.] +</pre> + <p> + but so it is, that I have naturally a horror for most vices. The answer of + Antisthenes to him who asked him, which was the best apprenticeship + “to unlearn evil,” seems to point at this. I have them in + horror, I say, with a detestation so natural, and so much my own, that the + same instinct and impression I brought of them with me from my nurse, I + yet retain, and no temptation whatever has had the power to make me alter + it. Not so much as my own discourses, which in some things lashing out of + the common road might seem easily to license me to actions that my natural + inclination makes me hate. I will say a prodigious thing, but I will say + it, however: I find myself in many things more under reputation by my + manners than by my opinion, and my concupiscence less debauched than my + reason. Aristippus instituted opinions so bold in favour of pleasure and + riches as set all the philosophers against him: but as to his manners, + Dionysius the tyrant, having presented three beautiful women before him, + to take his choice; he made answer, that he would choose them all, and + that Paris got himself into trouble for having preferred one before the + other two: but, having taken them home to his house, he sent them back + untouched. His servant finding himself overladen upon the way, with the + money he carried after him, he ordered him to pour out and throw away that + which troubled him. And Epicurus, whose doctrines were so irreligious and + effeminate, was in his life very laborious and devout; he wrote to a + friend of his that he lived only upon biscuit and water, entreating him to + send him a little cheese, to lie by him against he had a mind to make a + feast. Must it be true, that to be a perfect good man, we must be so by an + occult, natural, and universal propriety, without law, reason, or example? + The debauches wherein I have been engaged, have not been, I thank God, of + the worst sort, and I have condemned them in myself, for my judgment was + never infected by them; on the contrary, I accuse them more severely in + myself than in any other; but that is all, for, as to the rest. I oppose + too little resistance and suffer myself to incline too much to the other + side of the balance, excepting that I moderate them, and prevent them from + mixing with other vices, which for the most part will cling together, if a + man have not a care. I have contracted and curtailed mine, to make them as + single and as simple as I can: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec ultra + Errorem foveo.” + + [“Nor do I cherish error further.” + or: “Nor carry wrong further.” + —Juvenal, viii. 164.] +</pre> + <p> + For as to the opinion of the Stoics, who say, “That the wise man + when he works, works by all the virtues together, though one be most + apparent, according to the nature of the action”; and herein the + similitude of a human body might serve them somewhat, for the action of + anger cannot work, unless all the humours assist it, though choler + predominate; —if they will thence draw a like consequence, that when + the wicked man does wickedly, he does it by all the vices together, I do + not believe it to be so, or else I understand them not, for I by effect + find the contrary. These are sharp, unsubstantial subleties, with which + philosophy sometimes amuses itself. I follow some vices, but I fly others + as much as a saint would do. The Peripatetics also disown this + indissoluble connection; and Aristotle is of opinion that a prudent and + just man may be intemperate and inconsistent. Socrates confessed to some + who had discovered a certain inclination to vice in his physiognomy, that + it was, in truth, his natural propension, but that he had by discipline + corrected it. And such as were familiar with the philosopher Stilpo said, + that being born with addiction to wine and women, he had by study rendered + himself very abstinent both from the one and the other. + </p> + <p> + What I have in me of good, I have, quite contrary, by the chance of my + birth; and hold it not either by law, precept, or any other instruction; + the innocence that is in me is a simple one; little vigour and no art. + Amongst other vices, I mortally hate cruelty, both by nature and judgment, + as the very extreme of all vices: nay, with so much tenderness that I + cannot see a chicken’s neck pulled off without trouble, and cannot + without impatience endure the cry of a hare in my dog’s teeth, + though the chase be a violent pleasure. Such as have sensuality to + encounter, freely make use of this argument, to shew that it is altogether + “vicious and unreasonable; that when it is at the height, it masters + us to that degree that a man’s reason can have no access,” and + instance our own experience in the act of love, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quum jam praesagit gaudia corpus, + Atque in eo est Venus, + ut muliebria conserat arva.” + + [None of the translators of the old editions used for this etext + have been willing to translate this passage from Lucretius, iv. + 1099; they take a cop out by bashfully saying: “The sense is in the + preceding passage of the text.” D.W.] +</pre> + <p> + wherein they conceive that the pleasure so transports us, that our reason + cannot perform its office, whilst we are in such ecstasy and rapture. I + know very well it may be otherwise, and that a man may sometimes, if he + will, gain this point over himself to sway his soul, even in the critical + moment, to think of something else; but then he must ply it to that bent. + I know that a man may triumph over the utmost effort of this pleasure: I + have experienced it in myself, and have not found Venus so imperious a + goddess, as many, and much more virtuous men than I, declare. I do not + consider it a miracle, as the Queen of Navarre does in one of the Tales of + her Heptameron—[“Vu gentil liure pour son estoffe.”]—(which + is a very pretty book of its kind), nor for a thing of extreme difficulty, + to pass whole nights, where a man has all the convenience and liberty he + can desire, with a long-coveted mistress, and yet be true to the pledge + first given to satisfy himself with kisses and suchlike endearments, + without pressing any further. I conceive that the example of the pleasure + of the chase would be more proper; wherein though the pleasure be less, + there is the higher excitement of unexpected joy, giving no time for the + reason, taken by surprise, to prepare itself for the encounter, when after + a long quest the beast starts up on a sudden in a place where, + peradventure, we least expected it; the shock and the ardour of the shouts + and cries of the hunters so strike us, that it would be hard for those who + love this lesser chase, to turn their thoughts upon the instant another + way; and the poets make Diana triumph over the torch and shafts of Cupid: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis non malarum, quas amor curas habet, + Haec inter obliviscitur?” + + [“Who, amongst such delights would not remove out of his thoughts + the anxious cares of love.”—Horace, Epod., ii. 37.] +</pre> + <p> + To return to what I was saying before, I am tenderly compassionate of + others’ afflictions, and should readily cry for company, if, upon + any occasion whatever, I could cry at all. Nothing tempts my tears but + tears, and not only those that are real and true, but whatever they are, + feigned or painted. I do not much lament the dead, and should envy them + rather; but I very much lament the dying. The savages do not so much + offend me, in roasting and eating the bodies of the dead, as they do who + torment and persecute the living. Nay, I cannot look so much as upon the + ordinary executions of justice, how reasonable soever, with a steady eye. + Some one having to give testimony of Julius Caesar’s clemency; + “he was,” says he, “mild in his revenges. Having + compelled the pirates to yield by whom he had before been taken prisoner + and put to ransom; forasmuch as he had threatened them with the cross, he + indeed condemned them to it, but it was after they had been first + strangled. He punished his secretary Philemon, who had attempted to poison + him, with no greater severity than mere death.” Without naming that + Latin author,—[Suetonius, Life of Casay, c. 74.]—who thus + dares to allege as a testimony of mercy the killing only of those by whom + we have been offended; it is easy to guess that he was struck with the + horrid and inhuman examples of cruelty practised by the Roman tyrants. + </p> + <p> + For my part, even in justice itself, all that exceeds a simple death + appears to me pure cruelty; especially in us who ought, having regard to + their souls, to dismiss them in a good and calm condition; which cannot + be, when we have agitated them by insufferable torments. Not long since, a + soldier who was a prisoner, perceiving from a tower where he was shut up, + that the people began to assemble to the place of execution, and that the + carpenters were busy erecting a scaffold, he presently concluded that the + preparation was for him, and therefore entered into a resolution to kill + himself, but could find no instrument to assist him in his design except + an old rusty cart-nail that fortune presented to him; with this he first + gave himself two great wounds about his throat, but finding these would + not do, he presently afterwards gave himself a third in the belly, where + he left the nail sticking up to the head. The first of his keepers who + came in found him in this condition: yet alive, but sunk down and + exhausted by his wounds. To make use of time, therefore, before he should + die, they made haste to read his sentence; which having done, and he + hearing that he was only condemned to be beheaded, he seemed to take new + courage, accepted wine which he had before refused, and thanked his judges + for the unhoped-for mildness of their sentence; saying, that he had taken + a resolution to despatch himself for fear of a more severe and + insupportable death, having entertained an opinion, by the preparations he + had seen in the place, that they were resolved to torment him with some + horrible execution, and seemed to be delivered from death in having it + changed from what he apprehended. + </p> + <p> + I should advise that those examples of severity by which ‘tis + designed to retain the people in their duty, might be exercised upon the + dead bodies of criminals; for to see them deprived of sepulture, to see + them boiled and divided into quarters, would almost work as much upon the + vulgar, as the pain they make the living endure; though that in effect be + little or nothing, as God himself says, “Who kill the body, and + after that have no more that they can do;”—[Luke, xii. 4.]—and + the poets singularly dwell upon the horrors of this picture, as something + worse than death: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Heu! reliquias semiustas regis, denudatis ossibus, + Per terram sanie delibutas foede divexarier.” + + [“Alas! that the half-burnt remains of the king, exposing his bones, + should be foully dragged along the ground besmeared with gore.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., i. 44.] +</pre> + <p> + I happened to come by one day accidentally at Rome, just as they were upon + executing Catena, a notorious robber: he was strangled without any emotion + of the spectators, but when they came to cut him in quarters, the hangman + gave not a blow that the people did not follow with a doleful cry and + exclamation, as if every one had lent his sense of feeling to the + miserable carcase. Those inhuman excesses ought to be exercised upon the + bark, and not upon the quick. Artaxerxes, in almost a like case, moderated + the severity of the ancient laws of Persia, ordaining that the nobility + who had committed a fault, instead of being whipped, as they were used to + be, should be stripped only and their clothes whipped for them; and that + whereas they were wont to tear off their hair, they should only take off + their high-crowned tiara.’—[Plutarch, Notable Sayings of the + Ancient King.]—The so devout Egyptians thought they sufficiently + satisfied the divine justice by sacrificing hogs in effigy and + representation; a bold invention to pay God so essential a substance in + picture only and in show. + </p> + <p> + I live in a time wherein we abound in incredible examples of this vice, + through the licence of our civil wars; and we see nothing in ancient + histories more extreme than what we have proof of every day, but I cannot, + any the more, get used to it. I could hardly persuade myself, before I saw + it with my eyes, that there could be found souls so cruel and fell, who, + for the sole pleasure of murder, would commit it; would hack and lop off + the limbs of others; sharpen their wits to invent unusual torments and new + kinds of death, without hatred, without profit, and for no other end but + only to enjoy the pleasant spectacle of the gestures and motions, the + lamentable groans and cries of a man dying in anguish. For this is the + utmost point to which cruelty can arrive: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut homo hominem, non iratus, non timens, + tantum spectaturus, occidat.” + + [“That a man should kill a man, not being angry, not in fear, only + for the sake of the spectacle.”—Seneca, Ep., 90.] +</pre> + <p> + For my own part, I cannot without grief see so much as an innocent beast + pursued and killed that has no defence, and from which we have received no + offence at all; and that which frequently happens, that the stag we hunt, + finding himself weak and out of breath, and seeing no other remedy, + surrenders himself to us who pursue him, imploring mercy by his tears: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Questuque cruentus, + Atque imploranti similis,” + + [“Who, bleeding, by his tears seems to crave mercy.” + —AEnead, vii. 501.] +</pre> + <p> + has ever been to me a very unpleasing sight; and I hardly ever take a + beast alive that I do not presently turn out again. Pythagoras bought them + of fishermen and fowlers to do the same: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Primoque a caede ferarum, + Incaluisse puto maculatum sanguine ferrum.” + </pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“I think ‘twas slaughter of wild beasts that first stained the + steel of man with blood.”—Ovid, Met., xv. 106.] +</pre> + <p> + Those natures that are sanguinary towards beasts discover a natural + proneness to cruelty. After they had accustomed themselves at Rome to + spectacles of the slaughter of animals, they proceeded to those of the + slaughter of men, of gladiators. Nature has herself, I fear, imprinted in + man a kind of instinct to inhumanity; nobody takes pleasure in seeing + beasts play with and caress one another, but every one is delighted with + seeing them dismember, and tear one another to pieces. And that I may not + be laughed at for the sympathy I have with them, theology itself enjoins + us some favour in their behalf; and considering that one and the same + master has lodged us together in this palace for his service, and that + they, as well as we, are of his family, it has reason to enjoin us some + affection and regard to them. Pythagoras borrowed the metempsychosis from + the Egyptians; but it has since been received by several nations, and + particularly by our Druids: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Morte carent animae; semperque, priore relicts + Sede, novis domibus vivunt, habitantque receptae.” + + [“Souls never die, but, having left their former seat, live + and are received into new homes.”—Ovid, Met., xv. 158.] +</pre> + <p> + The religion of our ancient Gauls maintained that souls, being eternal, + never ceased to remove and shift their places from one body to another; + mixing moreover with this fancy some consideration of divine justice; for + according to the deportments of the soul, whilst it had been in Alexander, + they said that God assigned it another body to inhabit, more or less + painful, and proper for its condition: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Muta ferarum + Cogit vincla pati; truculentos ingerit ursis, + Praedonesque lupis; fallaces vulpibus addit: + Atque ubi per varios annos, per mille figuras + + Egit, Lethaeo purgatos flumine, tandem + Rursus ad humanae revocat primordia formae:” + + [“He makes them wear the silent chains of brutes, the bloodthirsty + souls he encloses in bears, the thieves in wolves, the deceivers in + foxes; where, after successive years and a thousand forms, man had + spent his life, and after purgation in Lethe’s flood, at last he + restores them to the primordial human shapes.” + —Claudian, In Ruf., ii. 482.] +</pre> + <p> + If it had been valiant, he lodged it in the body of a lion; if voluptuous, + in that of a hog; if timorous, in that of a hart or hare; if malicious, in + that of a fox, and so of the rest, till having purified it by this + chastisement, it again entered into the body of some other man: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipse ego nam memini, Trojani, tempore belli + Panthoides Euphorbus eram.” + + [“For I myself remember that, in the days of the Trojan war, I was + Euphorbus, son of Pantheus.”—Ovid, Met., xv. 160; and see Diogenes + Laertius, Life of Pythagoras.] +</pre> + <p> + As to the relationship betwixt us and beasts, I do not much admit of it; + nor of that which several nations, and those among the most ancient and + most noble, have practised, who have not only received brutes into their + society and companionship, but have given them a rank infinitely above + themselves, esteeming them one while familiars and favourites of the gods, + and having them in more than human reverence and respect; others + acknowledged no other god or divinity than they: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Bellux a barbaris propter beneficium consecratae.” + + [“Beasts, out of opinion of some benefit received by them, were + consecrated by barbarians”—Cicero, De Natura Deor., i. 36.] +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Crocodilon adorat + Pars haec; illa pavet saturam serpentibus ibin: + Effigies sacri hic nitet aurea cercopitheci; + Hic piscem flumints, illic + Oppida tota canem venerantur.” + + [“This place adores the crocodile; another dreads the ibis, feeder + on serpents; here shines the golden image of the sacred ape; here + men venerate the fish of the river; there whole towns worship a + dog.”—Juvenal, xv. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + And the very interpretation that Plutarch, gives to this error, which is + very well conceived, is advantageous to them: for he says that it was not + the cat or the ox, for example, that the Egyptians adored: but that they, + in those beasts, adored some image of the divine faculties; in this, + patience and utility: in that, vivacity, or, as with our neighbours the + Burgundians and all the Germans, impatience to see themselves shut up; by + which they represented liberty, which they loved and adored above all + other godlike attributes, and so of the rest. But when, amongst the more + moderate opinions, I meet with arguments that endeavour to demonstrate the + near resemblance betwixt us and animals, how large a share they have in + our greatest privileges, and with how much probability they compare us + together, truly I abate a great deal of our presumption, and willingly + resign that imaginary sovereignty that is attributed to us over other + creatures. + </p> + <p> + But supposing all this were not true, there is nevertheless a certain + respect, a general duty of humanity, not only to beasts that have life and + sense, but even to trees, and plants. We owe justice to men, and + graciousness and benignity to other creatures that are capable of it; + there is a certain commerce and mutual obligation betwixt them and us. Nor + shall I be afraid to confess the tenderness of my nature so childish, that + I cannot well refuse to play with my dog, when he the most unseasonably + importunes me to do so. The Turks have alms and hospitals for beasts. The + Romans had public care to the nourishment of geese, by whose vigilance + their Capitol had been preserved. The Athenians made a decree that the + mules and moyls which had served at the building of the temple called + Hecatompedon should be free and suffered to pasture at their own choice, + without hindrance. The Agrigentines had a common use solemnly to inter the + beasts they had a kindness for, as horses of some rare quality, dogs, and + useful birds, and even those that had only been kept to divert their + children; and the magnificence that was ordinary with them in all other + things, also particularly appeared in the sumptuosity and numbers of + monuments erected to this end, and which remained in their beauty several + ages after. The Egyptians buried wolves, bears, crocodiles, dogs, and cats + in sacred places, embalmed their bodies, and put on mourning at their + death. Cimon gave an honourable sepulture to the mares with which he had + three times gained the prize of the course at the Olympic Games. The + ancient Xantippus caused his dog to be interred on an eminence near the + sea, which has ever since retained the name, and Plutarch says, that he + had a scruple about selling for a small profit to the slaughterer an ox + that had been long in his service. + </p> + <p> + <a name="chap12" id="chap12"></a> <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. — APOLOGY FOR RAIMOND SEBOND. + </h2> + <p> + Learning is, indeed, a very great and a very material accomplishment; and + those who despise it sufficiently discover their own want of + understanding; but learning yet I do not prize it at the excessive rate + that some others do, as Herillus, the philosopher, for one, who therein + places the sovereign good, and maintained “That it was only in her + to render us wise and contented,” which I do not believe; no more + than I do what others have said, that learning is the mother of all + virtue, and that all vice proceeds from ignorance, which, if it be true, + required a very long interpretation. My house has long-been open to men of + knowledge, and is very well known to them; for my father, who governed it + fifty years and upwards, inflamed with the new ardour with which Francis + the First embraced letters, and brought them into esteem, with great + diligence and expense hunted after the acquaintance of learned men, + receiving them into his house as persons sacred, and that had some + particular inspiration of divine wisdom; collecting their sayings and + sentences as so many oracles, and with so much the greater reverence and + religion as he was the less able to judge of them; for he had no knowledge + of letters any more than his predecessors. For my part I love them well, + but I do not adore them. Amongst others, Peter Bunel, a man of great + reputation for knowledge in his time, having, with some others of his + sort, staid some days at Montaigne in my father’s company, he + presented him at his departure with a book, entitled <i>Theologia + naturalis; sive Liber Creaturarum, magistri Raimondi de Sebonde.</i> And + as the Italian and Spanish tongues were familiar to my father, and as this + book was written in a sort of jargon of Spanish with Latin terminations, + he hoped that, with a little help, he might be able to understand it, and + therefore recommended it to him for a very useful book, and proper tor the + time wherein he gave it to him; which was when the novel doctrines of + Luther began to be in vogue, and in many places to stagger our ancient + belief: wherein he was very well advised, wisely, in his own reason, + foreseeing that the beginning of this distemper would easily run into an + execrable atheism, for the vulgar, not having the faculty of judging of + things, suffering themselves to be carried away by chance and appearance, + after having once been inspired with the boldness to despise and control + those opinions which they had before had in extreme reverence, such as + those wherein their salvation is concerned, and that some of the articles + of their religion are brought into doubt and dispute, they afterwards + throw all other parts of their belief into the same uncertainty, they + having with them no other authority or foundation than the others they had + already discomposed; and shake off all the impressions they had received + from the authority of the laws, or the reverence of the ancient customs, + as a tyrannical yoke: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nam cupide eonculcatur nimis ante metutum; +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “For with most eagerness they spurn the law, + By which they were before most kept in awe;” + </pre> + <p> + resolving to admit nothing for the future to which they had not first + interposed their own decrees, and given their particular consent. + </p> + <p> + It happened that my father, a little before his death, having accidentally + found this book under a heap of other neglected papers, commanded me to + translate it for him into French. It is good too translate such authors as + this, where there is little but the matter itself to express; but such + wherein grace of language and elegance of style are aimed at, are + dangerous to attempt, especially when a man is to turn them into a weaker + idiom. It was a strange and a new undertaking for me; but having by chance + at that time nothing else to do, and not being able to resist the command + of the best father that ever was, I did it as well as I could; and he was + so well pleased with it as to order it to be printed, which after his + death was done. + </p> + <p> + I found the ideas of this author exceeding fine the contexture of his work + well followed, and his design full of piety; and because many people take + a delight to read it, and particularly the ladies, to whom we owe the most + service, I have often thought to assist them to clear the book of two + principal objections made to it. His design is bold and daring, for he + undertakes, by human and natural reasons, to establish and make good, + against the atheists, all the articles of the Christian religion: wherein, + to speak the truth, he is so firm and so successful that I do not think it + possible to do better upon that subject; nay, I believe he has been + equalled by none. This work seeming to me to be too beautiful and too rich + for an author whose name is so little known, and of whom all that we know + is that he was a Spaniard, practising physic at Toulouse about two hundred + years ago; I enquired of Adrian Turnebus, who knew all things, what he + thought of that book; who made answer, “That he thought it was some + abstract drawn from St. Thomas d’Aquin; for that, in truth, his + mind, so full of infinite erudition and admirable subtlety, was alone + capable of such thoughts.” Be this as it may, whoever was the author + and inventor (and ‘tis not reasonable, without greater certainty, to + deprive Sebond of that title), he was a man of great judgment and most + admirable parts. + </p> + <p> + The first thing they reprehend in his work is “That Christians are + to blame to repose their belief upon human reason, which is only conceived + by faith and the particular inspiration of divine grace.” In which + objection there appears to be something of zeal to piety, and therefore we + are to endeavour to satisfy those who put it forth with the greater + mildness and respect. This were a task more proper for a man well read in + divinity than for me, who know nothing of it; nevertheless, I conceive + that in a thing so divine, so high, and so far transcending all human + intelligence, as is that truth, with which it has pleased the bounty of + God to enlighten us, it is very necessary that he should moreover lend us + his assistance, as a very extraordinary favour and privilege, to conceive + and imprint it in our understanding. And I do not believe that means + purely human are in any sort capable of doing it: for, if they were, so + many rare and excellent souls, and so abundantly furnished with natural + force, in former ages, could not have failed, by their reason, to arrive + at this knowledge. ‘Tis faith alone that livelily mind certainly + comprehends the deep mysteries of our religion; but, withal, I do not say + that it is not a worthy and very laudable attempt to accommodate those + natural and human utensils with which God has endowed us to the service of + our faith: it is not to be doubted but that it is the most noble use we + can put them to; and that there is not a design in a Christian man more + noble than to make it the aim and end of all his studies to extend and + amplify the truth of his belief. We do not satisfy ourselves with serving + God with our souls and understandings only, we moreover owe and render him + a corporal reverence, and apply our limbs and motions, and external things + to do him honour; we must here do the same, and accompany our faith with + all the reason we have, but always with this reservation, not to fancy + that it is upon us that it depends, nor that our arguments and endeavours + can arrive at so supernatural and divine a knowledge. If it enters not + into us by an extraordinary infusion; if it enters not only by reason, + but, moreover, by human ways, it is not in us in its true dignity and + splendour: and yet, I am afraid, we only have it by this way. + </p> + <p> + If we hold upon God by the mediation of a lively faith; if we hold upon + God by him, and not by us; if we had a divine basis and foundation, human + occasions would not have the power to shake us as they do; our fortress + would not surrender to so weak a battery; the love of novelty, the + constraint of princes, the success of one party, and the rash and + fortuitous change of our opinions, would not have the power to stagger and + alter our belief: we should not then leave it to the mercy of every new + argument, nor abandon it to all the rhetoric in the world; we should + withstand the fury of these waves with an immovable and unyielding + constancy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + As a great rock repels the rolling tides, + + That foam and bark about her marble sides, + From its strong bulk +</pre> + <p> + If we were but touched with this ray of divinity, it would appear + throughout; not only our words, but our works also, would carry its + brightness and lustre; whatever proceeded from us would be seen + illuminated with this noble light. We ought to be ashamed that, in all the + human sects, there never was any of the faction, that did not, in some + measure, conform his life and behaviour to it, whereas so divine and + heavenly an institution does only distinguish Christians by the name! Will + you see the proof of this? Compare our manners to those of a Mahometan or + Pagan, you will still find that we fall very + </p> + <p> + short; there, where, out of regard to the reputation and advantage of our + religion, we ought to shine in excellency at a vast distance beyond all + others: and that it should be said of us, “Are they so just, so + charitable, so good: Then they are Christians.” All other signs are + common to all religions; hope, trust, events, ceremonies, penance, + </p> + <p> + martyrs. The peculiar mark of our truth ought to be our virtue, as it is + also the most heavenly and difficult, and the most worthy product of + truth. For this our good St. Louis was in the right, who, when the Tartar + king, who was become Christian, designed to come to Lyons to kiss the Pope’s + feet, and there to be an eye-witness of the sanctity he hoped to find in + our manner, immediately diverted him from his purpose; for fear lest our + disorderly way of living should, on the contrary, put him out of conceit + with so holy a belief! And yet it happened quite otherwise since to that + other, who, going to Rome, to the same end, and there seeing the + dissoluteness of the prelates and people of that time, settled himself so + much the more firmly in our religion, considering how great the force and + divinity of it must necessarily be that could maintain its dignity and + splendour among so much corruption, and in so vicious hands. If we had but + one single grain of faith, we should remove mountains from their places, + saith the sacred Word; our actions, that would then be directed and + accompanied by the divinity, would not be merely human, they would have in + them something of miraculous, as well as our belief: <i>Brevis est + institutio vit honest beauque, si credos.</i> “Believe, and the way + to happiness and virtue is a short one.” Some impose upon the world + that they believe that which they do not; others, more in number, make + themselves believe that they believe, not being able to penetrate into + what it is to believe. We think it strange if, in the civil war which, at + this time, disorders our state, we see events float and vary aller a + common and ordinary manner; which is because we bring nothing to it but + our own. Justice, which is in one party, is only there for ornament and + palliation; it, is, indeed, pretended, but ‘tis not there received, + settled and espoused: it is there, as in the mouth of an advocate, not as + in the heart and affection of the party. God owes his extraordinary + assistance to faith and religion; not to our passions. Men there are the + conductors, and therein serve themselves with religion, whereas it ought + to be quite contrary. Observe, if it be not by our own hands that we guide + and train it, and draw it like wax into so many contrary figures, from a + rule in itself so direct and firm. When and where was this more manifest + than in France in our days? They who have taken it on the left hand, they + who have taken it on the right; they who call it black, they who call it + white, alike employ it to their violent and ambitious designs, conduct it + with a progress, so conform in riot and injustice that they render the + diversity they pretended in their opinions, in a thing whereon the conduct + and rule of our life depends, doubtful and hard to believe. Did one ever + see, come from the same school and discipline, manners more united, and + more the same? Do but observe with what horrid impudence we toss divine + arguments to and fro, and how irreligiously we have both rejected and + retaken them, accord—as fortune has shifted our places in these + intestine storms. + </p> + <p> + This so solemn proposition, “Whether it be lawful for a subject to + rebel and take up arms against his prince for the defence of his religion,” + do you remember in whose mouths, the last year, the affirmative of it was + the prop of one party, and the negative the pillar of another? And hearken + now from what quarter comes the voice and instruction of the one and the + other, and if arms make less noise and rattle for this cause than for + that. We condemn those to the fire who say that truth must be made to bear + the yoke of our necessity; and how much worse does France than say it? Let + us confess the truth; whoever should draw out from the army, even that + raised by the king, those who take up arms out of pure zeal to religion, + and also those who only do it to protect the laws of their country, or for + the service of their prince, could hardly, out of both these put together, + make one complete company of gens-d’armes. Whence does this proceed, + that there are so few to be found who have maintained the same will and + the same progress in our civil commotions, and that we see them one while + move but a foot-pace, and another run full speed? and the same men one + while damage our affairs by their violent heat and fierceness, and another + by their coldness, gentleness, and slowness; but that they are pushed on + by particular and casual considerations, according to the variety wherein + they move? + </p> + <p> + I evidently perceive that we do not willingly afford devotion any other + offices but those that least suit with our own passions. + </p> + <p> + There hostility so admirable as the Christian. Our zeal performs wonders, + when it seconds our inclinations to hatred, cruelty, ambition, avarice, + detraction, and rebellion: but when it moves, against the hair, towards + bounty, benignity, and temperance, unless, by miracle, some rare and + virtuous disposition prompts us to it, we stir neither hand nor toot. Our + religion is intended to extirpate vices, whereas it screens, nourishes, + and incites them. We must not mock God. If we believed in him, I do not + say by faith, but with a simple belief, that is to say (and I speak it to + our great shame) if we believed in him and recognised him as we do any + other history, or as we would do one of our companions, we should love him + above all other things for the infinite bounty and beauty that shines in + him;—at least, he would go equal in our affection with riches, + pleasure, glory, and our friends. The best of us is not so much afraid to + outrage him as he is afraid to injure his neighbour, his kinsman, or his + master. Is there any understanding so weak that, having on one side the + object of one of our vicious pleasures, and on the other (in equal + knowledge and persuasion) the state of an immortal glory, would change the + first for the other? and yet we often renounce this out of mere contempt: + for what lust tempts us to blaspheme, if not, perhaps, the very desire to + offend. The philosopher Antisthenes, as he was being initiated in the + mysteries of Orpheus, the priest telling him, “That those who + professed themselves of that religion were certain to receive perfect and + eternal felicity after death,”—“If thou believest that,” + answered he, “why dost thou not die thyself?” Diogenes, more + rudely, according to his manner, and more remote from our purpose, to the + priest that in like manner preached to him, “To become of his + religion, that he might obtain the happiness of the other world;—“What!” + said he, “thou wouldest have me to believe that Agesilaus and + Epaminondas, who were so great men, shall be miserable, and that thou, who + art but a calf, and canst do nothing to purpose, shalt be happy, because + thou art a priest?” Did we receive these great promises of eternal + beatitude with the same reverence and respect that we do a philosophical + discourse, we should not have death in so great horror: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Non jam se moriens dissolvi conqurreretur; + Sed magis ire foras, stemque relinquere ut angais, + Gauderet, prealonga senex aut cornua cervus. + + “We should not on a death bed grieve to be + Dissolved, but rather launch out cheerfully + From our old hut, and with the snake, be glad + To cast off the corrupted slough we had; + Or with th’ old stag rejoice to be now clear + From the large horns, too ponderous grown to bear.” + </pre> + <p> + “I desire to be dissolved,” we should say, “and to be + with Jesus Christ” The force of Plato’s arguments concerning + the immortality of the soul set some of his disciples to seek a premature + grave, that they might the sooner enjoy the things he had made them hope + for. + </p> + <p> + All this is a most evident sign that we only receive our religion after + our own fashion, by our own hands, and no otherwise than as other + religions are received. Either we are happened in the country where it is + in practice, or we reverence the antiquity of it, or the authority of the + men who have maintained it, or fear the menaces it fulminates against + misbelievers, or are allured by its promises. These considerations ought, + ‘tis true, to be applied to our belief but as subsidiaries only, for + they are human obligations. Another religion, other witnesses, the like + promises and threats, might, by the same way, imprint a quite contrary + belief. We are Christians by the same title that we are Perigordians or + Germans. And what Plato says, “That there are few men so obstinate + in their atheism whom a pressing danger will not reduce to an + acknowledgment of the divine power,” does not concern a true + Christian: ‘tis for mortal and human religions to be received by + human recommendation. What kind of faith can that be that cowardice and + want of courage establish in us? A pleasant faith, that does not believe + what it believes but for want of courage to disbelieve it! Can a vicious + passion, such as inconstancy and astonishment, cause any regular product + in our souls? “They are confident in their judgment,” says he, + “that what is said of hell and future torments is all feigned: but + an occasion of making the expedient presenting itself, when old age or + diseases bring them to the brink of the grave, the terror of death, by the + horror of that future condition, inspires them with a new belief!” + And by reason that such impressions render them timorous, he forbids in + his <i>Laws</i> all such threatening doctrines, and all persuasion that + anything of ill can befall a man from the gods, excepting for his great + good when they happen to him, and for a medicinal effect. They say of Bion + that, infected with the atheism of Theodoras, he had long had religious + men in great scorn and contempt, but that death surprising him, he gave + himself up to the most extreme superstition; as if the gods withdrew and + returned according to the necessities of Bion. Plato and these examples + would conclude that we are brought to a belief of God either by reason or + by force. Atheism being a proposition as unnatural as monstrous, difficult + also and hard to establish in the human understanding, how arrogant + soever, there are men enough seen, out of vanity and pride, to be the + authors of extraordinary and reforming opinions, and outwardly to affect + the profession of them; who, if they are such fools, have, nevertheless, + not the power to plant them in their own conscience. Yet will they not + fail to lift up their hands towards heaven if you give them a good thrust + with a sword in the breast, and when fear or sickness has abated and + dulled the licentious fury of this giddy humour they will easily re-unite, + and very discreetly suffer themselves to be reconciled to the public faith + and examples. A doctrine seriously digested is one thing, and those + superficial impressions another; which springing from the disorder of an + unhinged understanding, float at random and great uncertainty in the + fancy. Miserable and senseless men, who strive to be worse than they can! + </p> + <p> + The error of paganism and the ignorance of our sacred truth, let this + great soul of Plato, but great only in human greatness, fall also into + this other mistake, “That children and old men were most susceptible + of religion,” as if it sprung and derived its credit from our + weakness. The knot that ought to bind the judgment and the will, that + ought to restrain the soul and join it to our creator, should be a knot + that derives its foldings and strength not from our considerations, from + our reasons and passions, but from a divine and supernatural constraint, + having but one form, one face, and one lustre, which is the authority of + God and his divine grace. Now the heart and soul being governed and + commanded by faith, ‘tis but reason that they should muster all our + other faculties, according as they are able to perform to the service and + assistance of their design. Neither is it to be imagined that all this + machine has not some marks imprinted upon it by the hand of the mighty + architect, and that there is not in the things of this world some image + that in some measure resembles the workman who has built and formed them. + He has, in his stupendous works, left the character of his divinity, and + ‘tis our own weakness only that hinders us from discerning it. + ‘Tis what he himself is pleased to tell us, “That he manifests + his invisible operations to us by those that are visible.” Sebond + applied himself to this laudable and noble study, and demonstrates to us + that there is not any part or member of the world that disclaims or + derogates from its maker. It were to do wrong to the divine goodness, did + not the universe consent to our belief. The heavens, the earth, the + elements, our bodies and our souls,—all things concur to this; we + have but to find out the way to use them; they instruct us, if we are + capable of instruction. For this world is a sacred temple, into which man + is introduced, there to contemplate statues, not the works of a mortal + hand, but such as the divine purpose has made the objects of sense; the + sun, the stars, the water, and the earth, to represent those that are + intelligible to us. “The invisible tilings of God,” says St. + Paul, “appear by the creation of the world, his eternal wisdom and + divinity being considered by his works.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And God himself envies not men the grace + Of seeing and admiring heaven’s face; + But, rolling it about, he still anew + Presents its varied splendour to our view, + And on oar minds himself inculcates, so + That we th’ Almighty mover well may know: + Instructing us by seeing him the cause + Of ill, to revcreoce and obey his laws.” + </pre> + <p> + Now our prayers and human discourses are but as sterile and undigested + matter. The grace of God is the form; ‘tis that which gives fashion + and value to it. As the virtuous actions of Socrates and Cato remain vain + and fruitless, for not having had the love and obedience to the true + creator of all things, so is it with our imaginations and discourses; they + have a kind of body, but it is an inform mass, without fashion and without + light, if faith and grace be not added thereto. Faith coming to tinct and + illustrate Sehond’s arguments renders them firm and stolid; and to + that degree that they are capable of serving for directions, and of being + the first guides to an elementary Christian to put him into the way of + this knowledge. They in some measure form him to, and render him capable + of, the grace of God, by which means he afterwards completes and perfects + himself in the true belief. I know a man of authority, bred up to letters, + who has confessed to me to have been brought back from the errors of + unbelief by Sebond’s arguments. And should they be stripped of this + ornament, and of the assistance and approbation of the faith, and be + looked upon as mere fancies only, to contend with those who are + precipitated into the dreadful and horrible darkness of irrligion, they + will even there find them as solid and firm as any others of the same + quality that can be opposed against them; so that we shall be ready to say + to our opponents: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Si melius quid habes, arcesse; vel imperium fer: + + “If you have arguments more fit. + Produce them, or to these submit.” + </pre> + <p> + let them admit the force of our reasons, or let them show us others, and + upon some other subject, better woven and of finer thread. I am, unawares, + half engaged in the second objection, to which I proposed to make answer + in the behalf of Sebond. Some say that his arguments are weak, and unable + to make good what he intends, and undertake with great ease to confute + them. These are to be a little more roughly handled, for they are more + dangerous and malicious than the first Men willingly wrest the sayings of + others to favour their own prejudicate opinions. To an atheist all + writings tend to atheism: he corrupts the most innocent matter with his + own venom. These have their judgments so prepossessed that they cannot + relish Sebond’s reasons. As to the rest, they think we give them + very fair play in putting them into the liberty of combatting our religion + with weapons merely human, whom, in her majesty, full of authority and + command, they durst not attack. The means that I shall use, and that I + think most proper to subdue this frenzy, is to crush and spurn under foot + pride and human arrogance; to make them sensible of the inanity, vanity, + and vileness of man; to wrest the wretched arms of their reason out of + their hands; to make them bow down and bite the ground under the authority + and reverence of the Divine Majesty. ‘Tis to that alone that + knowledge and wisdom appertain; that alone that can make a true estimate + of itself, and from which we purloin whatever we value ourselves upon: [—Greek—] + “God permits not any being but himself to be truly wise.” Let + us subdue this presumption, the first foundation of the tyranny of the + evil spirit <i>Deus superbis re-sistit, humilibus autem dal gratiam.</i> + “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” + “Understanding is in the gods,” says Plato, “and not at + all, or very little, in men.” Now it is in the mean time a great + consolation to a Christian man to see our frail and mortal parts so fitly + suited to our holy and divine faith that, when we employ them to the + subjects of their own mortal and frail nature they are not even there more + unitedly or more firmly adjusted. Let us see, then, if man has in his + power other more forcible and convincing reasons than those of Sebond; + that is to say, if it be in him to arrive at any certainty by argument and + reason. For St. Augustin, disputing against these people, has good cause + to reproach them with injustice, “In that they maintain the part of + our belief to be false that our reason cannot establish.” And to + show that a great many things may be, and have been, of which our nature + could not sound the reason and causes, he proposes to them certain known + and undoubted experiments, wherein men confess they see nothing; and this + he does, as all other things, with a curious and ingenious inquisition. We + must do more than this, and make them know that, to convince the weakness + of their reason, there is no necessity of culling out uncommon examples: + and that it is so defective and so blind that there is no faculty clear + enough for it; that to it the easy and the hard are all one; that all + subjects equally, and nature in general, disclaim its authority and reject + its mediation. + </p> + <p> + What does truth mean when she preaches to us to fly worldly philosophy, + when she so often inculcates to us, “That our wisdom is but folly in + the sight of God: that the vainest of all vanities is man: that the man + who presumes upon his wisdom does not yet know what wisdom is; and that + man, who is nothing, if he thinks himself to be anything, does seduce and + deceive himself.” These sentences of the Holy Spirit do so clearly + and vividly express that which I would maintain that I should need no + other proof against men who would with all humility and obedience submit + to his authority: but these will be whipped at their own expense, and will + not suffer a man to oppose their reason but by itself. + </p> + <p> + Let us then, for once, consider a man alone, without foreign assistance, + armed only with his own proper arms, and unfurnished of the divine grace + and wisdom, which is all his honour, strength, and the foundation of his + being. Let us see how he stands in this fine equipage. Let him make me + understand, by the force of his reason, upon what foundations he has built + those great advantages he thinks he has over other creatures. Who has made + him believe that this admirable motion of the celestial arch, the eternal + light of those luminaries that roll so high over his head, the wondrous + and fearful motions of that infinite ocean, should be established and + continue so many ages for his service and convenience? Can any thing be + imagined so ridiculous, that this miserable and wretched creature, who is + not so much as master of himself, but subject to the injuries of all + things, should call himself master and emperor of the world, of which he + has not power to know the least part, much less to command the whole? And + the privilege which he attributes to himself of being the only creature in + this vast fabric who has the understanding to discover the beauty and the + paris of it; the only one who can return thanks to the architect, and keep + account of the revenues and disbursements of the world; who, I wonder, + sealed him this patent? Let us see his commission for this great + employment Was it granted in favour of the wise only? Few people will be + concerned in it. Are fools and wicked persons worthy so extraordinary a + favour, and, being the worst part of the world, to be preferred before the + rest? Shall we believe this man?—“For whose sake shall we, + therefore, conclude that the world was made? For theirs who have the use + of reason: these are gods and men, than whom certainly nothing can be + better:” we can never sufficiently decry the impudence of this + conjunction. But, wretched creature, what has he in himself worthy of such + an advantage? Considering the incorruptible existence of the celestial + bodies; beauty; magnitude, and continual revolution by so exact a rule; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Cum suspicimus mni clestia mundi + Templa super, stellisque micantibus arthera fiium, + El venit in mcntem lun solisque viarurn. + + “When we the heavenly arch above behold. + And the vast sky adorned with stars of gold. + And mark the r’eglar course? that the sun + And moon in their alternate progress run.” + </pre> + <p> + considering the dominion and influence those bodies have, not only over + our lives and fortunes; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Facta etenim et vitas hominum suspendit ab aatris; + + “Men’s lives and actions on the stars depend.” + </pre> + <p> + but even over our inclinations, our thoughts and wills, which they govern, + incite and agitate at the mercy of their influences, as our reason teaches + us; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Contemplating the stars he finds that they + Rule by a secret and a silent sway; + And that the enamell’d spheres which roll above + Do ever by alternate causes move. + And, studying these, he can also foresee, + By certain signs, the turns of destiny;” + </pre> + <p> + seeing that not only a man, not only kings, but that monarchies, empires, + and all this lower world follow the influence of the celestial motions, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “How great a change a little motion brings! + So great this kingdom is that governs kings:” + </pre> + <p> + if our virtue, our vices, our knowledge, and this very discourse we are + upon of the power of the stars, and the comparison we are making betwixt + them and us, proceed, as our reason supposes, from their favour; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “One mad in love may cross the raging main, + To level lofty Ilium with the plain; + Another’s fate inclines him more by far + To study laws and statutes for the bar. + Sons kill their father, fathers kill their sons, + And one arm’d brother ‘gainst another runs.. + This war’s not their’s, but fate’s, that spurs them on + To shed the blood which, shed, they must bemoan; + And I ascribe it to the will of fate + That on this theme I now expatiate:” + </pre> + <p> + if we derive this little portion of reason we have from the bounty of + heaven, how is it possible that reason should ever make us equal to it? + How subject its essence and condition to our knowledge? Whatever we see in + those bodies astonishes us: <i>Qu molitio, qua ferramenta, qui vectes, qu + machina, qui ministri tanti operis fuerunt?</i> “What contrivance, + what tools, what materials, what engines, were employed about so + stupendous a work?” Why do we deprive them of soul, of life, and + discourse? Have we discovered in them any immoveable or insensible + stupidity, we who have no commerce with them but by obedience? Shall we + say that we have discovered in no other creature but man the use of a + reasonable soul? What! have we seen any thing like the sun? Does he cease + to be, because we have seen nothing like him? And do his motions cease, + because there are no other like them? If what we have not seen is not, our + knowledge is marvellously contracted: <i>Qu sunt tant animi angusti!</i> + “How narrow are our understandings!” Are they not dreams of + human vanity, to make the moon a celestial earth? there to fancy mountains + and vales, as Anaxagoras did? there to fix habitations and human abodes, + and plant colonies for our convenience, as Plato and Plutarch have done? + And of our earth to make a luminous and resplendent star? “Amongst + the other inconveniences of mortality this is one, that darkness of the + understanding which leads men astray, not so much from a necessity of + erring, but from a love of error. The corruptible body stupifies the soul, + and the earthly habitation dulls the faculties of the imagination.” + </p> + <p> + Presumption is our natural and original disease. The most wretched and + frail of all creatures is man, and withal the proudest. He feels and sees + himself lodged here in the dirt and filth of the world, nailed and + rivetted to the worst and deadest part of the universe, in the lowest + story of the house, the most remote from the heavenly arch, with animals + of the worst condition of the three; and yet in his imagination will be + placing himself above the circle of the moon, and bringing the heavens + under his feet. ‘Tis by the same vanity of imagination that he + equals himself to God, attributes to himself divine qualities, withdraws + and separates himself from the the crowd of other creatures, cuts out the + shares of the animals, his fellows and companions, and distributes to them + portions of faculties and force, as himself thinks fit How does he know, + by the strength of his understanding, the secret and internal motions of + animals?—from what comparison betwixt them and us does he conclude + the stupidity he attributes to them? When I play with my cat who knows + whether I do not make her more sport than she makes me? We mutually divert + one another with our play. If I have my hour to begin or to refus, she + also has hers. Plato, in his picture of the golden age under Saturn, + reckons, among the chief advantages that a man then had, his communication + with beasts, of whom, inquiring and informing himself, he knew the true + qualities and differences of them all, by which he acquired a very perfect + intelligence and prudence, and led his life more happily than we could do. + Need we a better proof to condemn human impudence in the concern of + beasts? This great author was of opinion that nature, for the most part in + the corporal form she gave them, had only regard to the use of prognostics + that were derived thence in his time. The defect that hinders + communication betwixt them and us, why may it not be in our part as well + as theirs? ‘Tis yet to determine where the fault lies that we + understand not one another,—for we understand them no more than they + do us; and by the same reason they may think us to be beasts as we think + them. ‘Tis no great wonder if we understand not them, when we do not + understand a Basque or a Troglodyte. And yet some have boasted that they + understood them, as Apollonius Tyanaus, Melampus, Tiresias, Thales, and + others. And seeing, as cusmographers report, that there are nations that + have a dog for their king, they must of necessity be able to interpret his + voice and motions. We must observe the parity betwixt us, have some + tolerable apprehension of their meaning, and so have beasts of ours,—much + about the same. They caress us, threaten us, and beg of us, and we do the + same to them. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, we manifestly discover that they have a full and absolute + communication amongst themselves, and that they perfectly understand one + another, not only those of the same, but of divers kinds: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The tamer herds, and wilder sort of brutes. + Though we of higher race conclude them mutes. + Yet utter dissonant and various notes, + From gentler lungs or more distended throats, + As fear, or grief, or anger, do them move, + Or as they do approach the joys of love.” + </pre> + <p> + In one kind of barking of a dog the horse knows there is anger, of another + sort of bark he is not afraid. Even in the very beasts that have no voice + at all, we easily conclude, from the society of offices we observe amongst + them, some other sort of communication: their very motions discover it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “As infants who, for want of words, devise + Expressive motions with their hands and eyes.” + </pre> + <p> + And why not, as well as our dumb people, dispute, argue, and tell stories + by signs? Of whom I have seen some, by practice, so clever and active that + way that, in fact, they wanted nothing of the perfection of making + themselves understood. Lovers are angry, reconciled, intreat, thank, + appoint, and, in short, speak all things by their eyes: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Even silence in a lover + Love and passion can discover.” + </pre> + <p> + What with the hands? We require, promise, call, dismiss, threaten, pray, + supplicate, deny, refuse, interrogate, admire, number, confess, repent, + fear, express confusion, doubt, instruct, command, incite, encourage, + swear, testify, accuse, condemn, absolve, abuse, despise, defy, provoke, + flatter, applaud, bless, submit, mock, reconcile, recommend, exalt, + entertain, congratulate, complain, grieve, despair, wonder, exclaim, and + what not! And all this with a variety and multiplication, even emulating + speech. With the head we invite, remand, confess, deny, give the lie, + welcome, honour, reverence, disdain, demand, rejoice, lament, reject, + caress, rebuke, submit, huff, encourage, threaten, assure, and inquire. + What with the eyebrows?—what with the shoulders! There is not a + motion that does not speak, and in an intelligible language without + discipline, and a public language that every one understands: whence it + should follow, the variety and use distinguished from others considered, + that these should rather be judged the property of human nature. I omit + what necessity particularly does suddenly suggest to those who are in + need;—the alphabets upon the fingers, grammars in gesture, and the + sciences which are only by them exercised and expressed; and the nations + that Pliny reports have no other language. An ambassador of the city of + Abdera, after a long conference with Agis, King of Sparta, demanded of + him, “Well, sir, what answer must I return to my fellow-citizens?” + “That I have given thee leave,” said he, “to say what + thou wouldest, and as much as thou wouldest, without ever speaking a word.” + is not this a silent speaking, and very easy to be understood? + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, what is there in us that we do not see in the operations + of animals? Is there a polity better ordered, the offices better + distributed, and more inviolably observed and maintained, than that of + bees? Can we imagine that such, and so regular, a distribution of + employments can be carried on without reasoning and deliberation? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hence to the bee some sages have assign’d + Some portion of the god and heavenly wind.” + </pre> + <p> + The swallows that we see at the return of the spring, searching all the + corners of our houses for the most commodious places wherein to build + their nest; do they seek without judgment, and amongst a thousand choose + out the most proper for their purpose, without discretion? And in that + elegant and admirable contexture of their buildings, can birds rather make + choice of a square figure than a round, of an obtuse than of a right + angle, without knowing their properties and effects? Do they bring water, + and then clay, without knowing that the hardness of the latter grows + softer by being wetted? Do they mat their palace with moss or down without + foreseeing that their tender young will lie more safe and easy? Do they + secure themselves from the wet and rainy winds, and place their lodgings + against the east, without knowing the different qualities of the winds, + and considering that one is more wholesome than another? Why does the + spider make her web tighter in one place, and slacker in another; why now + make one sort of knot, and then another, if she has not deliberation, + thought, and conclusion? We sufficiently discover in most of their works + how much animals excel us, and how unable our art is to imitate them. We + see, nevertheless, in our rougher performances, that we employ all our + faculties, and apply the utmost power of our souls; why do we not conclude + the same of them? + </p> + <p> + Why should we attribute to I know not what natural and servile inclination + the works that excel all we can do by nature and art? wherein, without + being aware, we give them a mighty advantage over us in making nature, + with maternal gentleness and love, accompany and learn them, as it were, + by the hand to all the actions and commodities of their life, whilst she + leaves us to chance and fortune, and to seek out by art the things that + are necessary to our conservation, at the same time denying us the means + of being able, by any instruction or effort of understanding, to arrive at + the natural sufficiency of beasts; so that their brutish stupidity + surpasses, in all conveniences, all that our divine intelligence can do. + Really, at this rate, we might with great reason call her an unjust + stepmother: but it is nothing so, our polity is not so irregular and + unformed. + </p> + <p> + Nature has universally cared for all her creatures, and there is not one + she has not amply furnished with all means necessary for the conservation + of its being. For the common complaints I hear men make (as the license of + their opinions one while lifts them up above the clouds, and then again + depresses them to the antipodes), that we are the only animal abandoned + naked upon the bare earth, tied and bound, not having wherewithal to arm + and clothe us but by the spoil of others; whereas nature has covered all + other creatures either with shells, husks, bark, hair, wool, prickles, + leather, down, feathers, scales, or silk, according to the necessities of + their being; has armed them with talons, teeth, or horns, wherewith to + assault and defend, and has herself taught them that which is most proper + for them, to swim, to run, to fly, and sing, whereas man neither knows how + to walk, speak, eat, or do any thing but weep, without teaching; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Like to the wretched mariner, when toss’d + By raging seas upon the desert coast, + The tender babe lies naked on the earth, + Of all supports of life stript by his birth; + When nature first presents him to the day, + Freed from the cell wherein before he lay, + He fills the ambient air with doleful cries. + Foretelling thus life’s future miseries; + But beasts, both wild and tame, greater and less, + Do of themselves in strength and bulk increase; + They need no rattle, nor the broken chat, + Ay which the nurse first teaches boys to prate + They look not out for different robes to wear, + According to the seasons of the year; + And need no arms nor walls their goods to save, + Since earth and liberal nature ever have, + And will, in all abundance, still produce + All things whereof they can have need or use:” + </pre> + <p> + these complaints are false; there is in the polity of the world a greater + equality and more uniform relation. Our skins are as sufficient to defend + us from the injuries of the weather as theirs are; witness several nations + that yet know not the use of clothes. Our ancient Gauls were but slenderly + clad, any more than the Irish, our neighbours, though in so cold a + climate; but we may better judge of this by ourselves: for all those parts + that we are pleased to expose to the air are found very able to endure it: + the face, the feet, the hands, the arms, the head, according to the + various habit; if there be a tender part about us, and that would seem to + be in danger from cold, it should be the stomach where the digestion is; + and yet our forefathers were there always open, and our ladies, as tender + and delicate as they are, go sometimes half-bare as low as the navel. + Neither is the binding or swathing of infants any more necessary; and the + Lacedmoman mothers brought theirs in all liberty of motion of members, + without any ligature at all. Our crying is common with the greatest part + of other animals, and there are but few creatures that are not observed to + groan, and bemoan themselves a long time after they come into the world; + forasmuch as it is a behaviour suitable to the weakness wherein they find + themselves. As to the custom of eating, it is in us, as in them, natural, + and without instruction; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “For every one soon finds his natural force. + Which he, or better may employ, or worse.” + </pre> + <p> + Who doubts but an infant, arrived to the strength of feeding himself, may + make shift to find something to eat And the earth produces and offers him + wherewithal to supply his necessity, without other culture and artifice; + and if not at all times, no more does she do it to beasts, witness the + provision we see ants and other creatures hoard up against the dead + seasons of the year. The late discovered nations, so abundantly furnished + with natural meat and drink, without care, or without cookery, may give us + to understand that bread is not our only food, and that, without tillage, + our mother nature has provided us sufficiently of all we stand in need of: + nay, it appears more fully and plentifully than she does at present, now + that we have added our own industry: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The earth did first spontaneously afford + Choice fruits and wines to furnish out the board; + With herbs and flow’rs unsown in verdant fields. + But scarce by art so good a harvest yields; + Though men and oxen mutually have strove, + With all their utmost force the soil t’ improve,” + </pre> + <p> + the debauchery and irregularity of our appetites outstrips all the + inventions we can contrive to satisfy it. + </p> + <p> + As to arms, we have more natural ones than than most other animals more + various motions of limbs, and naturally and without lesson extract more + service from them. Those that are trained to fight naked are seen to throw + themselves into the like hazards that we do. If some beasts surpass us in + this advantage, we surpass many others. And the industry of fortifying the + body, and covering it by acquired means, we have by instinct and natural + precept? That it is so, the elephant shows who sharpen, and whets the + teeth he makes use of in war (for he has particular ones for that service, + which he spares, and never employs them at all to any other use); when + bulls go to fight, they toss and throw the dust about them; boars whet + their tusks; and the ichneumon, when he is about to engage with the + crocodile, fortifies his body, and covers and crusts it all over with + close-wrought and well-tempered slime, as with a cuirass. Why shall we not + say that it is also natural for us to arm ourselves with wood and iron? + </p> + <p> + As to speech, it is certain that if it be not natural it is not necessary. + Nevertheless I believe that a child which had been brought up in an + absolute solitude, remote from all society of men (which would be an + experiment very hard to make), would have some kind of speech to express + his meaning by. And ‘tis not to be supposed that nature should have + denied that to us which she has given to several other animals: for what + is this faculty we observe in them, of complaining, rejoicing, calling to + one another for succour, and inviting each other to love, which they do + with the voice, other than speech? And why should they not speak to one + another? They speak to us, and we to them. In how many several sorts of + ways do we speak to our dogs, and they answer us? We converse with them in + another sort of language, and use other appellations, than we do with + birds, hogs, oxen, horses, and alter the idiom according to the kind. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Thus from one swarm of ants some sally out. + To spy another’s stock or mark its rout.” + </pre> + <p> + Lactantius seems to attribute to beasts not only speech, but laughter + also. And the difference of language which is seen amongst us, according + to the difference of countries, is also observed in animals of the same + kind. Aristotle, in proof of this, instances the Various calls of + partridges, according to the situation of places: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “And various birds do from their warbling throats + At various times, utter quite different notes, + And some their hoarse songs with the seasons change.” + </pre> + <p> + But it is yet to be known what language this child would speak; and of + that what is said by guess has no great appearance. If a man will allege + to me, in opposition to this opinion, that those who are naturally deaf + speak not, I answer that this is not only because they could not receive + the instruction of speaking by ear, but rather because the sense of + hearing, of which they are deprived, relates to that of speaking, and that + these hold together by a natural and inseparable tie, in such manner that + what we speak we must first speak to ourselves within, and make it sound + in our own ears, before we can utter it to others. + </p> + <p> + All this I have said to prove the resemblance there is in human things, + and to bring us back and join us to the crowd. We are neither above nor + below the rest All that is under heaven, says the sage, runs one law and + one fortune: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “All things remain + Bound and entangled in one fatal chain.” + </pre> + <p> + There is, indeed, some difference,—there are several orders and + degrees; but it is under the aspect of one and the same nature: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “All things by their own rites proceed, and draw + Towards their ends, by nature’s certain law.” + </pre> + <p> + Man must be compelled and restrained within the bounds of this polity. + Miserable creature! he is not in a condition really to step over the rail. + He is fettered and circumscribed, he is subjected to the same necessity + that the other creatures of his rank and order are, and of a very mean + condition, without any prerogative of true and real pre-eminence. That + which he attributes to himself, by vain fancy and opinion, has neither + body nor taste. And if it be so, that he only, of all the animals, has + this liberty of imagination and irregularity of thoughts, representing to + him that which is, that which is not, and that he would have, the false + and the true, ‘tis an advantage dearly bought, and of which he has + very little reason to be proud; for thence springs the principal and + original fountain of all the evils that befal him,—sin, sickness, + irresolution, affliction, despair. I say, then, to return to my subject, + that there is no appearance to induce a man to believe that beasts should, + by a natural and forced inclination, do the same things that we do by our + choice and industry. We ought from like effects to conclude like + faculties, and from greater effects greater faculties; and consequently + confess that the same reasoning, and the same ways by which we operate, + are common with them, or that they have others that are better. Why should + we imagine this natural constraint in them, who experience no such effect + in ourselves? added that it is more honourable to be guided and obliged to + act regularly by a natural and inevitable condition, and nearer allied to + the divinity, than to act regularly by a temerarious and fortuitous + liberty, and more safe to entrust the reins of our conduct in the hands of + nature than our own. The vanity of our presumption makes us prefer rather + to owe our sufficiency to our own exertions than to her bounty, and to + enrich the other animals with natural goods, and abjure them in their + favour, in order to honour and ennoble ourselves with goods acquired, very + foolishly in my opinion; for I should as much value parts and virtues + naturally and purely my own as those I had begged and obtained from + education. It is not in our power to obtain a nobler reputation than to be + favoured of God and nature. + </p> + <p> + For instance, take the fox, the people of Thrace make use of when they + wish to pass over the ice of some frozen river, and turn him out before + them to that purpose; when we see him lay his ear upon the bank of the + river, down to the ice, to listen if from a more remote or nearer distance + he can hear the noise of the waters’ current, and, according as he + finds by that the ice to be of a less or greater thickness, to retire or + advance,—have we not reason to believe thence that the same rational + thoughts passed through his head that we should have upon the like + occasions; and that it is a ratiocination and consequence, drawn from + natural sense, that that which makes a noise runs, that which runs is not + frozen, what is not frozen is liquid, and that which is liquid yields to + impression! For to attribute this to a mere quickness of the sense of + hearing, without reason and consequence, is a chimra that cannot enter + into the imagination. We are to suppose the same of the many sorts of + subtleties and inventions with which beasts secure themselves from, and + frustrate, the enterprizes we plot against them. + </p> + <p> + And if we will make an advantage even of this, that it is in our power to + seize them, to employ them in our service, and to use them at our + pleasure, ‘tis still but the same advantage we have over one + another. We have our slaves upon these terms: the Climacid, were they not + women in Syria who, squat on all fours, served for a ladder or footstool, + by which the ladies mounted their coaches? And the greatest part of free + persons surrender, for very trivial conveniences, their life and being + into the power of another. The wives and concubines of the Thracians + contended who should be chosen to be slain upon their husband’s + tomb. Have tyrants ever failed of finding men enough vowed to their + devotion? some of them moreover adding this necessity, of accompanying + them in death as well as life? Whole armies have bound themselves after + this manner to their captains. The form of the oath in the rude school of + gladiators was in these words: “We swear to suffer ourselves to be + chained, burnt, wounded, and killed with the sword, and to endure all that + true gladiators suffer from their master, religiously engaging both body + and soul in his service.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Uire meum, si vis, flamma caput, et pete ferro + Corpus, et iutorto verbere terga seca. + + “Wound me with steel, or burn my head with fire. + Or scourge my shoulders with well-twisted wire.” + </pre> + <p> + This was an obligation indeed, and yet there, in one year, ten thousand + entered into it, to their destruction. When the Scythians interred their + king they strangled upon his body the most beloved of his concubines, his + cup-bearer, the master of his horse, his chamberlain, the usher of his + chamber, and his cook. And upon the anniversary thereof they killed fifty + horses, mounted by fifty pages, that they had impaled all up the spine of + the back to the throat, and there left them fixed in triumph about his + tomb. The men that serve us do it cheaper, and for a less careful and + favourable usage than what we treat our hawks, horses and dogs withal. To + what solicitude do we not submit for the conveniences of these? I do not + think that servants of the most abject condition would willingly do that + for their masters that princes think it an honour to do for their beasts. + Diogenes seeing his relations solicitous to redeem, him from servitude: + “They are fools,” said he; “‘tis he that keeps and + nourishes me that in reality serves me.” And they who entertain + beasts ought rather to be said to serve them, than to be served by them. + And withal in this these have something more generous in that one lion + never submitted to another lion, nor one horse to another, for want of + courage. As we go to the chase of beasts, so do tigers and lions to the + chase of men, and do the same execution upon one another; dogs upon hares, + pikes upon tench, swallows upon grass-hoppers, and sparrow-hawks upon + blackbirds and larks: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The stork with snakes and lizards from the wood + And pathless wilds supports her callow brood, + While Jove’s own eagle, bird of noble blood, + Scours the wide country for undaunted food; + Sweeps the swift hare or swifter fawn away, + And feeds her nestlings with the generous prey.” + </pre> + <p> + We divide the quarry, as well as the pains and labour of the chase, with + our hawks and hounds. And about Amphipolis, in Thrace, the hawkers and + wild falcons equally divide the prey in the half. As also along the lake + Motis, if the fisherman does not honestly leave the wolves an equal share + of what he has caught, they presently go and tear his nets in pieces. And + as we have a way of sporting that is carried on more by subtlety than + force, as springing hares, and angling with line and hook, there is also + the like amongst other animals. Aristotle says that the cuttle-fish casts + a gut out of her throat as long as a line, which she extends and draws + back at pleasure; and as she perceives some little fish approach her she + lets it nibble upon the end of this gut, lying herself concealed in the + sand or mud, and by little and little draws it in, till the little fish is + so near her that at one spring she may catch it. + </p> + <p> + As to strength, there is no creature in the world exposed to so many + injuries as man. We need not a whale, elephant, or a crocodile, nor any + such-like animals, of which one alone is sufficient to dispatch a great + number of men, to do our business; lice are sufficient to vacate Sylla’s + dictatorship; and the heart and life of a great and triumphant emperor is + the breakfast of a little contemptible worm! + </p> + <p> + Why should we say that it is only for man, or knowledge built up by art + and meditation, to distinguish the things useful for his being, and proper + for the cure of his diseases, and those which are not; to know the virtues + of rhubarb and polypody. When we see the goats of Candia, when wounded + with an arrow, among a million of plants choose out dittany for their + cure; and the tortoise, when she has eaten a viper, immediately go out to + look for origanum to purge her; the dragon to rub and clear his eyes with + fennel; the storks to give themselves clysters of sea-water; the elephants + to draw not only out of their own bodies, and those of their companions, + but out of the bodies of their masters too (witness the elephant of King + Porus whom Alexander defeated), the darts and javelins thrown at them in + battle, and that so dexterously that we ourselves could not do it with so + little pain to the patient;—why do we not say here also that this is + knowledge and reason? For to allege, to their disparagement, that ‘tis + by the sole instruction and dictate of nature that they know all this, is + not to take from them the dignity of knowledge and reason, but with + greater force to attribute it to them than to us, for the honour of so + infallible a mistress. Chrysippus, though in other things as scornful a + judge of the condition of animals as any other philosopher whatever, + considering the motions of a dog, who coming to a place where three ways + met, either to hunt after his master he has lost, or in pursuit of some + game that flies before him, goes snuffing first in one of the ways, and + then in another, and, after having made himself sure of two, without + finding the trace of what he seeks, dashes into the third without + examination, is forced to confess that this reasoning is in the dog: + “I have traced my master to this place; he must of necessity be gone + one of these three ways; he is not gone this way nor that, he must then + infallibly be gone this other;” and that assuring himself by this + conclusion, he makes no use of his nose in the third way, nor ever lays it + to the ground, but suffers himself to be carried on there bv the force of + reason. This sally, purely logical, and this use of propositions divided + and conjoined, and the right enumeration of parts, is it not every whit as + good that the dog knows all this of himself as well as from Trapezuntius? + </p> + <p> + Animals are not incapable, however, of being instructed after our method. + We teach blackbirds, ravens, pies, and parrots, to speak: and the facility + wherewith we see they lend us their voices, and render both them and their + breath so supple and pliant, to be formed and confined within a certain + number of letters and syllables, does evince that they have a reason + within, which renders them so docile and willing to learn. Everybody, I + believe, is glutted with the several sorts of tricks that tumblers teach + their dogs; the dances, where they do not miss any one cadence of the + sound they hear; the several various motions and leaps they make them + perform by the command of a word. But I observe this effect with the + greatest admiration, which nevertheless is very common, in the dogs that + lead the blind, both in the country and in cities: I have taken notice how + they stop at certain doors, where they are wont to receive alms; how they + avoid the encounter of coaches and carts, even there where they have + sufficient room to pass; I have seen them, by the trench of a town, + forsake a plain and even path and take a worse, only to keep their masters + further from the ditch;—how could a man have made this dog + understand that it was his office to look to his master’s safely + only, and to despise his own conveniency to serve him? And how had he the + knowledge that a way was wide enough for him that was not so for a blind + man? Can all this be apprehended without ratiocination! + </p> + <p> + I must not omit what Plutarch says he saw of a dog at Rome with the + Emperor Vespasian, the father, at the theatre of Marcellus. This dog + served a player, that played a farce of several parts and personages, and + had therein his part. He had, amongst other things, to counterfeit himself + for some time dead, by reason of a certain drug he was supposed to eat + After he had swallowed a piece of bread, which passed for the drug, he + began after awhile to tremble and stagger, as if he was taken giddy: at + last, stretching himself out stiff, as if dead, he suffered himself to be + drawn and dragged from place to place, as it was his part to do; and + afterward, when he knew it to be time, he began first gently to stir, as + if awaking out of a profound sleep, and lifting up his head looked about + him after such a manner as astonished all the spectators. + </p> + <p> + The oxen that served in the royal gardens of Susa, to water them, and turn + certain great wheels to draw water for that purpose, to which buckets were + fastened (such as there are many in Languedoc), being ordered every one to + draw a hundred turns a day, they were so accustomed to this number that it + was impossible by any force to make them draw one turn more; but, their + task being performed, they would suddenly stop and stand still. We are + almost men before we can count a hundred, and have lately discovered + nations that have no knowledge of numbers at all. + </p> + <p> + There is more understanding required in the teaching of’ others than + in being taught. Now, setting aside what Democritus held and proved, + “That most of the arts we have were taught us by other animals,” + as by the spider to weave and sew; by the swallow to build; by the swan + and nightingale music; and by several animals to make medicines:—Aristotle + is of opinion “That the nightingales teach their young ones to sing, + and spend a great deal of time and care in it;” whence it happens + that those we bring up in cages, and which have not had the time to learn + of their parents, want much of the grace of their singing: we may judge by + this that they improve by discipline and study; and, even amongst the + wild, it is not all and every one alike—every one has learnt to do + better or worse, according to their capacity. And so jealous are they one + of another, whilst learning, that they contention with emulation, and by + so vigorous a contention that sometimes the vanquished fall dead upon the + place, the breath rather failing than the voice. The younger ruminate + pensively and begin to mutter some broken notes; the disciple listens to + the master’s lesson, and gives the best account he is able; they are + silent oy turns; one may hear faults corrected and observe some + reprehensions of the teacher. “ have formerly seen,” says + Arrian, “an elephant having a cymbal hung at each leg, and another + fastened to his trunk, at the sound of which all the others danced round + about him, rising and bending at certain cadences, as they were guided by + the instrument; and ‘twas delightful to hear this harmony.” In + the spectacles of Rome there were ordinarily seen elephants taught to move + and dance to the sound of the voice, dances wherein were several changes + and cadences very hard to learn. And some have been known so intent upon + their lesson as privately to practice it by themselves, that they might + not be chidden nor beaten by their masters. + </p> + <p> + But this other story of the pie, of which we have Plutarch himself for a + warrant, is very strange. She lived in a barber’s shop at Rome, and + did wonders in imitating with her voice whatever she heard. It happened + one day that certain trumpeters stood a good while sounding before the + shop. After that, and all the next day, the pie was pensive, dumb, and + melancholic; which every body wondered at, and thought the noise of the + trumpets had so stupified and astonished her that her voice was gone with + her hearing. But they found at last that it was a profound meditation and + a retiring into herself, her thoughts exercising and preparing her voice + to imitate the sound of those trumpets, so that the first voice she + uttered was perfectly to imitate their strains, stops, and changes; having + by this new lesson quitted and taken in disdain all she had learned + before. + </p> + <p> + I will not omit this other example of a dog, also, which the same Plutarch + (I am sadly confounding all order, but I do not propose arrangement here + any more than elsewhere throughout my book) which Plutarch says he saw on + board a ship. This dog being puzzled how to get the oil that was in the + bottom of a jar, which he could not reach with his tongue by reason of the + narrow mouth of the vessel, went and fetched stones and let them fall into + the jar till he made the oil rise so high that he could reach it. What is + this but an effect of a very subtle capacity! ‘Tis said that the + ravens of Barbary do the same, when the water they would drink is too low. + This action is somewhat akin to what Juba, a king of their nation relates + of the elephants: “That when, by the craft of the hunter, one of + them is trapped in certain deep pits prepared for them, and covered over + with brush to deceive them, all the rest, in great diligence, bring a + great many stones and logs of wood to raise the bottom so that he may get + out.” But this animal, in several other effects, comes so near to + human capacity that, should I particularly relate all that experience hath + delivered to us, I should easily have what I usually maintain granted: + namely, that there is more difference betwixt such and such a man than + betwixt such a beast and such a man. The keeper of an elephant in a + private house of Syria robbed him every meal of the half of his allowance. + One day his master would himself feed him, and poured the full measure of + barley he had ordered for his allowance into his manger which the + elephant, casting an angry look at the keeper, with his trunk separated + the one-half from the other, and thrust it aside, by that declaring the + wrong was done him. And another, having a keeper that mixed stones with + his corn to make up the measure, came to the pot where he was boiling meat + for his own dinner, and filled it with ashes. These are particular + effects: but that which all the world has seen, and all the world knows, + that in all the armies of the Levant one of the greatest force consisted + in elephants, with whom they did, without comparison, much greater + execution than we now do with our artillery; which takes, pretty nearly, + their place in a day of battle (as may easily be supposed by such as are + well read in ancient history); + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The sires of these huge animals were wont + The Carthaginian Hannibal to mount; + Our leaders also did these beasts bestride, + And mounted thus Pyrrhus his foes defied; + Nay, more, upon their backs they used to bear + Castles with armed cohorts to the war.” + </pre> + <p> + They must necessarily have very confidently relied upon the fidelity and + understanding of these beasts when they entrusted them with the vanguard + of a battle, where the least stop they should have made, by reason of the + bulk and heaviness of their bodies, and the least fright that should have + made them face about upon their own people, had been enough to spoil all: + and there are but few examples where it has happened that they have fallen + foul upon their own troops, whereas we ourselves break into our own + battalions and rout one another. They had the charge not of one simple + movement only, but of many several things to be performed in the battle: + as the Spaniards did to their dogs in their new conquest of the Indies, to + whom they gave pay and allowed them a share in the spoil; and those + animals showed as much dexterity and judgment in pursuing the victory and + stopping the pursuit; in charging and retiring, as occasion required; and + in distinguishing their friends from their enemies, as they did ardour and + fierceness. + </p> + <p> + We more admire and value things that are unusual and strange than those of + ordinary observation. I had not else so long insisted upon these examples: + for I believe whoever shall strictly observe what we ordinarily see in + those animals we have amongst us may there find as wonderful effects as + those we seek in remote countries and ages. ‘Tis one and the same + nature that rolls on her course, and whoever has sufficiently considered + the present state of things, might certainly conclude as to both the + future ana the past. I have formerly seen men, brought hither by sea from + very distant countries, whose language not being understood by us, and + moreover their mien, countenance, and habit, being quite differing from + ours; which of us did not repute them savages and brutes! Who did not + attribute it to stupidity and want of common sense to see them mute, + ignorant of the French tongue, ignorant of our salutations and cringes, + our port and behaviour, from which all human nature must by all means take + its pattern and example. All that seems strange to us, and that we do not + understand, we condemn. The same thing happens also in the judgments we + make of beasts. They have several conditions like to ours; from those we + may, by comparison, draw some conjecture: but by those qualities that are + particular to themselves, what know we what to make of them! The horses, + dogs, oxen, sheep, birds, and most of the animals that live amongst us, + know our voices, and suffer themselves to be governed by them: so did + Crassus’s lamprey, and came when he called it; as also do the eels + that are found in the Lake Arethusa; and I have seen several ponds where + the fishes come to eat at a certain call of those who use to feed them. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “They every one have names, and one and all + Straightway appear at their own master’s call:” + </pre> + <p> + We may judge of that. We may also say that the elephants have some + participation of religion forasmuch as after several washings and + purifications they are observed to lift up their trunk like arms, and, + fixing their eyes towards the rising of the sun, continue long in + meditation and contemplation, at certain hours of the days, of their own + motion; without instruction or precept But because we do not see any such + signs in other animals, we cannot for that conclude that they are without + religion, nor make any judgment of what is concealed from us. As we + discern something in this action which the philosopher Cleanthes took + notice of, because it something resembles our own. He saw, he says, + “Ants go from their ant-hill, carrying the dead body of an ant + towards another ant-hill, whence several other ants came out to meet them, + as if to speak with them; where, after having been a while together, the + last returned to consult, you may suppose, with their fellow-citizens, and + so made two or three journeys, by reason of the difficulty of + capitulation. In the conclusion, the last comers brought the first a worm + out of their burrow, as it were for the ransom of the defunct, which the + first laid upon their backs and carried home, leaving the dead body to the + others.” This was the interpretation that Cleanthes gave of this + transaction, giving us by that to understand that those creatures that + have no voice are not, nevertheless, without intercourse and mutual + communication, whereof ‘tis through our own defect that we do not + participate; and for that reason foolishly take upon us to pass our + censure. But they yet produce either effects far beyond our capacity, to + which we are so far from being able to arrive by imitation that we cannot + so much as by imitation conceive it. Many are of opinion that in the great + and last naval engagement that Antony lost to Augustus, his admiral galley + was stayed in the middle of her course by the little fish the Latins call + <i>remora</i>, by reason of the property she has of staying all sorts of + vessels to which she fastens herself. And the Emperor Caligula, sailing + with a great navy upon the coast of Romania, his galley only was suddenly + stayed by the same fish, which, he caused to be taken, fastened as it was + to the keel of his ship, very angry that such a little animal could resist + both the sea, the wind, and the force of all his oars, by being only + fastened by the beak to his galley (for it is a shell-fish); and was + moreover, not without great reason, astonished that, being brought to him + in the vessel, it had no longer the strength it had without. A citizen of + Cyzicus formerly acquired the reputation of a good mathematician for + having learnt the quality of the hedge-hog: he has his burrow open in + divers places, and to several winds, and, foreseeing the wind that is to + come, stops the hole on that side, which that citizen observing, gave the + city certain predictions of the wind which was presently to blow. The + camlon takes her colour from the place upon which she is laid; but the + polypus gives himself what colour he pleases, according to occasion, + either to conceal himself from what he fears, or from what he has a design + to seize: in the camlon ‘tis a passive, but in the polypus ‘tis + an active, change. We have some changes of colour, as in fear, anger, + shame, and other passions, that alter our complexions; but it is by the + effect of suffering, as with the camlon. It is in the power of the + jaundice, indeed, to make us turn yellow, but ‘tis not in the power + of our own will. Now these effects that we discover in other animals, much + greater than ours, seem to imply some more excellent faculty in them + unknown to us; as ‘tis to be presumed there are several other + qualities and abilities of theirs, of which no appearances have arrived at + us. + </p> + <p> + Amongst all the predictions of elder times, the most ancient and the most + certain were those taken from the flight of birds; we have nothing certain + like it, nor any thing to be so much admired. That rule and order of the + moving of the wing, whence they derived the consequences of future things, + must of necessity be guided by some excellent means to so noble an + operation: for to attribute this great effect to any natural disposition, + without the intelligence, consent, and meditation of him by whom it is + produced, is an opinion evidently false. That it is so, the cramp-fish has + this quality, not only to benumb all the members that touch her, but even + through the nets transmit a heavy dulness into the hands of those that + move and handle them; nay, it is further said that if one pour water upon + her, he will feel this numbness mount up the water to the hand, and + stupefy the feeling through the water. This is a miraculous force; but + ‘tis not useless to the cramp-fish; she knows it, and makes use on’t; + for, to catch the prey she desires, she will bury herself in the mud, that + other fishes swimming over her, struck and benumbed with this coldness of + hers, may fall into her power. Cranes, swallows, and other birds of + passage, by shifting their abode according to the seasons, sufficiently + manifest the knowledge they have of their divining faculty, and put it in + use. Huntsmen assure us that to cull out from amongst a great many puppies + that which ought to be preserved as the best, the best way is to refer the + choice to the mother; as thus, take them and carry them out of the kennel, + and the first she brings back will certainly be the best; or if you make a + show as if you would environ the kennel with fire, that one she first + catches up to save. By which it appears they have a sort of prognostic + which we have not; or that they have some virtue in judging of their + whelps other and more certain than we have. + </p> + <p> + The manner of coming into the world, of engendering, nourishing, acting, + moving, living and dying of beasts, is so near to ours that whatever we + retrench from their moving causes, and add to our own condition above + theirs, can by no means proceed from any meditation of our own reason. For + the regimen of our health, physicians propose to us the example of the + beasts’ manners and way of living; for this saying (out of Plutarch) + has in all times been in the mouth of these people: “Keep warm thy + feet and head, as to the rest, live like a beast.” + </p> + <p> + The chief of all natural actions is generation; we have a certain + disposition of members which is the most proper for us to that end; + nevertheless, we are ordered by Lucretius to conform to the gesture and + posture of the brutes as the most effectual:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + More ferarum, + Quadrupedumque magis ritu, plerumque putantur + Concipere uxores: + Quia sic loca sumere possunt, + Pectoribus positis, sublatis semina lumbis; +</pre> + <p> + and the same authority condemns, as hurtful, those indiscreet and impudent + motions which the women have added of their own invention, to whom it + proposes the more temperate and modest pattern and practice of the beasts + of their own sex:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nam mulier prohibet se concipere atque rpugnt, + Clunibus ipsa viri Venerem si lta retractet, + Atque exossato ciet omni pectore fluctua. + Ejicit enim sulci recta regione viaque + Vomerem, atque locis avertit seminis ictum. +</pre> + <p> + If it be justice to render to every one their due, the beasts that serve, + love, and defend their benefactors, and that pursue and fall upon + strangers and those who offend them, do in this represent a certain air of + our justice; as also in observing a very equitable equality in the + distribution of what they have to their young. And as to friendship, they + have it without comparison more lively and constant than men have. King + Lysimachus’s dog, Hyrcanus, master being dead, lay on his bed, + obstinately refusing either to eat or drink; and, the day that his body + was burnt, he took a run and leaped into the fire, where he was consumed, + As also did the dog of one Pyrrhus, for he would not stir from off his + master’s bed from the time he died; and when they carried him away + let himself be carried with him, and at last leaped into the pile where + they burnt his master’s body. There are inclinations of affection + which sometimes spring in us, without the consultation of reason; and by a + fortuitous temerity, which others call sympathy; of which beasts are as + capable as we. We see horses take such an acquaintance with one another + that we have much ado to make them eat or travel, when separated; we + observe them to fancy a particular colour in those of their own kind, and, + where they meet it, run to it with great joy and demonstrations of good + will, and have a dislike and hatred for some other colour. Animals have + choice, as well as we, in their amours, and cull out their mistresses; + neither are they exempt from our jealousies and implacable malice. + </p> + <p> + Desires are either natural and necessary, as to eat and drink; or natural + and not necessary, as the coupling with females; or neither natural nor + necessary; of which last sort are almost all the desires of men; they are + all superfluous and artificial. For ‘tis marvellous how little will + satisfy nature, how little she has left us to desire; our ragouts and + kickshaws are not of her ordering. The Stoics say that a man may live on + an olive a day. The delicacy of our wines is no part of her instruction, + nor the refinements we introduce into the indulgence of our amorous + appetites:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Neque ilia + Magno prognatum deposcit consule cunnum. + + “Nature, in her pursuit of love, disclaims + The pride of titles, and the pomp of names.” + </pre> + <p> + These irregular desires, that the ignorance of good and a false opinion + have infused into us, are so many that they almost exclude all the + natural; just as if there were so great a number of strangers in the city + as to thrust out the natural inhabitants, or, usurping upon their ancient + rights and privileges, should extinguish their authority and introduce new + laws and customs of their own. Animals are much more regular than we, and + keep themselves with greater moderation within the limits nature has + prescribed; but yet not so exactly that they have not sometimes an analogy + with our debauches. And as there have been furious desires that have + impelled men to the love of beasts, so there have been examples of beasts + that have fallen in love with us, and been seized with monstrous affection + betwixt kinds; witness the elephant who was rival to Aristophanes the + grammarian in the love of a young herb-wench in the city of Alexandria, + who was nothing behind him in all the offices of a very passionate suitor; + for going through the market where they sold fruit, he would take some in + his trunk and carry them to her. He would as much as possible keep her + always in his sight, and would sometimes put his trunk under her + handkerchief into her bosom, to feel her breasts. They tell also of a + dragon in love with a girl, and of a goose enamoured of a child; of a ram + that was suitor to the minstrelless Glaucia, in the town of Asopus; and we + see not unfrequently baboons furiously in love with women. We see also + certain male animals that are fond of the males of their own kind. Oppian + and others give us some examples of the reverence that beasts have to + their kindred in their copulations; but experience often shows us the + contrary:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nec habetur turpe juvenc + Ferre patrem tergo; fit equo sua filia conjux; + Quasque creavit, init pecudes caper; ipsaque cujus + Semine concepta est, ex illo concipit ales. + + “The heifer thinks it not a shame to take + Her lusty sire upon her willing back: + The horse his daughter leaps, goats scruple not + T’ increase the herd by those they have begot; + And birds of all sorts do in common live, + And by the seed they have conceived conceive.” + </pre> + <p> + And for subtle cunning, can there be a more pregnant example than in the + philosopher Thales’s mule? who, fording a river, laden with salt, + and by accident stumbling there, so that the sacks he carried were all + wet, perceiving that by the melting of the salt his burden was something + lighter, he never failed, so oft as he came to any river, to lie down with + his load; till his master, discovering the knavery, ordered that he should + be laden with wood? wherein, finding himself mistaken, he ceased to + practise that device. There are several that very vividly represent the + true image of our avarice; for we see them infinitely solicitus to get all + they can, and hide it with that exceeding great care, though they never + make any use of it at all. As to thrift, they surpass us not only in the + foresight and laying up, and saving for the time to come, but they have, + moreover, a great deal of the science necessary thereto. The ants bring + abroad into the sun their grain and seed to air, refresh and dry them when + they perceive them to mould and grow musty, lest they should decay and + rot. But the caution and prevention they use in gnawing their grains of + wheat surpass all imagination of human prudence; for by reason that the + wheat does not always continue sound and dry, but grows soft, thaws and + dissolves as if it were steeped in milk, whilst hasting to germination; + for fear lest it should shoot and lose the nature and property of a + magazine for their subsistence, they nibble off the end by which it should + shoot and sprout. + </p> + <p> + As to what concerns war, which is the greatest and most magnificent of + human actions, I would very fain know whether we would use it for an + argument of some prerogative or, on contrary, for a testimony of our + weakness and imperfection; as, in truth, the science of undoing and + killing one another, and of ruining and destroying our own kind, has + nothing in it so tempting as to make it be coveted by beasts who have it + not. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quando leoni Fortior eripuit vitam leo? quo nemore unquam + Expiravit aper majoris dentibus apri? + + “No lion drinks a weaker lion’s gore, + No boar expires beneath a stronger boar.” + </pre> + <p> + Yet are they not universally exempt; witness the furious encounters of + bees, and the enterprises of the princes of the contrary armies:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Spe duobus Regibus incessit magno discordia motu; + Continuoque animos vulgi et trepidantia bello + Gorda licet long prsciscere. + + “But if contending factions arm the hive, + When rival kings in doubtful battle strive, + Tumultuous crowds the dread event prepare, + And palpitating hearts that beat to war.” + </pre> + <p> + I never read this divine description but that, methinks, I there see human + folly and vanity represented in their true and lively colours. For these + warlike movements, that so ravish us with their astounding noise and + horror, this rattle of guns, drums, and cries, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Fulgur ibi ad coelum se tollit, totaque circum + re renidescit tellus, subterque virm vi + Excitur pedibus sonitus, clamoreque montes + Icti rejectant voces ad sidera mundi; + + “When burnish’d arms to heaven dart their rays, + And many a steely beam i’ th’ sunlight plays, + When trampled is the earth by horse and man, + Until the very centre groans again, + And that the rocks, struck by the various cries, + Reverberate the sound unto the skies;” + </pre> + <p> + in the dreadful embattling of so many thousands of armed men, and so great + fury, ardour, and courage, ‘tis pleasant to consider by what idle + occasions they are excited, and by how light ones appeased:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Paridis propter narratur amorem + Greci Barbari diro collisa duello: + + “Of wanton Paris the illicit love + Did Greece and Troy to ten years’ warfare move:” + </pre> + <p> + all Asia was ruined and destroyed for the lust of Paris; the envy of one + single man, a despite, a pleasure, a domestic jealousy, causes that ought + not to set two oyster-wenches by the ears, is the mover of all this mighty + bustle. Shall we believe those very men who are themselves the principal + authors of these mischiefs? Let us then hear the greatest, the most + powerful, the most victorious emperor that ever was, turning into a jest, + very pleasantly and ingeniously, several battles fought both by sea and + land, the blood and lives of five hundred thousand men that followed his + fortune, and the strength and riches of two parts of the world drained for + the expense of his expeditions:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quod futuit Glaphyran Antonius, hanc mihi poenam + Fulvia constituit, se quoqne uti futuam. + Fulviam ego ut futuam! quid, si me Manius oret + Podicem, faciam? Non puto, si sapiam. + Aut futue, aut pugnemus, ait + Quid, si mihi vitii + Charior est ips mentula? Signa canant. + + Qui? moi, que je serve Fulvie! + Sufflt-il quelle en ait envie? + A ce compte, on verrait se retirer von moi + Mille pouses mal satisfaites. + Aime-moi, me dit elle, ou combattons. Mais quoi? + Elle est bien laide! Allons, sonnes trompettes. + + ‘Cause Anthony is fired with Glaphire’s charms + Fain would his Fulvia tempt me to her arms. + If Anthony be false, what then? must I + Be slave to Fulvia’s lustful tyranny? + Then would a thousand wanton, waspish wives, +</pre> + <p> + (I use my Latin with the liberty of conscience you are pleased to allow + me.) Now this great body, with so many fronts, and so many motions, which + seems to threaten heaven and earth:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quam multi Lybico volvuntur marmore fluctus, + Svus ubi Orion hibemis conditur undis, + Vel quam solo novo dens torrentur Arist, + Aut Hermi campo, aut Lyci flaventibus arvis; + Scuta sonant, pulsuque pedum tremit excita tellus: + + “Not thicker billows beat the Lybian main, + When pale Orion sits in wintry rain; + Nor thicker harvests on rich Hermus rise, + Or Lycian fields, when Phobus burns the skies, + Than stand these troops: their bucklers ring around; + Their trampling turns the turf and shakes the solid ground:” + </pre> + <p> + this furious monster, with so many heads and arms, is yet man—feeble, + calamitous, and miserable man! ‘Tis but an ant-hill disturbed and + provoked:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + It nigrum campis agmen: + + “The black troop marches to the field:” + </pre> + <p> + a contrary blast, the croaking of a flight of ravens, the stumble of a + horse, the casual passage of an eagle, a dream, a voice, a sign, a morning + mist, are any one of them sufficient to beat down and overturn him. Dart + but a sunbeam in his face, he is melted and vanished. Blow but a little + dust in his eyes, as our poet says of the bees, and all our ensigns and + legions, with the great Pompey himself at the head of them, are routed and + crushed to pieces; for it was he, as I take it, that Sertorious beat in + Spain with those fine arms, which also served Eumenes against Antigonus, + and Surena against Crassus:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Swarm to my bed like bees into their hives. + Declare for love, or war, she said; and frown’d: + No love I’ll grant: to arms bid trumpets sound.” + </pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Hi motus animorum, atque hoc certamina tanta, + Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescent. + + “Yet at thy will these dreadful conflicts cease, + Throw but a little dust and all is peace.” + </pre> + <p> + Let us but slip our flies after them, and they will have the force and + courage to defeat them. Of fresh memory, the Portuguese having besieged + the city of Tamly, in the territory of Xiatine, the inhabitants of the + place brought a great many hives, of which are great plenty in that place, + upon the wall; and with fire drove the bees so furiously upon the enemy + that they gave over the enterprise, not being able to stand their attacks + and endure their stings; and so the citizens, by this new sort of relief, + gained liberty and the victory with so wonderful a fortune, that at the + return of their defenders from the battle they found they had not lost so + much as one. The souls of emperors and cobblers are cast in the same + mould; the weight and importance of the actions of princes considered, we + persuade ourselves that they must be produced by some as weighty and + important causes; but we are deceived; for they are pushed on, and pulled + back in their motions, by the same springs that we are in our little + undertakings. The same reason that makes us wrangle with a neighbour + causes a war betwixt princes; the same reason that makes us whip a lackey, + falling into the hands of a king makes him ruin a whole province. They are + as lightly moved as we, but they are able to do more. In a gnat and an + elephant the passion is the same. + </p> + <p> + As to fidelity, there is no animal in the world so treacherous as man. Our + histories have recorded the violent pursuits that dogs have made after the + murderers of their masters. King Pyrrhus observing a dog that watched a + dead man’s body, and understanding that he had for three days + together performed that office, commanded that the body should be buried, + and took the dog along with him. One day, as he was at a general muster of + his army, this dog, seeing his master’s murderers, with great + barking and extreme signs of anger flew upon them, and by this first + accusation awakened the revenge of this murder, which was soon after + perfected by form of justice. As much was done by the dog of the wise + Hesiod, who convicted the sons of Ganictor of Naupactus of the murder + committed on the person of his master. Another dog being to guard a temple + at Athens, having spied a sacrilegious thief carrying away the finest + jewels, fell to barking at him with all his force, but the warders not + awaking at the noise, he followed him, and day being broke, kept off at a + little distance, without losing sight of him; if he offered him any thing + to eat he would not take it, but would wag his tail at all the passengers + he met, and took whatever they gave him; and if the thief laid down to + sleep, he likewise stayed upon the same place. The news of this dog being + come to the warders of the temple they put themselves upon the pursuit, + inquiring of the colour of the dog, and at last found him in the city of + Cromyon, and the thief also, whom they brought back to Athens, where he + got his reward; and the judges, in consideration of this good office, + ordered a certain measure of corn for the dog’s daily sustenance, at + the public charge, and the priests to take care of it. Plutarch delivers + this story for a certain truth, and that it happened in the age wherein he + lived. + </p> + <p> + As to gratitude (for I think we need bring this word into a little + repute), this one example, which Apion reports himself to have been an + eye-witness of, shall suffice. + </p> + <p> + “One day,” says he, “at Rome, they entertained the + people with the sight of the fighting of several strange beasts, and + principally of lions of an unusual size; there was one amongst the rest + who, by his furious deportment, by the strength and largeness of his + limbs, and by his loud and dreadful roaring, attracted the eyes of all the + spectators. Amongst other slaves that were presented to the people in this + combat of beasts there was one Androdus, of Dacia, belonging to a Roman + lord of consular dignity. This lion having seen him at a distance first + made a sudden stop, as it were in a wondering posture, and then softly + approached nearer in a gentle and peaceable manner, as if it were to enter + into acquaintance with him. This being done, and being now assured of what + he sought for, he began to wag his tail, as dogs do when they flatter + their masters, and to kiss and lick the hands and thighs of the poor + wretch, who was beside himself, and almost dead with fear. Androdus being + by this kindness of the lion a little come to himself, and having taken so + much heart as to consider and know him, it was a singular pleasure to see + the joy and caresses that passed betwixt them. At which the people + breaking into loud acclamations of joy, the emperor caused the slave to be + called, to know from him the cause of so strange an event; who thereupon + told him a new and a very strange story: “My master,” said he, + “being pro-consul in Africa, I was constrained, by his severity and + cruel usage, being daily beaten, to steal from him and run away; and, to + hide myself secretly from a person of so great authority in the province, + I thought it my best way to fly to the solitudes, sands, and uninhabitable + parts of that country, resolving that in case the means of supporting life + should chance to fail me, to make some shift or other to kill myself. The + sun being excessively hot at noon, and the heat intolerable, I lit upon a + private and almost inaccessible cave, and went into it Soon after there + came in to me this lion, with one foot wounded and bloody, complaining and + groaning with the pain he endured. At his coming I was exceeding afraid; + but he having spied me hid in the comer of his den, came gently to me, + holding out and showing me his wounded foot, as if he demanded my + assistance in his distress. I then drew out a great splinter he had got + there, and, growing a little more familiar with him, squeezing the wound + thrust out the matter, dirt, and gravel which was got into it, and wiped + and cleansed it the best I could. He, finding himself something better, + and much eased of his pain, laid him down to rest, and presently fell + asleep with his foot in my hand. From that time forward he and I lived + together in this cave three whole years upon one and the same diet; for of + the beasts that he killed in hunting he always brought me the best pieces, + which I roasted in the sun for want of fire, and so ate it. At last, + growing weary of this wild and brutish life, the lion being one day gone + abroad to hunt for our ordinary provision, I departed thence, and the + third day after was taken by the soldiers, who brought me from Africa to + this city to my master, who presently condemned me to die, and to be thus + exposed to the wild beasts. Now, by what I see, this lion was also taken + soon after, who has now sought to recompense me for the benefit and cure + that he received at my hands.” This is the story that Androdus told + the emperor, which he also conveyed from hand to hand to the people; + wherefore, at the general request, he was absolved from his sentence and + set at liberty, and the lion was, by order of the people, presented to + him. “We afterwards saw,” says Apion, “Androdus leading + this lion, in nothing but a small leash, from tavern to tavern at Rome, + and receiving what money every body would give him, the lion being so + gentle as to suffer himself to be covered with the flowers that the people + threw upon him, every one that met him saying, ‘There goes the lion + that entertained the man; there goes the man that cured the lion.’” + </p> + <p> + We often lament the loss of beasts we love, and so do they the loss of us:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Post, bellator equus, positis insignibus, thon + It lacrymans, guttisque humectt grandibus ora. + + “To close the pomp, thon, the steed of state. + Is led, the fun’ral of his lord to wait. + Stripped of his trappings, with a sullen pace + He walks, and the big tears run rolling down his face.” + </pre> + <p> + As some nations have their wives in common, and some others have every one + his own, is not the same seen among beasts, and marriages better kept than + ours? As to the society and confederation they make amongst themselves, to + league together and to give one another mutual assistance, is it not known + that oxen, hogs, and other animals, at the cry of any of their kind that + we offend, all the herd run to his aid and embody for his defence? The + fish Scarus, when he has swallowed the angler’s hook, his fellows + all crowd about him and gnaw the line in pieces; and if, by chance, one be + got into the bow net, the others present him their tails on the outside, + which he holding fast with his teeth, they after that manner disengage and + draw him out. + </p> + <p> + Mullets, when one of their companions is engaged, cross the line over + their back, and, with a fin they have there, indented like a saw, cut and + saw it asunder. As to the particular offices that we receive from one + another for the service of life, there are several like examples amongst + them. ‘Tis said that the whale never moves that she has not always + before her a little fish like the sea-gudgeon, for this reason called the + guide-fish, whom the whale follows, suffering himself to be led and turned + with as great facility as the rudder guides the ship; in recompense of + which service also, whereas all the other things, whether beast or vessel, + that enter into the dreadful gulf of this monster’s mouth, are + immediately lost and swallowed up, this little fish retires into it in + great security, and there sleeps, during which time the whale never stirs; + but so soon as ever it goes out he immediately follows it; and if by + accident he loses the sight of his little guide, he goes wandering here + and there, and strikes his sides against the rocks like a ship that has + lost her helm; which Plutarch affirms to have seen in the island of + Anticyra. There is a like society betwixt the little bird called the wren + and the crocodile. The wren serves for a sentinel over this great animal; + and if the ichneumon, his mortal enemy, approach to fight him, this little + bird, for fear lest he should surprise him asleep, both with his voice and + bill rouses him and gives him notice of his danger. He feeds of this + monster’s leavings, who receives him familiarly into his mouth, + suffering him to peck in his jaws and betwixt his teeth, and thence to + pick out the bits of flesh that remain; and when he has a mind to shut his + mouth, he first gives the bird warning to go out by closing it by little + and little, and without bruising or doing it any harm at all. The + shell-fish called the naker, lives in the same intelligence with the + shrimp, a little sort of animal of the lobster kind, which serves him in + the nature of a porter, sitting at the opening of the shell, which the + naker keeps always gaping and open till the shrimp sees some little fish, + proper for their prey, within the hollow of the shell, where she enters + too, and pinches the naker so to the quick that she is forced to close her + shell, where they two together devour the prey they have trapped in their + fort. In the manner of living of the tunnies we observe a singular + knowledge of the three parts of mathematics. As to astrology, they teach + it men, for they stay in the place where they are surprised by the brumal + solstice, and never stir thence till the next equinox; for which reason + Aristotle himself attributes to them this science. As to geometry and + arithmetic, they always form their numbers in the figure of a cube, every + way square, and make up the body of a battalion, solid, close, and + environed round with six equal sides, and swim in this square order, as + large behind as before; so that whoever in seeing them can count one rank + may easily number the whole troop, by reason that the depth is equal to + the breadth, and the breadth to the length. + </p> + <p> + As to magnanimity, it will be hard to exhibit a better instance of it than + in the example of the great dog sent to Alexander the Great from the + Indies. They first brought him a stag to encounter, next a boar, and after + that a bear, all which he slighted, and disdained to stir from his place; + but when he saw a lion he then immediately roused himself, evidently + manifesting that he declared that alone worthy to enter the lists with + him. Touching repentance and the acknowledgment of faults, ‘tis + reported of an elephant that, having in the impetuosity of his rage killed + his keeper, he fell into so extreme a sorrow that he would never after + eat, but starved himself to death. And as to clemency, ‘tis said of + a tiger, the most cruel of all beasts, that a kid having been put in to + him, he suffered a two days’ hunger rather than hurt it, and the + third broke the grate he was shut up in, to seek elsewhere for prey; so + unwilling he was to fall upon the kid, his familiar and his guest, And as + to the laws of familiarity and agreement, formed by conversation, it + ordinarily happens that we bring up cats, dogs, and hares, tame together. + </p> + <p> + But that which seamen by experience know, and particularly in the Sicilian + Sea, of the quality of the halcyons, surpasses all human thought of what + kind of animal has nature even so much honoured the birth? The poets + indeed say that one only island, Delos, which was before a floating + island, was fixed for the service of Latona’s lying-in; but God has + ordered that the whole ocean should be stayed, made stable and smooth, + without waves, without winds or rain, whilst the halcyon produces her + young, which is just about the solstice, the shortest day of the year; so + that by her privilege we have seven days and seven nights in the very + heart of winter wherein we may sail without danger. Their females never + have to do with any other male but their own, whom they serve and assist + all their lives, without ever forsaking him. If he becomes weak and broken + with age, they take him upon their shoulders and carry him from place to + place, and serve him till death. But the most inquisitive into the secrets + of nature could never yet arrive at the knowledge of the wonderful fabric + wherewith the halcyon builds her nest for her little ones, nor guess at + the materials. Plutarch, who has seen and handled many of them, thinks it + is the bones of some fish which she joins and binds together, interlacing + them, some lengthwise and others across, and adding ribs and hoops in such + manner that she forms at last a round vessel fit to launch; which being + done, and the building finished, she carries it to the beach, where the + sea beating gently against it shows where she is to mend what is not well + jointed and knit, and where better to fortify the seams that are leaky, + that open at the beating of the waves; and, on the contrary, what is well + built and has had the due finishing, the beating of the waves does so + close and bind together that it is not to be broken or cracked by blows + either of stone or iron without very much ado. And that which is more to + be admired is the proportion and figure of the cavity within, which is + composed and proportioned after such a manner as not to receive or admit + any other thing than the bird that built it; for to any thing else it is + so impenetrable, close, and shut, nothing can enter, not so much as the + water of the sea. This is a very dear description of this building, and + borrowed from a very good hand; and yet me-thinks it does not give us + sufficient light into the difficulty of this architecture. Now from what + vanity can it proceed to despise and look down upon, and disdainfully to + interpret, effects that we can neither imitate nor comprehend? + </p> + <p> + To pursue a little further this equality and correspondence betwixt us and + beasts, the privilege our soul so much glorifies herself upon, of things + she conceives to her own law, of striping all things that come to her of + their mortal and corporeal qualities, of ordering and placing things she + conceives worthy her taking notice of, stripping and divesting them of + their corruptible qualities, and making them to lay aside length, breadth, + depth, weight, colour, smell, roughness, smoothness, hardness, softness, + and all sensible accidents, as mean and superfluous vestments, to + accommodate them to her own immortal and spiritual condition; as Rome and + Paris, for example, that I have in my fancy, Paris that I imagine, I + imagine and comprehend it without greatness and without place, without + stone, without plaster, and without wood; this very same privilege, I say, + seems evidently to be in beasts; for a courser accustomed to trumpets, to + musket-shots, and battles, whom we see start and tremble in his sleep and + stretched upon his litter, as if he were in a fight; it is almost certain + that he conceives in his soul the beat of a drum without noise, and an + army without arms and without body:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quippe videbis equos fortes, cum membra jacebunt + In somnis, sudare tamen, spirareque spe, + Et quasi de palm summas contendere vires: + + “You shall see maneg’d horses in their sleep + Sweat, snort, start, tremble, and a clutter keep, + As if with all their force they striving were + The victor’s palm proudly away to bear:” + </pre> + <p> + the hare, that a greyhound imagines in his sleep, after which we see him + pant so whilst he sleeps, stretch out his tail, shake his legs, and + perfectly represents all the motions of a course, is a hare without fur + and without bones:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Venantumque canes in molli spe quiete + Jactant crura tamen subito, vocesque repente + Mittunt, et crebras reducunt naribus auras, + Ut vestigia si teneant inventa ferarum: + Expergeftique sequuntur inania spe + Cervorum simulacra, fag quasi dedita cernant; + Donee discussis redeant erroribus ad se: + + “And hounds stir often in their quiet rest, + Spending their mouths, as if upon a quest, + Snuff, and breathe quick and short, as if they went + In a full chase upon a burning scent: + Nay, being wak’d, imagin’d stags pursue, + As if they had them in their real view, + Till, having shook themselves more broad awake, + They do at last discover the mistake:” + </pre> + <p> + the watch-dogs, that we often observe to snarl in their dreams, and + afterwards bark out, and start up as if they perceived some stranger at + hand; the stranger that their soul discerns is a man spiritual and + imperceptible, without dimension, without colour, and without being:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Consueta domi catulorum blanda propago + Degere, spe levem ex oculis volucremque soporem + Discutere, et corpus de terra corripere instant, + Proinde quasi ignotas facies atque ora tuantur. + + “The fawning whelps of household curs will rise, + And, shaking the soft slumber from their eyes, + Oft bark and stare at ev’ry one within, + As upon faces they had never seen.” + </pre> + <p> + to the beauty of the body, before I proceed any further I should know + whether or no we are agreed about the description. ‘Tis likely we do + not well know what beauty is in nature and in general, since to our own + human beauty we give so many divers forms, of which, were there any + natural rule and prescription, we should know it in common, as the heat of + the fire. But we fancy the forms according to our own appetite and liking:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Turpis Romano Belgicus ore color: + + “A German hue ill suits, a Roman face.” + </pre> + <p> + The Indians paint it black and tawny, with great swelled lips, wide flat + noses and load the cartilage betwixt the nostrils with great rings of + gold, to make it hang down to the mouth; as also the under lip with great + hoops, enriched with precious stones, that weigh them down to fall upon + the chin, it being with them a singular grace to show their teeth, even + below the roots. In Peru the greatest ears are the most beautiful, which + they stretch out as far as they can by art. And a man now living says that + he has seen in an eastern nation this care of enlarging them in so great + repute, and the ear loaded with so ponderous jewels, that he did with + great ease put his arm, sleeve and all, through the hole of an ear. There + are elsewhere nations that take great care to black their teeth, and hate + to see them white, whilst others paint them red. The women are reputed + more beautiful, not only in Biscay, but elsewhere, for having their heads + shaved; and, which is more, in certain frozen countries, as Pliny reports. + The Mexicans esteem a low forehead a great beauty, and though they shave + all other parts, they nourish hair on the forehead and increase it by art, + and have great breasts in so great reputation that they affect to give + their children suck over their shoulders. We should paint deformity so. + The Italians fashion it gross and massy; the Spaniards gaunt and slender; + and amongst us one has it white, another brown; one soft and delicate, + another strong and vigorous; one will have his mistress soft and gentle, + others haughty and majestic. Just as the preference in beauty that Plato + attributes to the spherical figure the Epicureans gave rather to the + pyramidal or square, and cannot swallow a god in the form of a bowl. But, + be it how it will, nature has no more privileged us in this from her + common laws than in the rest And if we will judge ourselves aright, we + shall find that, if there be some animals less favoured in this than we, + there are others, and in greater number, that are more; <i>a multis + animalibus decore vincimur</i> “Many animals surpass us in beauty,” + even among the terrestrial, our compatriots; for as to those of sea, + setting the figure aside, which cannot fall into any manner of proportion, + being so much another thing in colour, clearness, smoothness, and + arrangement, we sufficiently give place to them; and no less, in all + qualities, to the aerial. And this prerogative that the poets make such a + mighty matter of, our erect stature, looking towards heaven our original, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Pronaque cum spectent animalia ctera terrain, + Os homini sublime ddit, columque tueri + Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus, + + “Whilst all the brutal creatures downward bend + Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend, + He set man’s face aloft, that, with his eyes + Uplifted, he might view the starry skies,” + </pre> + <p> + is truly poetical; for there are several little beasts who have their + sight absolutely turned towards heaven; and I find the gesture of camels + and ostriches much higher raised and more erect than ours. What animals + have not their faces above and not before, and do not look opposite, as we + do; and that do not in their natural posture discover as much of heaven + and earth as man? And what qualities of our bodily constitution, in Plato + and Cicero, may not indifferently serve a thousand sorts of beasts? Those + that most resemble us are the most despicable and deformed of all the + herd; for those, as to outward appearance and form of visage, are baboons:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Simia quam similis, turpissima bestia, nobis? + + “How like to man, in visage and in shape, + Is, of all beasts the most uncouth, the ape?” + </pre> + <p> + as to the internal and vital parts, the hog. In earnest, when I consider + man stark naked, even in that sex which seems to have greatest share of + beauty, his defects, natural subjection, and imperfections, I find that we + have more reason than any other animal, to cover ourselves; and are to be + excused from borrowing of those to whom nature has in this been kinder + than to us, to trick ourselves out with their beauties, and hide ourselves + under their spoils, their wool, feathers, hair, and silk. Let us observe, + as to the rest, that man is the sole animal whose nudities offend his own + companions, and the only one who in his natural actions withdraws and + hides himself from his own kind. And really ‘tis also an effect + worth consideration, that they who are masters in the trade prescribe, as + a remedy for amorous passions, the full and free view of the body a man + desires; for that to cool the ardour there needs no more but freely and + fully to see what he loves:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ille quod obscnas in aperto corpore partes + Viderat, in cursu qui fuit, hsit amor. + + “The love that’s tilting when those parts appear + Open to view, flags in the hot career,” + </pre> + <p> + And, although this receipt may peradventure proceed from a nice and cold + humour, it is notwithstanding a very great sign of our deficiencies that + use and acquaintance should make us disgust one another. It is not + modesty, so much as cunning and prudence, that makes our ladies so + circumspect to refuse us admittance into their cabinets before they are + painted and tricked up for the public view:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nec Veneres nostras hoc fallit; quo magis ips + Omnia summopere hos vit postscenia celant, + Quos retinere volunt, adstrictoque esse in amore: + + “Of this our ladies are full well aware, + Which make them, with such privacy and care, + Behind the scene all those defects remove, + Likely to check the flame of those they love,” + </pre> + <p> + whereas, in several animals there is nothing that we do not love, and that + does not please our senses; so that from their very excrements we do not + only extract wherewith to heighten our sauces, but also our richest + ornaments and perfumes. This discourse reflects upon none but the ordinary + sort of women, and is not so sacrilegious as to comprehend those divine, + supernatural, and extraordinary beauties, which we see shine occasionally + among us like stars under a corporeal and terrestrial veil. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, the very share that we allow to beasts of the bounty of + nature, by our own confession, is very much to their advantage. We + attribute to ourselves imaginary and fantastic good, future and absent + good, for which human capacity cannot of herself be responsible; or good, + that we falsely attribute to ourselves by the license of opinion, as + reason, knowledge, and honour, and leave to them for their dividend, + essential, durable, and palpable good, as peace, repose, security, + innocence, and health; health, I say, the fairest and richest present that + nature can make us. Insomuch that philosophy, even the Stoic, is so bold + as to say, “That Heraclitus and Pherecides, could they have trucked + their wisdom for health, and have delivered themselves, the one of his + dropsy, and the other of the lousy disease that tormented him, they had + done well.” By which they set a greater value upon wisdom, comparing + and putting it into the balance with health, than they do with this other + proposition, which is also theirs; they say that if Circe had presented + Ulysses with the two potions, the one to make a fool become a wise man, + and the other to make a wise man become a fool, that Ulysses ought rather + to have chosen the last, than consent to that by which Circe changed his + human figure into that of a beast; and say that wisdom itself would have + spoke to him after this manner: “Forsake me, let me alone, rather + than lodge me under the body and figure of an ass.” How! the + philosophers, then will abandon this great and divine wisdom for this + corporeal and terrestrial covering? It is then no more by reason, by + discourse, and by the soul, that we excel beasts; ‘tis by our + beauty, our fair complexion, and our fine symmetry of parts, for which we + must quit our intelligence, our prudence, and all the rest. Well, I accept + this open and free confession; certainly they knew that those parts, upon + which we so much value ourselves, are no other than vain fancy. If beasts + then had all the virtue, knowledge, wisdom, and stoical perfection, they + would still be beasts, and would not be comparable to man, miserable, + wicked, mad, man. For, in short, whatever is not as we are is nothing + worth; and God, to procure himself an esteem among us, must put himself + into that shape, as we shall show anon. By which it appears that it is not + upon any true ground of reason, but by a foolish pride and vain opinion, + that we prefer ourselves before other animals, and separate ourselves from + their society and condition. + </p> + <p> + But to return to what I was upon before; we have for our part inconstancy, + irresolution, incertitude, sorrow, superstition, solicitude of things to + come, even after we shall be no more, ambition, avarice, jealousy, envy, + irregular, frantic, and untamed appetites, war, lying, disloyalty, + detraction, and curiosity. Doubtless, we have strangely overpaid this fine + reason, upon which we so much glorify ourselves, and this capacity of + judging and knowing, if we have bought it at the price of this infinite + number of passions to which we are eternally subject. Unless we shall also + think fit, as even Socrates does, to add to the counterpoise that notable + prerogative above beasts, That whereas nature has prescribed them certain + seasons and limits for the delights of Venus, she has given us the reins + at all hours and all seasons.” <i>Ut vinum ogrotis, quia prodest + rar, nocet sopissime, melius est non adhibere omnino, quam, spe dubio + salutis, in apertam per-niciem incurrere; sic, haud scio an melius fuerit + humano generi motum istum celerem cogitationis, acumen, solertiam, quam + rationem vocamus, quoniam pestifera sint multis, ad-modum paucis + saluiaria, non dari omnino, quam tam muniice et tam large dari?</i> As it + falls out that wine often hurting the sick, and very rarely doing them + good, it is better not to give them any at all than to run into an + apparent danger out of hope of an uncertain benefit, so I know not whether + it had not been better for mankind that this quick motion, this + penetration, this subtlety that we call reason, had not been given to man + at all; considering how pestiferous it is to many, and useful but to few, + than to have been conferred in so abundant manner, and with so liberal a + hand.” Of what advantage can we conceive the knowledge of so many + things was to Yarro and Aristotle? Did it exempt them from human + inconveniences? Were they by it freed from the accidents that lay heavy + upon the shoulders of a porter? Did they extract from their logic any + consolation for the gout? Or, for knowing how this humour is lodged in the + joints, did they feel it the less? Did they enter into composition with + death by knowing that some nations rejoice at his approach; or with + cuckoldry, by knowing that in some parts of the world wives are in common? + On the contrary, having been reputed the greatest men for knowledge, the + one amongst the Romans and the other amongst the Greeks, and in a time + when learning did most flourish, we have not heard, nevertheless, that + they had any particular excellence in their lives; nay, the Greek had + enough to do to clear himself from some notable blemishes in his. Have we + observed that pleasure and health have a better relish with him that + understands astrology and grammar than with others? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Illiterati num minus nervi rigent? + + “Th’ illiterate ploughman is as fit + For Venus’ service as the wit:” + </pre> + <p> + or shame and poverty less troublesome to the first than to the last? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Scilicet et morbis et debilitate carebis, + Et luctum et curam effugies, et tempora vit + Longa tibi post hc fato meliore dabuntur. + + “Disease thy couch shall flee, + And sorrow and care; yes, thou, be sure, wilt see + Long years of happiness, till now unknown.” + </pre> + <p> + I have known in my time a hundred artisans, a hundred labourers, wiser and + more happy than the rectors of the university, and whom I had much rather + have resembled. Learning, methinks, has its place amongst the necessary, + things of life, as glory, nobility, dignity, or at the most, as beauty, + riches, and such other qualities, which indeed are useful to it, but + remotely, and more by opinion than by nature. We stand very little more in + need of offices, rules, and laws of living in our society, than cranes and + ants do in theirs; and yet we see that these carry themselves very + regularly without erudition. If man was wise, he would take the true value + of every thing according as it was useful and proper to his life. Whoever + will number us by our actions and deportments will find many more + excellent men amongst the ignorant than among the learned; aye, in all + sorts of virtue. Old Rome seems to me to have been of much greater value, + both for peace and war, than that learned Rome that ruined itself. And, + though all the rest should be equal, yet integrity and innocency would + remain to the ancients, for they cohabit singularly well with simplicity. + But I will leave this discourse, that would lead me farther than I am + willing to follow; and shall only say this further, ‘tis only + humility and submission that can make a complete good man. We are not to + leave the knowledge of his duty to every man’s own judgment; we are + to prescribe it to him, and not suffer him to choose it at his own + discretion; otherwise, according to the imbecility, and infinite variety + of our reasons and opinions, we should at large forge ourselves duties + that would, as Epicurus says, enjoin us to eat one another. + </p> + <p> + The first law that ever God gave to man was a law of pure obedience; it + was a commandment naked and simple, wherein man had nothing to inquire + after, nor to dispute; forasmuch as to obey is the proper office of a + rational soul, acknowledging a heavenly superior and benefactor. From + obedience and submission spring all other virtues, as all sin does from + selfopinion. And, on the contrary, the first temptation that by the devil + was offered to human nature, its first poison insinuated itself into us by + the promise made us of knowledge and wisdom; <i>Eritis sicut Dii, scientes + bonum et malum.</i> “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” + And the sirens, in Homer, to allure Ulysses, and draw him within the + danger of their snares, offered to give him knowledge. The plague of man + is the opinion of wisdom; and for this reason it is that ignorance is so + recommended to us, by our religion, as proper to faith and obedience; <i>Cavete + ne quis vos decipiat per philosophiam et inanes seductiones, secundum + elementa mundi.</i> “Take heed, lest any man deceive you by + philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and the rudiments + of the world.” There is in this a general consent amongst all sorts + of philosophers, that the sovereign good consists in the tranquillity of + the soul and body; but where shall we find it? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ad summum, sapiens uno minor est Jove, dives, + Liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex deniqne regum; + Prcipue sanus, nisi cum pituita molesta est: + + “In short, the wise is only less than Jove, + Rich, free, and handsome; nay, a king above + All earthly kings; with health supremely blest, + Excepting when a cold disturbs his rest!” + </pre> + <p> + It seems, in truth, that nature, for the consolation of our miserable and + wretched state, has only given us presumption for our inheritance. ‘Tis + as Epictetus says, that man has nothing properly his own, but the use of + his opinion; we have nothing but wind and smoke for our portion. The gods + have health in essence, says philosophy, and sickness in intelligence. + Man, on the contrary, possesses his goods by fancy, his ills in essence. + We have reason to magnify the power of our imagination; for all our goods + are only in dream. Hear this poor calamitous animal huff! “There is + nothing,” says Cicero, “so charming as the employment of + letters; of letters, I say, by means whereof the infinity of things, the + immense grandeur of nature, the heavens even in this world, the earth, and + the seas are discovered to us; ‘tis they that have taught us + religion, moderation, and the grandeur of courage, and that have rescued + our souls from darkness, to make her see all things, high, low, first, + last, and middling; ‘tis they that furnish us wherewith to live + happily and well, and conduct us to pass over our lives without + displeasure, and without offence.” Does not this man seem to speak + of the condition of the ever-living and almighty God? But as to effects, a + thousand little countrywomen have lived lives more equal, more sweet, and + constant than his. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Deus ille fuit, deus, inclyte Memmi, + Qui princeps vit rationem invenit earn, qu + Nunc appellatur sapientia; quique per artem + Fluctibus tantis vitam, tantisque tenebris, + In tam tranquilla et tam clara luce locavit: + + “That god, great Memmus, was a god no doubt + Who, prince of life, first found that reason out + Now wisdom called; and by his art, who did + That life in tempests tost, and darkness hid, + Place in so great a calm, and clear a light:” + </pre> + <p> + here are brave ranting words; but a very slight accident put this man’s + understanding in a worse condition than that of the meanest shepherd, + notwithstanding this instructing god, this divine wisdom. Of the same + stamp and impudence is the promise of Democritus’s book: “I am + going to speak of all things;” and that foolish title that Aristotle + prefixes to one of his, order only afforded him a few lucid intervals + which he employed in composing his book, and at last made him kill + himself,—Eusebius’s Chronicon. + </p> + <p> + Of the Mortal Gods; and the judgment of Chrysippus, that “Dion was + as virtuous as God;” and my Seneca himself says, that “God had + given him life; but that to live well was his own;” conformably to + this other: <i>In virtute vere gloriamur; quod non contingeret, si id + donum Deo, non nobis haberemus:</i> “We truly glory in our virtue; + which would not be, if it was given us of God, and not by ourselves;” + this is also Seneca’s saying; “that the wise man hath + fortitude equal with God, but that his is in spite of human frailty, + wherein therefore he more than equals God.” There is nothing so + ordinary as to meet with sallies of the like temerity; there is none of + us, who take so much offence to see himself equalled with God, as he does + to see himself undervalued by being ranked with other creatures; so much + more are we jealous of our own interest than that of our Creator. + </p> + <p> + But we must trample under foot this foolish vanity, and briskly and boldly + shake the ridiculous foundation upon which these false opinions are + founded. So long as man shall believe he has any means and power of + himself, he will never acknowledge what he owes to his Maker; his eggs + shall always be chickens, as the saying is; we must therefore strip him to + his shirt. Let us see some notable examples of the effects of his + philosophy: Posidonius being tormented with a disease so painful as made + him writhe his arms and gnash his teeth, thought he sufficiently scorned + the dolour, by crying out against it: “Thou mayst do thy worst, I + will not confess that thou art an evil.” He was as sensible of the + pain as my footman, but he made a bravado of bridling his tongue, at + least, and restraining it within the laws of his sect: <i>Re succumbere + non oportebat, verbis gloriantem.</i> “It did not become him, that + spoke so big, to confess his frailty when he came to the test.” + Arcesilas being ill of the gout, and Car-neades, who had come to see him, + going away troubled at his condition, he called him back, and showing him + his feet and breast: “There is nothing comes thence hither,” + said he. This has something a better grace, for he feels himself in pain, + and would be disengaged from it; but his heart, notwithstanding, is not + conquered nor subdued by it. The other stands more obstinately to his + point, but, I fear, rather verbally than really. And Dionysius + Heracleotes, afflicted with a vehement smarting in his eyes, was reduced + to quit these stoical resolutions. But even though knowledge should, in + effect, do as they say, and could blunt the point, and dull the edge, of + the misfortunes that attend us, what does she, more than what ignorance + does more purely and evidently?—The philosopher Pyrrho, being at sea + in very great danger, by reason of a mighty storm, presented nothing to + the imitation of those who were with him, in that extremity, but a hog + they had on board, that was fearless and unconcerned at the tempest. + Philosophy, when she has said all she can, refers us at last to the + example of a gladiator, wrestler, or muleteer, in which sort of people we + commonly observe much less apprehension of death, sense of pain, and other + inconveniences, and more of endurance, than ever knowledge furnished any + one withal, that was not bom and bred to hardship. What is the cause that + we make incisions, and cut the tender limbs of an infant, and those of a + horse, more easily than our own—but ignorance only? How many has + mere force of imagination made sick? We often see men cause themselves to + be let blood, purged, and physicked, to be cured of diseases they only + feel in opinion.—When real infirmities fail us, knowledge lends us + her’s; that colour, that complexion, portend some catarrhous + defluxion; this hot season threatens us with a fever; this breach in the + life-line of your left hand gives you notice of some near and dangerous + indisposition; and at last she roundly attacks health itself; saying, this + sprightliness and vigour of youth cannot continue in this posture; there + must be blood taken, and the heat abated, lest it turn against yourself. + Compare the life of a man subjected to such imaginations, to that of a + labourer that suffers himself to be led by his natural appetite, measuring + things only by the present sense, without knowledge, and without + prognostic, that feels no pain or sickness, but when he is really ill. + Whereas the other has the stone in his soul, before he has it in his + bladder; as if it were not time enough to suffer the evil when it shall + come, he must anticipate it by fancy, and run to meet it. + </p> + <p> + What I say of physic may generally serve in example for all other + sciences. Thence is derived that ancient opinion of the philosophers that + placed the sovereign good in the discovery of the weakness of our judgment + My ignorance affords me as much occasion of hope as of fear; and having no + other rule for my health than that of the examples of others, and of + events I see elsewhere upon the like occasion, I find of all sorts, and + rely upon those which by comparison are most favourable to me. I receive + health with open arms, free, full, and entire, and by so much the more + whet my appetite to enjoy it, by how much it is at present less ordinary + and more rare; so far am I from troubling its repose and sweetness with + the bitterness of a new and constrained manner of living. Beasts + sufficiently show us how much the agitation of our minds brings + infirmities and diseases upon us. That which is told us of those of + Brazil, that they never die but of old age, is attributed to the serenity + and tranquillity of the air they live in; but I rather attribute it to the + serenity and tranquillity of their souls, free from all passion, thought, + or employment, extended or unpleasing, a people that pass over their lives + in a wonderful simplicity and ignorance, without letters, without law, + without king, or any manner of religion. And whence comes that, which we + find by experience, that the heaviest and dullest men are most able; and + the most to be desired in amorous performances; and that the love of a + muleteer often renders itself more acceptable than that of a gentleman, if + it be not that the agitation of the soul in the latter disturbs his + physical ability, dissolves and tires it, as it also ordinarily troubles + and tires itself. What puts the soul beside itself, and more usually + throws it into madness, but her own promptness, vigour, and agility, and, + finally, her own proper force? Of what is the most subtle folly made, but + of the most subtle wisdom? As great friendships spring from great + enmities, and vigorous health from mortal diseases, so from the rare and + vivid agitations of our souls proceed the most wonderful and most + distracted frenzies; ‘tis but half a turn of the toe from the one to + the other. In the actions of madmen we see how infinitely madness + resembles the most vigorous operations of the soul. Who does not know how + indiscernible the difference is betwixt folly and the sprightly elevations + of a free soul, and the effects of a supreme and extraordinary virtue? + Plato says that melancholy persons are the most capable of discipline, and + the most excellent; and accordingly in none is there so great a propension + to madness. Great wits are ruined by their own proper force and + pliability; into what a condition, through his own agitation and + promptness of fancy, is one of the most judicious, ingenious, and nearest + formed, of any other Italian poet, to the air of the ancient and true + poesy, lately fallen! Has he not vast obligation to this vivacity that has + destroyed him? to this light that has blinded him? to this exact and + subtle apprehension of reason that has put him beside his own? to this + curious and laborious search after sciences, that has reduced him to + imbecility? and to this rare aptitude to the exercises of the soul, that + has rendered him without exercise and without soul? I was more angry, if + possible, than compassionate, to see him at Ferrara in so pitiful a + condition surviving himself, forgetting both himself and his works, which, + without his knowledge, though before his face, have been published + unformed and incorrect. + </p> + <p> + Would you have a man healthy, would you have him regular, and in a steady + and secure posture? Muffle him up in the shades of stupidity and sloth. We + must be made beasts to be made wise, and hoodwinked before we are fit to + be led. And if one shall tell me that the advantage of having a cold and + dull sense of pain and other evils, brings this disadvantage along with + it, to render us consequently less sensible also in the fruition of good + and pleasure, this is true; but the misery of our condition is such that + we have not so much to enjoy as to avoid, and that the extremest pleasure + does not affect us to the degree that a light grief does: <i>Segnius + homines bona quam mala sentiunt.</i> We are not so sensible of the most + perfect health as we are of the least sickness. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Pungit + In cute vix sum ma violatum plagula corpus; + Quando valere nihil quemquam movet. Hoc juvat unum, + Quod me non torquet latus, aut pes; + Ctera quisquam Vix queat aut sanum sese, aut sentire valentem. + + “The body with a little sting is griev’d, + When the most perfect health is not perceiv’d, + This only pleases me, that spleen nor gout + Neither offend my side nor wring my foot; + Excepting these, scarce any one can tell, + Or e’er observes, when he’s in health and well.” + </pre> + <p> + Our well-being is nothing but the not being ill. Which is the reason why + that sect of philosophers, which sets the greatest value upon pleasure, + has yet fixed it chiefly in unconsciousness of pain. To be freed from ill + is the greatest good that man can hope for or desire; as Ennius says,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nimium boni est, cui nihil est mali; +</pre> + <p> + for that every tickling and sting which are in certain pleasures, and that + seem to raise us above simple health and passiveness, that active, moving, + and, I know not how, itching, and biting pleasure; even that very pleasure + itself aims at nothing but insensibility as its mark. The appetite that + carries us headlong to women’s embraces has no other end but only to + cure the torment of our ardent and furious desires, and only requires to + be glutted and laid at rest, and delivered from the fever. And so of the + rest. I say, then, that if simplicity conducts us to a state free from + evil, she leads us to a very happy one according to our condition. And yet + we are not to imagine it so stupid an insensibility as to be totally + without sense; for Crantor had very good reason to controvert the + insensibility of Epicurus, if founded so deep that the very first attack + and birth of evils were not to be perceived: “I do not approve such + an insensibility as is neither possible nor to be desired. I am very well + content not to be sick; but if I am, I would know that I am so; and if a + caustic be applied, or incisions made in any part, I would feel them.” + In truth, whoever would take away the knowledge and sense of evil, would + at the same time eradicate the sense of pleasure, and finally annihilate + man himself: <i>Istud nihil dolere, non sine magn mercede contingit, + immanitatis in animo, stuporis in corpore.</i> “An insensibility + that is not to be purchased but at the price of inhumanity in the soul, + and of stupidity of the body.” Evil appertains to man of course. + Neither is pain always to be avoided, nor pleasure always pursued. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis a great advantage to the honour of ignorance that knowledge + itself throws us into its arms, when she finds herself puzzled to fortify + us against the weight of evil; she is constrained to come to this + composition, to give us the reins, and permit us to fly into the lap of + the other, and to shelter ourselves under her protection from the strokes + and injuries of fortune. For what else is her meaning when she instructs + us to divert our thoughts from the ills that press upon us, and entertain + them with the meditation of pleasures past and gone; to comfort ourselves + in present afflictions with the remembrance of fled delights, and to call + to our succour a vanished satisfaction, to oppose it to the discomfort + that lies heavy upon us? <i>Levationes gritudinum in avocatione a cogitand + molesti, et revocation ad contemplandas voluptates, ponit</i>; “He + directs us to alleviate our grief and pains by rejecting unpleasant + thoughts, and recalling agreeable ideas;” if it be not that where + her power fails she would supply it with policy, and make use of sleight + of hand where force of limbs will not serve her turn? For not only to a + philosopher, but to any man in his right wits, when he has upon him the + thirst of a burning fever, what satisfaction can it be to him to remember + the pleasure he took in drinking Greek wine a month ago? It would rather + only make matters worse to him:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Che ricordarsi il ben doppia la noia. + + “The thinking of pleasure doubles trouble.” + </pre> + <p> + Of the same stamp is this other counsel that philosophy gives, only to + remember the happiness that is past, and to forget the misadventures we + have undergone; as if we had the science of oblivion in our own power, and + counsel, wherein we are yet no more to seek. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Suavis laborum est prteritorum rmoria. + + “Sweet is the memory of by-gone pain.” + </pre> + <p> + How does philosophy, that should arm me to contend with fortune, and steel + my courage to trample all human adversities under foot, arrive to this + degree of cowardice to make me hide my head at this rate, and save myself + by these pitiful and ridiculous shifts? For the memory represents to us + not what we choose, but what she pleases; nay, there is nothing that so + much imprints any thing in our memory as a desire to forget it. And + ‘tis a good way to retain and keep any thing safe in the soul to + solicit her to lose it. And this is false: <i>Est situm in nobis, ut et + adversa quasi perpetua oblivione obruamus, et secunda jucunde et suaviter + meminerimus;</i> “it is in our power to bury, as it were, in a + perpetual oblivion, all adverse accidents, and to retain a pleasant and + delightful memory of our successes;” and this is true: <i>Memini + etiam quo nolo; oblivisci non possum quo volo.</i> “I do also + remember what I would not; but I cannot forget what I would.” And + whose counsel is this? His, <i>qui se unies sapiervtem profiteri sit + ausus;</i> “who alone durst profess himself a wise man.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Qui genus humanum ingenio superavit, et omnes + Prstinxit stellas, exortus uti thereus Sol. + + “Who from mankind the prize of knowledge won, + And put the stars out like the rising sun.” + </pre> + <p> + To empty and disfurnish the memory, is not this the true way to ignorance? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Iners malorum remedium ignorantia est. + + “Ignorance is but a dull remedy for evils.” + </pre> + <p> + We find several other like precepts, whereby we are permitted to borrow + frivolous appearances from the vulgar, where we find the strongest reason + will not answer the purpose, provided they administer satisfaction and + comfort Where they cannot cure the wound, they are content to palliate and + benumb it I believe they will not deny this, that if they could add order + and constancy in a state of life that could maintain itself in ease and + pleasure by some debility of judgment, they would accept it:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Potare, et spargere flores + Incipiam, patiarque vel inconsultus haberi. + + “Give me to drink, and, crown’d with flowers, despise + The grave disgrace of being thought unwise.” + </pre> + <p> + There would be a great many philosophers of Lycas’s mind this man, + being otherwise of very regular manners, living quietly and contentedly in + his family, and not failing in any office of his duty, either towards his + own or strangers, and very carefully preserving himself from hurtful + things, became, nevertheless, by some distemper in his brain, possessed + with a conceit that he was perpetually in the theatre, a spectator of the + finest sights and the best comedies in the world; and being cured by the + physicians of his frenzy, was hardly prevented from endeavouring by suit + to compel them to restore him again to his pleasing imagination:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Pol I me occidistis, amici, + Non servastis, ait; cui sic extorta voluptas, + Et demptus per vim mentis gratissimus error; + + “By heaven! you’ve killed me, friends, outright, + And not preserved me; since my dear delight + And pleasing error, by my better sense + Unhappily return’d, is banished hence;” + </pre> + <p> + with a madness like that of Thrasylaus the son of Pythodorus, who made + himself believe that all the ships that weighed anchor from the port of + Pirus, and that came into the haven, only made their voyages for his + profit; congratulating them upon their successful navigation, and + receiving them with the greatest joy; and when his brother Crito caused + him to be restored to his better understanding, he infinitely regretted + that sort of condition wherein he had lived with so much delight and free + from all anxiety of mind. ‘Tis according to the old Greek verse, + that “there is a great deal of convenience in not being over-wise.” + </p> + <p> + And Ecclesiastes, “In much wisdom there is much sorrow;” and + “Who gets wisdom gets labour and trouble.” + </p> + <p> + Even that to which philosophy consents in general, that last remedy which + she applies to all sorts of necessities, to put an end to the life we are + not able to endure. <i>Placet?—Pare. Non placet?—Qucumque vis, + exi. Pungit dolor?—Vel fodiat sane. Si nudus es, da jugulum; sin + tectus armis Vulcaniis, id est fortitudine, rsist;</i> “Does it + please?—Obey it. Not please?—Go where thou wilt. Does grief + prick thee,—nay, stab thee?—If thou art naked, present thy + throat; if covered with the arms of Vulcan, that is, fortitude, resist it.” + And this word, so used in the Greek festivals, <i>aut bibat, aut abeat,</i> + “either drink or go,” which sounds better upon the tongue of a + Gascon, who naturally changes the h into v, than on that of Cicero:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Vivere si recte nescis, decede peritis. + Lusisti satis, edisti satis, atque bibisti; + Tempus abire tibi est, ne potum largius quo + Rideat et pulset lasciva decentius tas. + + “If to live well and right thou dost not know, + Give way, and leave thy place to those that do. + Thou’st eaten, drunk, and play’d to thy content, + ‘Tis time to make thy parting compliment, + Lest youth, more decent in their follies, scoff + The nauseous scene, and hiss thee reeling off;” + </pre> + <p> + What is it other than a confession of his impotency, and a sending back + not only to ignorance, to be there in safety, but even to stupidity, + insensibility, and nonentity? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Democritum postquam matura vetustas + Admonuit memorem motus languescere mentis; + Sponte sua letho caput obvius obtulit ipse. + + “Soon as, through age, Democritus did find + A manifest decadence in his mind, + He thought he now surviv’d to his own wrong, + And went to meet his death, that stay’d too long.” + </pre> + <p> + ‘Tis what Antisthenes said, “That a man should either make + provision of sense to understand, or of a halter to hang himself;” + and what Chrysippus alleged upon this saying of the poet Tyrtus:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Or to arrive at virtue or at death;” + </pre> + <p> + and Crates said, “That love would be cured by hunger, if not by + time; and whoever disliked these two remedies, by a rope.” That + Sextius, of whom both Seneca and Plutarch speak with so high an encomium, + having applied himself, all other things set aside, to the study of + philosophy, resolved to throw himself into the sea, seeing the progress of + his studies too tedious and slow. He ran to find death, since he could not + overtake knowledge. These are the words of the law upon the subject: + “If peradventure some great inconvenience happen, for which there is + no remedy, the haven is near, and a man may save himself by swimming out + of his body as out of a leaky skiff; for ‘tis the fear of dying, and + not the love of life, that ties the fool to his body.” + </p> + <p> + As life renders itself by simplicity more pleasant, so more innocent and + better, also it renders it as I was saying before: “The simple and + ignorant,” says St. Paul, “raise themselves up to heaven and + take possession of it; and we, with all our knowledge, plunge ourselves + into the infernal abyss.” I am neither swayed by Valentinian, a + professed enemy to all learning and letters, nor by Licinius, both Roman + emperors, who called them the poison and pest of all political government; + nor by Mahomet, who, as ‘tis said, interdicted all manner of + learning to his followers; but the example of the great Lycurgus, and his + authority, with the reverence of the divine Lacedemonian policy, so great, + so admirable, and so long flourishing in virtue and happiness, without any + institution or practice of letters, ought certainly to be of very great + weight. Such as return from the new world discovered by the Spaniards in + our fathers’ days, testify to us how much more honestly and + regularly those nations live, without magistrate and without law, than + ours do, where there are more officers and lawyers than there are of other + sorts of men and business:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Di cittatorie piene, e di libelli, + D’esamine, e di carte di procure, + Hanno le mani e il seno, e gran fastelli + Di chioge, di consigli, et di letture: + Per cui le faculta de* poverelli + Non sono mai nelle citt sicure; + Hanno dietro e dinanzi, e d’ambi i lati, + Notai, procuratori, ed avvocati. + + “Their bags were full of writs, and of citations, + Of process, and of actions and arrests, + Of bills, of answers, and of replications, + In courts of delegates, and of requests, + To grieve the simple sort with great vexations; + They had resorting to them as their guests, + Attending on their circuit, and their journeys, + Scriv’ners, and clerks, and lawyers, and attorneys.” + </pre> + <p> + It was what a Roman senator of the latter ages said, that their + predecessors’ breath stunk of garlic, but their stomachs were + perfumed with a good conscience; and that, on the contrary, those of his + time were all sweet odour without, but stunk within of all sorts of vices; + that is to say, as I interpret it, that they abounded with learning and + eloquence, but were very defective in moral honesty. Incivility, + ignorance, simplicity, roughness, are the natural companions of innocence; + curiosity, subtlety, knowledge, bring malice in their train; humility, + fear, obedience, and affability, which are the principal things that + support and maintain human society, require an empty and docile soul, and + little presuming upon itself. + </p> + <p> + Christians have a particular knowledge, how natural and original an evil + curiosity is in man; the thirst of knowledge, and the desire to become + more wise, was the first ruin of man, and the way by which he precipitated + himself into eternal damnation. Pride was his ruin and corruption. ‘Tis + pride that diverts him from the common path, and makes him embrace + novelties, and rather choose to be head of a troop, lost and wandering in + the path of error; to be a master and a teacher of lies, than to be a + disciple in the school of truth, suffering himself to be led and guided by + the hand of another, in the right and beaten road. ‘Tis, + peradventure, the meaning of this old Greek saying, that superstition + follows pride, and obeys it as if it were a father: [—Greek—] + Ah, presumption, how much dost thou hinder us? + </p> + <p> + After that Socrates was told that the god of wisdom had assigned to him + the title of sage, he was astonished at it, and, searching and examining + himself throughout, could find no foundation for this divine judgment. He + knew others as just, temperate, valiant, and learned, as himself; and more + eloquent, more handsome, and more profitable to their country than he. At + last he concluded that he was not distinguished from others, nor wise, but + only because he did not think himself so; and that his God considered the + opinion of knowledge and wisdom as a singular absurdity in man; and that + his best doctrine was the doctrine of ignorance, and simplicity his best + wisdom. The sacred word declares those miserable among us who have an + opinion of themselves: “Dust and ashes,” says it to such, + “what hast thou wherein to glorify thyself?” And, in another + place, “God has made man like unto a shadow,” of whom who can + judge, when by removing the light it shall be vanished! Man is a thing of + nothing. + </p> + <p> + Our force is so far from being able to comprehend the divine height, that, + of the works of our Creator, those best bear his mark, and are with better + title his, which we the least understand. To meet with an incredible thing + is an occasion to Christians to believe; and it is so much the more + according to reason, by how much it is against human reason. If it were + according to reason, it would be no more a miracle; and if it were + according to example, it would be no longer a singular thing. <i>Melius + scitur Deus nesdendo</i>: “God is better known by not knowing him,” + says St. Austin: and Tacitus, <i>Sanctius est ac reverentius de actis + Deorum credere, quam scire</i>; “it is more holy and reverent to + believe the works of God than to know them;” and Plato thinks there + is something of impiety in inquiring too curiously into God, the world, + and the first causes of things: <i>Atque illum quidem parentem hujus + universitaiis invenire, difficile; et, quum jam inveneris, indicare in + vulgtis, nefas</i>: “to find out the parent of the world is very + difficult; and when found out, to reveal him to the vulgar is sin,” + says Cicero. We talk indeed of power, truth, justice; which are words that + signify some great thing; but that thing we neither see nor conceive at + all. We say that God fears, that God is angry, that God loves, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Immortalia mortali sermone notantes: + + “Giving to things immortal mortal names.” + </pre> + <p> + These are all agitations and emotions that cannot be in God, according to + our form, nor can we imagine them, according to his. It only belongs to + God to know himself, and to interpret his own works; and he does it in our + language, going out of himself, to stoop to us who grovel upon the earth. + How can prudence, which is the choice between good and evil, be properly + attributed to him whom no evil can touch? How can reason and intelligence, + which we make use of, to arrive by obscure at apparent things; seeing that + nothing is obscure to him? How justice, which distributes to every one + what appertains to him, a thing begot by the society and community of men, + how is that in God? How temperance, which is the moderation of corporal + pleasures, that have no place in the Divinity? Fortitude to support pain, + labour, and dangers, as little appertains to him as the rest; these three + things have no access to him. For which reason Aristotle holds him equally + exempt from virtue and vice: <i>Neque gratia, neque ira teneri potest; + quod quo talia essent, imbecilla essent omnia?</i> “He can neither + be affected with favour nor indignation, because both these are the + effects of frailty.” + </p> + <p> + The participation we have in the knowledge of truth, such as it is, is not + acquired by our own force: God has sufficiently given us to understand + that, by the witnesses he has chosen out of the common people, simple and + ignorant men, that he has been pleased to employ to instruct us in his + admirable secrets. Our faith is not of our own acquiring; ‘tis + purely the gift of another’s bounty: ‘tis not by meditation, + or by virtue of our own understanding, that we have acquired our religion, + but by foreign authority and command wherein the imbecility of our own + judgment does more assist us than any force of it; and our blindness more + than our clearness of sight: ‘tis more by__ the mediation of our + ignorance than of our knowledge that we know any thing of the divine + wisdom. ‘Tis no wonder if our natural and earthly parts cannot + conceive that supernatural and heavenly knowledge: let us bring nothing of + our own, but obedience and subjection; for, as it is written, “I + will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the + understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? + Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom + of this world? For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world knew not + God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that + believe.” + </p> + <p> + Finally, should I examine whether it be in the power of man to find out + that which he seeks and if that quest, wherein he has busied himself so + many ages, has enriched him with any new force, or any solid truth; I + believe he will confess, if he speaks from his conscience, that all he has + got by so long inquiry is only to have learned to know his own weakness. + We have only by a long study confirmed and verified the natural ignorance + we were in before. The same has fallen out to men truly wise, which + befalls the ears of corn; they shoot and raise their heads high and pert, + whilst empty; but when full and swelled with grain in maturity, begin to + flag and droop. So men, having tried and sounded all things, and having + found in that mass of knowledge, and provision of so many various things, + nothing solid and firm, and nothing but vanity, have quitted their + presumption, and acknowledged their natural condition. ‘Tis what + Velleius reproaches Cotta withal and Cicero, “that they had learned + of Philo, that they had learned nothing.” Pherecydes, one of the + seven sages, writing to Thales upon his death-bed; “I have,” + said he, “given order to my people, after my interment, to carry my + writings to thee. If they please thee and the other sages, publish; if + not, suppress them. They contain no certainty with which I myself am + satisfied. Neither do I pretend to know the truth, or to attain to it. I + rather open than discover things.” The wisest man that ever was, + being asked what he knew, made answer, “He knew this, that he knew + nothing.” By which he verified what has been said, that the greatest + part of what we know is the least of what we do not; that is to say, that + even what we think we know is but a piece, and a very little one, of our + ignorance. We know things in dreams, says Plato, and are ignorant of them + in truth. <i>Ormes pene veteres nihil cognosci, nihil percipi, nihil sciri + posse dixerunt; angustos sensus, imbecilles animos, brevia curricula vito.</i> + “Almost all the ancients have declared that there is nothing to be + known, nothing to be perceived or understood; the senses are too limited, + men’s minds too weak, and the course of life too short.” And + of Cicero himself, who stood indebted to his learning for all he was + worth, Valerius says, “That he began to disrelish letters in his old + age; and when at his studies, it was with great independency upon any one + party; following what he thought probable, now in one sect, and then in + another, evermore wavering under the doubts of the academy.” <i>Dicendum + est, sed ita ut nihil affirment, quceram omnia, dubitans plerumque, et + mihi diffidens.</i> “Something I must say, but so as to affirm + nothing; I inquire into all things, but for the most part in doubt and + distrust of myself.” + </p> + <p> + I should have too fair a game should I consider man in his common way of + living and in gross; yet I might do it by his own rule, who judges truth + not by weight, but by the number of votes. Let us set the people aside, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Qui vigilans stertit,.... + Mortua cui vita est prope jam vivo atque videnti; + + “Half of his life by lazy sleep’s possess’d, + And when awake his soul but nods at best;” + </pre> + <p> + who neither feel nor judge, and let most of their natural faculties lie + idle; I will take man in his highest ground. Let us consider him in that + little number of men, excellent and culled out from the rest, who, having + been endowed with a remarkable and particular natural force, have moreover + hardened and whetted it by care, study, and art, and raised it to the + highest pitch of wisdom to which it can possibly arrive. They have + adjusted their souls to all ways and all biases; have propped and + supported them with all foreign helps proper for them, and enriched and + adorned them with all they could borrow for their advantage, both within + and without the world; ‘tis in these is placed the utmost and most + supreme height to which human nature can attain. They have regulated the + world with policies and laws. They have instructed it with arts and + sciences, and by the example of their admirable manners. I shall make + account of none but such men as these, their testimony and experience. Let + us examine how far they have proceeded, and where they stopped. The errors + and defects that we shall find amongst these men the world may boldly avow + as their own. + </p> + <p> + Whoever goes in search of any thing must come to this, either to say that + he has found it, or that it is not to be found, or that he is yet upon the + search. All philosophy is divided into these three kinds; her design is to + seek out truth, knowledge, and certainty. The Peripatetics, Epicureans, + Stoics, and others, have thought they have found it. These established the + sciences we have, and have treated of them as of certain knowledge. + Clitomachus, Carneades, and the Academics, have despaired in their search, + and concluded that truth could not be conceived by our understandings. The + result of these is weakness and human ignorance. This sect has had the + most and the most noble followers. Pyrrho, and other skeptics or + epechists, whose dogmas are held by many of the ancients to be taken from + Homer, the seven sages, and from Archilochus and Euripides, and to whose + number these are added, Zeno, Democritus, and Xenophanes, say that they + are yet upon the inquiry after truth. These conclude that the others, who + think they have found it out, are infinitely deceived; and that it is too + daring a vanity in the second sort to determine that human reason is not + able to attain unto it; for this establishing a standard of our power, to + know and judge the difficulty of things, is a great and extreme knowledge, + of which they doubt whether man is capable:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nil sciri quisquis putat, id quoque nescit, + An sciri possit; quam se nil scire fatetur. + + “He that says nothing can be known, o’erthrows + His own opinion, for he nothing knows, + So knows not that.” + </pre> + <p> + The ignorance that knows itself, judges and condemns itself, is not an + absolute ignorance; to be such, it must be ignorant of itself; so that the + profession of the Pyrrhonians is to waver, doubt, and inquire, not to make + themselves sure of, or responsible to themselves for any thing. Of the + three actions of the soul, imaginative, appetitive, and consentive, they + receive the two first; the last they kept ambiguous, without inclination + or approbation, either of one thing or another, so light as it is. Zeno + represented the motion of his imagination upon these divisions of the + faculties of the soul thus: “An open and expanded hand signified + appearance; a hand half shut, and the fingers a little bending, consent; a + clenched fist, comprehension; when with the left he yet thrust the right + fist closer, knowledge.” Now this situation of their judgment + upright and inflexible, receiving all objects without application or + consent, leads them to their ataraxy, which is a peaceable condition of + life, temperate, and exempt from the agitations we receive by the + impression of opinion and knowledge that we think we have of things; + whence spring fear, avarice, envy, immoderate desires, ambition, pride, + superstition, love of novelty, rebellion, disobedience, obstinacy, and the + greatest part of bodily ills; nay, and by that they are exempt from the + jealousy of their discipline; for they debate after a very gentle manner; + they fear no requital in their disputes; when they affirm that heavy + things descend they would be sorry to be believed, and love tobe + contradicted, to engender doubt and suspense of judgment, which is their + end. They only put forward their propositions to contend with those they + think we have in our belief. If you take their arguments, they will as + readily maintain the contrary; ‘tis all one to them, they have no + choice. If you maintain that snow is black, they will argue on the + contrary that it is white; if you say it is neither the one nor the other, + they will maintain that it is both. If you hold, of certain judgment, that + you know nothing, they will maintain that you do. Yea, and if by an + affirmative axiom you assure them that you doubt, they will argue against + you that you doubt not; or that you cannot judge and determine that you + doubt. And by this extremity of doubt, which jostles itself, they separate + and divide themselves from many opinions, even of those they have several + ways maintained, both concerning doubt and ignorance. “Why shall not + they be allowed to doubt,” say they, “as well as the + dogmatists, one of whom says green, another yellow? Can any thing be + proposed to us to grant, or deny, which it shall not be permitted to + consider as ambiguous?” And where others are carried away, either by + the custom of their country, or by the instruction of parents, or by + accident, as by a tempest, without judgment and without choice, nay, and + for the most part before the age of discretion, to such and such an + opinion, to the sect whether Stoic or Epicurean, with which they are + prepossessed, enslaved, and fast bound, as to a thing they cannot forsake: + <i>Ad quamcumque disciplinant, velut tempestate, delati, ad earn, tanquam + ad saxum, adhorescunt;</i> “every one cleaves to the doctrine he has + happened upon, as to a rock against which he has been thrown by tempest;” + why shall not these likewise be permitted to maintain their liberty, and + consider things without obligation or slavery? <i>hoc liberiores et + solutiores, quod integra illis est judicandi potestas</i>: “in this + more unconstrained and free, because they have the greater power of + judging.” Is it not of some advantage to be disengaged from the + necessity that curbs others? Is it not better to remain in suspense than + to entangle one’s self in the innumerable errors that human fancy + has produced? Is it not much better to suspend one’s persuasion than + to intermeddle with these wrangling and seditious divisions: “What + shall I choose?” “What you please, provided you will choose.” + A very foolish answer; but such a one, nevertheless, as all dogmatism + seems to point at, and by which we are not permitted to be ignorant of + what we are ignorant of. + </p> + <p> + Take the most eminent side, that of the greatest reputation; it will never + be so sure that you shall not be forced to attack and contend with a + hundred and a hundred adversaries to defend it. Is it not better to keep + out of this hurly-burly? You are permitted to embrace Aristotle’s + opinions of the immortality of the soul with as much zeal as your honour + and life, and to give the lie to Plato thereupon, and shall they be + interdicted to doubt him? If it be lawful for Pantius to maintain his + opinion about augury, dreams, oracles, vaticinations, of which the Stoics + made no doubt at all; why may not a wise man dare to do the same in all + things that he dared to do in those he had learned of his masters, + established by the common consent of the school, whereof he is a professor + and a member? If it be a child that judges, he knows not what it is; if a + wise man, he is prepossessed. They have reserved for themselves a + marvellous advantage in battle, having eased themselves of the care of + defence. If you strike them, they care not, provided they strike too, and + they turn every thing to their own use. If they overcome, your argument is + lame; if you, theirs; if they fall short, they verify ignorance; if you + fall short, you do it; if they prove that nothing is known, ‘tis + well; if they cannot prove it, ‘tis also well: <i>Ut quurn in eadem + re paria contrariis in partibus momenta inveniuntur, facilius ab utraque + parte assertio sustineatur:</i> “That when like sentiments happen <i>pro</i> + and <i>con</i> in the same thing, the assent may on both sides be more + easily suspended.” And they make account to find out, with much + greater facility, why a thing is false, than why ‘tis true; that + which is not, than that which is; and what they do not believe, than what + they do. Their way of speaking is: “I assert nothing; it is no more + so than so, or than neither one nor t’other; I understand it not. + Appearances are everywhere equal; the law of speaking, <i>pro</i> or <i>con</i>, + is the same. Nothing seems true, that may not seem false.” Their + sacramental word is that is to say, “I hold, I stir not.” This + is the burden of their song, and others of like stuff. The effect of which + is a pure, entire, perfect, and absolute suspension of judgment. They make + use of their reason to inquire and debate, but not to fix and determine. + Whoever shall imagine a perpetual confession of ignorance, a judgment + without bias, propension, or inclination, upon any occasion whatever, + conceives a true idea of Pyrrhonism. I express this fancy as well as I + can, by reason that many find it hard to conceive, and the authors + themselves represent it a little variously and obscurely. + </p> + <p> + As to what concerns the actions of life, they are in this of the common + fashion. They yield and give up themselves to their natural inclinations, + to the power and impulse of passions, to the constitution of laws and + customs, and to the tradition of arts; <i>Non enim nos Deus ista scire, + sed tantummodo uti, voluit.</i> “For God would not have us know, but + only use those things.” They suffer their ordinary actions to be + guided by those things, without any dispute or judgment. For which reason + I cannot consent to what is said of Pyrrho, by those who represent him + heavy and immovable, leading a kind of savage and unsociable life, + standing the jostle of carts, going upon the edge of precipices, and + refusing to accommodate himself to the laws. This is to enhance upon his + discipline; he would never make himself a stock or a stone, he would show + himself a living man, discoursing, reasoning, enjoying all reasonable + conveniences and pleasures, employing and making use of all his corporal + and spiritual faculties in rule and reason. The fantastic, imaginary, and + false privileges that man had usurped of lording it, ordaining, and + establishing, he has utterly quitted and renounced. Yet there is no sect + but is constrained to permit her sage to follow several things not + comprehended, perceived, or consented to, if he means to live. And if he + goes to sea, he follows that design, not knowing whether his voyage shall + be successful or no; and only insists upon the tightness of the vessel, + the experience of the pilot, and the convenience of the season, and such + probable circumstances; after which he is bound to go, and suffer himself + to be governed by appearances, provided there be no express and manifest + contrariety in them. He has a body, he has a soul; the senses push them, + the mind spurs them on. And although he does not find in himself this + proper and singular sign of judging, and that he perceives that he ought + not to engage his consent, considering that there may be some false, equal + to these true appearances, yet does he not, for all that, fail of carrying + on the offices of his life with great liberty and convenience. How many + arts are there that profess to consist more in conjecture than knowledge; + that decide not on true and false, and only follow that which seems so! + There are, say they, true and false, and we have in us wherewith to seek + it; but not to make it stay when we touch it. We are much more prudent, in + letting ourselves be regulated by the order of the world, without inquiry. + A soul clear from prejudice has a marvellous advance towards tranquillity + and repose. Men that judge and control their judges, do never duly submit + to them. + </p> + <p> + How much more docile and easy to be governed, both by the laws of religion + and civil polity, are simple and incurious minds, than those over-vigilant + wits, that will still be prating of divine and human causes! There is + nothing in human invention that carries so great a show of likelihood and + utility as this; this presents man, naked and empty, confessing his + natural weakness, fit to receive some foreign force from above, + unfurnished of human, and therefore more apt to receive into him the + divine knowledge, making nought of his own judgment, to give more room to + faith; neither disbelieving nor establishing any dogma against common + observances; humble, obedient, disciplinable, and studious; a sworn enemy + of heresy; and consequently freeing himself from vain and irreligious + opinions, introduced by false sects. ‘Tis a blank paper prepared to + receive such forms from the finger of God as he shall please to write upon + it. The more we resign and commit ourselves to God, and the more we + renounce ourselves, of the greater value we are. “Take in good part,” + says Ecclesiastes, “the things that present themselves to thee, as + they seem and taste from hand to mouth; the rest is out of thy knowledge.” + <i>Dominus novit cogitationes hominum, quoniam van sunt</i>: “The + Lord knoweth the hearts of men, that they are but vanity.” + </p> + <p> + Thus we see that of the three general sects of philosophy, two make open + profession of doubt and ignorance; and in that of the Dogmatists, which is + the third, it is easy to discover that the greatest part of them only + assume this face of confidence and assurance that + </p> + <p> + they may produce the better effect; they have not so much thought to + establish any certainty for us, as to show us how far they have proceeded + in their search of truth: <i>Quam docti jingunt magis quam nrunt</i>: + “Which the learned rather feign than know.” Timus, being to + instruct Socrates in what he knew of the gods, the world, and men, + proposes to speak to him as a man to a man; and that it is sufficient, if + his reasons are probable as those of another; for that exact reasons were + neither in his nor any other mortal hand; which one of his followers has + thus imitated: <i>Ut potero, explicabo: nec tamen, ut Pythius Apollo, + certa ut sint et fixa qu dixero; sed, ut homunculus, probabilia conjectur + sequens:</i> “I will, as well as I am able, explain; affirming, yet + not as the Pythian oracle, that what I say is fixed and certain, but like + a mere man, that follows probabilities by conjecture.” And this, + upon the natural and common subject of the contempt of death; he has + elsewhere translated from the very words of Plato: <i>Si forte, de Deorum + natur ortuque mundi disserentes, minus id quod habemiis in animo + consequi-mur, haud erit mirum; oquum est enim meminisse, et me, qui + disseram, hominem esse, et vos, qui judicetis, ut, si probabilia dicentur, + nihil ultra requiratis?</i> “If perchance, when we discourse of the + nature of God, and the world’s original, we cannot do it as we + desire, it will be no great wonder. For it is just you should remember + that both I who speak and you who are to judge, are men; so that if + probable things are delivered, you shall require and expect no more.” + Aristotle ordinarily heaps up a great number of other men’s opinions + and beliefs, to compare them with his own, and to let us see how much he + has gone beyond them, and how much nearer he approaches to the likelihood + of truth; for truth is not to be judged by the authority and testimony of + others; which made Epicurus religiously avoid quoting them in his + writings. This is the prince of all dogmatists, and yet we are told by him + that the more we know the more we have room for doubt. In earnest, we + sometimes see him shroud and muffle up himself in so thick and so + inextricable an obscurity that we know not what to make of his advice; it + is, in effect, a Pyrrhonism under a resolutive form. Hear Cicero’s + protestation, who expounds to us another’s fancy by his own: <i>Qui + requirunt quid de quque re ipsi sentiamus, curiosius id faciunt quam + necesse est,... Hoc in philosophi ratio, contra omnia disserendi, + nuttamque rem aperte judicandi, profecta a Socrate, repetita ab Arcesila, + conjirmata a Gameade, usqu ad nostram viget cetatem..........Hi sumus, qui + omnibus veris falsa quodam adjuncta esse dicamus, tanta similitudine, ut + in iis nulla insit certe judicandi et assentiendi nota.</i> “They + who desire to know what we think of every thing are therein more + inquisitive than is necessary. This practice in philosophy of disputing + against every thing, and of absolutely concluding nothing, begun by + Socrates, repeated by Arcesilaus, and confirmed by Cameades, has continued + in use even to our own times. We are they who declare that there is so + great a mixture of things false amongst all that are true, and they so + resemble one another, that there can be in them no certain mark to direct + us either to judge or assent.” Why hath not Aristotle only, but most + of the philosophers, affected difficulty, if not to set a greater value + upon the vanity of the subject, and amuse the curiosity of our minds by + giving them this hollow and fleshless bone to pick? Clitomachus affirmed + “That he could never discover by Carneades’s writings what + opinion he was of.” This was it that made Epicurus affect to be + abstruse, and that procured Heraclitus the epithet of [—Greek—] + Difficulty is a coin the learned make use of, like jugglers, to conceal + the vanity of their art, and which human sottishness easily takes for + current pay. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Claras, ob obscuram linguam, magis inter manes... + Omnia enim stolidi magis admirantur amantque + Inversis qu sub verbis latitantia cemunt. + + “Bombast and riddle best do puppies please, + For fools admire and love such things as these; + And a dull quibble, wrapt in dubious phrase, + Up to the height doth their wise wonder raise.” + </pre> + <p> + Cicero reprehends some of his friends for giving more of their time to the + study of astrology, logic, and geometry, than they were really worth; + saying that they were by these diverted from the duties of life, and more + profitable and proper studies. The Cyrenaick philosophers, in like manner, + despised physics and logic. Zeno, in the very beginning of the books of + the commonwealth, declared all the liberal arts of no use. Chrysippus said + “That what Plato and Aristotle had writ, concerning logic, they had + only done in sport, and by way of exercise;” and could not believe + that they spoke in earnest of so vain a thing. Plutarch says the same of + metaphysics. And Epicurus would have said as much of rhetoric, grammar, + poetry, mathematics, and, natural philosophy excepted, of all the + sciences; and Socrates of them all, excepting that which treats of manners + and of life. Whatever any one required to be instructed in, by him, he + would ever, in the first place, demand an account of the conditions of his + life present and past, which he examined and judged, esteeming all other + learning subsequent to that and supernumerary: <i>Parum mihi placeant e + littero quo ad virtutem doctoribus nihil pro-fuerunt.</i> “That + learning is in small repute with me which nothing profited the teachers + themselves to virtue.” Most of the arts have been in like manner + decried by the same knowledge; but they did not consider that it was from + the purpose to exercise their wits in those very matters wherein there was + no solid advantage. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, some have looked upon Plato as a dogmatist, others as a + doubter, others in some things the one, and in other things the other. + Socrates, the conductor of his dialogues, is eternally upon questions and + stirring up disputes, never determining, never satisfying, and professes + to have no other science but that of opposing himself. Homer, their + author, has equally laid the foundations of all the sects of philosophy, + to show how indifferent it was which way we should choose. ‘Tis said + that ten several sects sprung from Plato; yet, in my opinion, never did + any instruction halt and stumble, if his does not. + </p> + <p> + Socrates said that midwives, in taking upon them the trade of helping + others to bring forth, left the trade of bringing forth themselves; and + that by the title of a wise man or sage, which the gods had conferred upon + him, he was disabled, in his virile and mental love, of the faculty of + bringing forth, contenting himself to help and assist those that could; to + open their nature, anoint the passes, and facilitate their birth; to judge + of the infant, baptize, nourish, fortify, swath, and circumcise it, + exercising and employing his understanding in the perils and fortunes of + others. + </p> + <p> + It is so with the most part of this third sort of authors, as the ancients + have observed in the writings of Anaxagoras, Democritus, Parmenides, + Xenophanes, and others. They have a way of writing, doubtful in substance + and design, rather inquiring than teaching, though they mix their style + with some dogmatical periods. Is not the same thing seen in Seneca and + Plutarch? How many contradictions are there to be found if a man pry + narrowly into them! So many that the reconciling lawyers ought first to + reconcile them every one to themselves. Plato seems to have affected this + method of philosophizing in dialogues; to the end that he might with + greater decency, from several mouths, deliver the diversity and variety of + his own fancies. It is as well to treat variously of things as to treat of + them conformably, and better, that is to say, more copiously and with + greater profit. Let us take example from ourselves: judgments are the + utmost point of all dogmatical and determinative speaking; and yet those + <i>arrets</i> that our parliaments give the people, the most exemplary of + them, and those most proper to nourish in them the reverence due to that + dignity, principally through the sufficiency of the persons acting, derive + their beauty not so much from the conclusion, which with them is quotidian + and common to every judge, as from the dispute and heat of divers and + contrary arguments that the matter of law and equity will permit And the + largest field for reprehension that some philosophers have against others + is drawn from the diversities and contradictions wherein every one of them + finds himself perplexed, either on purpose to show the vacillation of the + human mind concerning every thing, or ignorantly compelled by the + volubility and incomprehensibility of all matter; which is the meaning of + the maxim—“In a slippery and sliding place let us suspend our + belief;” for, as Euripides says,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “God’s various works perplex the thoughts of men.” + </pre> + <p> + Like that which Empedocles, as if transported with a divine fury, and + compelled by truth, often strewed here and there in his writings: “No, + no, we feel nothing, we see nothing; all things are concealed from us; + there is not one thing of which we can positively say what it is;” + according to the divine saying: <i>Cogitationes mortalium timid, et incert + adinventiones nostro et providentice.</i> “For the thoughts of + mortal men are doubtful; and our devices are but uncertain.” It is + not to be thought strange if men, despairing to overtake what they hunt + after, have not however lost the pleasure of the chase; study being of + itself so pleasant an employment; and so pleasant that amongst the + pleasures, the Stoics forbid that also which proceeds from the exercise of + the mind, will have it curbed, and find a kind of intemperance in too much + knowledge. + </p> + <p> + Democritus having eaten figs at his table that tasted of honey, fell + presently to considering with himself whence they should derive this + unusual sweetness; and to be satisfied in it, was about to rise from the + table to see the place whence the figs had been gathered; which his maid + observing, and having understood the cause, smilingly told him that + “he need not trouble himself about that, for she had put them into a + vessel in which there had been honey.” He was vexed at this + discovery, and that she had deprived him of the occasion of this inquiry, + and robbed his curiosity of matter to work upon: “Go thy way,” + said he, “thou hast done me an injury; but, for all that, I will + seek out the cause as if it were natural;” and would willingly have + found out some true reason for a false and imaginary effect. This story of + a famous and great philosopher very clearly represents to us that studious + passion that puts us upon the pursuit of things, of the acquisition of + which we despair. Plutarch gives a like example of some one who would not + be satisfied in that whereof he was in doubt, that he might not lose the + pleasure of inquiring into it; like the other who would not that his + physician should allay the thirst of his fever, that he might not lose the + pleasure of quenching it by drinking. <i>Satius est supervacua discere, + quam nihil.</i> “‘Tis better to learn more than necessary than + nothing at all.” As in all sorts of feeding, the pleasure of eating + is very often single and alone, and that what we take, which is acceptable + to the palate, is not always nourishing or wholesome; so that which our + minds extract from science does not cease to be pleasant, though there be + nothing in it either nutritive or healthful. Thus they say: “The + consideration of nature is a diet proper for our minds, it raises and + elevates us, makes us disdain low and terrestrial things, by comparing + them with those that are celestial and high. The mere inquisition into + great and occult things is very pleasant, even to those who acquire no + other benefit than the reverence and fear of judging it.” This is + what they profess. The vain image of this sickly curiosity is yet more + manifest in this other example which they so often urge. “Eudoxus + wished and begged of the gods that he might once see the sun near at hand, + to comprehend the form, greatness, and beauty of it; even though he should + thereby be immediately burned.” He would at the price of his life + purchase a knowledge, of which the use and possession should at the same + time be taken from him; and for this sudden and vanishing knowledge lose + all the other knowledge he had in present, or might afterwards have + acquired. + </p> + <p> + I cannot easily persuade myself that Epicurus, Plato, and Pytagoras, have + given us their atom, idea and numbers, for current pay. They were too wise + to establish their articles of faith upon things so disputable and + uncertain. But in that obscurity and ignorance in which the world then + was, every one of these great men endeavoured to present some kind of + image or reflection of light, and worked their brains for inventions that + might have a pleasant and subtle appearance; provided that, though false, + they might make good their ground against those that would oppose them. <i>Unicuique + ista pro ingenio finguntur, non ex scienti vi.</i> “These things + every one fancies according to his wit, and not by any power of knowledge.” + </p> + <p> + One of the ancients, who was reproached, “That he professed + philosophy, of which he nevertheless in his own judgment made no great + account,” made answer, “That this was truly to philosophize.” + </p> + <p> + They wished to consider all, to balance every thing, and found that an + employment well suited to our natural curiosity. Some things they wrote + for the benefit of public society, as their religions; and for that + consideration it was but reasonable that they should not examine public + opinions to the quick, that they might not disturb the common obedience to + the laws and customs of their country. + </p> + <p> + Plato treats of this mystery with a raillery manifest enough; for where he + writes according to his own method he gives no certain rule. When he plays + the legislator he borrows a magisterial and positive style, and boldly + there foists in his most fantastic inventions, as fit to persuade the + vulgar, as impossible to be believed by himself; knowing very well how fit + we are to receive all sorts of impressions, especially the most immoderate + and preposterous; and yet, in his <i>Laws</i>, he takes singular care that + nothing be sung in public but poetry, of which the fiction and fabulous + relations tend to some advantageous end; it being so easy to imprint all + sorts of phantasms in human minds, that it were injustice not to feed them + rather with profitable untruths than with untruths that are unprofitable + and hurtful. He says very roundly, in his <i>Republic,</i> “That it + is often necessary, for the benefit of men, to deceive them.” It is + very easy to distinguish that some of the sects have more followed truth, + and the others utility, by which the last have gained their reputation. + ‘Tis the misery of our condition that often that which presents + itself to our imagination for the truest does not appear the most useful + to life. The boldest sects, as the Epicurean, Pyrrhonian, and the new + Academic, are yet constrained to submit to the civil law at the end of the + account. + </p> + <p> + There are other subjects that they have tumbled and tossed about, some to + the right and others to the left, every one endeavouring, right or wrong, + to give them some kind of colour; for, having found nothing so abstruse + that they would not venture to speak of, they are very often forced to + forge weak and ridiculous conjectures; not that they themselves looked + upon them as any foundation, or establishing any certain truth, but merely + for exercise. <i>Non tam id sensisse quod dicerent, quam exercere ingnia + materio difficultate videntur voluisse.</i> “They seem not so much + themselves to have believed what they said, as to have had a mind to + exercise their wits in the difficulty of the matter.” And if we did + not take it thus, how should we palliate so great inconstancy, variety, + and vanity of opinions, as we see have been produced by those excellent + and admirable men? As, for example, what can be more vain than to imagine, + to guess at God, by our analogies and conjectures? To direct and govern + him and the world by our capacities and our laws? And to serve ourselves, + at the expense of the divinity, with what small portion of capacity he has + been pleased to impart to our natural condition; and because we cannot + extend our sight to his glorious throne, to have brought him down to our + corruption and our miseries? + </p> + <p> + Of all human and ancient opinions concerning religion, that seems to me + the most likely and most excusable, that acknowledged God as an + incomprehensible power, the original and preserver of all things, all + goodness, all perfection, receiving and taking in good part the honour and + reverence that man paid him, under what method, name, or ceremonies soever— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Jupiter omnipotens, rerum, regumque, demque, + Progenitor, genitrixque. + + “Jove, the almighty, author of all things, + The father, mother, of both gods and kings.” + </pre> + <p> + This zeal has universally been looked upon from heaven with a gracious + eye. All governments have reaped fruit from their devotion; impious men + and actions have everywhere had suitable events. Pagan histories + acknowledge dignity, order, justice, prodigies, and oracles, employed for + their profit and instruction in their fabulous religions; God, through his + mercy, vouchsafing, by these temporal benefits, to cherish the tender + principles of a kind of brutish knowledge that natural reason gave them of + him, through the deceiving images of their dreams. Not only deceiving and + false, but impious also and injurious, are those that man has forged from + his own invention: and of all the religions that St. Paul found in repute + at Athens, that which they had dedicated “to the unknown God” + seemed to him the most to be excused. + </p> + <p> + Pythagoras shadowed the truth a little more closely, judging that the + knowledge of this first cause and being of beings ought to be indefinite, + without limitation, without declaration; that it was nothing else than the + extreme effort of our imagination towards perfection, every one amplifying + the idea according to the talent of his capacity. But if Numa attempted to + conform the devotion of his people to this project; to attach them to a + religion purely mental, without any prefixed object and material mixture, + he undertook a thing of no use; the human mind could never support itself + floating in such an infinity of inform thoughts; there is required some + certain image to be presented according to its own model. The divine + majesty has thus, in some sort, suffered himself to be circumscribed in + corporal limits for our advantage. His supernatural and celestial + sacraments have signs of our earthly condition; his adoration is by + sensible offices and words; for ‘tis man that believes and prays. I + shall omit the other arguments upon this subject; but a man would have + much ado to make me believe that the sight of our crucifixes, that the + picture of our Saviour’s passion, that the ornaments and ceremonious + motions of our churches, that the voices accommodated to the devotion of + our thoughts, and that emotion of the senses, do not warm the souls of the + people with a religious passion of very advantageous effect. + </p> + <p> + Of those to whom they have given a body, as necessity required in that + universal blindness, I should, I fancy, most incline to those who adored + the sun:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + La Lumire commune, + L’oil du monde; et si Dieu au chef porte des yeux, + Les rayons du soleil sont ses yeulx radieux, + Qui donnent vie touts, nous maintiennent et gardent, + Et les faictsdes humains en ce monde regardent: + Ce beau, ce grand soleil qui nous faict les saisons, + Selon qu’il entre ou sort de ses douze maisons; + Qui remplit l’univers de ses vertus cognues; + Qui d’un traict de ses yeulx nous dissipe les nues; + L’esprit, l’ame du monde, ardent et flamboyant, + En la course d’un jour tout le Ciel tournoyant; + Plein d’immense grandeur, rond, vagabond, et ferme; + Lequel tient dessoubs luy tout le monde pour terme: + En repos, sans repos; oysif, et sans sjour; + Fils aisn de nature, et le pre du jour: + + “The common light that equal shines on all, + Diffused around the whole terrestrial ball; + And, if the almighty Ruler of the skies + Has eyes, the sunbeams are his radiant eyes, + That life and safety give to young and old, + And all men’s actions upon earth behold. + This great, this beautiful, the glorious sun, + Who makes their course the varied seasons run; + That with his virtues fills the universe, + And with one glance can sullen clouds disperse; + Earth’s life and soul, that, flaming in his sphere, + Surrounds the heavens in one day’s career; + Immensely great, moving yet firm and round, + Who the whole world below has made his bound; + At rest, without rest, idle without stay, + Nature’s first son, and father of the day:” + </pre> + <p> + forasmuch as, beside this grandeur and beauty of his, ‘tis the only + piece of this machine that we discover at the remotest distance from us; + and by that means so little known that they were pardonable for entering + into so great admiration and reverence of it. + </p> + <p> + Thales, who first inquired into this sort of matter, believed God to be a + Spirit that made all things of water; Anaximander, that the gods were + always dying and entering into life again; and that there were an infinite + number of worlds; Anaximines, that the air was God, that he was procreate + and immense, always moving. Anaxagoras the first, was of opinion that the + description and manner of all things were conducted by the power and + reason of an infinite spirit. Alcmon gave divinity to the sun, moon, and + stars, and to the soul. Pythagoras made God a spirit, spread over the + nature of all things, whence our souls are extracted; Parmenides, a circle + surrounding the heaven, and supporting the world by the ardour of light. + Empedocles pronounced the four elements, of which all things are composed, + to be gods; Protagoras had nothing to say, whether they were or were not, + or what they were; Democritus was one while of opinion that the images and + their circuitions were gods; another while, the nature that darts out + those images; and then, our science and intelligence. Plato divides his + belief into several opinions; he says, in his <i>Timus</i>, that the + Father of the World cannot be named; in his Laws, that men are not to + inquire into his being; and elsewhere, in the very same books, he makes + the world, the heavens, the stars, the earth, and our souls, gods; + admitting, moreover, those which have been received by ancient institution + in every republic. + </p> + <p> + Xenophon reports a like perplexity in Socrates’s doctrine; one while + that men are not to inquire into the form of God, and presently makes him + maintain that the sun is God, and the soul God; that there is but one God, + and then that there are many. Speusippus, the nephew of Plato, makes God a + certain power governing all things, and that he has a soul. Aristotle one + while says it is the spirit, and another the world; one while he gives the + world another master, and another while makes God the heat of heaven. + Zenocrates makes eight, five named amongst the planets; the sixth composed + of all the fixed stars, as of so many members; the seventh and eighth, the + sun and moon. Heraclides Ponticus does nothing but float in his opinion, + and finally deprives God of sense, and makes him shift from one form to + another, and at last says that it is heaven and earth. Theophrastus + wanders in the same irresolution amongst his fancies, attributing the + superintendency of the world one while to the understanding, another while + to heaven, and then to the stars. Strato says that ‘tis nature, she + having the power of generation, augmentation, and diminution, without form + and sentiment Zeno says ‘tis the law of nature, commanding good and + prohibiting evil; which law is an animal; and takes away the accustomed + gods, Jupiter, Juno, and Vesta. Diogenes Apolloniates, that ‘tis + air. Zenophanes makes God round, seeing and hearing, not breathing, and + having nothing in common with human nature. Aristo thinks the form of God + to be incomprehensible, deprives him of sense, and knows not whether he be + an animal or something else; Cleanthes, one while supposes it to be + reason, another while the world, another the soul of nature, and then the + supreme heat rolling about, and environing all. Perseus, Zeno’s + disciple, was of opinion that men have given the title of gods to such as + have been useful, and have added any notable advantage to human life, and + even to profitable things themselves. Chrysippus made a confused heap of + all the preceding theories, and reckons, amongst a thousand forms of gods + that he makes, the men also that have been deified. Diagoras and Theodoras + flatly denied that there were any gods at all. Epicurus makes the gods + shining, transparent, and perflable, lodged as betwixt two forts, betwixt + two worlds, secure from blows, clothed in a human figure, and with such + members as we have; which members are to them of no use:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ego Deum genus esse semper duxi, et dicam colitum; + Sed eos non curare opinor quid agat humanum genus. + + “I ever thought that gods above there were, + But do not think they care what men do here.” + </pre> + <p> + Trust to your philosophy, my masters; and brag that you have found the + bean in the cake when you see what a rattle is here with so many + philosophical heads! The perplexity of so many worldly forms has gained + this over me, that manners and opinions contrary to mine do not so much + displease as instruct me; nor so much make me proud as they humble me, in + comparing them. And all other choice than what comes from the express and + immediate hand of God seems to me a choice of very little privilege. The + policies of the world are no less opposite upon this subject than the + schools, by which we may understand that fortune itself is not more + variable and inconstant, nor more blind and inconsiderate, than our + reason. The things that are most unknown are most proper to be deified; + wherefore to make gods of ourselves, as the ancients did, exceeds the + extremest weakness of understanding. I would much rather have gone along + with those who adored the serpent, the dog, or the ox; forasmuch as their + nature and being is less known to us, and that we have more room to + imagine what we please of those beasts, and to attribute to them + extraordinary faculties. But to have made gods of our own condition, of + whom we ought to know the imperfections; and to have attributed to them + desire, anger, revenge, marriages, generation, alliances, love, jealousy, + our members and bones, our fevers and pleasures, our death and obsequies; + this must needs have proceeded from a marvellous inebriety of the human + understanding; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Qu procul usque adeo divino ab numine distant, + Inque Dem numro qu sint indigna videri; + + “From divine natures these so distant are, + They are unworthy of that character.” + </pre> + <p> + <i>Formo, otates, vestitus, omatus noti sunt; genera, conjugia, + cognationes, omniaque traducta ad similitudinem imbellitar tis humano: nam + et perturbatis animis inducuntur; accipimus enim deorurn cupiditates, + cegritudines, iracundias</i>; “Their forms, ages, clothes, and + ornaments are known: their descents, marriages, and kindred, and all + adapted to the similitude of human weakness; for they are represented to + us with anxious minds, and we read of the lusts, sickness, and anger of + the gods;” as having attributed divinity not only to faith, virtue, + honour, concord, liberty, victory, and piety; but also to voluptuousness, + fraud, death, envy, old age, misery; to fear, fever, ill fortune, and + other injuries of our frail and transitory life:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quid juvat hoc, templis nostros inducere mores? + O curv in terris anim et colestium inanes! + + “O earth-born souls! by earth-born passions led, + To every spark of heav’nly influence dead! + Think ye that what man values will inspire + In minds celestial the same base desire?” + </pre> + <p> + The Egyptians, with an impudent prudence, interdicted, upon pain of + hanging, that any one should say that their gods, Serapis and Isis, had + formerly been men; and yet no one was ignorant that they had been such; + and their effigies, represented with the finger upon the mouth, signified, + says Varro, that mysterious decree to their priests, to conceal their + mortal original, as it must by necessary consequence cancel all the + veneration paid to them. Seeing that man so much desired to equal himself + to God, he had done better, says Cicero, to have attracted those divine + conditions to himself, and drawn them down hither below, than to send his + corruption and misery up on high; but, to take it right, he has several + ways done both the one and the other, with like vanity of opinion. + </p> + <p> + When philosophers search narrowly into the hierarchy of their gods, and + make a great bustle about distinguishing their alliances, offices, and + power, I cannot believe they speak as they think. When Plato describes + Pluto’s orchard to us, and the bodily conveniences or pains that + attend us after the ruin and annihilation of our bodies, and accommodates + them to the feeling we have in this life:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Secreti celant calles, et myrtea circum + Sylva tegit; cur non ips in morte relinquunt; + + “In secret vales and myrtle groves they lie, + Nor do cares leave them even when they die.” + </pre> + <p> + when Mahomet promises his followers a Paradise hung with tapestry, gilded + and enamelled with gold and precious stones, furnished with wenches of + excelling beauty, rare wines, and delicate dishes; it is easily discerned + that these are deceivers that accommodate their promises to our + sensuality, to attract and allure us by hopes and opinions suitable to our + mortal appetites. And yet some amongst us are fallen into the like error, + promising to themselves after the resurrection a terrestrial and temporal + life, accompanied with all sorts of worldly conveniences and pleasures. + Can we believe that Plato, he who had such heavenly conceptions, and was + so well acquainted with the Divinity as thence to derive the name of the + Divine Plato, ever thought that the poor creature, man, had any thing in + him applicable to that incomprehensible power? and that he believed that + the weak holds we are able to take were capable, or the force of our + understanding sufficient, to participate of beatitude or eternal pains? We + should then tell him from human reason: “If the pleasures thou dost + promise us in the other life are of the same kind that I have enjoyed here + below, this has nothing in common with infinity; though all my five + natural senses should be even loaded with pleasure, and my soul full of + all the contentment it could hope or desire, we know what all this amounts + to, all this would be nothing; if there be any thing of mine there, there + is nothing divine; if this be no more than what may belong to our present + condition, it cannot be of any value. All contentment of mortals is + mortal. Even the knowledge of our parents, children, and friends, if that + can affect and delight us in the other world, if that still continues a + satisfaction to us there, we still remain in earthly and finite + conveniences. We cannot as we ought conceive the greatness of these high + and divine promises, if we could in any sort conceive them; to have a + worthy imagination of them we must imagine them unimaginable, + inexplicable, and incomprehensible, and absolutely another thing than + those of our miserable experience.” “Eye hath not seen,” + saith St. Paul, “nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart + of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him.” + And if, to render us capable, our being were reformed and changed (as + thou, Plato, sayest, by thy purifications), it ought to be so extreme and + total a change, that by physical doctrine it be no more us;— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Hector erat tunc cum bello certabat; at ille + Tractus ab monio non erat Hector eqao; + + He Hector was whilst he could fight, but when + Dragg’d by Achilles’ steeds, no Hector then; +</pre> + <p> + it must be something else that must receive these recompenses:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quod mutatur... dissolvitur; interit ergo; + Trajiciuntur enim partes, atque ordine migrant. + + “Things changed dissolved are, and therefore die; + Their parts are mix’d, and from their order fly.” + </pre> + <p> + For in Pythagoras’s metempsychosis, and the change of habitation + that he imagined in souls, can we believe that the lion, in whom the soul + of Csar is enclosed, does espouse Csar’s passions, or that the lion + is he? For if it was still Csar, they would be in the right who, + controverting this opinion with Plato, reproach him that the son might be + seen to ride his mother transformed into a mule, and the like absurdities. + And can we believe that in the mutations that are made of the bodies of + animals into others of the same kind, the new comers are not other than + their predecessors? From the ashes of a phoenix, a worm, they say, is + engendered, and from that another phoenix; who can imagine that this + second phoenix is no other than the first? We see our silk-worms, as it + were, die and wither; and from this withered body a butterfly is produced; + and from that another worm; how ridiculous would it be to imagine that + this was still the first! That which once has ceased to be is no more:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nec, si materiam nostram collegerit tas + Post obitum, rursumque redegerit, ut sita nunc est, + Atque iterum nobis fuerint data lumina vit, + Pertineat quidquam tamen ad nos id quoque factum, + Interrupta semel cum sit repetentia nostra. + + “Neither tho’ time should gather and restore + Our matter to the form it was before, + And give again new light to see withal, + Would that new figure us concern at all; + Or we again ever the same be seen, + Our being having interrupted been.” + </pre> + <p> + And, Plato, when thou sayest in another place that it shall be the + spiritual part of man that will be concerned in the fruition of the + recompense of another life, thou tellest us a thing wherein there is as + little appearance of truth:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Scilicet, avolsis radicibus, ut nequit ullam + Dispicere ipsa oculus rem, seorsum corpore toto; + + “No more than eyes once from their optics torn, + Can ever after any thing discern;” + </pre> + <p> + for, by this account, it would no more be man, nor consequently us, who + would be concerned in this enjoyment; for we are composed of two principal + essential parts, the separation of which is the death and ruin of our + being:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Inter enim jecta est vital pausa, vageque + Deerrarunt passim motus ab sensibus omnes; + + “When once that pause of life is come between, + ‘Tis just the same as we had never been;” + </pre> + <p> + we cannot say that the man suffers when the worms feed upon his members, + and that the earth consumes them:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Et nihil hoc ad nos, qui coltu conjugioque + Corporis atque anim consistimus uniter apti. + + “What’s that to us? for we are only we, + While soul and body in one frame agree.” + </pre> + <p> + Moreover, upon what foundation of their justice can the gods take notice + of or reward man after his death and virtuous actions, since it was + themselves that put them in the way and mind to do them? And why should + they be offended at or punish him for wicked ones, since themselves have + created in him so frail a condition, and when, with one glance of their + will, they might prevent him from falling? Might not Epicurus, with great + colour of human reason, object this to Plato, did he not often save + himself with this sentence: “That it is impossible to establish any + thing certain of the immortal nature by the mortal?” She does + nothing but err throughout, but especially when she meddles with divine + things. Who does more evidently perceive this than we? For although we + have given her certain and infallible principles; and though we have + enlightened her steps with the sacred lamp of truth that it has pleased + God to communicate to us; we daily see, nevertheless, that if she swerve + never so little from the ordinary path; and that she stray from, or wander + out of the way set out and beaten by the church, how soon she loses, + confounds and fetters herself, tumbling and floating in this vast, + turbulent, and waving sea of human opinions, without restraint, and + without any determinate end; so soon as she loses that great and common + road, she enters into a labyrinth of a thousand several paths. + </p> + <p> + Man cannot be any thing but what he is, nor imagine beyond the reach of + his capacity. “Tis a greater presumption,” says Plutarch, + “in them who are but men to attempt to speak and discourse of the + gods and demi-gods than it is in a man utterly ignorant of music to give + an opinion of singing; or in a man who never saw a camp to dispute about + arms and martial affairs, presuming by some light conjecture to understand + the effects of an art he is totally a stranger to.” Antiquity, I + believe, thought to put a compliment upon, and to add something to, the + divine grandeur in assimilating it to man, investing it with his + faculties, and adorning it with his ugly humours and most shameful + necessities; offering it our aliments to eat, presenting it with our + dances, mummeries, and farces, to divert it; with our vestments to cover + it, and our houses to inhabit, coaxing it with the odour of incense and + the sounds of music, with festoons and nosegays; and to accommodate it to + our vicious passions, flattering its justice with inhuman vengeance, and + with the ruin and dissipation of things by it created and preserved as + Tiberius Sempronius, who burnt the rich spoils and arms he had gained from + the enemy in Sardinia for a sacrifice to Vulcan; and Paulus milius, those + of Macedonia, to Mars and Minerva; and Alexander, arriving at the Indian + Ocean, threw several great vessels of gold into the sea, in honour of + Thetes; and moreover loading her altars with a slaughter not of innocent + beasts only, but of men also, as several nations, and ours among the rest, + were commonly used to do; and I believe there is no nation under the sun + that has not done the same:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Sulmone creatos + Quatuor hc juvenes, totidem quos educat Ufens, + Viventes rapit, inferias quos immolet umbris. + + “Four sons of Sulmo, four whom Ufens bred, + He took in flight, and living victims led, + To please the ghost of Pallas, and expire + In sacrifice before his fun’ral pyre.” + </pre> + <p> + The Get hold themselves to be immortal, and that their death is nothing + but a journey to their god Zamolxis. Every five years they dispatch some + one among them to him, to entreat of him such necessaries as they stand in + need of. This envoy is chosen by lot, and the form of dispatching him, + after he has been instructed by word of mouth what he is to deliver, is + that of the assistants, three hold up as many javelins, upon which the + rest throw his body with all their force. If he happen to be wounded in a + mortal part, and that he immediately dies, ‘tis held a certain + argument of divine favour; but if he escapes, he is looked upon as a + wicked and execrable wretch, and another is dismissed after the same + manner in his stead. Amestris, the mother of Xerxes, being grown old, + caused at once fourteen young men, of the best families of Persia, to be + buried alive, according to the religion of the country, to gratify some + infernal deity. And even to this day the idols of Themixtitan are cemented + with the blood of little children, and they delight in no sacrifice but of + these pure and infantine souls; a justice thirsty of innocent blood:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Tantum religio potuit suadere maloram. + + “Such impious use was of religion made, + So many demon acts it could persuade.” + </pre> + <p> + The Carthaginians immolated their own children to Saturn; and those who + had none of their own bought of others, the father and mother being in the + mean time obliged to assist at the ceremony with a gay and contented + countenance. + </p> + <p> + It was a strange fancy to think to gratify the divine bounty with our + afflictions; like the Lacedemonians, who regaled their Diana with the + tormenting of young boys, whom they caused to be whipped for her sake, + very often to death. It was a savage humour to imagine to gratify the + architect by the subversion of his building, and to think to take away the + punishment due to the guilty by punishing the innocent; and that poor + Iphigenia, at the port of Aulis, should by her death and immolation + acquit, towards God, the whole army of the Greeks from all the crimes they + had committed; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Et casta inceste, nubendi tempore in ipso, + Hostia concideret mactatu mosta parentis; + + “That the chaste virgin in her nuptial band + Should die by an unnat’ral father’s hand;” + </pre> + <p> + and that the two noble and generous souls of the two Decii, the father and + the son, to incline the favour of the gods to be propitious to the affairs + of Rome, should throw themselves headlong into the thickest of the enemy: + <i>Quo fuit tanta deorum iniquitas, ut placari populo Romano non possent, + nisi tales viri occidissent?</i> “How great an injustice in the gods + was it that they could not be reconciled to the people of Rome unless such + men perished!” To which may be added, that it is not for the + criminal to cause himself to be scourged according to his own measure nor + at his own time, but that it purely belongs to the judge, who considers + nothing as chastisements but the penalty that he appoints, and cannot call + that punishment which proceeds from the consent of him that suffers. The + divine vengeance presupposes an absolute dissent in us, both for its + justice and for our own penalty. And therefore it was a ridiculous humour + of Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, who, to interrupt the continued course of + his good fortune, and to balance it, went and threw the dearest and most + precious jewel he had into the sea, believing that by this voluntary and + antedated mishap he bribed and satisfied the revolution and vicissitude of + fortune; and she, to mock his folly, ordered it so that the same jewel + came again into his hands, found in the belly of a fish. And then to what + end were those tearings and dismemberments of the Corybantes, the Menades, + and, in our times, of the Mahometans, who slash their faces, bosoms, and + limbs, to gratify their prophet; seeing that the offence lies in the will, + not in the breast, eyes, genitals, roundness of form, the shoulders, or + the throat? <i>Tantus est perturbto mentis, et sedibus suis pilso, furor, + ut sic dii placentur, quemadmodum ne homines quidem soviunt.</i> “So + great is the fury and madness of troubled minds when once displaced from + the seat of reason, as if the gods should be appeased with what even men + are not so cruel as to approve.” The use of this natural contexture + has not only respect to us, but also to the service of God and other men; + ‘tis as unjust for us voluntarily to wound or hurt it as to kill + ourselves upon any pretence whatever; it seems to be great cowardice and + treason to exercise cruelty upon, and to destroy, the functions of the + body that are stupid and servile, to spare the soul the solicitude of + governing them according to reason: <i>Ubi iratos deos timent, qui sic + propitios habere merentur? In regi libidinis voluptatem castrati sunt + quidam; sed nemo sibi, ne vir esset, jubente domino, mantis intulit.</i> + “Where are they so afraid of the anger of the gods as to merit their + favour at that rate? Some, indeed, have been made eunuchs for the lust of + princes: but no man at his master’s command has put his own hand to + unman himself.” So did they fill their religion with several ill + effects:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Spius olim Religio peperit scelerosa atque impia facta. + + “In elder times Religion did commit most fearful crimes.” + </pre> + <p> + Now nothing of ours can in any sort be compared or likened unto the divine + nature, which will not blemish and stain it with much imperfection. + </p> + <p> + How can that infinite beauty, power, and goodness, admit of any + correspondence or similitude to such abject things as we are, without + extreme wrong and manifest dishonour to his divine greatness? <i>Infirmum + dei fortius est hominibs; et stultum dei sapientius est hominibus.</i> + “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of + God is stronger than men.” Stilpo, the philosopher, being asked, + “Whether the gods were delighted with our adorations and sacrifices?”—“You + are indiscreet,” answered he; “let us withdraw apart, if you + would talk of such things.” Nevertheless, we prescribe him bounds, + we keep his power besieged by our reasons (I call our ravings and dreams + reason, with the dispensation of philosophy, which says, “That the + wicked man, and even the fool, go mad by reason, but a particular form of + reason”), we would subject him to the vain and feeble appearances of + our understandings,—him who has made both us and our knowledge. + Because that nothing is made of nothing, God therefore could not make the + world without matter. What! has God put into our hands the keys and most + secret springs of his power? Is he obliged not to exceed the limits of our + knowledge? Put the case, O man! that thou hast been able here to mark some + footsteps of his effects; dost thou therefore think that he has employed + all he can, and has crowded all his forms and ideas in this work? Thou + seest nothing but the order and revolution of this little cave in which + thou art lodged, if, indeed, thou dost see so much; whereas his divinity + has an infinite jurisdiction beyond. This part is nothing in comparison of + the whole:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Omnia cum colo, terrque, manque, + Nil sunt ad summam summal totius omnem. + + “The earth, the sea, and skies, from pole to pole, + Are small, nay, nothing to the mighty whole.” + </pre> + <p> + ‘Tis a municipal law that thou allegest, thou knowest not what is + universal Tie thyself to that to which thou art subject, but not him; he + is not of thy brotherhood, thy fellow-citizen, or companion. If he has in + some sort communicated himself unto thee, ‘tis not to debase himself + unto thy littleness, nor to make thee comptroller of his power; the human + body cannot fly to the clouds; rules are for thee. The sun runs every day + his ordinary course; the bounds of the sea and the earth cannot be + confounded; the water is unstable and without firmness; a wall, unless it + be broken, is impenetrable to a solid body; a man cannot preserve his life + in the flames; he cannot be both in heaven and upon earth, and corporally + in a thousand places at once. ‘Tis for thee that he has made these + rules; ‘tis thee that they concern; he has manifested to Christians + that he has enfranchised himself from them all when it pleased him. And, + in truth, why, almighty as he is, should he have limited his power within + any certain bounds? In favour of whom should he have renounced his + privilege? Thy reason has in no other thing more of likelihood and + foundation than in that wherein it persuades thee that there is a + plurality of worlds:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Terramque et solem, lunam, mare, estera quo rant, + Non esse unica, sed numro magis innumerali. + + “That earth, sun, moon, sea, and the rest that are, + Not single, but innumerable were.” + </pre> + <p> + The most eminent minds of elder times believed it; and some of this age of + ours, compelled by the appearances of human reason, do the same; forasmuch + as in this fabric that we behold there is nothing single and one, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Cum in summ res nulla sit una, + Unica quo gignatur, et unica solaque crescat; + + “Since nothing’s single in this mighty place, + That can alone beget, alone increase;” + </pre> + <p> + and that all the kinds are multiplied in some number; by which it seems + not to be likely that God should have made this work only without a + companion; and that the matter of this form should have been totally + drained in this individual. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quare etiam atque etiam tales fateare necesse est + Esse alios alibi congressus materiali; + Qualis hic est, avido complexu quem tenet ther. + + “Wherefore ‘tis necessary to confess + That there must elsewhere be the like congress + Of the like matter, which the airy space + Holds fast within its infinite embrace.” + </pre> + <p> + Especially if it be a living creature, which its motions render so + credible that Plato affirms it, and that many of our people do either + confirm, or dare not deny it; no more than that ancient opinion that the + heavens, the stars, and other members of the world, are creatures composed + of body and soul, mortal in respect of their composition, but immortal by + the determination of the Creator. Now if there be many worlds, as + Democritus, Epicurus, and almost all philosophy has believed, what do we + know that the principles and rules of this of ours in like manner concern + the rest? They may peradventure have another form and another polity. + Epicurus supposes them either like or unlike. We see in this world an + infinite difference and variety, only by distance of places; neither com, + wine, nor any of our animals are to be seen in that new comer of the world + discovered by our fathers; ‘tis all there another thing; and in + times past, do but consider in how many parts of the world they had no + knowledge either of Bacchus or Ceres. If Pliny and Herodotus are to be + believed, there are in certain places kinds of men very little resembling + us, mongrel and ambiguous forms, betwixt the human and brutal natures; + there are countries where men are bom without heads, having their mouth + and eyes in their breast; where they are all hermaphrodites; where they go + on all four; where they have but one eye in the forehead, and a head more + like a dog than like ours; where they are half fish the lower part, and + live in the water; where the women bear at five years old, and live but + eight; where the head and the skin of the forehead is so hard that a sword + will not touch it, but rebounds again; where men have no beards; nations + that know not the use of fire; others that eject seed of a black colour. + What shall we say of those that naturally change themselves into wolves, + colts, and then into men again? And if it be true, as Plutarch says, that + in some place of the Indies there are men without mouths, who nourish + themselves with the smell of certain odours, how many of our descriptions + are false? He is no longer risible, nor, perhaps, capable of reason and + society. The disposition and cause of our internal composition would then + for the most part be to no purpose, and of no use. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, how many things are there in our own knowledge that oppose those + fine rules we have cut out for and prescribe to nature? And yet we must + undertake to circumscribe thereto God himself! How many things do we call + miraculous, and contrary to nature? This is done by every nation and by + every man, according to the proportion of his ignorance. How many occult + properties and quintessences do we daily discover? For, for us to go + “according to nature,” is no more but to go “according + to our understanding,” as far as that is able to follow, and as far + as we are able to see into it; all beyond that is, forsooth, monstrous and + irregular. Now, by this account, all things shall be monstrous to the + wisest and most understanding men; for human reason has persuaded them + that there was no manner of ground nor foundation, not so much as to be + assured that snow is white, and Anaxagoras affirmed it to be black; if + there be any thing, or if there be nothing; if there be knowledge or + ignorance, which Metrodorus of Chios denied that man was able to + determine; or whether we live, as Euripides doubts whether the life we + live is life, or whether that we call death be not life, [—Greek—] + and not without some appearance. For why do we derive the title of being + from this instant, which is but a flash in the infinite course of an + eternal night, and so short an interruption of our perpetual and natural + condition, death possessing all the before and after this moment, and also + a good part of the moment itself. Others swear there is no motion at all, + as followers of Melissus, and that nothing stirs. For if there be but one, + neither can that spherical motion be of any use to him, nor motion from + one place to another, as Plato proves: “That there is neither + generation nor corruption in nature.” Protagoras says that there is + nothing in nature but doubt; that a man may equally dispute of all things; + and even of this, whether a man can equally dispute of all things; + Nausiphanes, that of things which seem to be, nothing is more than it is + not; that there is nothing certain but uncertainty; Parmenides, that of + that which seems, there is no one thing in general; that there is but one + thing; Zeno, that one same is not, and that there is nothing; if there + were one thing, it would either be in another or in itself; if it be in + another, they are two; if it be in itself, they are yet two; the + comprehending, and the comprehended. According to these doctrines the + nature of things is no other than a shadow, either false or vain. + </p> + <p> + This way of speaking in a Christian man has ever seemed to me very + indiscreet and irreverent. “God cannot die; God cannot contradict + himself; God cannot do this or that.” I do not like to have the + divine power so limited by the laws of men’s mouths; and the idea + which presents itself to us in those propositions ought to be more + religiously and reverently expressed. + </p> + <p> + Our speaking has its failings and defects, as well as all the rest. Most + of the occasions of disturbance in the world are grammatical ones; our + suits only spring from disputes as to the interpretation of laws; and most + wars proceed from the inability of ministers clearly to express the + conventions and treaties of amity of princes. How many quarrels, and of + how great importance, has the doubt of the meaning of this syllable, <i>hoc</i>,* + created in the world? Let us take the clearest conclusion that logic + itself + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Montaigne here refers to the controversies between + the Catholics and Protestants about transubstantiation. +</pre> + <p> + presents us withal; if you say, “It is fine weather,” and that + you say true, it is then fine weather. Is not this a very certain form of + speaking? And yet it will deceive us; that it will do so, let us follow + the example: If you say, “I lie,” if you say true, you do lie. + The art, the reason, and force of the conclusion of this, are the same + with the other, and yet we are gravelled. The Pyrrhonian philosophers, I + see, cannot express their general conception in any kind of speaking; for + they would require a new language on purpose; ours is all formed of + affirmative propositions, which are totally antarctic to them; insomuch + that when they say “I doubt,” they are presently taken by the + throat, to make them confess that at least they know and are assured that + they do doubt. By which means they have been compelled to shelter + themselves under this medical comparison, without which their humour would + be inexplicable: when they pronounce, “I know not,” or, + “I doubt,” they say that this proposition carries off itself + with the rest, no more nor less than rhubarb, that drives out the ill + humours, and carries itself off with them. This fancy will be more + certainly understood by interrogation: “What do I know?” as I + bear it with the emblem of a balance. + </p> + <p> + See what use they make of this irreverent way of speaking; in the present + disputes about our religion, if you press its adversaries too hard, they + will roundly tell you, “that it is not in the power of God to make + it so, that his body should be in paradise and upon earth, and in several + places at once.” And see, too, what advantage the old scoffer made + of this. “At least,” says he, “it is no little + consolation to man to see that God cannot do all things; for he cannot + kill himself, though he would; which is the greatest privilege we have in + our condition; he cannot make mortal immortal, nor revive the dead; nor + make it so, that he who has lived has not; nor that he who has had honours + has not had them; having no other right to the past than that of oblivion.” + And that the comparison of man to God may yet be made out by jocose + examples: “He cannot order it so,” says he, “that twice + ten shall not be twenty.” This is what he says, and what a Christian + ought to take heed shall not escape his lips. Whereas, on the contrary, it + seems as if men studied this foolish daring of language, to reduce God to + their own measure:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Cras vel atr Nube polum, Pater, occupato, + Vel sole puro; non tamen irritum + Quodcumque retro est efficiet, neque + Diffinget infectumque reddet + Quod fugiens semel hora vexit. + + “To-morrow, let it shine or rain, + Yet cannot this the past make vain: + Nor uncreate and render void + That which was yesterday enjoyed.” + </pre> + <p> + When we say that the infinity of ages, as well past as to come, are but + one instant with God; that his goodness, wisdom, and power are the same + with his essence; our mouths speak it, but our understandings apprehend it + not; and yet, such is our vain opinion of ourselves, that we must make the + Divinity to pass through our sieve; and thence proceed all the dreams and + errors with which the world abounds, whilst we reduce and weigh in our + balance a thing so far above our poise. <i>Mirum quo procdat improbitas + cordis humani, parvulo aliquo intritata successu.</i> “‘Tis + wonderful to what the wickedness of man’s heart will proceed, if + elevated with the least success.” How magisterially and insolently + does Epicurus reprove the Stoics, for maintaining that the truly good and + happy being appertained only to God, and that the wise man had nothing but + a shadow and resemblance of it! How temerariously have they bound God to + destiny (a thing which, by my consent, none that bears the name of a + Christian shall ever do again)! and Thales, Plato, and Pythagoras have + enslaved him to necessity. This arrogance of attempting to discover God + with our eyes has been the cause that an eminent person among us has + attributed to the Divinity a corporal form; and is the reason of what + happens to us every day, of attributing to God important events, by a + particular assignment. Because they weigh with us, they conclude that they + also weigh with him, and that he has a more intent and vigilant regard to + them than to others of less moment to us or of ordinary course: <i>Magna + Dii curant, parva negligunt:</i> “The gods are concerned at great + matters, but slight the small.” Listen to him; he will clear this to + you by his reason: <i>Nec in regnis quidem reges omnia minima curant:</i> + “Neither indeed do kings in their administration take notice of all + the least concerns.” As if to that King of kings it were more or + less to subvert a kingdom, or to move the leaf of a tree; or as if his + providence acted after another manner in inclining the event of a battle + than in the leap of a flea. The hand of his government is laid upon every + thing after the same manner, with the same power and order; our interest + does nothing towards it; our inclinations and measures sway nothing with + him. <i>Deus ita artifex magnus in magnis, ut minor non sit in parvis:</i> + “God is so great an artificer in great things, that he is no less in + the least” Our arrogancy sets this blasphemous comparison ever + before us. Because our employments are a burden to us, Strato has + courteously been pleased to exempt the gods from all offices, as their + priests are; he makes nature produce and support all things; and with her + weights and motions make up the several parts of the world, discharging + human nature from the awe of divine judgments: <i>Quod beatum terumque + sit, id nec habere negotii quicquam, nec exhibere alteri:</i> “What + is blessed and eternal has neither any business itself nor gives any to + another.” Nature will that in like things there should be a like + relation. The infinite number of mortals, therefore, concludes a like + number of immortals; the infinite things that kill and destroy presupposes + as many that preserve and profit. As the souls of the gods, without + tongue, eye, or ear, do every one of them feel amongst themselves what the + other feels, and judge our thoughts; so the souls of men, when at liberty + and loosed from the body, either by sleep or some ecstacy, divine, + foretell, and see things, which, whilst joined to the body, they could not + see. “Men,” says St. Paul, “professing themselves to be + wise, they become fools; and change the glory of the uncorruptible God + into an image made like corruptible man.” Do but take notice of the + juggling in the ancient deifications. After the great and stately pomp of + the funeral, so soon as the fire began to mount to the top of the pyramid, + and to catch hold of the couch where the body lay, they at the same time + turned out an eagle, which flying upward, signified that the soul went + into Paradise. We have a thousand medals, and particularly of the worthy + Faustina, where this eagle is represented carrying these deified souls to + heaven with their heels upwards. ‘Tis pity that we should fool + ourselves with our own fopperies and inventions, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quod finxere, timent, + + “They fear their own inventions,” + </pre> + <p> + like children who are frighted with the same face of their playfellow, + that they themselves have smeared and smutted. <i>Quasi quicquam + infelicius sit homine, cui sua figmenta dominantur:</i> + </p> + <p> + “As if any thing could be more unhappy than man, who is insulted + over by his own imagination.” ‘Tis far from honouring him who + made us, to honour him that we have made. Augustus had more temples than + Jupiter, served with as much religion and belief of miracles. The + Thracians, in return of the benefits they had received from Agesilaus, + came to bring him word that they had canonized him: “Has your + nation,” said he to them, “the power to make gods of whom they + please? Pray first deify some one amongst yourselves, and when I shall see + what advantage he has by it, I will thank you for your offer.” Man + is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making + gods by dozens. Hear Trismegistus in praise of our sufficiency: “Of + all the wonderful things, it surmounts all wonder that man could find out + the divine nature and make it.” And take here the arguments of the + school of philosophy itself:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nosse cui divos et coli munina soli, + Aut soli nescire, datum. + + “To whom to know the deities of heaven, + Or know he knows them not, alone ‘tis given.” + </pre> + <p> + “If there is a God, he is a living creature; if he be a living + creature, he has sense; and if he has sense, he is subject to corruption. + If he be without a body he is without a soul, and consequently without + action; and if he has a body, it is perishable.” Is not here a + triumph? we are incapable of having made the world; there must then be + some more excellent nature that has put a hand to the work. It were a + foolish and ridiculous arrogance to esteem ourselves the most perfect + thing of the universe. There must then be something that is better, and + that must be God. When you see a stately and stupendous edifice, though + you do not know who is the owner of it, you would yet conclude it was not + built for rats. And this divine structure, that we behold of the celestial + palace, have we not reason to believe that it is the residence of some + possessor, who is much greater than we? Is not the most supreme always the + most worthy? but we are in the lowest form. Nothing without a soul and + without reason can produce a living creature capable of reason. The world + produces us, the world then has soul and reason. Every part of us is less + than we. We are part of the world, the world therefore is endued with + wisdom and reason, and that more abundantly than we. ‘Tis a fine + thing to have a great government; the government of the world then + appertains to some happy nature. The stars do us no harm; they are then + full of goodness. We have need of nourishment; then so have the gods also, + and feed upon the vapours of the earth. Worldly goods are not goods to + God; therefore they are not goods to us; offending and being offended are + equally testimonies of imbecility; ‘tis therefore folly to fear God. + God is good by his nature; man by his industry, which is more. The divine + and human wisdom have no other distinction, but that the first is eternal; + but duration is no accession to wisdom, therefore we are companions. We + have life, reason, and liberty; we esteem goodness, charity, and justice; + these qualities are then in him. In conclusion, building and destroying, + the conditions of the Divinity, are forged by man, according as they + relate to himself. What a pattern, and what a model! let us stretch, let + us raise and swell human qualities as much as we please; puff up thyself, + poor man, yet more and more, and more:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Non, si tu ruperis, inquit. + + “Not if thou burst,” said he. +</pre> + <p> + <i>Profecto non Deum, quern cogitare non possunt, sed semetip pro illo + cogitantes, non ilium, sed seipsos, non illi, sed sibi comparant?</i> + “Certainly they do not imagine God, whom they cannot imagine; but + they imagine themselves in his stead; they do not compare him, but + themselves, not to him, but to themselves.” In natural things the + effects do but half relate to their causes. What’s this to the + purpose? His condition is above the order of nature, too elevated, too + remote, and too mighty, to permit itself to be bound and fettered by our + conclusions. ‘Tis not through ourselves that we arrive at that + place; our ways lie too low. We are no nearer heaven on the top of Mount + Cenis than at the bottom of the sea; take the distance with your + astrolabe. They debase God even to the carnal knowledge of women, to so + many times, and so many generations. Paulina, the wife of Satuminus, a + matron of great reputation at Rome, thinking she lay with the god Serapis, + found herself in the arms of an amoroso of hers, through the panderism of + the priests of his temple. Varro, the most subtle and most learned of all + the Latin authors, in his book of theology, writes, that the sexton of + Hercules’s temple, throwing dice with one hand for himself, and with + the other for Hercules, played after that manner with him for a supper and + a wench; if he won, at the expense of the offerings; if he lost, at his + own. The sexton lost, and paid the supper and the wench. Her name was + Laurentina, who saw by night this god in her arms, who moreover told her, + that the first she met the next day, should give her a heavenly reward; + which proved to be Taruncius, a rich young man, who took her home to his + house, and in time left her his inheritrix. She, in her turn, thinking to + do a thing that would be pleasing to the god, left the people of Rome + heirs to her; and therefore had divine honours attributed to her. As if it + had not been sufficient that Plato was originally descended from the gods + by a double line, and that he had Neptune for the common father of his + race, it was certainly believed at Athens, that Aristo, having a mind to + enjoy the fair Perictione, could not, and was warned by the god Apollo, in + a dream, to leave her unpolluted and untouched, till she should first be + brought to bed. These were the father and mother of Plato. How many + ridiculous stories are there of like cuckoldings, committed by the gods + against poor mortal men! And how many husbands injuriously scandaled in + favour of the children! In the Mahometan religion there are Merlins enough + found by the belief of the people; that is to say, children without + fathers, spiritual, divinely conceived in the wombs of virgins, and carry + names that signify so much in their language. + </p> + <p> + We are to observe that to every thing nothing is more dear and estimable + than its being (the lion, the eagle the dolphin, prize nothing above their + own kind); and that every thing assimilates the qualities of all other + things to its own proper qualities, which we may indeed extend or + contract, but that’s all; for beyond that relation and principle our + imagination cannot go, can guess at nothing else, nor possibly go out + thence, nor stretch beyond it; whence spring these ancient conclusions: of + all forms the most beautiful is that of man; therefore God must be of that + form. No one can be happy without virtue, nor virtue be without reason, + and reason cannot inhabit anywhere but in a human shape; God is therefore + clothed in a human figure. <i>Ita est informatum et anticipatum mentibus + nostris, ut homini, quum de Deo cogitet, forma occurrat hu-mana.</i> + “It is so imprinted in our minds, and the fancy is so prepossessed + with it, that when a man thinks of God, a human figure ever presents + itself to the imagination.” Therefore it was that Xenophanes + pleasantly said, “That if beasts frame any gods to themselves, as + ‘tis likely they do, they make them certainly such as themselves + are, and glorify themselves in it, as we do. For why may not a goose say + thus; “All the parts of the universe I have an interest in; the + earth serves me to walk upon; the sun to light me; the stars have their + influence upon me; I have such an advantage by the winds and such by the + waters; there is nothing that yon heavenly roof looks upon so favourably + as me; I am the darling of nature! Is it not man that keeps, lodges, and + serves me? ‘Tis for me that he both sows and grinds; if he eats me + he does the same by his fellow-men, and so do I the worms that kill and + devour him.” As much might be said by a crane, and with greater + confidence, upon the account of the liberty of his flight, and the + possession of that high and beautiful region. <i>Tam blanda conciliatrix, + et tam sui est lena ipsa natura.</i> “So flattering and wheedling a + bawd is nature to herself.” + </p> + <p> + Now by the same consequence, the destinies are then for us; for us the + world; it shines it thunders for us; creator and creatures, all are for + us; ‘tis the mark and point to which the universality of things + aims. Look into the records that philosophy has kept for two thousand + years and more, of the affairs of heaven; the gods all that while have + neither acted nor spoken but for man. She does not allow them any other + consultation or occupation. See them here against us in war:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Domitosque Hercule manu + Telluris juvenes, unde periculum + Fulgens contre mu it domus + Saturai veteris. + + “The brawny sons of earth, subdu’d by hand + Of Hercules on the Phlegran strand, + Where the rude shock did such an uproar make, + As made old Saturn’s sparkling palace shake.” + </pre> + <p> + And here you shall see them participate of our troubles, to make a return + for our having so often shared in theirs:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Neptunus muros, magnoque emota tridenti + Fundamenta quatit, totamque sedibus urbem + Emit: hie Juno Scas svissima portas Prima tenet. + + “Amidst that smother Neptune holds his place, + Below the walls’ foundation drives his mace, + And heaves the city from its solid base. + See where in arms the cruel Juno stands, + Full in the Scan gate.” + </pre> + <p> + The Caunians, jealous of the authority of their own proper gods, armed + themselves on the days of their devotion, and through the whole of their + precincts ran cutting and slashing the air with their swords, by that + means to drive away and banish all foreign gods out of their territory. + Their powers are limited according that the plague, that the scurf, that + the phthisic; one cures one sort of itch, another another: <i>Adeo minimis + etiam rebus prava religio inserit Deos?</i> “At such a rate does + false religion create gods for the most contemptible uses.” This one + makes grapes grow, that onions; this has the presidence over lechery, that + over merchandise; for every sort of artisan a god; this has his province + and reputation in the east; that his in the west:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Here lay her armour, here her chariot stood.” + + O sancte Apollo, qui umbilicum certum terrarum obtines! + + “O sacred Phoebus, who with glorious ray, + From the earth’s centre, dost thy light display.” + + Pallada Cecropid, Minola Creta Dianam, + Vulcanum tellus Hypsipylea colit, + Junonem Sparte, Pelopeladesque Mycen; + Pinigerum Fauni Mnalis ora caput; + Mars Latio venerandus. + + “Th’ Athenians Pallas, Cynthia Crete adore, + Vulcan is worshipped on the Lemnian shore. + Proud Juno’s altars are by Spartans fed, + Th’ Arcadians worship Faunus, and ‘tis said + To Mars, by Italy, is homage paid.” + </pre> + <p> + to our necessity; this cures horses, that men, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Hic illius arma, Hic currus fuit. +</pre> + <p> + This has only one town or family in his possession; that lives alone; that + in company, either voluntary or upon necessity:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Junctaque sunt magno templa nepotis avo. + + “And temples to the nephew joined are, + To those were reared to the great-grandfather.” + </pre> + <p> + In here are some so wretched and mean (for the number amounts to six and + thirty thousand) that they must pack five or six together, to produce one + ear of corn, and thence take their several names; three to a door—that + of the plank, that of the hinge, and that of the threshold. Four to a + child—protectors of his swathing-clouts, his drink, meat, and + sucking. Some certain, some uncertain and doubtful, and some that are not + yet entered Paradise:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quos, quoniam coli nondum dignamur honore, + Quas dedimus cert terras habitare sinanras: + + “Whom, since we yet not worthy think of heaven, + We suffer to possess the earth we’ve given.” + </pre> + <p> + There are amongst them physicians, poets, and civilians. Some of a mean + betwixt the divine and human nature; mediators betwixt God and us, adorned + with a certain second and diminutive sort of adoration; infinite in titles + and offices; some good; others ill; some old and decrepit, and some that + are mortal. For Chrysippus was of opinion that in the last conflagration + of the world all the gods were to die but Jupiter. Man makes a thousand + pretty societies betwixt God and him; is he not his countryman? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Jovis incunabula Creten. + + “Crete, the cradle of Jupiter.” + </pre> + <p> + And this is the excuse that, upon consideration of this subject, Scvola, a + high priest, and Varro, a great theologian in their times, make us: + “That it is necessary that the people should be ignorant of many + things that are true, and believe many things that are false.” <i>Quum + veritatem qua liberetur inquirat credatur ei expedire quod fallitur.</i> + “Seeing he inquires into the truth, by which he would be made free, + ‘tis fit he should be deceived.” Human eyes cannot perceive + things but by the forms they know; and we do not remember what a leap + miserable Phton took for attempting to guide his father’s horses + with a mortal hand. The mind of man falls into as great a depth, and is + after the same manner bruised and shattered by his own rashness. If you + ask of philosophy of what matter the heavens and the sun are? what answer + will she return, if not that it is iron, or, with Anaxagoras, stone, or + some other matter that she makes use of? If a man inquire of Zeno what + nature is? “A fire,” says he, “an artisan, proper for + generation, and regularly proceeding.” Archimedes, master of that + science which attributes to itself the precedency before all others for + truth and certainty; “the sun,” says he, “is a god of + red-hot iron.” Was not this a fine imagination, extracted from the + inevitable necessity of geometrical demonstrations? Yet not so inevitable + and useful but that Socrates thought it was enough to know so much of + geometry only as to measure the land a man bought or sold; and that + Polynus, who had been a great and famous doctor in it, despised it, as + full of falsity and manifest vanity, after he had once tasted the delicate + fruits of the lozelly gardens of Epicurus. Socrates in Xenophon, + concerning this affair, says of Anaxagoras, reputed by antiquity learned + above all others in celestial and divine matters, “That he had + cracked his brain, as all other men do who too immoderately search into + knowledges which nothing belong to them:” when he made the sun to be + a burning stone, he did not consider that a stone does not shine in the + fire; and, which is worse, that it will there consume; and in making the + sun and fire one, that fire does not turn the complexions black in shining + upon them; that we are able to look fixedly upon fire; and that fire kills + herbs and plants. ‘Tis Socrates’s opinion, and mine too, that + the best judging of heaven is not to judge of it at all. Plato having + occasion, in his <i>Timous</i>, to speak of the demons, “This + undertaking,” says he, “exceeds my ability.” We are + therefore to believe those ancients who said they were begotten by them; + ‘tis against all reason to refuse a man’s faith to the + children of the gods, though what they say should not be proved by any + necessary or probable reasons; seeing they engage to speak of domestic and + familiar things. + </p> + <p> + Let us see if we have a little more light in the knowledge of human and + natural things. Is it not a ridiculous attempt for us to forge for those + to whom, by our own confession, our knowledge is not able to attain, + another body, and to lend a false form of our own invention; as is + manifest in this motion of the planets; to which, seeing our wits cannot + possibly arrive, nor conceive their natural conduct, we lend them + material, heavy, and substantial springs of our own by which to move:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Temo aureus, aurea summ + Curvatura rot, radiorum argenteus ordo. + + “Gold was the axle, and the beam was gold; + The wheels with silver spokes on golden circles roll’d.” + </pre> + <p> + You would say that we had had coachmakers, carpenters, and painters, that + went up on high to make engines of various motions, and to range the + wheelwork and interfacings of the heavenly bodies of differing colours + about the axis of necessity, according to Plato:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mundus domus est maxima rerum, + Quam quinque altiton fragmine zon + Cingunt, per quam limbus pictus bis sex signis + Stellimicantibus, altus in obliquo there, lun + Bigas acceptat. + + “The world’s a mansion that doth all things hold, + Which thundering zones, in number five, enfold, + Through which a girdle, painted with twelve signs, + And that with sparkling constellations, shines, + In heaven’s arch marks the diurnal course + For the sun’s chariot and his fiery horse.” + </pre> + <p> + These are all dreams and fanatic follies. Why will not nature please for + once to lay open her bosom to us, and plainly discover to us the means and + conduct of her movements, and prepare our eyes to see them? Good God, what + abuse, what mistakes should we discover in our poor science! I am mistaken + if that weak knowledge of ours holds any one thing as it really is, and I + shall depart hence more ignorant of all other things than my own + ignorance. + </p> + <p> + Have I not read in Plato this divine saying, that “nature is nothing + but enigmatic poesy!” As if a man might perhaps see a veiled and + shady picture, breaking out here and there with an infinite variety of + false lights to puzzle our conjectures: <i>Latent ista omnia crassis + occullata et circumfusa tenebris; ut nulla acies humani ingenii tanta sit, + qu penetrare in coelum, terram intrare, possit.</i> “All those + things lie concealed and involved in so dark an obscurity that no point of + human wit can be so sharp as to pierce heaven or penetrate the earth.” + And certainly philosophy is no other than sophisticated poetry. Whence do + the ancient writers extract their authorities but from the poets? and the + first of them were poets themselves, and writ accordingly. Plato is but a + poet unripped. Timon calls him, insultingly, “a monstrous forger of + miracles.” All superhuman sciences make use of the poetic style. + Just as women make use of teeth of ivory where the natural are wanting, + and instead of their true complexion make one of some artificial matter; + as they stuff themselves out with cotton to appear plump, and in the sight + of every one do paint, patch, and trick up themselves with a false and + borrowed beauty; so does science (and even our law itself has, they say, + legitimate fictions, whereon it builds the truth of its justice); she + gives us in presupposition, and for current pay, things which she herself + informs us were invented; for these <i>epicycles, eccentrics, and + concentrics</i>, which astrology makes use of to carry on the motions of + the stars, she gives us for the best she could invent upon that subject; + as also, in all the rest, philosophy presents us not that which really is, + or what she really believes, but what she has contrived with the greatest + and most plausible likelihood of truth, and the quaintest invention. + Plato, upon the discourse of the state of human bodies and those of + beasts, says, “I should know that what I have said is truth, had I + the confirmation of an oracle; but this I will affirm, that what I have + said is the most likely to be true of any thing I could say.” + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis not to heaven only that art sends her ropes, engines, and + wheels; let us consider a little what she says of us ourselves, and of our + contexture. + </p> + <p> + There is not more retrogradation, trepidation, accession, recession, and + astonishment, in the stars and celestial bodies, than they have found out + in this poor little human body. In earnest, they have good reason, upon + that very account, to call it the little world, so many tools and parts + have they employed to erect and build it. To assist the motions they see + in man, and the various functions that we find in ourselves, in how many + parts have they divided the soul, in how many places lodged it? in how + many orders have they divided, and to how many stories have they raised + this poor creature, man, besides those that are natural and to be + perceived? And how many offices and vocations have they assigned him? They + make it an imaginary public thing. ‘Tis a subject that they hold and + handle; and they have full power granted to them to rip, place, displace, + piece, and stuff it, every one according to his own fancy, and yet they + possess it not They cannot, not in reality only, but even in dreams, so + govern it that there will not be some cadence or sound that will escape + their architecture, as enormous as it is, and botched with a thousand + false and fantastic patches. And it is not reason to excuse them; for + though we are satisfied with painters when they paint heaven, earth, seas, + mountains, and remote islands, that they give us some slight mark of them, + and, as of things unknown, are content with a faint and obscure + description; yet when they come and draw us after life, or any other + creature which is known and familiar to us, we then require of them a + perfect and exact representation of lineaments and colours, and despise + them if they fail in it. + </p> + <p> + I am very well pleased with the Milesian girl, who observing the + philosopher Thales to be always contemplating the celestial arch, and to + have his eyes ever gazing upward, laid something in his way that he might + stumble over, to put him in mind that it would be time to take up his + thoughts about things that are in the clouds when he had provided for + those that were under his feet. Doubtless she advised him well, rather to + look to himself than to gaze at heaven; for, as Democritus says, by the + mouth of Cicero,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quod est ante pedes, nemo spectat: coeli scrutantur plagas. + + “No man regards what is under his feet; + They are always prying towards heaven.” + </pre> + <p> + But our condition will have it so, that the knowledge of what we have in + hand is as remote from us, and as much above the clouds, as that of the + stars. As Socrates says, in Plato, “That whoever meddles with + philosophy may be reproached as Thales was by the woman, that he sees + nothing of that which is before him. For every philosopher is ignorant of + what his neighbour does; aye, and of what he does himself, and is ignorant + of what they both are, whether beasts or men.” + </p> + <p> + Those people, who find Sebond’s arguments too weak, that are + ignorant of nothing, that govern the world, that know all,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Qu mare compescant caus; quid temperet annum; + Stell sponte su, jussve, vagentur et errent; + Quid premat obscurum lun, quid profrt orbem; + Quid velit et posait rerum concordia discors; + + “What governs ocean’s tides, + And through the various year the seasons guides; + Whether the stars by their own proper force, + Or foreign power, pursue their wand’ring course; + Why shadows darken the pale queen of night; + Whence she renews her orb and spreads her light;— + What nature’s jarring sympathy can mean;” + </pre> + <p> + have they not sometimes in their writings sounded the difficulties they + have met with of knowing their own being? We see very well that the finger + moves, that the foot moves, that some parts assume a voluntary motion of + themselves without our consent, and that others work by our direction; + that one sort of apprehension occasions blushing; another paleness; such + an imagination works upon the spleen only, another upon the brain; one + occasions laughter, another tears; another stupefies and astonishes all + our senses, and arrests the motion of all our members; at one object the + stomach will rise, at another a member that lies something lower; but how + a spiritual impression should make such a breach into a massy and solid + subject, and the nature of the connection and contexture of these + admirable springs and movements, never yet man knew: <i>Omnia incerta + ratione, et in natur majestate abdita.</i> “All uncertain in reason, + and concealed in the majesty of nature,” says Pliny. And St + Augustin, <i>Modus quo corporibus adhorent spiritus.... omnino minis est, + nec comprehendi ab homine potest; et hoc ipse homo est,</i> “The + manner whereby souls adhere to bodies is altogether wonderful, and cannot + be conceived by man, and yet this is man.” And yet it is not so much + as doubted; for the opinions of men are received according to the ancient + belief, by authority and upon trust, as if it were religion and law. + ‘Tis received as gibberish which is commonly spoken; this truth, + with all its clutter of arguments and proofs, is admitted as a firm and + solid body, that is no more to be shaken, no more to be judged of; on the + contrary, every one, according to the best of his talent, corroborates and + fortifies this received belief with the utmost power of his reason, which + is a supple utensil, pliable, and to be accommodated to any figure; and + thus the world comes to be filled with lies and fopperies. The reason that + men doubt of divers things is that they never examine common impressions; + they do not dig to the root, where the faults and defects lie; they only + debate upon the branches; they do not examine whether such and such a + thing be true, but if it has been so and so understood; it is not inquired + into whether Galen has said any thing to purpose, but whether he has said + so or so. In truth it was very good reason that this curb to the liberty + of our judgments and that tyranny over our opinions, should be extended to + the schools and arts. The god of scholastic knowledge is Aristotle; + ‘tis irreligion to question any of his decrees, as it was those of + Lucurgus at Sparta; his doctrine is a magisterial law, which, + peradventure, is as false as another. I do not know why I should not as + willingly embrace either the ideas of Plato, or the atoms of Epicurus, or + the plenum or vacuum of Leucippus and Democritus, or the water of Thales, + or the infinity of nature of Anaximander, or the air of Diogenes, or the + numbers and symmetry of Pythagoras, or the infinity of Parmenides, or the + One of Musus, or the water and fire of Apollodorus, or the similar parts + of Anaxagoras, or the discord and friendship of Empedocles, or the fire of + Heraclitus, or any other opinion of that infinite confusion of opinions + and determinations, which this fine human reason produces by its certitude + and clearsightedness in every thing it meddles withal, as I should the + opinion of Aristotle upon this subject of the principles of natural + things; which principles he builds of three pieces—matter, form, and + privation. And what can be more vain than to make inanity itself the cause + of the production of things? Privation is a negative; of what humour could + he then make the cause and original of things that are? And yet that were + not to be controverted but for the exercise of logic; there is nothing + disputed therein to bring it into doubt, but to defend the author of the + school from foreign objections; his authority is the non-ultra, beyond + which it is not permitted to inquire. + </p> + <p> + It is very easy, upon approved foundations, to build whatever we please; + for, according to the law and ordering of this beginning, the other parts + of the structure are easily carried on without any failure. By this way we + find our reason well-grounded, and discourse at a venture; for our masters + prepossess and gain beforehand as much room in our belief as is necessary + towards concluding afterwards what they please, as geometricians do by + their granted demands, the consent and approbation we allow them giving + them wherewith to draw us to the right and left, and to whirl us about at + their pleasure. Whatever springs from these presuppositions is our master + and our God; he will take the level of his foundations so ample and so + easy that by them he may mount us up to the clouds, if he so please. In + this practice and negotiation of science we have taken the saying of + Pythagoras, “That every expert person ought to be believed in his + own art” for current pay. The logician refers the signification of + words to the grammarians; the rhetorician borrows the state of arguments + from the logician; the poet his measure from the musician: the + geometrician his proportions from the arithmetician, and the + metaphysicians take physical conjectures for their foundations; for every + science has its principle presupposed, by which human judgment is + everywhere kept in check. If you come to rush against the bar where the + principal error lies, they have presently this sentence in their mouths, + “That there is no disputing with persons who deny principles.” + Now men can have no principles if not revealed to them by the divinity; of + all the rest the beginning, the middle, and the end, is nothing but dream + and vapour. To those that contend upon presupposition we must, on the + contrary, presuppose to them the same axiom upon which the dispute is. For + every human presupposition and declaration has as much authority one as + another, if reason do not make the difference. Wherefore they are all to + be put into the balance, and first the generals and those that tyrannize + over us. The persuasion of certainty is a certain testimony of folly and + extreme incertainty; and there are not a more foolish sort of men, nor + that are less philosophers, than the Philodoxes of Plato; we must inquire + whether fire be hot? whether snow be white? if there be any such things as + hard or soft within our knowledge? + </p> + <p> + And as to those answers of which they make old stories, as he that doubted + if there was any such thing as heat, whom they bid throw himself into the + fire; and he that denied the coldness of ice, whom they bid to put ice + into his bosom;—they are pitiful things, unworthy of the profession + of philosophy. If they had let us alone in our natural being, to receive + the appearance of things without us, according as they present themselves + to us by our senses, and had permitted us to follow our own natural + appetites, governed by the condition of our birth, they might then have + reason to talk at that rate; but ‘tis from them we have learned to + make ourselves judges of the world; ‘tis from them that we derive + this fancy, “That human reason is controller-general of all that is + without and within the roof of heaven; that comprehends every thing, that + can do every thing; by the means of which every thing is known and + understood.” This answer would be good among the cannibals, who + enjoy the happiness of a long, quiet, and peaceable life, without + Aristotle’s precepts, and without the knowledge of the name of + physics; this answer would perhaps be of more value and greater force than + all those they borrow from their reason and invention; of this all + animals, and all where the power of the law of nature is yet pure and + simple, would be as capable as we, but as for them they have renounced it. + They need not tell us, “It is true, for you see and feel it to be + so;” they must tell me whether I really feel what I think I do; and + if I do feel it, they must then tell me why I feel it, and how, and what; + let them tell me the name, original, the parts and junctures of heat and + cold, the qualities of the agent and patient; or let them give up their + profession, which is not to admit or approve of any thing but by the way + of reason; that is their test in all sorts of essays; but, certainly, + ‘tis a test full of falsity, error, weakness, and defect. + </p> + <p> + Which way can we better prove it than by itself? If we are not to believe + her when speaking of herself, she can hardly be thought fit to judge of + foreign things; if she know any thing, it must at least be her own being + and abode; she is in the soul, and either a part or an effect of it; for + true and essential reason, from which we by a false colour borrow the + name, is lodged in the bosom of the Almighty; there is her habitation and + recess; ‘tis thence that she imparts her rays, when God is pleased + to impart any beam of it to mankind, as Balias issued from her father’s + head, to communicate herself to the world. + </p> + <p> + Now let us see what human reason tells us of herself and of the soul, not + of the soul in general, of which almost all philosophy makes the celestial + and first bodies participants; nor of that which Thales attributed to + things which themselves are reputed inanimate, lead thereto by the + consideration of the loadstone; but of that which appertains to us, and + that we ought the best to know:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ignoratur enim, qu sit natura animai; + Nata sit; an, contra, nascentibus insinuetur; + Et simnl intereat nobiscum morte dirempta; + An tenebras Orci visat, vastasque lacunas, + An pecudes alias divinitns insinuet se. + + “For none the nature of the soul doth know, + Whether that it be born with us, or no; + Or be infused into us at our birth, + And dies with us when we return to earth, + Or then descends to the black shades below, + Or into other animals does go.” + </pre> + <p> + Crates and Dicarchus were of opinion that there was no soul at all, but + that the body thus stirs by a natural motion; Plato, that it was a + substance moving of itself; Thales, a nature without repose; Aedepiades, + an exercising of the senses; Hesiod and Anaximander, a thing composed of + earth and water; Parmenides, of earth and fire; Empedocles, of blood:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Sanguineam vomit ille animam; + + “He vomits up his bloody soul.” + </pre> + <p> + Posidonius, Cleanthes, and Galen, that it was heat or a hot complexion— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Igneus est ollis vigor, et colestis origo; + + “Their vigour of fire and of heavenly race.” + </pre> + <p> + Hippocrates, a spirit diffused all over the body; Varro, that it was an + air received at the mouth, heated in the lungs, moistened in the heart, + and diffused throughout the whole body; Zeno, the quintessence of the four + elements; Heraclides Ponticus, that it was the light; Zenocrates and the + Egyptians, a mobile number; the Chaldeans, a virtue without any + determinate form:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Habitum quemdam vitalem corporis esse, + Harmoniam Grci quam dicunt. + + “A certain vital habit in man’s frame, + Which harmony the Grecian sages name.” + </pre> + <p> + Let us not forget Aristotle, who held the soul to be that which naturally + causes the body to move, which he calls entelechia, with as cold an + invention as any of the rest; for he neither speaks of the essence, nor of + the original, nor of the nature of the soul, but only takes notice of the + effect Lactantius, Seneca, and most of the Dogmatists, have confessed that + it was a thing they did not understand; after all this enumeration of + opinions, <i>Harum sententiarum quo vera sit, Deus aliquis viderit:</i> + “Of these opinions which is the true, let some god determine,” + says Cicero. “I know by myself,” says St Bernard, “how + incomprehensible God is, seeing I cannot comprehend the parts of my own + being.” + </p> + <p> + Heraclitus, who was of opinion that every being was full of souls and + demons, did nevertheless maintain that no one could advance so far towards + the knowledge of the soul as ever to arrive at it; so profound was the + essence of it. + </p> + <p> + Neither is there less controversy and debate about seating of it. + Hippocrates and Hierophilus place it in the ventricle of the brain; + Democritus and Aristotle throughout the whole body;— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ut bona spe valetudo cum dicitur esse + Corporis, et non est tamen hc pars ulla ralentis; + + “As when the body’s health they do it call, + When of a sound man, that’s no part at all.” + </pre> + <p> + Epicurus in the stomach; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Hic exsultat enim pavor ac metus; + Hc loca circum Ltiti mulcent. + + “For this the seat of horror is and fear, + And joys in turn do likewise triumph here.” + </pre> + <p> + The Stoics, about and within the heart; Erasistratus, adjoining the + membrane of the epicranium; Empedocles, in the blood; as also Moses, which + was the reason why he interdicted eating the blood of beasts, because the + soul is there seated; Galen thought that every part of the body had its + soul; Strato has placed it betwixt the eyebrows; <i>Qu facie quidem sit + animus, aut ubi habitet, ne quorendum quidem est:</i> “What figure + the soul is of, or what part it inhabits, is not to be inquired into,” + says Cicero. I very willingly deliver this author to you in his own words; + for should I alter eloquence itself? Besides, it were but a poor prize to + steal the matter of his inventions; they are neither very frequent, nor of + any great weight, and sufficiently known. But the reason why Chrysippus + argues it to be about the heart, as all the rest of that sect do, is not + to be omitted; “It is,” says he, “because when we would + affirm any things we lay our hand upon our breasts; and when we would + pronounce y, which signifies I, we let the lower jaw fall towards the + stomach.” This place ought not to be passed over without a remark + upon the vanity of so great a man; for besides that these considerations + are infinitely light in themselves, the last is only a proof to the Greeks + that they have their souls lodged in that part. No human judgment is so + sprightly and vigilant that it does not sometimes sleep. Why do we fear to + say? The Stoics, the fathers of human prudence, think that the soul of a + man, crushed under a ruin, long labours and strives to get out, like a + mouse caught in a trap, before it can disengage itself from the burden. + Some hold that the world was made to give bodies, by way of punishment, to + the spirits fallen, by their own fault, from the purity wherein they had + been created, the first creation having been incorporeal; and that, + according as they are more or less depraved from their spirituality, so + are they more or less jocundly or dully incorporated; and that thence + proceeds all the variety of so much created matter. But the spirit that + for his punishment was invested with the body of the sun must certainly + have a very rare and particular measure of change. + </p> + <p> + The extremities of our perquisition do all fall into astonishment and + blindness; as Plutarch says of the testimony of histories, that, according + to charts and maps, the utmost bounds of known r countries are taken up + with marshes, impenetrable forests, deserts, and uninhabitable places; + this is the reason why the most gross and childish ravings were most found + in those authors who treat of the most elevated subjects, and proceed the + furthest in them, losing themselves in their own curiosity and + presumption. The beginning and end of knowledge are equally foolish; + observe to what a pitch Plato flies in his poetic clouds; do but take + notice there of the gibberish of the gods; but what did he dream of when + he defined a man to be “a two-legged animal without feathers: giving + those who had a mind to deride him a pleasant occasion; for, having pulled + a capon alive, they went about calling it the man of Plato.” + </p> + <p> + And what did the Epicureans think of, out of what simplicity did they + first imagine that their <i>atoms</i> that they said were bodies having + some weight, and a natural motion downwards, had made the world; till they + were put in mind, by their adversaries, that, according to this + description, it was impossible they should unite and join to one another, + their fall being so direct and perpendicular, and making so many parallel + lines throughout? Wherefore there was a necessity that they should since + add a fortuitous and sideways motion, and that they should moreover + accoutre their atoms with hooked tails, by which they might unite and + cling to one another. And even then do not those that attack them upon + this second consideration put them hardly to it? “If the atoms have + by chance formed so many sorts of figures, why did it never fall out that + they made a house or a shoe? Why at the same rate should we not believe + that an infinite number of Greek letters, strewed all over a certain + place, might fall into the contexture of the <i>Iliad?</i>”—“Whatever + is capable of reason,” says Zeno, “is better than that which + is not capable; there is nothing better than the world; the world is + therefore capable of reason.” Cotta, by this way of argumentation, + makes the world a mathematician; ‘and tis also made a musician and + an organist by this other argumentation of Zeno: “The whole is more + than a part; we are capable of wisdom, and are part of the world; + therefore the world is wise.” There are infinite like examples, not + only of arguments that are false in themselves, but silly ones, that do + not hold in themselves, and that accuse their authors not so much of + ignorance as imprudence, in the reproaches the philosophers dash one + another in the teeth withal, upon their dissensions in their sects and + opinions. + </p> + <p> + Whoever should bundle up a lusty faggot of the fooleries of human wisdom + would produce wonders. I willingly muster up these few for a pattern, by a + certain meaning not less profitable to consider than the most sound and + moderate instructions. Let us judge by these what opinion we are to have + of man, of his sense and reason, when in these great persons that have + raised human knowledge so high, so many gross mistakes and manifest errors + are to be found. + </p> + <p> + For my part, I am apt to believe that they have treated of knowledge + casually, and like a toy, with both hands; and have contended about reason + as of a vain and frivolous instrument, setting on foot all sorts of + fancies and inventions, sometimes more sinewy, and sometimes weaker. This + same Plato, who defines man as if he were a cock, says elsewhere, after + Socrates, “That he does not, in truth, know what man is, and that he + is a member of the world the hardest to understand.” By this variety + and instability of opinions, they tacitly lead us, as it were by the hand, + to this resolution of their irresolution. They profess not always to + deliver their opinions barefaced and apparent to us; they have one while + disguised them in the fabulous shadows of poetry, and at another in some + other vizor; for our imperfection carries this also along with it, that + crude meat is not always proper for our stomachs; we must dry, alter, and + mix it; they do the same; they sometimes conceal their real opinions and + judgments, and falsify them to accommodate themselves to the public use. + They will not make an open profession of ignorance, and of the imbecility + of human reason, that they may not fright children; but they sufficiently + discover it to us under the appearance of a troubled and inconstant + science. + </p> + <p> + I advised a person in Italy, who had a great mind to speak Italian, that + provided he only had a desire to make himself understood, without being + ambitious in any other respect to excel, that he should only make use of + the first word that came to the tongue’s end, whether Latin, French, + Spanish, or Gascon, and that, by adding the Italian termination, he could + not fail of hitting upon some idiom of the country, either Tuscan, Roman, + Venetian, Piedmontese, or Neapolitan, and so fall in with some one of + those many forms. I say the same of Philosophy; she has so many faces, so + much variety, and has said so many things, that all our dreams and ravings + are there to be found. Human fancy can conceive nothing good or bad that + is not there: <i>Nihil tam absurde did potest, quod non dicatur ab aliquo + philosophorum.</i> “Nothing can be said so absurd, that has not been + said before by some of the philosophers.” And I am the more willing + to expose my whimsies to the public; forasmuch as, though they are spun + out of myself, and without any pattern, I know they will be found related + to some ancient humour, and some will not stick to say, “See whence + he took it!” My manners are natural, I have not called in the + assistance of any discipline to erect them; but, weak as they are, when it + came into my head to lay them open to the world’s view, and that to + expose them to the light in a little more decent garb I went to adorn them + with reasons and examples, it was a wonder to myself accidentally to find + them conformable to so many philosophical discourses and examples. I never + knew what regimen my life was of till it was near worn out and spent; a + new figure—an unpremeditated and accidental philosopher. + </p> + <p> + But to return to the soul. Inasmuch as Plato has placed reason in the + brain, anger in the heart, and concupiscence in the liver; ‘tis + likely that it was rather an interpretation of the movements of + </p> + <p> + the soul, than that he intended a division and separation of it, as of a + body, into several members. And the most likely of their opinions is that + ‘tis always a soul, that by its faculty, reasons, remembers, + comprehends, judges, desires, and exercises all its other operations by + divers instruments of the body; as the pilot guides his ship according to + his experience, one while straining or slacking the cordage, one while + hoisting the mainyard, or removing the rudder, by one and the same power + carrying on several effects; and that it is lodged in the brain; which + appears in that the wounds and accidents that touch that part do + immediately offend the faculties of the soul; and ‘tis not + incongruous that it should thence diffuse itself through the other parts + of the body + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Medium non deserit unquam + Coeli Phoebus iter; radiis tamen omnia lustrt. + + “Phoebus ne’er deviates from the zodiac’s way; + Yet all things doth illustrate with his ray.” + </pre> + <p> + As the sun sheds from heaven its light and influence, and fills the world + with them:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ctera pars animas, per totum dissita corpus, + Paret, et ad numen mentis momenque movetur. + + “The other part o’ th’ soul diffus’d all o’er + The body, does obey the reason’s lore.” + </pre> + <p> + Some have said that there was a general soul, as it were a great body, + whence all the particular souls were extracted, and thither again return, + always restoring themselves to that universal matter:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Deum namque ire per omnes + Terrasque, tractusque maris, columque profundum; + Hinc pecudes, armenta, viros, genus omne ferarum, + Quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas: + Scilicet hue reddi deinde, ac resoluta referri + Omnia; nec morti esse locum: + + “For God goes forth, and spreads throughout the whole + Heaven, earth, and sea, the universal soul; + Each at its birth, from him all beings share, + Both man and brute, the breath of vital air; + To him return, and, loos’d from earthly chain, + Fly whence they sprung, and rest in God again, + Spurn at the grave, and, fearless of decay, + Dwell in high heaven, and star th’ ethereal way.” + </pre> + <p> + Others, that they only rejoined and reunited themselves to it; others, + that they were produced from the divine substance; others, by the angels + of fire and air; others, that they were from all antiquity; and some that + they were created at the very point of time the bodies wanted them; others + make them to descend from the orb of the moon, and return thither; the + generality of the ancients believed that they were begotten from father to + son, after a like manner, and produced with all other natural things; + taking their argument from the likeness of children to their fathers; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Instillata patris virtus tibi; + Fortes creantur fortibus, et bonis; + + “Thou hast thy father’s virtues with his blood: + For still the brave spring from the brave and good;” + </pre> + <p> + and that we see descend from fathers to their children not only bodily + marks, but moreover a resemblance of humours, complexions, and + inclinations of the soul:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Denique cur acris violentia triste leonum + Seminium sequitur? dolus vulpibus, et fuga, cervis + A patribus datur, et patrius pavor incitt artus? + Si non certa suo quia semine seminioque + Vis animi pariter crescit cum corpore toto. + + “For why should rage from the fierce lion’s seed, + Or from the subtle fox’s craft, proceed; + Or why the tim’rous and flying hart + His fear and trembling to his race impart; + But that a certain force of mind does grow, + And still increases as the bodies do?” + </pre> + <p> + That thereupon the divine justice is grounded, punishing in the children + the faults of their fathers; forasmuch as the contagion of paternal vices + is in some sort imprinted in the soul of children, and that the ill + government of their will extends to them; moreover, that if souls had any + other derivation than a natural consequence, and that they had been some + other thins out of the body, they would retain some memory of their first + being, the natural faculties that are proper to them of discoursing, + reasoning, and remembering, being considered:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Si in corpus nascentibus insinuatur, + Cur super anteactam tatem meminisse nequimus, + Nec vestigia gestarum rerum ulla tenemus? + + “For at our birth if it infused be, + Why do we then retain no memory + Of our foregoing life, and why no more + Remember any thing we did before?” + </pre> + <p> + for, to make the condition of our souls such as we would have it to be, we + must suppose them all-knowing, even in their natural simplicity and + purity; by these means they had been such, being free from the prison of + the body, as well before they entered into it, as we hope they shall be + after they are gone out of it; and from this knowledge it should follow + that they should remember, being got in the body, as Plato said, “That + what we learn is no other than a remembrance of what we knew before;” + a thing which every one by experience may maintain to be false. Forasmuch, + in the first place, as that we do not justly remember any thing but what + we have been taught, and that if the memory did purely perform its office + it would at least suggest to us something more than what we have learned. + Secondly, that which she knew being in her purity, was a true knowledge, + knowing things as they are by her divine intelligence; whereas here we + make her receive falsehood and vice when we instruct her; wherein she + cannot employ her reminiscence, that image and conception having never + been planted in her. To say that the corporal prison does in such sort + suffocate her natural faculties, that they are there utterly extinct, is + first contrary to this other belief of acknowledging her power to be so + great, and the operations of it that men sensibly perceive in this life so + admirable, as to have thereby concluded that divinity and eternity past, + and the immortality to come:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nam si tantopere est anirai mutata potestas, + Omnia ut actarum exciderit retinentia rerum, + Non, ut opinor, ea ab letho jam longior errat. + + “For if the mind be changed to that degree + As of past things to lose all memory, + So great a change as that, I must confess, + Appears to me than death but little less.” + </pre> + <p> + Furthermore, ‘tis here with us, and not elsewhere, that the force + and effects of the soul ought to be considered; all the rest of her + perfections are vain and useless to her; ‘tis by her present + condition that all her immortality is to be rewarded and paid, and of the + life of man only that she is to render an account It had been injustice to + have stripped her of her means and powers; to have disarmed her in order, + in the time of her captivity and imprisonment in the flesh, of her + weakness and infirmity in the time wherein she was forced and compelled, + to pass an infinite and perpetual sentence and condemnation, and to insist + upon the consideration of so short a time, peradventure but an hour or + two, or at the most but a century, which has no more proportion with + infinity than an instant; in this momentary interval to ordain and + definitively to determine of her whole being; it were an unreasonable + disproportion, too, to assign an eternal recompense in consequence of so + short a life. Plato, to defend himself from this inconvenience, will have + future payments limited to the term of a hundred years, relatively to + human duration; and of us ourselves there are enough who have given them + temporal limits. By this they judged that the generation of the soul + followed the common condition of human things, as also her life, according + to the opinion of Epicurus and Democritus, which has been the most + received; in consequence of these fine appearances that they saw it bom, + and that, according as the body grew more capable, they saw it increase in + vigour as the other did; that its feebleness in infancy was very manifest, + and in time its better strength and maturity, and after that its + declension and old age, and at last its decrepitude:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Gigni pariter cum corpore, et una + Crescere sentimus, pariterque senescere mentem. + + “Souls with the bodies to be born we may + Discern, with them t’ increase, with them decay.” + </pre> + <p> + They perceived it to be capable of divers passions, and agitated with + divers painful motions, whence it fell into lassitude and uneasiness; + capable of alteration and change, of cheerfulness, of stupidity and + languor, and subject to diseases and injuries, as the stomach or the foot; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mentem sanari, corpus ut grum, + Ceraimus, et flecti medicin posse videmus; + + “Sick minds, as well as bodies, we do see + By Med’cine’s virtue oft restored to be;” + </pre> + <p> + dazzled and intoxicated with the fumes of wine, jostled from her seat by + the vapours of a burning fever, laid asleep by the application of some + medicaments, and roused by others,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Corpoream naturam animi esse necesse est, + Corporeis quoniam telis ictuque laborat; + + “There must be of necessity, we find, + A nature that’s corporeal of the mind, + Because we evidently see it smarts + And wounded is with shafts the body darts;” + </pre> + <p> + they saw it astonished and overthrown in all its faculties through the + mere bite of a mad dog, and in that condition to have no stability of + reason, no sufficiency, no virtue, no philosophical resolution, no + resistance that could exempt it from the subjection of such accidents; the + slaver of a contemptible cur shed upon the hand of Socrates, to shake all + his wisdom and all his great and regulated imaginations, and so to + annihilate them, ad that there remained no trace of his former knowledge,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Vis.... animal Conturbatur, et.... divisa seorsum + Disjectatur, eodem illo distracta veneno; + + “The power of the soul’s disturbed; and when + That once is but sequestered from her, then + By the same poison ‘tis dispersed abroad;” + </pre> + <p> + and this poison to find no more resistance in that great soul than in an + infant of four years old; a poison sufficient to make all philosophy, if + it were incarnate, become furious and mad; insomuch that Cato, who ever + disdained death and fortune, could not endure the sight of a + looking-glass, or of water, overwhelmed with horror and affright at the + thought of falling, by the contagion of a mad dog, into the disease called + by physicians hydrophobia:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Vis morbi distracta per artus + Turbat agens animam, spumantes quore salso + Ventorum ut validis fervescunt viribus und. + + “Throughout the limbs diffused, the fierce disease + Disturbs the soul, as in the briny seas, + The foaming waves to swell and boil we see, + Stirred by the wind’s impetuosity.” + </pre> + <p> + Now, as to this particular, philosophy has sufficiently armed man to + encounter all other accidents either with patience, or, if the search of + that costs too dear, by an infallible defeat, in totally depriving himself + of all sentiment; but these are expedients that are only of use to a soul + being itself, and in its full power, capable of reason and deliberation; + but not at all proper for this inconvenience, where, in a philosopher, the + soul becomes the soul of a madman, troubled, overturned, and lost; which + many occasions may produce, as a too vehement agitation that any violent + passion of the soul may beget in itself; or a wound in a certain part of + the person, or vapours from the stomach, any of which may stupefy the + understanding and turn the brain. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Morbis in corporis avius errat + Spe animus; dementit enim, deliraque fatur; + Interdumque gravi lethargo fertur in altum + ternumque soporem, oculis mi tuque cadenti: + + “For when the body’s sick, and ill at ease, + The mind doth often share in the disease; + Wonders, grows wild, and raves, and sometimes by + A heavy and a stupid lethargy, + Is overcome and cast into a deep, + A most profound and everlasting sleep.” + </pre> + <p> + The philosophers, methinks, have not much touched this string, no more + than another of equal importance; they have this dilemma continually in + their mouths, to console our mortal condition: “The soul is either + mortal or immortal; if mortal, it will suffer no pain; if immortal, it + will change for the better.”—They never touch the other + branch, “What if she change for the worse?” and leave to the + poets the menaces of future torments. But thereby they make themselves a + good game. These are two omissions that I often meet with in their + discourses. I return to the first. + </p> + <p> + This soul loses the use of the sovereign stoical good, so constant and so + firm. Our fine human wisdom must here yield, and give up her arms. As to + the rest, they also considered, by the vanity of human reason, that the + mixture and association of two so contrary things as the mortal and the + immortal, was unimaginable:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quippe etenim mortale terao jungere, et una + Consentire putare, et fungi mutua posse, + Desipere est. Quid enim diversius esse putandum est, + Aut magis inter se disjunctum discrepitansque, + Quam, mortale quod est, immortali atque perenni + Junctum, in concilio, svas tolerare procellas? + + “The mortal and th’ eternal, then, to blend, + And think they can pursue one common end, + Is madness: for what things more diff’rent are. + Distinct in nature, and disposed to jar? + How can it then be thought that these should bear, + When thus conjoined, of harms an equal share?” + </pre> + <p> + Moreover, they perceived the soul tending towards death as well as the + body:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Simul ovo fessa fatiscit: + + “Fatigued together with the weight of years:” + </pre> + <p> + which, according to Zeno, the image of sleep does sufficiently demonstrate + to us; for he looks upon it “as a fainting and fall of the soul, as + well as of the body:” <i>Contrahi animum et quasi labi putat atque + decidere:</i> and, what they perceived in some, that the soul maintained + its force and vigour to the last gasp of life, they attributed to the + variety of diseases, as it is observable in men at the last extremity, + that some retain one sense, and some another; one the hearing, and another + the smell, without any manner of defect or alteration; and that there is + not so universal a deprivation that some parts do not remain vigorous and + entire:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Non alio pacto, quam si, pes cum dolet gri, + In nullo caput interea sit forte dolore. + + “So, often of the gout a man complains, + Whose head is, at the same time, free from pains.” + </pre> + <p> + The sight of our judgment is, to truth, the same that the owl’s eyes + are to the splendour of the sun, says Aristotle. By what can we better + convince him, than by so gross blindness in so apparent a light? For the + contrary opinion of the immortality of the soul, which, Cicero says, was + first introduced, according to the testimony of books at least, by + Pherecydes + </p> + <p> + Syrius, in the time of King Tullus (though some attribute it to Thales, + and others to others), ‘tis the part of human science that is + treated of with the greatest doubt and + </p> + <p> + reservation. The most positive dogmatists are fain, in this point + principally, to fly to the refuge of the Academy. No one doubts what + Aristotle has established upon this subject, no more than all the ancients + in general, who handle it with a wavering belief: <i>Rem gratissimam + promittentium magis quam probantium:</i> “A thing more acceptable in + the promisors than the provers.” He conceals himself in clouds of + words of difficult, unintelligible sense, and has left to those of his + sect as great a dispute about his judgment as about the matter itself. + </p> + <p> + Two things rendered this opinion plausible to them; one, that, without the + immortality of souls, there would be nothing whereon to ground the vain + hopes of glory, which is a consideration of wonderful + </p> + <p> + repute in the world; the other, that it is a very profitable impression, + as Plato says, that vices, when they escape the discovery and cognizance + of human justice, are still within the reach of the divine, which will + pursue them even after the death of the guilty. Man is excessively + solicitous to prolong his being, and has to the utmost of his power + provided for it; there are monuments for the conservation of the body, and + glory to preserve the name. He has employed all his wit and opinion to the + rebuilding of himself, impatient of his fortune, and to prop himself by + his inventions. The soul, by reason of its anxiety and impotence, being + unable to stand by itself, wanders up and down to seek out consolations, + hopes, and foundations, and alien circumstances, to which she adheres and + fixes; and how light or fantastic soever invention delivers them to her, + relies more willingly, and with greater assurance, upon them than upon + herself. But ‘tis wonderful to observe how the most constant and + obstinate maintainers of this just and clear persuasion of the immortality + of the soul fall short, and how weak their arguments are, when they go + about to prove it by human reason: <i>Somnia sunt non docentis, sed + optantis:</i> “They are dreams, not of the teacher, but wisher,” + says one of the ancients. By which testimony man may know that he owes the + truth he himself finds out to fortune and accident; since that even then, + when it is fallen into his hand, he has not wherewith to hold and maintain + it, and that his reason has not force to make use of it. All things + produced by our own meditation and understanding, whether true or false, + are subject to incertitude and controversy. ‘Twas for the + chastisement of our pride, and for the instruction of our miserable + condition and incapacity, that God wrought the perplexity and confusion of + the tower of Babel. Whatever we undertake without his assistance, whatever + we see without the lamp of his grace, is but vanity and folly. We corrupt + the very essence of truth, which is uniform and constant, by our weakness, + when fortune puts it into our possession. What course soever man takes of + himself, God still permits it to come to the same confusion, the image + whereof he so lively represents to us in the just chastisement wherewith + he crushed Nimrod’s presumption, and frustrated the vain attempt of + his proud structure; <i>Perdam sapientiam sapientium, et prudentiam + prudentium reprobabo.</i> “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, + and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” The + diversity of idioms and tongues, with which he disturbed this work, what + are they other than this infinite and perpetual alteration and discordance + of opinions and reasons, which accompany and confound the vain building of + human wisdom, and to very good effect too; for what would hold us, if we + had but the least grain of knowledge? This saint has very much obliged me: + <i>Ipsa veritatis occultatio ant humili-tatis exercitatio est, aut + elationis attritio</i> “The very concealment of the truth is either + an exercise of humility or a quelling of presumption.” To what a + pitch of presumption and insolence do we raise our blindness and folly! + </p> + <p> + But to return to my subject. It was truly very good reason that we should + be beholden to God only, and to the favour of his grace, for the truth of + so noble a belief, since from his sole bounty we receive the fruit of + immortality, which consists in the enjoyment of eternal beatitude. Let us + ingenuously confess that God alone has dictated it to us, and faith; for + ‘tis no lesson of nature and our own reason. And whoever will + inquire into his own being and power, both within and without, without + this divine privilege; whoever shall consider man impartially, and without + flattery, will see in him no efficacy or faculty that relishes of any + thing but death and earth. The more we give and confess to owe and render + to God, we do it with the greater Christianity. That which this Stoic + philosopher says he holds from the fortuitous consent of the popular + voice; had it not been better that he had held it from God? <i>Cum de + animarum otemitate disserimus, non leve momentum apud nos habet consensus + hominum aut timentium inferos, aut colentium. Utor hc public persuasione.</i> + “When we discourse of the immortality of souls, the consent of men + that either fear or adore the infernal powers, is of no small advantage. I + make use of this public persuasion.” Now the weakness of human + arguments upon this subject is particularly manifested by the fabulous + circumstances they have superadded as consequences of this opinion, to + find out of what condition this immortality of ours was. Let us omit the + Stoics, (<i>usuram nobis largiuntur tanquam cornicibus; diu mansuros aiunt + animos; semper, negant.</i> “They give us a long life, as also they + do to crows; they say our soul shall continue long, but that it shall + continue always they deny,”) who give to souls a life after this, + but finite. The most universal and received fancy, and that continues down + to our times in various places, is that of which they make Pythagoras the + author; not that he was the original inventor, but because it received a + great deal of weight and repute by the authority of his approbation: + “That souls, at their departure out of us, did nothing but shift + from one body to another, from a lion to a horse, from a horse to a king, + continually travelling at this rate from habitation to habitation;” + and he himself said that he remembered he had been tha-lides, since that + Euphorbus, afterwards Hermotimus, and, finally, from Pyrrhus was passed + into Pythagoras; having a memory of himself of two hundred and six years. + And some have added that these very souls sometimes mount up to heaven, + and come down again:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + O pater, aime aliquas ad colum hinc ire putandum est + Sublimes animas, iterumque ad tarda reverti + Corpora? Qu lucis miseris tam dira cupido? + + “O, father, is it then to be conceiv’d + That any of these spirits, so sublime, + Should hence to the celestial regions climb, + And thence return to earth to reassume + Their sluggish bodies rotting in a tomb? + For wretched life whence does such fondness come?” + </pre> + <p> + Origen makes them eternally to go and come from a better to a worse + estate. The opinion that Varro mentions is that, after four hundred and + forty years’ revolution, they should be reunited to their first + bodies; Chrysippus held that this would happen after a certain space of + time unknown and unlimited. Plato, who professes to have embraced this + belief from Pindar and the ancient poets, that we are to undergo infinite + vicissitudes of mutation, for which the soul is prepared, having neither + punishment nor reward in the other world but what is temporal, as its life + here is but temporal, concludes that it has a singular knowledge of the + affairs of heaven, of hell, of the world, through all which it has passed, + repassed, and made stay in several voyages, are matters for her memory. + Observe her progress elsewhere: “The soul that has lived well is + reunited to the stars to which it is assigned; that which has lived ill + removes into a woman, and if it do not there reform, is again removed into + a beast of condition suitable to its vicious manners, and shall see no end + of its punishments till it be returned to its natural constitution, and + that it has, by the force of reason, purged itself from those gross, + stupid, and elementary qualities it was polluted with.” But I will + not omit the objection the Epicureans make against this transmigration + from one body to another; ‘tis a pleasant one; they ask what + expedient would be found out if the number of the dying should chance to + be greater than that of those who are coming into the world. For the + souls, turned out of their old habitation, would scuffle and crowd which + should first get possession of their new lodging; and they further demand + how they shall pass away their time, whilst waiting till new quarters are + made ready for them? Or, on the contrary, if more animals should be born + than die, the body, they say, would be but in an ill condition whilst + waiting for a soul to be infused into it; and it would fall out that some + bodies would die before they had been alive. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Denique comrabia ad Veneris, partusque ferarum + Esse animas prsto, deridiculum esse videtur; + Et spectare immortales mortalia membra + Innumero numro, certareque prproperanter + Inter se, qu prima potissimaq insinueter. + + “Absurd to think that whilst wild beasts beget, + Or bear their young, a thousand souls do wait, + Expect the falling body, fight and strive + Which first shall enter in and make it live.” + </pre> + <p> + Others have arrested the soul in the body of the deceased, with it to + animate serpents, worms, and other beasts, which are said to be bred out + of the corruption of our members, and even out of our ashes; others divide + them into two parts, the one mortal, the other immortal; others make it + corporeal, and nevertheless immortal. Some make it immortal, without + </p> + <p> + sense or knowledge. There are others, even among ourselves, who have + believed that devils were made of the souls of the damned; as Plutarch + thinks that gods were made of those that were saved; for there are few + things which that author is so positive in as he is in this; maintaining + elsewhere a doubtful and ambiguous way of expression. “We are told,” + says he, “and steadfastly should believe, that the souls of virtuous + men, both according to nature and the divine justice, become saints, and + from saints demigods, and from demigods, after they are perfectly, as in + sacrifices of purgation, cleansed and purified, being delivered from all + passibility and all mortality, they become, not by any civil decree, but + in real truth, and according to all probability of reason, entire and + perfect gods, in receiving a most happy and glorious end.” But who + desires to see him—him, who is yet the most sober and moderate of + the whole gang of philosophers, lay about him with greater boldness, and + relate his miracles upon this subject, I refer him to his treatise <i>of + the Moon,</i> and <i>of the Demon of Socrates</i>, where he may, as + evidently as in any other place whatever, satisfy himself that the + mysteries of philosophy have many strange things in common with those of + poetry; human understanding losing itself in attempting to sound and + search all things to the bottom; even as we, tired and worn out with a + long course of life, return to infancy and dotage. See here the fine and + certain instructions which we extract from human knowledge concerning the + soul. + </p> + <p> + Neither is there less temerity in what they teach us touching our corporal + parts. Let us choose out one or two examples; for otherwise we should lose + ourselves in this vast and troubled ocean of medical errors. Let us first + know whether, at least, they agree about the matter whereof men produce + one another; for as to their first production it is no wonder if, in a + thing so high and so long since past, human understanding finds itself + puzzled and perplexed. Archelaus, the physician, whose disciple and + favourite Socrates was, according to Aristoxenus, said that both men and + beasts were made of a lacteous slime, expressed by the heat of the earth; + Pythagoras says that our seed is the foam or cream of our better blood; + Plato, that it is the distillation of the marrow of the backbone; raising + his argument from this, that that part is first sensible of being weary of + the work; Alcmeon, that it is part of the substance of the brain, and that + it is so, says he, is proved by the weakness of the eyes in those who are + immoderate in that exercise; Democritus, that it is a substance extracted + from the whole mass of the body; Epicurus, an extract from soul and body; + Aristotle, an excrement drawn from the aliment of the blood, the last + which is diffused over our members; others, that it is a blood concocted + and digested by the heat of the genitals, which they judge, by reason that + in excessive endeavours a man voids pure blood; wherein there seems to be + more likelihood, could a man extract any appearance from so infinite a + confusion. Now, to bring this seed to do its work, how many contrary + opinions do they set on foot? Aristotle and Democritus are of opinion that + women have no sperm, and that ‘tis nothing but a sweat that they + distil in the heat of pleasure and motion, and that contributes nothing at + all to generation. Galen, on the contrary, and his followers, believe that + without the concurrence of seeds there can be no generation. Here are the + physicians, the philosophers, the lawyers, and divines, by the ears with + our wives about the dispute, “For what term women carry their fruit?” + and I, for my part, by the example of myself, stick with those that + maintain a woman goes eleven months with child. The world is built upon + this experience; there is no so commonplace a woman that cannot give her + judgment in all these controversies; and yet we cannot agree. + </p> + <p> + Here is enough to verify that man is no better instructed in the knowledge + of himself, in his corporal than in his spiritual part We have proposed + himself to himself, and his reason to his reason, to see what she could + say. I think I have sufficiently demonstrated how little she understands + herself in herself; and who understands not himself in himself, in what + can he? <i>Quasi vero mensuram ullius rei possit agere, qui sui nesciat.</i> + “As if he could understand the measure of any other thing, that + knows not his own.” In earnest, Protagoras told us a pretty flam in + making man the measure of all things, that never knew so much as his own; + and if it be not he, his dignity will not permit that any other creature + should have this advantage; now he being so contrary in himself, and one + judgment so incessantly subverting another, this favourable proposition + was but a mockery, which induced us necessarily to conclude the nullity of + the compass and the compasser. When Thales reputes the knowledge of man + very difficult for man to comprehend, he at the same time gives him to + understand that all other knowledge is impossible. + </p> + <p> + You,* for whom I have taken the pains, contrary to my custom, to write so + long a discourse, will not refuse to support your Sebond by the ordinary + forms of arguing, wherewith you are every day instructed, and in this will + exercise both your wit and learning; for this last fencing trick is never + to be made use of but as an extreme remedy; ‘tis a desperate thrust, + wherein you are to quit your own arms to make your adversary abandon his; + and a secret sleight, which must be very rarely, and then very reservedly, + put in practice. ‘Tis great temerity to lose yourself that you may + destroy another; you must not die to be revenged, as Gobrias did; for, + being closely grappled in combat with a lord of Persia, Darius coming in + sword in hand, and fearing to strike lest he should kill Gobrias, he + called out to him boldly to fall on, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The author, as we have already mentioned, is addressing + Margaret de Valois. +</pre> + <p> + though he should run them both through at once. I have known desperate + weapons, and conditions of single combat, and wherein he that offered them + put himself and his adversary upon terms of inevitable death to them both, + censured for unjust. The Portuguese, in the Indian Sea, took certain Turks + prisoners, who, impatient of their captivity, resolved, and it succeeded, + by striking the nails of the ship one against another, and making a spark + to fall into the barrels of powder that were set in the place where they + were guarded, to blow up and reduce themselves, their masters, and the + vessel to ashes. We here touch the out-plate and utmost limits of + sciences, wherein the extremity is vicious, as in virtue. Keep yourselves + in the common road; it is not good to be so subtle and cunning. Remember + the Tuscan proverb:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Chi troppo s’assottiglia, si scavezza. + + “Who makes himself too wise, becomes a fool.” + </pre> + <p> + I advise you that, in all your opinions and discourses, as well as in your + manners and all other things, you keep yourself moderate and temperate, + and avoid novelty; I am an enemy to all extravagant ways. You, who by the + authority of your grandeur, and yet more by the advantages which those + qualities give you that are more your own, may with the twinkle of an eye + command whom you please, ought to have given this charge to some one who + made profession of letters, who might after a better manner have proved + and illustrated these things to you. But here is as much as you will stand + in need of. + </p> + <p> + Epicurus said of the laws, “That the worst were so necessary for us + that without them men would devour one another.” And Plato affirms, + “That without laws we should live like beasts.” Our wit is a + wandering, dangerous, and temerarious utensil; it is hard to couple any + order or measure to it; in those of our own time, who are endued with any + rare excellence above others, or any extraordinary vivacity of + understanding, we see them almost all lash out into licentiousness of + opinions and manners; and ‘tis almost a miracle to find one + temperate and sociable. ‘Tis all the reason in the world to limit + human wit within the strictest limits imaginable; in study, as in all the + rest, we ought to have its steps and advances numbered and fixed, and that + the limits of its inquisition be bounded by art. It is curbed and fettered + by religions, laws, customs, sciences, precepts, mortal and immortal + penalties. And yet we see that it escapes from all these bonds by its + volubility and dissolution; *tis a vain body which has nothing to lay hold + on or to seize; a various and difform body, incapable of being either + bound or held. In earnest, there are few souls so regular, firm, and well + descended, as are to be trusted with their own conduct, and that can with + moderation, and without temerity, sail in the liberty of their own + judgments, beyond the common and received opinions; *tis more expedient to + put them under pupilage. Wit is a dangerous weapon, even to the possessor, + if he knows not how to use it discreetly; and there is not a beast to whom + a headboard is more justly to be given, to keep his looks down and before + his feet, and to hinder him from wandering here and there out of the + tracks which custom and the laws have laid before him. And therefore it + will be better for you to keep yourself in the beaten path, let it be what + it will, than to fly out at a venture with this unbridled liberty. But if + any of these new doctors will pretend to be ingenious in your presence, at + the expense both of your soul and his own, to avoid this dangerous plague, + which is every day laid in your way to infect you, this preservative, in + the extremest necessity, will prevent the danger and hinder the contagion + of this poison from offending either you or your company. + </p> + <p> + The liberty, then, and frolic forwardness of these ancient wits produced + in philosophy and human sciences several sects of different opinions, + every one undertaking to judge and make choice of what he would stick to + and maintain. But now that men go all one way, <i>Qui certis quibusdam + destinatisque sententiis addicti et consecrati sunt, ut etiam, qu non + probant, cogantur defendere,</i> “Who are so tied and obliged to + certain opinions that they are bound to defend even those they do not + approve,” and that we receive the arts by civil authority and + decree, so that the schools have but one pattern, and a like circumscribed + institution and discipline, we no more take notice what the coin weighs, + and is really worth, but every one receives it according to the estimate + that common approbation and use puts upon it; the alloy is not questioned, + but how much it is current for. In like manner all things pass; we take + physic as we do geometry; and tricks of hocus-pocus, enchantments, and + love-spells, the correspondence of the souls of the dead, + prognostications, domifications, and even this ridiculous pursuit of the + philosophers’ stone, all things pass for current pay, without any + manner of scruple or contradiction. We need to know no more but that Mars’ + house is in the middle of the triangle of the hand, that of Venus in the + thumb, and that of Mercury in the little finger; that when the table-line + cuts the tubercle of the forefinger ‘tis a sign of cruelty, that + when it falls short of the middle finger, and that the natural median-line + makes an angle with the vital in the same side, ‘tis a sign of a + miserable death; that if in a woman the natural line be open, and does not + close the angle with the vital, this denotes that she shall not be very + chaste. I leave you to judge whether a man qualified with such knowledge + may not pass with reputation and esteem in all companies. + </p> + <p> + Theophrastus said that human knowledge, guided by the senses, might judge + of the causes of things to a certain degree; but that being arrived to + first and extreme causes, it must stop short and retire, by reason either + of its own infirmity or the difficulty of things. ‘Tis a moderate + and gentle opinion, that our own understandings may conduct us to the + knowledge of some things, and that it has certain measures of power, + beyond which ‘tis temerity to employ it; this opinion is plausible, + and introduced by men of well composed minds, but ‘tis hard to limit + our wit, which is curious and greedy, and will no more stop at a thousand + than at fifty paces; having experimentally found that, wherein one has + failed, the other has hit, and that what was unknown to one age, the age + following has explained; and that arts and sciences are not cast in a + mould, but are formed and perfected by degrees, by often handling and + polishing, as bears leisurely lick their cubs into form; what my force + cannot discover, I do not yet desist to sound and to try; and by handling + and kneading this new matter over and over again, by turning and heating + it, I lay open to him that shall succeed me, a kind of facility to enjoy + it more at his ease, and make it more maniable and supple for him, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ut hymettia sole + Cera remollescit, tractataque poll ice multas + Vertitur in facies, ipsoque fit utilis usu; + + “As wax doth softer in the sun become, + And, tempered ‘twixt the finger and the thumb, + Will varions forms, and several shapes admit, + Till for the present use ‘tis rendered fit;” + </pre> + <p> + as much will the second do for the third; which is the cause that the + difficulty ought not to make me despair, and my own incapacity as little; + for ‘tis nothing but my own. + </p> + <p> + Man is as capable of all things as of some; and if he confesses, as + Theophrastus says, the ignorance of first causes, let him at once + surrender all the rest of his knowledge; if he is defective in foundation, + his reason is aground; disputation and inquiry have no other aim nor stop + but principles; if this aim do not stop his career, he runs into an + infinite irresolution. <i>Non potest aliud alio magis minusve comprehendi, + quoniam omnium rerum una est dejinitio comprehendendi:</i> + </p> + <p> + “One thing can no more or less be comprehended than another, because + the definition of comprehending all things is the same.” Now ‘tis + very likely that, if the soul knew any thing, it would in the first place + know itself; and if it knew any thing out of itself, it would be its own + body and case, before any thing else. If we see the gods of physic to this + very day debating about our anatomy, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mulciber in Trojam, pro Troj stabat Apollo; + + “Vulcan against, for Troy Apollo stood;” + </pre> + <p> + when are we to expect that they will be agreed? We are nearer neighbours + to ourselves than whiteness to snow, or weight to stones. If man do not + know himself, how should he know his force and functions? It is not, + perhaps, that we have not some real knowledge in us; but ‘tis by + chance; forasmuch as errors are received into our soul by the same way, + after the same manner, and by the same conduct, it has not wherewithal to + distinguish them, nor wherewithal to choose the truth from falsehood. + </p> + <p> + The Academics admitted a certain partiality of judgment, and thought it + too crude to say that it was not more likely to say that snow was white + than black; and that we were no more assured of the motion of a stone, + thrown by the hand, than of that of the eighth sphere. And to avoid this + difficulty and strangeness, that can in truth hardly lodge in our + imagination, though they concluded that we were in no sort capable of + knowledge, and that truth is engulfed in so profound an abyss as is not to + be penetrated by human sight; yet they acknowledged some things to be more + likely than others, and received into their judgment this faculty, that + they had a power to incline to one appearance more than another, they + allowed him this propension, interdicting all resolution. The Pyrrhonian + opinion is more bold, and also somewhat more likely; for this academic + inclination, and this propension to one proposition rather than another, + what is it other than a recognition of some more apparent truth in this + than in that? If our understanding be capable of the form, lineaments, + port, and face of truth, it might as well see it entire as by halves, + springing and imperfect This appearance of likelihood, which makes them + rather take the left hand than the right, augments it; multiply this ounce + of verisimilitude that turns the scales to a hundred, to a thousand, + ounces; it will happen in the end that the balance will itself end the + controversy, and determine one choice, one entire truth. But why do they + suffer themselves to incline to and be swayed by verisimilitude, if they + know not the truth? How should they know the similitude of that whereof + they do not know the essence? Either we can absolutely judge, or + absolutely we cannot If our intellectual and sensible faculties are + without foot or foundation, if they only pull and drive, ‘tis to no + purpose that we suffer our judgments to be carried away with any part of + their operation, what appearance soever they may seem to present us; and + the surest and most happy seat of our understanding would be that where it + kept itself temperate, upright, and inflexible, without tottering, or + without agitation: <i>Inter visa, vera aut falsa, ad animi assensum, nihil + interest:</i> “Amongst things that seem, whether true or false, it + signifies nothing to the assent of the mind.” That things do not + lodge in us in their form and essence, and do not there make their entry + by their own force and authority, we sufficiently see; because, if it were + so, we should receive them after the same manner; wine would have the same + relish with the sick as with the healthful; he who has his finger chapt or + benumbed would find the same hardness in wood or iron that he handles that + another does; foreign subjects then surrender themselves to our mercy, and + are seated in us as we please. Now if on our part we received any thing + without alteration, if human grasp were capable and strong enough to seize + on truth by our own means, these means being common to all men, this truth + would be conveyed from hand to hand, from one to another; and at least + there would be some one thing to be found in the world, amongst so many as + there are, that would be believed by men with an universal consent; but + this, that there is no one proposition that is not debated and + controverted amongst us, or that may not be, makes it very manifest that + our natural judgment does not very clearly discern what it embraces; for + my judgment cannot make my companions approve of what it approves; which + is a sign that I seized it by some other means than by a natural power + that is in me and in all other men. + </p> + <p> + Let us lay aside this infinite confusion of opinions, which we see even + amongst the philosophers themselves, and this perpetual and universal + dispute about the knowledge of things; for this is truly presupposed, that + men, I mean the most knowing, the best bom, and of the best parts, are not + agreed about any one thing, not that heaven is over our heads; for they + that doubt of every thing, do also doubt of that; and they who deny that + we are able to comprehend any thing, say that we have not comprehended + that the heaven is over our heads, and these two opinions are, without + comparison, the stronger in number. + </p> + <p> + Besides this infinite diversity and division, through the trouble that our + judgment gives ourselves, and the incertainty that every one is sensible + of in himself, ‘tis easy to perceive that its seat is very unstable + and insecure. How variously do we judge of things?—How often do we + alter our opinions? What I hold and believe to-day I hold and believe with + my whole belief; all my instruments and engines seize and take hold of + this opinion, and become responsible to me for it, at least as much as in + them lies; I could not embrace nor conserve any truth with greater + confidence and assurance than I do this; I am wholly and entirely + possessed with it; but has it not befallen me, not only once, but a + hundred, a thousand times, every day, to have embraced some other thing + with all the same instruments, and in the same condition, which I have + since judged to be false? A man must at least become wise at his own + expense; if I have often found myself betrayed under this colour; if my + touch proves commonly false, and my balance unequal and unjust, what + assurance can I now have more than at other times? Is it not stupidity and + madness to suffer myself to be so often deceived by my guide? + Nevertheless, let fortune remove and shift us five hundred times from + place to place, let her do nothing but incessantly empty and fill into our + belief, as into a vessel, other and other opinions; yet still the present + and the last is the certain and infallible one; for this we must abandon + goods, honour, life, health, and all. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Posterior.... res ilia reperta + Perdit, et immutat sensus ad pristina qnqne. + + “The last things we find out are always best, + And make us to disrelish all the rest.” + </pre> + <p> + Whatever is preached to us, and whatever we learn, we should still + remember that it is man that gives and man that receives; ‘tis a + mortal hand that presents it to us; ‘tis a mortal hand that accepts + it The things that come to us from heaven have the sole right and + authority of persuasion, the sole mark of truth; which also we do not see + with our own eyes, nor receive by our own means; that great and sacred + image could not abide in so wretched a habitation if God for this end did + not prepare it, if God did not by his particular and supernatural grace + and favour fortify and reform it. At least our frail and defective + condition ought to make us behave ourselves with more reservedness and + moderation in our innovations and changes; we ought to remember that, + whatever we receive into the understanding, we often receive things that + are false, and that it is by the same instruments that so often give + themselves the lie and are so often deceived. + </p> + <p> + Now it is no wonder they should so often contradict themselves, being so + easy to be turned and swayed by very light occurrences. It is certain that + our apprehensions, our judgment, and the faculties of the soul in general, + suffer according to the movements and alterations of the body, which + alterations are continual. Are not our minds more sprightly, ou memories + more prompt and quick, and our thoughts more lively, in health than in + sickness? Do not joy and gayety make us receive subjects that present + themselves to our souls quite otherwise than care and melancholy? Do you + believe that Catullus’s verses, or those of Sappho, please an old + doting miser as they do a vigorous, amorous young man? Cleomenes, the son + of Anexandridas, being sick, his friends reproached him that he had + humours and whimsies that were new and unaccustomed; “I believe it,” + said he; “neither am I the same man now as when I am in health; + being now another person, my opinions and fancies are also other than they + were before.” In our courts of justice this word is much in use, + which is spoken of criminals when they find the judges in a good humour, + gentle, and mild, <i>Gaudeat de bon fortun </i>; “Let him rejoice in + his good fortune;” for it is most certain that men’s judgments + are sometimes more prone to condemnation, more sharp and severe, and at + others more facile, easy, and inclined to excuse; he that carries with him + from his house the pain of the gout, jealousy, or theft by his man, having + his whole soul possessed with anger, it is not to be doubted but that his + judgment will lean this way. That venerable senate of the Areopagites used + to hear and determine by night, for fear lest the sight of the parties + might corrupt their justice. The very air itself, and the serenity of + heaven, will cause some mutation in us, according to these verses in + Cicero:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Tales sunt hominnm mentes, quali pater ipse + Jupiter auctifer lustravit lampade terras. + + “Men’s minds are influenc’d by th’ external air, + Dark or serene, as days are foul or fair.” + </pre> + <p> + ‘Tis not only fevers, debauches, and great accidents, that overthrow + our judgments,—the least things in the world will do it; and we are + not to doubt, though we may not be sensible of it, that if a continued + fever can overwhelm the soul, a tertian will in some proportionate measure + alter it; if an apoplexy can stupefy and totally extinguish the sight of + our understanding, we are not to doubt but that a great cold will dazzle + it; and consequently there is hardly one single hour in a man’s + whole life wherein our judgment is in its due place and right condition, + our bodies being subject to so many continual mutations, and stuffed with + so many several sorts of springs, that I believe the physicians, that it + is hard but that there must be always some one or other out of order. + </p> + <p> + As to what remains, this malady does not very easily discover itself, + unless it be extreme and past remedy; forasmuch as reason goes always + lame, halting, and that too as well with falsehood as with truth; and + therefore ‘tis hard to discover her deviations and mistakes. I + always call that appearance of meditation which every one forges in + himself reason; this reason, of the condition of which there may be a + hundred contrary ones about one and the same subject, is an instrument of + lead and of wax, ductile, pliable, and accommodate to all sorts of biases, + and to all measures; so that nothing remains but the art and skill how to + turn and mould it. How uprightly soever a judge may mean, if he does not + look well to himself, which few care to do, his inclination to friendship, + to relationship, to beauty or revenge, and not only things of that weight, + but even the fortuitous instinct that makes us favour one thing more than + another, and that, without reason’s permission, puts the choice upon + us in two equal subjects, or some shadow of like vanity, may insensibly + insinuate into his judgment the recommendation or disfavour of a cause, + and make the balance dip. + </p> + <p> + I, that watch myself as narrowly as I can, and that have my eyes + continually bent upon myself, like one that has no great business to do + elsewhere, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quis sub Arcto Rex gelid metuatur or, + Quid Tyridatem terreat, unice Securus, + + “I care not whom the northern clime reveres, + Or what’s the king that Tyridates fears,” + </pre> + <p> + dare hardly tell the vanity and weakness I find in myself My foot is so + unstable and unsteady, I find myself so apt to totter and reel, and my + sight so disordered, that, fasting, I am quite another man than when full; + if health and a fair day smile upon me, I am a very affable, good-natured + man; if a corn trouble my toe, I am sullen, out of humour, and not to be + seen. The same pace of a horse seems to me one while hard, and another + easy; and the same way one while shorter, and another longer; and the same + form one while more, another less agreeable: I am one while for doing + every thing, and another for doing nothing at all; and what pleases me now + would be a trouble to me at another time. I have a thousand senseless and + casual actions within myself; either I am possessed by melancholy or + swayed by choler; now by its own private authority sadness predominates in + me, and by and by, I am as merry as a cricket. When I take a book in hand + I have then discovered admirable graces in such and such passages, and + such as have struck my soul; let me light upon them at another time, I may + turn and toss, tumble and rattle the leaves to no purpose; ‘tis then + to me an inform and undiscovered mass. Even in my own writings I do not + always find the air of my first fancy; I know not what I would have said, + and am often put to it to correct and pump for a new sense, because I have + lost the first that was better. I do nothing but go and come; my judgment + does not always advance—it floats and roams:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Velut minuta magno + Deprensa navis in mari vesaniente vento. + + “Like a small bark that’s tost upon the main. + When winds tempestuous heave the liquid plain.” + </pre> + <p> + Very often, as I am apt to do, having for exercise taken to maintain an + opinion contrary to my own, my mind, bending and applying itself that way, + does so engage me that way that I no more discern the reason of my former + belief, and forsake it I am, as it were, misled by the side to which I + incline, be it what it will, and carried away by my own weight. Every one + almost would say the same of himself, if he considered himself as I do. + Preachers very well know that the emotions which steal upon them in + speaking animate them towards belief; and that in passion we are more warm + in the defence of our proposition, take ourselves a deeper impression of + it, and embrace it with greater vehemence and approbation than we do in + our colder and more temperate state. You only give your counsel a simple + brief of your cause; he returns you a dubious and uncertain answer, by + which you find him indifferent which side he takes. Have you feed him well + that he may relish it the better, does he begin to be really concerned, + and do you find him interested and zealous in your quarrel? his reason and + learning will by degrees grow hot in your cause; behold an apparent and + undoubted truth presents itself to his understanding; he discovers a new + light in your business, and does in good earnest believe and persuade + himself that it is so. Nay, I do not know whether the ardour that springs + from spite and obstinacy, against the power and violence of the magistrate + and danger, or the interest of reputation, may not have made some men, + even at the stake, maintain the opinion for which, at liberty, and amongst + friends, they would not have burned a finger. The shocks and jostles that + the soul receives from the body’s passions can do much in it, but + its own can do a great deal more; to which it is so subjected that perhaps + it may be made good that it has no other pace and motion but from the + breath of those winds, without the agitation of which it would be becalmed + and without action, like a ship in the middle of the sea, to which the + winds hare denied their assistance. And whoever should maintain this, + siding with the Peripatetics, would do us no great wrong, seeing it is + very well known that the greatest and most noble actions of the soul + proceed from, and stand in need of, this impulse of the passions. Valour, + they say, cannot be perfect without the assistance of anger; <i>Semper + Ajax fortis, fortissimus tamen in furore;</i> “Ajax was always + brave, but most when in a fury:” neither do we encounter the wicked + and the enemy vigorously enough if we be not angry; nay, the advocate, it + is said, is to inspire the judges with indignation, to obtain justice. + </p> + <p> + Irregular desires moved Themistocles, and Demosthenes, and have pushed on + the philosophers to watching, fasting, and pilgrimages; and lead us to + honour, learning, and health, which are all very useful ends. And this + meanness of soul, in suffering anxiety and trouble, serves to breed + remorse and repentance in the conscience, and to make us sensible of the + scourge of God, and politic correction for the chastisement of our + offences; compassion is a spur to clemency; and the prudence of preserving + and governing ourselves is roused by our fear; and how many brave actions + by ambition! how many by presumption! In short, there is no brave and + spiritual virtue without some irregular agitation. May not this be one of + the reasons that moved the Epicureans to discharge God from all care and + solicitude of our affairs; because even the effects of his goodness could + not be exercised in our behalf without disturbing its repose, by the means + of passions which are so many spurs and instruments pricking on the soul + to virtuous actions; or have they thought otherwise, and taken them for + tempests, that shamefully hurry the soul from her tranquillity? <i>Ut + maris tranquillitas intettigitur, null, ne minima quidem, aura fluctus + commovente: Sic animi quietus et placatus status cemitur, quum perturbatis + nulla est, qua moveri queat..</i> “As it is understood to be a calm + sea when there is not the least breath of air stirring; so the state of + the soul is discerned to be quiet and appeased when there is no + perturbation to move it.” + </p> + <p> + What varieties of sense and reason, what contrariety of imaginations does + the diversity of our passions inspire us with! What assurance then can we + take of a thing so mobile and unstable, subject by its condition to the + dominion of trouble, and never going other than a forced and borrowed + pace? If our judgment be in the power even of sickness and perturbation; + if it be from folly and rashness that it is to receive the impression of + things, what security can we expect from it? + </p> + <p> + Is it not a great boldness in philosophy to believe that men perform the + greatest actions, and nearest approaching the Divinity, when they are + furious, mad, and beside themselves? We better ourselves by the privation + of our reason, and drilling it. The two natural ways to enter into the + cabinet of the gods, and there to foresee the course of destiny, are fury + and sleep. + </p> + <p> + This is pleasant to consider; by the dislocation that passions cause in + our reason, we become virtuous; by its extirpation, occasioned by madness + or the image of death, we become diviners and prophets. I was never so + willing to believe philosophy in any thing as this. ‘Tis a pure + enthusiasm wherewith sacred truth has inspired the spirit of philosophy, + which makes it confess, contrary to its own proposition, that the most + calm, composed, and healthful estate ef the soul that philosophy can seat + it in is not its best condition; our waking is more a sleep than sleep + itself, our wisdom less wise than folly; our dreams are worth more than + our meditation; and the worst place we can take is in ourselves. But does + not philosophy think that we are wise enough to consider that the voice + that the spirit utters, when dismissed from man, so clear-sighted, so + great, and so perfect, and whilst it is in man so terrestrial, ignorant, + and dark, is a voice proceeding from the spirit of dark, terrestrial, and + ignorant man, and for this reason a voice not to be trusted and believed? + </p> + <p> + I, being of a soft and heavy complexion, have no great experience of these + vehement agitations, the most of which surprise the soul on a sudden, + without giving it leisure to recollect itself. But the passion that is + said to be produced by idleness in the hearts of young men, though it + proceed leisurely, and with a measured progress, does evidently manifest, + to those who have tried to oppose its power, the violence our judgment + suffers in this alteration and conversion. I have formerly attempted to + withstand and repel it; for I am so far from being one of those that + invite vices, that I do not so much as follow them, if they do not haul me + along; I perceived it to spring, grow, and increase, in spite of my + resistance; and at last, living and seeing as I was, wholly to seize and + possess me. So that, as if rousing from drunkenness, the images of things + began to appear to me quite other than they used to be; I evidently saw + the advantages of the object I desired, grow, and increase, and expand by + the influence of my imagination, and the difficulties of my attempt to + grow more easy and smooth; and both my reason and conscience to be laid + aside; but this fire being evaporated in an instant, as from a flash of + lightning, I was aware that my soul resumed another kind of sight, another + state, and another judgment; the difficulties of retreat appeared great + and invincible, and the same things had quite another taste and aspect + than the heat of desire had presented them to me; which of the two most + truly? Pyrrho knows nothing about it. We are never without sickness. Agues + have their hot and cold fits; from the effects of an ardent passion we + fall again to shivering; as much as I had advanced, so much I retired:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Qualis ubi alterno procurrens gurgite pontus, + Nunc ruit ad terras, scopulosque superjacit undam + Spumeus, extremamque sinu perfundit arenam; + Nunc rapidus retro, atque stu revoluta resorbens + Saxa, fugit, littusque vado labente relihquit. + + “So swelling surges, with a thundering roar, + Driv’n on each others’ backs, insult the shore, + Bound o’er the rocks, encroach upon the land, + And far upon the beach heave up the sand; + Then backward rapidly they take their way, + Repulsed from upper ground, and seek the sea.” + </pre> + <p> + Now, from the knowledge of this volubility of mine, I have accidentally + begot in myself a certain constancy of opinions, and have not much altered + those that were first and natural in me; for what appearance soever there + may be in novelty, I do not easily change, for fear of losing by the + bargain; and, as I am not capable of choosing, I take other men’s + choice, and keep myself in the station wherein God has placed me; I could + not otherwise keep myself from perpetual rolling. Thus have I, by the + grace of God, preserved myself entire, without anxiety or trouble of + conscience, in the ancient faith of our religion, amidst so many sects and + divisions as our age has produced. The writings of the ancients, the best + authors I mean, being full and solid, tempt and carry me which way almost + they will; he that I am reading seems always to have the most force; and I + find that every one in his turn is in the right, though they contradict + one another. The facility that good wits have of rendering every thing + likely they would recommend, and that nothing is so strange to which they + do not undertake to give colour enough to deceive such simplicity as mine, + this evidently shows the weakness of their testimony. The heavens and the + stars have been three thousand years in motion; all the world were of that + belief till Cleanthes the Samian, or, according to Theophrastus, Nicetas + of Syracuse, took it into his head to maintain that it was the earth that + moved, turning about its axis by the oblique circle of the zodiac. And + Copernicus has in our times so grounded this doctrine that it very + regularly serves to all astrological consequences; what use can we make of + this, if not that we ought not much to care which is the true opinion? And + who knows but that a third, a thousand years hence, may over throw the two + former. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Sic volvenda tas commutt tempora rerum: + Quod fuit in pretio, fit nullo denique honore; + Porro aliud succedit, et e contemptibus exit, + Inque dies magis appetitur, floretque repertum + Laudibus, et miro est mortales inter honore. + + “Thus ev’ry thing is changed in course of time, + What now is valued passes soon its prime; + To which some other thing, despised before, + Succeeds, and grows in vogue still more and more; + And once received, too faint all praises seem, + So highly it is rais’d in men’s esteem.” + </pre> + <p> + So that when any new doctrine presents itself to us, we have great reason + to mistrust, and to consider that, before that was set on foot, the + contrary had been generally received; and that, as that has been + overthrown by this, a third invention, in time to come, may start up which + may damn the second. Before the principles that Aristotle introduced were + in reputation, other principles contented human reason, as these satisfy + us now. What patent have these people, what particular privilege, that the + career of our invention must be stopped by them, and that the possession + of our whole future belief should belong to them? They are no more exempt + from being thrust out of doors than their predecessors were. When any one + presses me with a new argument, I ought to believe that what I cannot + answer another can; for to believe all likelihoods that a man cannot + confute is great simplicity; it would by that means come to pass that all + the vulgar (and we are all of the vulgar) would have their belief as + tumable as a weathercock; for their souls, being so easy to be imposed + upon, and without any resistance, must of force incessantly receive other + and other impressions, the last still effacing all footsteps of that which + went before. He that finds himself weak ought to answer, according to + practice, that he will speak with his counsel, or refer himself to the + wiser, from whom he received his instruction. How long is it that physic + has been practised in the world? ‘Tis said that a new comer, called + Paracelsus, changes and overthrows the whole order of ancient rules, and + maintains that, till now, it has been of no other use but to kill men. I + believe he will easily make this good, but I do not think it were wisdom + to venture my life in making trial of his own experience. We are not to + believe every one, says the precept, because every one can say all things. + A man of this profession of novelties and physical reformations not long + since told me that all the ancients were notoriously mistaken in the + nature and motions of the winds, which he would evidently demonstrate to + me if I would give him the hearing. After I had with some patience heard + his arguments, which were all full of likelihood of truth: “What, + then,” said I, “did those that sailed according to + Theophrastus make way westward, when they had the prow towards the east? + did they go sideward or backward?” “That’s fortune,” + answered he, “but so it is that they were mistaken.” I replied + that I had rather follow effects than reason. Now these are things that + often interfere with one another, and I have been told that in geometry + (which pretends to have gained the highest point of certainty of all + science) there are inevitable demonstrations found which subvert the truth + of all experience; as Jacques Pelletier told me, at my own house, that he + had found out two lines stretching themselves one towards the other to + meet, which nevertheless he affirmed, though extended to infinity, could + never arrive to touch one another. And the Pyrrhonians make no other use + of their arguments and their reason than to ruin the appearance of + experience; and ‘tis a wonder how far the suppleness of our reason + has followed them in this design of controverting the evidence of effects; + for they affirm that we do not move, that we do not speak, and that there + is neither weight nor heat, with the same force of argument that we affirm + the most likely things. Ptolemy, who was a great man, had established the + bounds of this world of ours; all the ancient philosophers thought they + had the measure of it, excepting some remote isles that might escape their + knowledge; it had been Pyrrhonism, a thousand years ago, to doubt the + science of cosmography, and the opinions that every one had received from + it; it was heresy to admit the antipodes; and behold, in this age of ours, + there is an infinite extent of terra firma discovered, not an island or + single country, but a division of the world, nearly equal in greatness to + that we knew before. The geographers of our time stick not to assure us + that now all is found; all is seen:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nam quod adest prosto, placet, et pollere videtur; + + “What’s present pleases, and appears the best;” + </pre> + <p> + but it remains to be seen whether, as Ptolemy was therein formerly + deceived upon the foundation of his reason, it were not very foolish to + trust now in what these people say? And whether it is not more likely that + this great body, which we call the world, is not quite another thing than + what we imagine. + </p> + <p> + Plato says that it changes countenance in all respects; that the heavens, + the stars, and the sun, have all of them sometimes motions retrograde to + what we see, changing east into west The Egyptian priests told Herodotus + that from the time of their first king, which was eleven thousand and odd + years since (and they showed him the effigies of all their kings in + statues taken from the life), the sun had four times altered his course; + that the sea and the earth did alternately change into one another; that + the beginning of the world is undetermined; Aristotle and Cicero both say + the same; and some amongst us are of opinion that it has been from all + eternity, is mortal, and renewed again by several vicissitudes; calling + Solomon and Isaiah to witness; to evade those oppositions, that God has + once been a creator without a creature; that he has had nothing to do, + that he got rid of that idleness by putting his hand to this work; and + that consequently he is subject to change. In the most famous of the Greek + schools the world is taken for a god, made by another god greater than he, + and composed of a body, and a soul fixed in his centre, and dilating + himself by musical numbers to his circumference; divine, infinitely happy, + and infinitely great, infinitely wise and eternal; in him are other gods, + the sea, the earth, the stars, who entertain one another with an + harmonious and perpetual agitation and divine dance, sometimes meeting, + sometimes retiring from one another; concealing and discovering + themselves; changing their order, one while before, and another behind. + Heraclitus was positive that the world was composed of fire; and, by the + order of destiny, was one day to be enflamed and consumed in fire, and + then to be again renewed. And Apuleius says of men: <i>Sigillatim + mortales, cunctim perpetui.</i> “That they are mortal in particular, + and immortal in general.” Alexander writ to his mother the narration + of an Egyptian priest, drawn from their monuments, testifying the + antiquity of that nation to be infinite, and comprising the birth and + progress of other countries. Cicero and Diodorus say that in their time + the Chaldees kept a register of four hundred thousand and odd years, + Aristotle, Pliny, and others, that Zoroaster flourished six thousand years + before Plato’s time. Plato says that they of the city of Sais have + records in writing of eight thousand years; and that the city of Athens + was built a thousand years before the said city of Sais; Epicurus, that at + the same time things are here in the posture we see, they are alike and in + the same manner in several other worlds; which he would have delivered + with greater assurance, had he seen the similitude and concordance of the + new discovered world of the West Indies with ours, present and past, in so + many strange examples. + </p> + <p> + In earnest, considering what is come to our knowledge from the course of + this terrestrial polity, I have often wondered to see in so vast a + distance of places and times such a concurrence of so great a number of + popular and wild opinions, and of savage manners and beliefs, which by no + means seem to proceed from our natural meditation. The human mind is a + great worker of miracles! But this relation has, moreover, I know not what + of extraordinary in it; ‘tis found to be in names, also, and a + thousand other things; for they found nations there (that, for aught we + know, never heard of us) where circumcision was in use; where there were + states and great civil governments maintained by women only, without men; + where our fasts and Lent were represented, to which was added abstinence + from women; where our crosses were several ways in repute; here they were + made use of to honour and adorn their sepultures, there they were erected, + and particularly that of St Andrew, to protect themselves from nocturnal + visions, and to lay upon the cradles of infants against enchantments; + elsewhere there was found one of wood, of very great height, which was + adored for the god of rain, and this a great way in the interior; there + was seen an express image of our penance priests, the use of mitres, the + celibacy of priests, the art of divination by the entrails of sacrificed + beasts, abstinence from all sorts of flesh and fish in their diet, the + manner of priests officiating in a particular and not a vulgar language; + and this fancy, that the first god was driven away by a second, his + younger brother; that they were created with all sorts of necessaries and + conveniences, which have since been in a degree taken from them for their + sins, their territory changed, and their natural condition made worse; + that they were of old overwhelmed by the inundation of water from heaven; + that but few families escaped, who retired into caves on high mountains, + the mouths of which they stopped so that the waters could not get in, + having shut up, together with themselves, several sorts of animals; that + when they perceived the rain to cease they sent out dogs, which returning + clean and wet, they judged that the water was not much abated; afterwards + sending out others, and seeing them return dirty, they issued out to + repeople the world, which they found only full of serpents. In one place + we met with the belief of a day of judgment; insomuch that they were + marvellously displeased at the Spaniards for discomposing the bones of the + dead, in rifling the sepultures for riches, saying that those bones so + disordered could not easily rejoin; the traffic by exchange, and no other + way; fairs and markets for that end; dwarfs and deformed people for the + ornament of the tables of princes; the use of falconry, according to the + nature of their hawks; tyrannical subsidies; nicety in gardens; dancing, + tumbling tricks, music of instruments, coats of arms, tennis-courts, dice + and lotteries, wherein they are sometimes so eager and hot as to stake + themselves and their liberty; physic, no otherwise than by charms; the way + of writing in cypher; the belief of only one first man, the father of all + nations; the adoration of one God, who formerly lived a man in perfect + virginity, fasting, and penitence, preaching the laws of nature, and the + ceremonies of religion, and that vanished from the world without a natural + death; the theory of giants; the custom of making themselves drunk with + their beverages, and drinking to the utmost; religious ornaments painted + with bones and dead men’s skulls; surplices, holy water sprinkled; + wives and servants, who present themselves with emulation, burnt and + interred with the dead husband or master; a law by which the eldest + succeeds to all the estate, no part being left for the younger but + obedience; the custom that, upon promotion to a certain office of great + authority, the promoted is to take upon him a new name, and to leave that + which he had before; another to strew lime upon the knee of the new-born + child, with these words: + </p> + <p> + “From dust thou earnest, and to dust thou must return;” as + also the art of augury. The vain shadows of our religion, which are + observable in some of these examples, are testimonies of its dignity and + divinity. It is not only in some sort insinuated into all the infidel + nations on this side of the world, by a certain imitation, but in these + barbarians also, as by a common and supernatural inspiration; for we find + there the belief of purgatory, but of a new form; that which we give to + the fire they give to the cold, and imagine that souls are purged and + punished by the rigour of an excessive coldness. And this example puts me + in mind of another pleasant diversity; for as there were there some people + who delighted to unmuffle the ends of their instruments, and clipped off + the prepuce after the Mahometan and Jewish manner; there were others who + made so great conscience of laying it bare, that they carefully pursed it + up with little strings to keep that end from peeping into the air; and of + this other diversity, that whereas we, to honour kings and festivals, put + on the best clothes we have; in some regions, to express their disparity + and submission to their king, his subjects present themselves before him + in their vilest habits, and entering his palace, throw some old tattered + garment over their better apparel, to the end that all the lustre and + ornament may solely be in him. But to proceed:— + </p> + <p> + If nature enclose within the bounds of her ordinary progress the beliefs, + judgments, and opinions of men, as well as all other things; if they have + their revolution, their season, their birth and death, like cabbage + plants; if the heavens agitate and rule them at their pleasure, what + magisterial and permanent authority do we attribute to them? If we + experimentally see that the form of our beings depends upon the air, upon + the climate, and upon the soil, where we are bom, and not only the colour, + the stature, the complexion, and the countenances, but moreover the very + faculties of the soul itself: Et plaga codi non solum ad robor corporum, + sed etiam anirum facit: “The climate is of great efficacy, not only + to the strength of bodies, but to that of souls also,” says + Vegetius; and that the goddess who founded the city of Athens chose to + situate it in a temperature of air fit to make men prudent, as the + Egyptian priests told Solon: <i>Athenis tenue colum; ex quo etiam + acutiores putantur Attici; crassum Thebis; itaque pingues Thebani, et + valentes:</i> “The air of Athens is subtle and thin; whence also the + Athenians are reputed to be more acute; and at Thebes more gross and + thick; wherefore the Thebans are looked upon as more heavy-witted and more + strong.” In such sort that, as fruits and animals grow different, + men are also more or less warlike, just, temperate, and docile; here given + to wine, elsewhere to theft or uncleanness; here inclined to superstition, + elsewhere to unbelief; in one place to liberty, in another to servitude; + capable of one science or of one art, dull or ingenious, obedient or + mutinous, good or bad, according as the place where they are seated + inclines them; and assume a new complexion, if removed, like trees, which + was the reason why Cyrus would not grant the Persians leave to quit their + rough and craggy country to remove to another more pleasant and even, + saying, that fertile and tender soils made men effeminate and soft. If we + see one while one art and one belief flourish, and another while another, + through some celestial influence; such an age to produce such natures, and + to incline mankind to such and such a propension, the spirits of men one + while gay and another gray, like our fields, what becomes of all those + fine prerogatives we so soothe ourselves withal? Seeing that a wise man + may be mistaken, and a hundred men and a hundred nations, nay, that even + human nature itself, as we believe, is many ages wide in one thing or + another, what assurances have we that she should cease to be mistaken, or + that in this very age of ours she is not so? + </p> + <p> + Methinks that amongst other testimonies of our imbecility, this ought not + to be forgotten, that man cannot, by his own wish and desire, find out + what he wants; that not in fruition only, but in imagination and wish, we + cannot agree about what we would have to satisfy and content us. Let us + leave it to our own thought to cut out and make up at pleasure; it cannot + so much as covet what is proper for it, and satisfy itself:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quid enim ratione timemus, + Aut cupimus? Quid tain dextro pede concipis, ut te + Conatus non poniteat, votique peracti? + + “For what, with reason, do we speak or shun, + What plan, how happily soe’r begun, + That, when achieved, we do not wish undone?” + </pre> + <p> + And therefore it was that Socrates only begged of the gods that they would + give him what they knew to be best for him; and the private and public + prayer of the Lacedemonians was simply for good and useful things, + referring the choice and election of them to the discretion of the Supreme + Power:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Conjugium petimus, partumqu uxoris; at illis + Notum, qui pueri, qualisque futura sit uxor: + + “We ask for Wives and children; they above + Know only, when we have them, what they’ll prove;” + </pre> + <p> + and Christians pray to God, “Thy will be done,” that they may + not fall into the inconvenience the poet feigns of King Midas. He prayed + to the gods that all he touched might be turned into gold; his prayer was + heard; his wine was gold, his bread was gold, the feathers of his bed, his + shirt, his clothes, were all gold, so that he found himself overwhelmed + with the fruition of his desire, and endowed with an intolerable benefit, + and was fain to unpray his prayers. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Attonitus novitate mali, divesque, miserque, + Effugere optt opes, et, qu modo voverat, odit. + + “Astonished at the strangeness of the ill, + To be so rich, yet miserable still; + He wishes now he could his wealth evade, + And hates the thing for which before he prayed.” + </pre> + <p> + To instance in myself: being young, I desired of fortune, above all + things, the order of St. Michael, which was then the utmost distinction of + honour amongst the French nobles, and very rare. She pleasantly gratified + my longing; instead of raising me, and lifting me up from my own place to + attain to it, she was much kinder to me; for she brought it so low, and + made it so cheap, that it stooped down to my shoulders, and lower. Cleobis + and Bito, Trophonius and Agamedes, having requested, the first of their + goddess, the last of their god, a recompense worthy of their piety, had + death for a reward; so differing from ours are heavenly opinions + concerning what is fit for us. God might grant us riches, honours, life, + and even health, to our own hurt; for every thing that is pleasing to us + is not always good for us. If he sends us death, or an increase of + sickness, instead of a cure, <i>Vvrga tua et baculus, tuus ipsa me + consolata sunt.</i> “Thy rod and thy staff have comforted me,” + he does it by the rule of his providence, which better and more certainly + discerns what is proper for us than we can do; and we ought to take it in + good part, as coming from a wise and most friendly hand + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Si consilium vis: + Permittee ipsis expendere numinibus, quid + Conveniat nobis, rebusque sit utile nostris... + Carior est illis homo quam sibi; + + “If thou’lt be rul’d, to th’ gods thy fortunes trust, + Their thoughts are wise, their dispensations just. + What best may profit or delight they know, + And real good, for fancied bliss, bestow; + With eyes of pity, they our frailties scan, + More dear to them, than to himself, is man;” + </pre> + <p> + for to require of him honours and commands, is to require ‘that he + may throw you into a battle, set you upon a cast at dice, or something of + the like nature, whereof the issue is to you unknown, and the fruit + doubtful. + </p> + <p> + There is no dispute so sharp and violent amongst the philosophers, as + about the question of the sovereign good of man; whence, by the + calculation of Varro, rose two hundred and eighty-eight sects. <i>Qui + autem de summo bono dissentit, de tot philosophies ratione disputt.</i> + “For whoever enters into controversy concerning the supreme good, + disputes upon the whole matter of philosophy.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Trs mihi conviv prope dissentire videntur, + Poscentes vario mul turn divers a palato; + Quid dem? Quid non dem? Renuis tu quod jubet alter; + Quod petis, id sane est invisum acidumque duobus; + + “I have three guests invited to a feast, + And all appear to have a different taste; + What shall I give them? What shall I refuse? + What one dislikes the other two shall choose; + And e’en the very dish you like the best + Is acid or insipid to the rest:” + </pre> + <p> + nature should say the same to their contests and debates. Some say that + our well-being lies in virtue, others in pleasure, others in submitting to + nature; one in knowledge, another in being exempt from pain, another in + not suffering ourselves to be carried away by appearances; and this fancy + seems to have some relation to that of the ancient Pythagoras, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nil admirari, prope res est una, Numici, + Solaque, qu possit facere et servare beatum: + + “Not to admire’s the only art I know + Can make us happy, and can keep us so;” + </pre> + <p> + which is the drift of the Pyrrhonian sect; Aristotle attributes the + admiring nothing to magnanimity; and Arcesilaus said, that constancy and a + right inflexible state of judgment were the true good, and consent and + application the sin and evil; and there, it is true, in being thus + positive, and establishing a certain axiom, he quitted Pyrrhonism; for the’ + Pyrrhonians, when they say that ataraxy, which is the immobility of + judgment, is the sovereign good, do not design to speak it affirmatively; + but that the same motion of soul which makes them avoid precipices, and + take shelter from the cold, presents them such a fancy, and makes them + refuse another. + </p> + <p> + How much do I wish that, whilst I live, either some other or Justus + Lipsius, the most learned man now living, of a most polite and judicious + understanding, truly resembling my Turnebus, had both the will and health, + and leisure sufficient, carefully and conscientiously to collect into a + register, according to their divisions and classes, as many as are to be + found, of the opinions of the ancient philosophers, about the subject of + our being and manners, their controversies, the succession and reputation + of sects; with the application of the lives of the authors and their + disciples to their own precepts, in memorable accidents, and upon + exemplary occasions. What a beautiful and useful work that would be! + </p> + <p> + As to what remains, if it be from ourselves that we are to extract the + rules of our manners, upon what a confusion do we throw ourselves! For + that which our reason advises us to, as the most likely, is generally for + every one to obey the laws of his country, as was the advice of Socrates, + inspired, as he says, by a divine counsel; and by that, what would it say, + but that our duty has no other rule but what is accidental? Truth ought to + have a like and universal visage; if man could know equity and justice + that had a body and a true being, he would not fetter it to the conditions + of this country or that; it would not be from the whimsies of the Persians + or Indians that virtue would receive its form. There is nothing more + subject to perpetual agitation than the laws; since I was born, I have + known those of the English, our neighbours, three or four times changed, + not only in matters of civil regimen, which is the only thing wherein + constancy may be dispensed with, but in the most important subject that + can be, namely, religion, at which I am the more troubled and ashamed, + because it is a nation with whom those of my province have formerly had so + great familiarity and acquaintance, that there yet remains in my house + some footsteps of our ancient kindred; and here with us at home, I have + known a thing that was capital to become lawful; and we that hold of + others are likewise, according to the chance of war, in a possibility of + being one day found guilty of high-treason, both divine and human, should + the justice of our arms fall into the power of injustice, and, after a few + years’ possession, take a quite contrary being. How could that + ancient god more clearly accuse the ignorance of human knowledge + concerning the divine Being, and give men to understand that their + religion was but a thing of their own contrivance, useful as a bond to + their society, than declaring as he did to those who came to his tripod + for instruction, that every one’s true worship was that which he + found in use in the place where he chanced to be? O God, what infinite + obligation have we to the bounty of our sovereign Creator, for having + disabused our belief from these wandering and arbitrary devotions, and for + having seated it upon the eternal foundation of his holy word? But what + then will philosophers say to us in this necessity? “That we follow + the laws of our country;” that is to say, this floating sea of the + opinions of a republic, or a prince, that will paint out justice for me in + as many colours, and form it as many ways as there are changes of passions + in themselves; I cannot suffer my judgment to be so flexible. What kind of + virtue is that which I see one day in repute, and that to-morrow shall be + in none, and which the crossing of a river makes a crime? What sort of + truth can that be, which these mountains limit to us, and make a lie to + all the world beyond them? + </p> + <p> + But they are pleasant, when, to give some certainty to the laws, they say, + that there are some firm, perpetual, and immovable, which they call + natural, that are imprinted in human kind by the condition of their own + proper being; and of these some reckon three, some four, some more, some + less; a sign that it is a mark as doubtful as the rest Now they are so + unfortunate, (for what can I call it else but misfortune that, of so + infinite a number of laws, there should not be found one at least that + fortune and the temerity of chance has suffered to be universally received + by the consent of all nations?) they are, I say, so miserable, that of + these three or four select laws, there is not so much as one that is not + contradicted and disowned, not only by one nation, but by many. Now, the + only likely sign, by which they can argue or infer some natural laws, is + the universality of approbation; for we should, without doubt, follow with + a common consent that which nature had truly ordained us; and not only + every nation, but every private man, would resent the force and violence + that any one should do him who would tempt him to any thing contrary to + this law. But let them produce me one of this condition. Proctagoras and + Aristo gave no other essence to the justice of laws than the authority and + opinion of the legislator; and that, these laid aside, the honest and the + good lost their qualities, and remained empty names of indifferent things; + Thrasymachus, in Plato, is of opinion that there is no other right but the + convenience of the superior. There is not any thing wherein the world is + so various as in laws and customs; such a thing is abominable here which + is elsewhere in esteem, as in Lacedemon dexterity in stealing; marriages + between near relations, are capitally interdicted amongst us; they are + elsewhere in honour:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Gentes esse ferantur, + In quibus et nato genitrix, et nata parenti + Jungitur, et pietas geminato crescit amore; + + “There are some nations in the world, ‘tis said, + Where fathers daughters, sons their mothers wed; + And their affections thereby higher rise, + More firm and constant by these double ties;” + </pre> + <p> + the murder of infants, the murder of fathers, the community of wives, + traffic of robberies, license in all sorts of voluptuousness; in short, + there is nothing so extreme that is not allowed by the custom of some + nation or other. + </p> + <p> + It is credible that there are natural laws for us, as we see them in other + creatures; but they are lost in us, this fine human reason everywhere so + insinuating itself to govern and command, as to shuffle and confound the + face of things, according to its own vanity and inconstancy: <i>Nihil + itaque amplius nostrum est; quod nostrum dico, artis est:</i> “Therefore + nothing is any more truly ours; what we call ours belongs to art.” + Subjects have divers lustres and divers considerations, and thence the + diversity of opinions principally proceeds; one nation considers a subject + in one aspect, and stops there: another takes it in a different point of + view. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing of greater horror to be imagined than for a man to eat + his father; and yet the people, whose ancient custom it was so to do, + looked upon it as a testimony of piety and affection, seeking thereby to + give their progenitors the most worthy and honourable sepulture; storing + up in themselves, and as it were in their own marrow, the bodies and + relics of their fathers; and in some sort regenerating them by + transmutation into their living flesh, by means of nourishment and + digestion. It is easy to consider what a cruelty and abomination it must + have appeared to men possessed and imbued with this snperstition to throw + their fathers’ remains to the corruption of the earth, and the + nourishment of beasts and worms. + </p> + <p> + Lycurgus considered in theft the vivacity, diligence, boldness, and + dexterity of purloining any thing from our neighbours, and the benefit + that redounded to the public that every one should look more narrowly to + the conservation of what was his own; and believed that, from this double + institution of assaulting and defending, advantage was to be made for + military discipline (which was the principal science and virtue to which + he would inure that nation), of greater consideration than the disorder + and injustice of taking another man’s goods. + </p> + <p> + Dionysius, the tyrant, offered Plato a robe of the Persian fashion, long, + damasked, and perfumed; Plato refused it, saying, “That being born a + man, he would not willingly dress himself in women’s clothes;” + but Aristippus accepted it with this answer, “That no accoutrement + could corrupt a chaste courage.” His friends reproaching him with + meanness of spirit, for laying it no more to heart that Dionysius had spit + in his face, “Fishermen,” said he, “suffer themselves to + be drenched with the waves of the sea from head to foot to catch a + gudgeon.” Diogenes was washing cabbages, and seeing him pass by, + “If thou couldst live on cabbage,” said he, “thou + wouldst not fawn upon a tyrant;” to whom Aristippus replied, “And + if thou knewest how to live amongst men, thou wouldst not be washing + cabbages.” Thus reason finds appearances for divers effects; ‘tis + a pot with two ears that a man may take by the right or left:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bellum, o terra hospita, portas: + Bello armantur eqni; bellum hc armenta minantur. + Sed tamen idem olim curru succedere sueti + Quadrupedes, et frena jugo concordia ferre; + Spes est pacis. + + “War, war is threatened from this foreign ground + (My father cried), where warlike steeds are found. + Yet, since reclaimed, to chariots they submit, + And bend to stubborn yokes, and champ the bit, + Peace may succeed to war.” + </pre> + <p> + Solon, being lectured by his friends not to shed powerless and + unprofitable tears for the death of his son, “It is for that reason + that I the more justly shed them,” said he, “because they are + powerless and unprofitable.” Socrates’s wife exasperated her + grief by this circumstance: “Oh, how unjustly do these wicked judges + put him to death!” “Why,” replied he, “hadst thou + rather they should execute me justly?” We have our ears bored; the + Greeks looked upon that as a mark of slavery. We retire in private to + enjoy our wives; the Indians do it in public. The Scythians immolated + strangers in their temples; elsewhere temples were a refuge:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Inde furor vulgi, quod numina vicinorum + Odit quisque locus, cum solos credat habendos + Esse deos, quos ipse colit. + + “Thus ‘tis the popular fury that creates + That all their neighbours’ gods each nation hates; + Each thinks its own the genuine; in a word, + The only deities to be adored.” + </pre> + <p> + I have heard of a judge who, coming upon a sharp conflict betwixt Bartolus + and Aldus, and some point controverted with many contrarieties, writ in + the margin of his book, “a question for a friend;” that is to + say, that truth was there so controverted and disputed that in a like + cause he might favour which of the parties he thought fit ‘Twas only + for want of wit that he did not write “a question for a friend” + throughout. The advocates and judges of our times find bias enough in all + causes to accommodate them to what they themselves think fit. In so + infinite a science, depending upon the authority of so many opinions, and + so arbitrary a subject, it cannot be but that of necessity an extreme + confusion of judgments must arise; there is hardly any suit so clear + wherein opinions do not very much differ; what one court has determined + one way another determines quite contrary, and itself contrary to that at + another time. Of which we see very frequent examples, owing to that + practice admitted amongst us, and which is a marvellous blemish to the + ceremonious authority and lustre of our justice, of not abiding by one + sentence, but running from judge to judge, and court to court, to decide + one and the same cause. + </p> + <p> + As to the liberty of philosophical opinions concerning vice and virtue, + ‘tis not necessary to be insisted upon; therein are found many + opinions that are better concealed than published to weak minds. + Arcesilaus said, “That in venery it was no matter where, or with + whom, it was committed:” <i>Et obsccenas voluptates, si natura + requirit, non genere, aut loco, aut ordine, sed forma, otate, jigur, + metiendas Epicurus putat.... ne amores quidem sanctos a sapiente alienos + esse arbitrantur.... Queeramus, ad quam usque otatem juvenes amandi sint.</i> + “And obscene pleasures, if nature requires them,” Epicurus + thinks, “are not to be measured either by race, kind, place, or + rank, but by age, shape, and beauty.... Neither are sacred loves thought + to be foreign to wise men;... we are to inquire till what age young men + are to be loved.” These last two stoical quotations, and the + reproach that Dicarchus threw into the teeth of Plato himself, upon this + account, show how much the soundest philosophy indulges licenses and + excesses very remote from common custom. + </p> + <p> + Laws derive their authority from possession and custom. ‘Tis + dangerous to trace them back to their beginning; they grow great, and + ennoble themselves, like our rivers, by running on; but follow them upward + to their source, ‘tis but a little spring, scarce discernable, + </p> + <p> + that swells thus, and thus fortifies itself by growing old. Do but consult + the ancient considerations that gave the first motion to this famous + torrent, so full of dignity, awe, and reverence, you will find them so + light and weak that it is no wonder if these people, who weigh and reduce + every thing to reason, and who admit nothing by authority, or upon trust, + have their judgments often very remote, and differing from those of the + public. It is no wonder if people, who take their pattern from the first + image of nature, should in most of their opinions swerve from the common + path; as, for example, few amongst them would have approved of the strict + conditions of our marriages, and most of them have been for having wives + in common, and without obligation; they would refuse our ceremonies. + Chrysippus said, “That a philosopher would make a dozen somersaults, + aye, and without his breeches, for a dozen of olives.” That + philosopher would hardly have advised Clisthenes to have refused + Hippoclides the fair Agarista his daughter, for having seen him stand on + his head upon a table. Metrocles somewhat indiscreetly broke wind + backwards while in disputation, in the presence of a great auditory in his + school, and kept himself hid in his own house for shame, till Crates + coming to visit him, and adding to his consolations and reasons the + example of his own liberty, by falling to try with him who should sound + most, cured him of that scruple, and withal drew him to his own stoical + sect, more free than that more reserved one of the Peripatetics, of which + he had been till then. That which we call decency, not to dare to do that + in public which is decent enough to do in private, the Stoics call + foppery; and to mince it, and to be so modest as to conceal and disown + what nature, custom, and our desires publish and proclaim of our actions, + they reputed a vice. The other thought it was to undervalue the mysteries + of Venus to draw them out of the private oratory, to expose them to the + view of the people; and that to bring them out from behind the curtain was + to debase them. Modesty is a thing of weight; secrecy, reservation, and + circumspection, are parts of esteem. Pleasure did very ingeniously when, + under the mask of virtue, she sued not to be prostituted in the open + streets, trodden under foot, and exposed to the public view, wanting the + dignity and convenience of her private cabinets. Hence some say that to + put down public stews is not only to disperse fornication into all places, + that was confined to one, but moreover, by the difficulty, to incite wild + and idle people to this vice:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mochus es Aufidi, qui vir, + Scvine, fuisti: + Rivalis fuerat qui tuus, ille vir est. + Cur alina placet tibi, qu tua non placet uxor? + Numquid securus non potes arrigere? +</pre> + <p> + This experience diversifies itself in a thousand examples:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nullus in urbe fuit tot, qui tangere vellet + Uxorem gratis, Cciliane, tuam, + Dum licuit: sed nunc, positis custodibus, ingens + Turba fututorum est. Ingeniosus homo es. +</pre> + <p> + A philosopher being taken in the very act, and asked what he was doing, + coldly replied, “I am planting man;” no more blushing to be so + caught than if they had found him planting garlic. + </p> + <p> + It is, I suppose, out of tenderness and respect to the natural modesty of + mankind that a great and religious author is of opinion that this act is + so necessarily obliged to privacy and shame that he cannot persuade + himself there could be any absolute performance in those impudent embraces + of the Cynics, but that they contented themselves to represent lascivious + gestures only, to maintain the impudence of their school’s + profession; and that, to eject what shame had withheld and restrained, it + was afterward necessary for them to withdraw into the shade. But he had + not thoroughly examined their debauches; for Diogenes, playing the beast + with himself in public, wished, in the presence of all that saw him, that + he could fill his belly by that exercise. To those who asked him why he + did not find out a more commodious place to eat in than in the open + street, he made answer, “Because I am hungry in the open street.” + The women philosophers who mixed with their sect, mixed also with their + persons, in all places, without reservation; and Hipparchia was not + received into Crates’s society, but upon condition that she should, + in all things, follow the practice and customs of his rule. These + philosophers set a great price upon virtue, and renounce all other + discipline but the moral; and yet, in all their actions, they attributed + the sovereign authority to the election of their sage, and above the laws; + and gave no other curb to voluptuousness but moderation only, and the + conservation of the liberty of others. + </p> + <p> + Heraclitus and Protagoras, forasmuch as wine seemed bitter to the sick, + and pleasant to the sound, the rudder crooked in the water, and straight + when out, and such like contrary appearances as are found in subjects, + argued thence that all subjects had, in themselves, the causes of these + appearances; and there was some bitterness in the wine which had some + sympathy with the sick man’s taste, and the rudder some bending + quality sympathizing with him that looks upon it in the water; and so of + all the rest; which is to say, that all is in all things, and, + consequently, nothing in any one; for, where all is, there is nothing. + </p> + <p> + This opinion put me in mind of the experience we have that there is no + sense or aspect of any thing, whether bitter or sweet, straight or + crooked, that the human mind does not find out in the writings it + undertakes to tumble over. Into the cleanest, purest, and most perfect + words that can possibly be, how many lies and falsities have we suggested! + What heresy has not there found ground and testimony sufficient to make + itself embraced and defended! ‘Tis for this that the authors of such + errors will never depart from proof of the testimony of the interpretation + of words. A person of dignity, who would approve to me, by authority, the + search of the philosopher’s stone, wherein he was head over ears + engaged, lately alleged to me at least five or six passages of the Bible + upon which, he said, he first founded his attempt, for the discharge of + his conscience (for he is a divine); and, in truth, the idea was not only + pleasant, but, moreover, very well accommodated to the defence of this + fine science. + </p> + <p> + By this way the reputation of divining fables is acquired. There is no + fortune-teller, if we have this authority, but, if a man will take the + pains to tumble and toss, and narrowly to peep into all the folds and + glosses of his words, he may make him, like the Sibyls, say what he will. + There are so many ways of interpretation that it will be hard but that, + either obliquely or in a direct line, an ingenious wit will find out, in + every subject, some air that will serve for his purpose; therefore we find + a cloudy and ambiguous style in so frequent and ancient use. Let the + author but make himself master of that, to busy posterity about his + predictions, which not only his own parts, but the accidental favour of + the matter itself, may do for him; and, as to the rest, express himself, + whether after a foolish or a subtle manner, somewhat obscurely or + contradictorily, ‘tis no matter;—a number of wits, shaking and + sifting him, will bring out a great many several forms, either according + to his meaning, or collateral, or contrary, to it, which will all redound + to his honour; he will see himself enriched by the means of his disciples, + like the regents of colleges by their pupils yearly presents. This it is + which has given reputation to many things of no worth at all; that has + brought several writings in vogue, and given them the fame of containing + all sorts of matter can be desired; one and the same thing receiving a + thousand and a thousand images and various considerations; nay, as many as + we please. + </p> + <p> + Is it possible that Homer could design to say all that we make him say, + and that he designed so many and so various figures, as that the divines, + law-givers, captains, philosophers, and all sorts of men who treat of + sciences, how variously and opposite soever, should indifferently quote + him, and support their arguments by his authority, as the sovereign lord + and master of all offices, works, and artisans, and counsellor-general of + all enterprises? Whoever has had occasion for oracles and predictions has + there found sufficient to serve his turn. ‘Tis a wonder how many and + how admirable concurrences an intelligent person, and a particular friend + of mine, has there found out in favour of our religion; and cannot easily + be put out of the conceit that it was Homer’s design; and yet he is + as well acquainted with this author as any man whatever of his time. And + what he has found in favour of our religion there, very many anciently + have found in favour of theirs. Do but observe how Plato is tumbled and + tossed about; every one ennobling his own opinions by applying him to + himself, and making him take what side they please. They draw him in, and + engage him in all the new opinions the world receives; and make him, + according to the different course of things, differ from himself; every + one makes him disavow, according to his own sense, the manners and customs + lawful in his age, because they are unlawful in ours; and all this with + vivacity and power, according to the force and sprightliness of the wit of + the interpreter. From the same foundation that Heraclitus and this + sentence of his had, “that all things had in them those forms that + we discern,” Democritus drew quite a contrary conclusion,—“that + objects have in them nothing that we discern in them;” and because + honey is sweet to one and bitter to another, he thence argued that it was + neither sweet nor bitter. The Pyrrhonians would say that they knew not + whether it is sweet or bitter, or whether the one or the other, or both; + for these always gained the highest point of dubitation. The Cyrenaics + held that nothing was perceptible from without, and that that only was + perceptible that inwardly touched us, as pain and pleasure; acknowledging + neither sound nor colour, but certain affections only that we receive from + them; and that man’s judgment had no other seat Protagoras believed + that “what seems true to every one, is true to every one.” The + Epicureans lodged all judgment in the senses, and in the knowledge of + things, and in pleasure. Plato would have the judgment of truth, and truth + itself, derived from opinions and the senses, to belong to the wit and + cogitation. + </p> + <p> + This discourse has put me upon the consideration of the senses, in which + lies the greatest foundation and Prof of our ignorance. Whatsoever is + known, is doubtless known by the faculty of the knower; for, seeing the + judgment proceeds from the operation of him that judges, ‘tis reason + that this operation be performed by his means and will, not by the + constraint of another; as it would happen if we knew things by the power, + and according to the law of their essence. Now all knowledge is conveyed + to us by the senses; they are our masters:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Via qua munita fidei + Proxima fert humanum in pectus, templaque mentis; + + “It is the surest path that faith can find + By which to enter human heart and mind.” + </pre> + <p> + Science begins by them, and is resolved into them. After all, we should + know no more than a stone if we did not know there is sound, odour, light, + taste, measure, weight, softness, hardness, sharpness, colour, smoothness, + breadth, and depth; these are the platforms and principles of the + structure of all our knowledge; and, according to some, science is nothing + else but sense. He that could make me contradict the senses, would have me + by the throat; he could not make me go further back. The senses are the + beginning and the end of human knowledge:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Invenies primis ab sensibns esse creatam + Notitiam veil; neque sensus posse refelli.... + Quid majore fide porro, quam sensus, haberi Debet? + + “Of truth, whate’er discoveries are made, + Are by the senses to us first conveyed; + Nor will one sense be baffled; for on what + Can we rely more safely than on that?” + </pre> + <p> + Let us attribute to them the least we can, we must, however, of necessity + grant them this, that it is by their means and mediation that all our + instruction is directed. Cicero says, that Chrysippus having attempted to + extenuate the force and virtue of the senses, presented to himself + arguments and so vehement oppositions to the contrary that he could not + satisfy himself therein; whereupon Cameades, who maintained the contrary + side, boasted that he would make use of the very words and arguments of + Chrysippus to controvert and confute him, and therefore thus cried out + against him: “O miserable! thy force has destroyed thee.” + There can be nothing absurd to a greater degree than to maintain that fire + does not warm, that light does not shine, and that there is no weight nor + solidity in iron, which are things conveyed to us by the senses; neither + is there belief nor knowledge in man that can be compared to that for + certainty. + </p> + <p> + The first consideration I have upon the subject of the senses is that I + make a doubt whether or no man be furnished with all natural senses. I see + several animals who live an entire and perfect life, some without sight, + others without hearing; who knows whether to us also one, two, three, or + many other senses may not be wanting? For if any one be wanting, our + examination cannot discover the defect. ‘Tis the privilege of the + senses to be the utmost limit of our discovery; there is nothing beyond + them that can assist us in exploration, not so much as one sense in the + discovery of another:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + An poterunt oculos aures reprehendere? an aures + Tactus an hunc porro tactum sapor argnet oris? + An confutabunt nares, oculive revincent? + + “Can ears the eyes, the touch the ears, correct? + Or is that touch by tasting to be check’d? + Or th’ other senses, shall the nose or eyes + Confute in their peculiar faculties?” + </pre> + <p> + They all make the extremest limits of our ability:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Seorsum cuique potestas Divisa est, sua vis cuique est, + + “Each has its power distinctly and alone, + And every sense’s power is its own.” + </pre> + <p> + It is impossible to make a man naturally blind conceive that he does not + see; impossible to make him desire sight, or to regret his defect; for + which reason we ought not to derive any assurance from the soul’s + being contented and satisfied with those we have; considering that it + cannot be sensible herein of its infirmity and imperfection, if there be + any such thing. It is impossible to say any thing to this blind man, + either by reasoning, argument, or similitude, that can possess his + imagination with any apprehension of light, colour, or sight; there’s + nothing remains behind that can push on the senses to evidence. Those that + are born blind, whom we hear wish they could see, it is not that they + understand what they desire; they have learned from us that they want + something; that there is something to be desired that we have, which they + can name indeed and speak of its effect and consequences; but yet they + know not what it is, nor apprehend it at all. + </p> + <p> + I have seen a gentleman of a good family who was born blind, or at least + blind from such an age that he knows not what sight is; who is so little + sensible of his defect that he makes use as we do of words proper for + seeing, and applies them after a manner wholly particular and his own. + They brought him a child to which he was god-father, which, having taken + into his arms, “Good God,” said he, “what a fine child! + How beautiful to look upon! what a pretty face it has!” He will say, + like one of us, “This room has a very fine prospect;—it is + clear weather;—the sun shines bright.” And moreover, being + that hunting, tennis, and butts are our exercises, and he has heard so, he + has taken a liking to them, will ride a-hunting, and believes he has as + good share of the sport as we have; and will express himself as angry or + pleased as the best of us all, and yet knows nothing of it but by the ear. + One cries out to him, “Here’s a hare!” when he is upon + some even plain where he may safely ride; and afterwards, when they tell + him, “The hare is killed,” he will be as overjoyed and proud + of it as he hears others say they are. He will take a tennis-ball in his + left hand and strike it away with the racket; he will shoot with a + harquebuss at random, and is contented with what his people tell him, that + he is over, or wide. + </p> + <p> + Who knows whether all human kind commit not the like absurdity, for want + of some sense, and that through this default the greatest part of the face + of things is concealed from us? What do we know but that the difficulties + which we find in several works of nature proceed hence; and that several + effects of animals, which exceed our capacity, are not produced by faculty + of some sense that we are defective in? and whether some of them have not + by this means a life more full and entire than ours? We seize an apple + with all our senses; we there find redness, smoothness, odour, and + sweetness; but it may have other virtues besides these, as to heat or + binding, which no sense of ours can have any reference unto. Is it not + likely that there are sensitive faculties in nature that are fit to judge + of and to discern those which we call the occult properties in several + things, as for the loadstone to attract iron; and that the want of such + faculties is the cause that we are ignorant of the true essence of such + things? ‘Tis perhaps some particular sense that gives cocks to + understand what hour it is at midnight, and when it grows to be towards + day, and that makes them crow accordingly; that teaches chickens, before + they have any experience of the matter, to fear a sparrow-hawk, and not a + goose or a peacock, though birds of a much larger size; that cautions them + against the hostile quality the cat has against them, and makes them not + to fear a dog; to arm themselves against the mewing, a kind of flattering + voice, of the one, and not against the barking, a shrill and threatening + voice, of the other; that teaches wasps, ants, and rats, to fall upon the + best pear and the best cheese before they have tasted them, and inspires + the stag, elephant, and serpent, with the knowledge of a certain herb + proper for their cure. There is no sense that has not a mighty dominion, + and that does not by its power introduce an infinite number of knowledges. + If we were defective in the intelligence of sounds, of harmony, and of the + voice, it would cause an unimaginable confusion in all the rest of our + science; for, besides what belongs to the proper effect of every sense, + how many arguments, consequences, and conclusions do we draw to other + things, by comparing one sense with another? Let an understanding man + imagine human nature originally produced without the sense of seeing, and + consider what ignorance and trouble such a defect would bring upon him, + what a darkness and blindness in the soul; he will then see by that of how + great importance to the knowledge of truth the privation of such another + sense, or of two or three, should we be so deprived, would be. We have + formed a truth by the consultation and concurrence of our five senses; but + perhaps we should have the consent and contribution of eight or ten to + make a certain discovery of it in its essence. + </p> + <p> + The sects that controvert the knowledge of man do it principally by the + uncertainty and weakness of our senses; for since all knowledge is by + their means and mediation conveyed unto us, if they fail in their report, + if they corrupt or alter what they bring us from without, if the light + which by them creeps into the soul be obscured in the passage, we have + nothing else to hold by. From this extreme difficulty all these fancies + proceed: “That every subject has in itself all we there find. That + it has nothing in it of what we think we there find;” and that of + the Epicureans, “That the sun is no bigger than ‘tis judged by + our sight to be:—” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Quidquid id est, nihilo fertur majore figura, + Quam nostris oculis quam cemimus, esse videtur: + + “But be it what it will in our esteems, + It is no bigger than to us it seems:” + </pre> + <p> + that the appearances which represent a body great to him that is near, and + less to him that is more remote, are both true:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Nee tamen hic oculos falli concedimus hilum.... + Proinde animi vitium hoc oculis adfingere noli: + + “Yet that the eye’s deluded we deny; + Charge not the mind’s faults, therefore, on the eye:” + </pre> + <p> + “and, resolutely, that there is no deceit in the senses; that we are + to lie at their mercy, and seek elsewhere reasons to excuse the difference + and contradictions we there find, even to the inventing of lies and other + flams, if it come to that, rather than accuse the senses.” Timagoras + vowed that, by pressing or turning his eye, he could never perceive the + light of the candle to double, and that the seeming so proceeded from the + vice of opinion, and not from the instrument. The most absurd of all + absurdities, with the Epicureans, is to deny the force and effect of the + senses:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Proinde, quod in quoquo est his visum tempore, verum est + Et, si non potuit ratio dissolvere causam, + Cur ea, qu fuerint juxtim quadrata, procul sint + Visa rotunda; tamen prstat rationis egentem + Beddere mendose causas utriusque figur, + Quam manibus manifesta suis emittere ququam, + Et violare fidem primam, et convellere tota + Fundamenta, quibus nixatur vita salusque: + Non modo enim ratio ruat omnis, vita quoque ipsa + Concidat extemplo, nisi credere sensibus ausis, + Procipitesque locos vitare, et ctera, qu sint + In genere hoc fugienda. + + “That what we see exists I will maintain, + And if our feeble reason can’t explain + Why things seem square when they are very near, + And at a greater distance round appear; + ‘Tis better yet, for him that’s at a pause, + ‘T’ assign to either figure a false cause, + Than shock his faith, and the foundations rend + On which our safety and our life depend: + For reason not alone, but life and all, + Together will with sudden ruin fall; + Unless we trust our senses, nor despise + To shun the various dangers that arise.” + </pre> + <p> + This so desperate and unphilosophical advice expresses only this,—that + human knowledge cannot support itself but by reason unreasonable, foolish, + and mad; but that it is yet better that man, to set a greater value upon + himself, make use of any other remedy, how fantastic soever, than to + confess his necessary ignorance—a truth so disadvantageous to him. + He cannot avoid owning that the senses are the sovereign lords of his + knowledge; but they are uncertain, and falsifiable in all circumstances; + ‘tis there that he is to fight it out to the last; and if his just + forces fail him, as they do, to supply that defect with obstinacy, + temerity, and impudence. In case what the Epicureans say be true, viz: + “that we have no knowledge if the senses’ appearances be + false;” and if that also be true which the Stoics say, “that + the appearances of the senses are so false that they can furnish us with + no manner of knowledge,” we shall conclude, to the disadvantage of + these two great dogmatical sects, that there is no science at all. + </p> + <p> + As to the error and uncertainty of the operation of the senses, every one + may furnish himself with as many examples as he pleases; so ordinary are + the faults and tricks they put upon us. In the echo of a valley the sound + of a trumpet seems to meet us, which comes from a place behind:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Exstantesque procul medio de gurgite montes, + Classibus inter qnos liber patet exitus, idem + Apparent, et longe divolsi licet, ingens + Insula conjunctis tamen ex his ana videtur... + Et fugere ad puppim colies campique videntur, + Qnos agimns proter navim, velisque volamus.... + Ubi in medio nobis equus acer obhsit + Flamine, equi corpus transversum ferre videtur + Vis, et in adversum flumen contrudere raptim. + + “And rocks i’ th’ seas that proudly raise their head, + Though far disjoined, though royal navies spread, + Their sails between; yet if from distance shown, + They seem an island all combin’d in one. + Thus ships, though driven by a prosperous gale, + Seem fix’d to sailors; those seem under sail + That ride at anchor safe; and all admire, + As they row by, to see the rocks retire. + Thus, when in rapid streams my horse hath stood, + And I look’d downward on the rolling flood; + Though he stood still, I thought he did divide + The headlong streams, and strive against the tide, + And all things seem’d to move on every side.” + </pre> + <p> + Take a musket-ball under the forefinger, the middle finger being lapped + over it, it feels so like two that a man will have much ado to persuade + himself there is but one; the end of the two fingers feeling each of them + one at the same time; for that the senses are very often masters of our + reason, and constrain it to receive impressions which it judges and knows + to be false, is frequently seen. I set aside the sense of feeling, that + has its functions nearer, more lively, and substantial, that so often, by + the effects of the pains it helps the body to, subverts and overthrows all + those fine Stoical resolutions, and compels him to cry out of his belly, + who has resolutely established this doctrine in his soul—“That + the colic, and all other pains and diseases, are indifferent things, not + having the power to abate any thing of the sovereign felicity wherein the + wise man is seated by his virtue.” There is no heart so effeminate + that the rattle and sound of our drums and trumpets will not inflame with + courage; nor so sullen that the harmony of our music will not rouse and + cheer; nor so stubborn a soul that will not feel itself struck with some + reverence in considering the gloomy vastness of our churches, the variety + of ornaments, and order of our ceremonies; and in hearing the solemn music + of our organs, and the grace and devout harmony of our voices. Even those + that come in with contempt feel a certain shivering in their hearts, and + something of dread that makes them begin to doubt their opinions. For my + part I do not think myself strong enough to hear an ode of Horace or + Catullus sung by a beautiful young mouth without emotion; and Zeno had + reason to say “that the voice was the flower of beauty.” One + would once make me believe that a certain person, whom all we Frenchmen + know, had imposed upon me in repeating some verses that he had made; that + they were not the same upon paper that they were in the air; and that my + eyes would make a contrary judgment to my ears; so great a power has + pronunciation to give fashion and value to works that are left to the + efficacy and modulation of the voice. And therefore Philoxenus was not so + much to blame, hearing one giving an ill accent to some composition of + his, in spurning and breaking certain earthen vessels of his, saying, + “I break what is thine, because thou corruptest what is mine.” + To what end did those men who have, with a firm resolution, destroyed + themselves, turn away their faces that they might not see the blow that + was by themselves appointed? And that those who, for their health, desire + and command incisions to be made, and cauteries to be applied to them, + cannot endure the sight of the preparations, instruments, and operations + of the surgeon, being that the sight is not in any way to participate in + the pain? Are not these proper examples to verify the authority the senses + have over the imagination? ‘Tis to much purpose that we know these + tresses were borrowed from a page or a lackey; that this rouge came from + Spain, and this pearl-powder from the Ocean Sea. Our sight will, + nevertheless, compel us to confess their subject more agreeable and more + lovely against all reason; for in this there is nothing of its own:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Auferinrar cultu; gemmis, auroque teguntur + Crimina; pars minima est ipsa puella sni. + Spe, ubi sit quod ames, inter tarn multa requiras: + Decipit hac oculos gide dives Amor. + + “By dress we’re won; gold, gems, and rich brocades + Make up the pageant that your heart invades; + In all that glittering figure which you see, + The far least part of her own self is she; + In vain for her you love amidst such cost + You search, the mistress in such dress is lost.” + </pre> + <p> + What a strange power do the poets attribute to the senses, that make + Narcissus so desperately in love with his own shadow, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Cunctaque miratur, quibus est mirabilis ipse; + Se cupit imprudens, et, qui probat, ipse probatur; + Dumque petit, petitur; pariterque accendit, et ardet: + + “Admireth all; for which to be admired; + And inconsiderately himself desir’d. + The praises which he gives his beauty claim’d, + Who seeks is sought, th’ inflamer is inflam’d:” + </pre> + <p> + and Pygmalion’s judgment so troubled by the impression of the sight + of his ivory statue that he loves and adores it as if it were a living + woman! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Oscnla dat, reddique putat: sequi turque, tenetque, + Et credit tactis digitos insidere membris; + Et metuit, pressos veniat ne livor in artus. + + “He kisses, and believes he’s kissed again; + Seizes, and ‘twixt his arms his love doth strain, + And thinks the polish’d ivory thus held + Doth to his fingers amorous pressure yield, + And has a timorous fear, lest black and blue + Should in the parts with ardour press’d ensue.” + </pre> + <p> + Put a philosopher into a cage of small thin set bars of iron, hang him on + the top of the high tower of Notre Dame at Paris; he will see, by manifest + reason, that he cannot possibly fall, and yet he will find (unless he has + been used to the plumber’s trade) that he cannot help but the sight + of the excessive height will fright and astound him; for we have enough to + do to assure ourselves in the galleries of our steeples, if they are made + with open work, although they are of stone; and some there are that cannot + endure so much as to think of it. Let there be a beam thrown over betwixt + these two towers, of breadth sufficient to walk upon, there is no + philosophical wisdom so firm that can give us the courage to walk over it + as we should do upon the ground. I have often tried this upon our + mountains in these parts; and though I am one who am not the most subject + to be afraid, I was not able to endure to look into that infinite depth + without horror and trembling, though I stood above my length from the edge + of the precipice, and could not have fallen unless I would. Where I also + observed that, what height soever the precipice was, provided there were + some tree, or some jutting out of a rock, a little to support and divide + the sight, it a little eases our fears, and gives greater assurance; as if + they were things by which in falling we might have some relief; but that + direct precipices we are not to look upon without being giddy; <i>Ut + despici vine vertigine timid ocvlorum animique non possit:</i> “‘To + that one cannot look without dizziness;” which is a manifest + imposture of the sight. And therefore it was that that fine philosopher + put out his own eyes, to free the soul from being diverted by them, and + that he might philosophize at greater liberty; but, by the same rule, he + should have dammed up his ears, that Theophrastus says are the most + dangerous instruments about us for receiving violent impressions to alter + and disturb us; and, finally, should have deprived himself of all his + other senses, that is to say, of his life and being; for they have all the + power to command our soul and reason: <i>Fit etiam sope specie qudam, sope + vocum gravitate et cantibus, ut pettantur animi vehementius; sope etiam + cura et timor,</i> “For it often falls out that the minds are more + vehemently struck by some sight, by the quality and sound of the voice, or + by singing; and ofttimes also by grief and fear.” Physicians hold + that there are certain complexions that are agitated by the same sounds + and instruments even to fury. I have seen some who could not hear a bone + gnawed under the table without impatience; and there is scarce any man who + is not disturbed at the sharp and shrill noise that the file makes in + grating upon the iron; as also to hear chewing near them, or to hear any + one speak who has an impediment in the throat or nose, will move some + people even to anger and hatred. Of what use was that piping prompter of + Gracchus, who softened, raised, and moved his master’s voice whilst + he declaimed at Rome, if the movements and quality of the sound had not + the power to move and alter the judgments of the auditory? In earnest, + there is wonderful reason to keep such a clutter about the firmness of + this fine piece, that suffers itself to be turned and twined by the motion + and accidents of so light a wind. + </p> + <p> + The same cheat that the senses put upon our understanding they have in + turn put upon them; the soul also some times has its revenge; they lie and + contend which should most deceive one another. What we see and hear when + we are transported with passion, we neither see nor hear as it is:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Et solem geminum, et duplices se ostendere Thebas. + + “Thebes seems two cities, and the sun two suns.” + </pre> + <p> + The object that we love appears to us more beautiful than it really is; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Multimodis igitur pravas turpesque videmus + Esse in deliciis, summoque in honore vigere; + + “Hence ‘tis that ugly things in fancied dress + Seem gay, look fair to lovers’ eyes, and please;” + </pre> + <p> + and that we hate more ugly; to a discontented and afflicted man the light + of the day seems dark and overcast. Our senses are not only depraved, but + very often stupefied by the passions of the soul; how many things do we + see that we do not take notice of, if the mind be occupied with other + thoughts? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + In rebus quoque apertis noscere possis, + Si non advertas animum, proinde esse quasi omni + Tempore semot fuerint, longeque remot: + + “Nay, even in plainest things, unless the mind + Take heed, unless she sets herself to find, + The thing no more is seen, no more belov’d, + Than if the most obscure and most remov’d:” + </pre> + <p> + it would appear that the soul retires within, and amuses the powers of the + senses. And so both the inside and the outside of man is full of infirmity + and falsehood. + </p> + <p> + They who have compared our lives to a dream were, perhaps, more in the + right than they were aware of. When we dream, the soul lives, works, and + exercises all its faculties, neither more nor less than when awake; but + more largely and obscurely, yet not so much, neither, that the difference + should be as great as betwixt night and the meridian brightness of the + sun, but as betwixt night and shade; there she sleeps, here she slumbers; + but, whether more or less, ‘tis still dark, and Cimmerian darkness. + We wake sleeping, and sleep waking. I do not see so clearly in my sleep; + but as to my being awake, I never found it clear enough and free from + clouds; moreover, sleep, when it is profound, sometimes rocks even dreams + themselves asleep; but our waking is never so sprightly that it rightly + purges and dissipates those whimsies, which are waking dreams, and worse + than dreams. Our reason and soul receiving those fancies and opinions that + come in dreams, and authorizing the actions of our dreams with the like + approbation that they do those of the day, wherefore do we not doubt + whether our thought, our action, is not another sort of dreaming, and our + waking a certain kind of sleep? + </p> + <p> + If the senses be our first judges, it is not ours that we are alone to + consult; for, in this faculty, beasts have as great, or greater, than we; + it is certain that some of them have the sense of hearing more quick than + man; others that of seeing, others that of feeling, others that of touch + and taste. Democritus said, that the gods and brutes had the sensitive + faculties more perfect than man. But betwixt the effects of their senses + and ours the difference is extreme. Our spittle cleanses and dries up our + wounds; it kills the serpent:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Tantaque in his rebas distantia differitasque est, + Ut quod aliis cibus est, aliis fuat acre venenum. + Spe etenim serpens, hominis contacta saliv, + Disperit, ac sese mandendo conficit ipsa: + + “And in those things the difference is so great + That what’s one’s poison is another’s meat; + For serpents often have been seen, ‘tis said, + When touch’d with human spittle, to go mad, + And bite themselves to death:” + </pre> + <p> + what quality shall we attribute to our spittle? as it affects ourselves, + or as it affects the serpent? By which of the two senses shall we prove + the true essence that we seek for? + </p> + <p> + Pliny says there are certain sea-hares in the Indies that are poison to + us, and we to them; insomuch that, with the least touch, we kill them. + Which shall be truly poison, the man or the fish? Which shall we believe, + the fish of the man, or the man of the fish? One quality of the air + infects a man, that does the ox no harm; some other infects the ox, but + hurts not the man. Which of the two shall, in truth and nature, be the + pestilent quality? To them who have the jaundice, all things seem yellow + and paler than to us:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Lurida prterea fiunt, qucunque tuentur Arquati. + + “Besides, whatever jaundic’d eyes do view + Looks pale as well as those, and yellow too.” + </pre> + <p> + They who are troubled with the disease that the physicians call + hyposphagma—which is a suffusion of blood under the skin—see + all things red and bloody. What do we know but that these humours, which + thus alter the operations of sight, predominate in beasts, and are usual + with them? for we see some whose eyes are yellow, like us who have the + jaundice; and others of a bloody colour; ‘tis likely that the + colours of objects seem other to them than to us. Which of the two shall + make a right judgment? for it is not said that the essence of things has a + relation to man only; hardness, whiteness, depth, and sharpness, have + reference to the service and knowledge of animals as well as to us, and + nature has equally designed them for their use. When we press down the + eye, the body that we look upon we perceive to be longer and more + extended;—many beasts have their eyes so pressed down; this length, + therefore, is perhaps the true form of that body, and not that which our + eyes give it in the usual state. If we close the lower part of the eye + things appear double to us:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bina lucemarum fiorentia lumina flammis... + Et duplices hominum facis, et corpora bina. + + “One lamp seems double, and the men appear + Each on two bodies double heads to bear.” + </pre> + <p> + If our ears be hindered, or the passage stopped with any thing, we receive + the sound quite otherwise than we usually do; animals, likewise, who have + either the ears hairy, or but a very little hole instead of an ear, do + not, consequently, hear as we do, but receive another kind of sound. We + see at festivals and theatres that, opposing a painted glass of a certain + colour to the light of the flambeaux, all things in the place appear to us + green, yellow, or violet:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Et vulgo faciunt id lutea russaque vela, + Et ferrugina, cum, magnis intenta theatris, + Per malos vulgata trabesque, trementia pendent; + Namque ibi consessum caveai subter, et omnem + Scenai speciem, patrum, matrumque, deorumque + Inficiunt, coguntque suo volitare colore: + + “Thus when pale curtains, or the deeper red, + O’er all the spacious theatre are spread, + Which mighty masts and sturdy pillars bear, + And the loose curtains wanton in the air; + Whole streams of colours from the summit flow, + The rays divide them in their passage through, + And stain the scenes, and men, and gods below:” + </pre> + <p> + ‘tis likely that the eyes of animals, which we see to be of divers + colours, produce the appearance of bodies the same with their eyes. + </p> + <p> + We should, therefore, to make a right judgment of the oppositions of the + senses, be first agreed with beasts, and secondly amongst ourselves; which + we by no means are, but enter into dispute every time that one hears, + sees, or tastes something otherwise than another does, and contests, as + much as upon any other thing, about the diversity of the images that the + senses represent to us. A child, by the ordinary rule of nature, hears, + sees, and talks otherwise than a man of thirty years old; and he than one + of threescore. The senses are, in some, more obscure and dusky, and more + open and quick in others. We receive things variously, according as we + are, and according as they appear to us. Those rings which are cut out in + the form of feathers, which are called <i>endless feathers</i>, no eye can + discern their size, or can keep itself from the deception that on one side + they enlarge, and on the other contract, and come So a point, even when + the ring is being turned round the finger; yet, when you feel them, they + seem all of an equal size. Now, our perception being so uncertain and so + controverted, it is no more a wonder if we are told that we may declare + that snow appears white to us; but that to affirm that it is in its own + essence really so is more than we are able to justify; and, this + foundation being shaken, all the knowledge in the world must of necessity + fall to ruin. What! do our senses themselves hinder one another? A picture + seems raised and embossed to the sight; in the handling it seems flat to + the touch. Shall we say that musk, which delights the smell, and is + offensive to the taste, is agreeable or no? There are herbs and unguents + proper for one part o the body, that are hurtful to another; honey is + pleasant to the taste, but offensive to the sight. They who, to assist + their lust, used in ancient times to make use of magnifying-glasses to + represent the members they were to employ bigger, by that ocular tumidity + to please themselves the more; to which of their senses did they give the + prize,—whether to the sight, that represented the members as large + and great as they would desire, or to the feeling, which represented them + little and contemptible? Are they our senses that supply the subject with + these different conditions, and have the subjects themselves, + nevertheless, but one? As we see in the bread we eat, it is nothing but + bread, but, by being eaten, it becomes bones, blood, flesh, hair; and + nails:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ut cibus in membra atque artus cum diditur omnes, + Disperit,, atque aliam naturam sufficit ex se; + + “As meats, diffus’d through all the members, lose + Their former state, and different things compose;” + </pre> + <p> + the humidity sucked up by the root of a tree becomes trunk, leaf, and + fruit; and the air, being but one, is modulated, in a trumpet, to a + thousand sorts of sounds; are they our senses, I would fain know, that, in + like manner, form these subjects into so many divers qualities, or have + they them really such in themselves? And upon this doubt what can we + determine of their true essence? Moreover, since the accidents of disease, + of raving, or sleep, make things appear otherwise to us than they do to + the healthful, the wise, and those that are awake, is it not likely that + our right posture of health and understanding, and our natural humours, + have, also, wherewith to give a being to things that have a relation to + their own condition, and accommodate them to themselves, as well as when + they are disordered;—that health is as capable of giving them an + aspect as sickness? Why has not the temperate a certain form of objects + relative to it, as well as the intemperate? and why may it not as well + stamp it with its own character as the other? He whose mouth is out of + taste, says the wine is flat; the healthful man commends its flavour, and + the thirsty its briskness. Now, our condition always accommodating things + to itself, and transforming them according to its own posture, we cannot + know what things truly are in themselves, seeing that nothing comes to us + but what is falsified and altered by the senses. Where the compass, the + square, and the rule, are crooked, all propositions drawn thence, and all + buildings erected by those guides, must, of necessity, be also defective; + the uncertainty of our senses renders every thing uncertain that they + produce:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Denique ut in fabric, si prava est rgula prima, + Normaque si fallax rectis regionibus exit, + Et libella aliqu si ex parte claudicat hilum; + Omnia mendose fieri, atque obstipa necessum est, + Prava, cubantia, prona, supina, atque absona tecta; + Jam ruere ut qudam videantux’velle, ruantque + Prodita judiciis fallacibus omnia primis; + Sic igitur ratio tibi reram prava necesse est, + Falsaque sit, falsis qucunque ab sensibus orta est. + + “But lastly, as in building, if the line + Be not exact and straight, the rule decline, + Or level false, how vain is the design! + Uneven, an ill-shap’d and tottering wall + Must rise; this part must sink, that part must fall, + Because the rules were false that fashion’d all; + Thus reason’s rules are false if all commence + And rise from failing and from erring sense.” + </pre> + <p> + As to what remains, who can be fit to judge of and to determine those + differences? As we say in controversies of religion that we must have a + judge neither inclining to the one side nor the other, free from all + choice and affection, which cannot be amongst Christians, just so it falls + out in this; for if he be old he cannot judge of the sense of old age, + being himself a party in the case; if young, there is the same exception; + if healthful, sick, asleep, or awake, he is still the same incompetent + judge. We must have some one exempt from all these propositions, as of + things indifferent to him; and by this rule we must have a judge that + never was. + </p> + <p> + To judge of the appearances that we receive of subjects, we ought t have a + deciding instrument; to verify this instrument we must have demonstration; + to verify this demonstration an instrument; and here we are round again + upon the wheel, and no further advanced. Seeing the senses cannot + determine our dispute, being full of uncertainty themselves, it must then + be reason that must do it; but no reason can be erected upon any other + foundation than that of another reason; and so we run back to all + infinity. Our fancy does not apply itself to things that are strange, but + is conceived by the mediation of the senses; and the senses do not + comprehend a foreign subject, but only their own passions; by which means + fancy and appearance are no part of the subject, but only of the passion + and sufferance of sense; which passion and subject are different things; + wherefore whoever judges by appearances judges by another thing than the + subject. And to say that the passions of the senses convey to the soul the + quality of foreign subjects by resemblance, how can the soul and + understanding be assured of this resemblance, having of itself no commerce + with foreign subjects? As they who never knew Socrates cannot, when they + see his picture, say it is like him. Now, whoever would, notwithstanding, + judge by appearances, if it be by all, it is impossible, because they + hinder one another by their contrarieties and discrepancies, as we by + experience see: shall some select appearances govern the rest? you must + verify this select by another select, the second by a third, and thus + there will never be any end to it. Finally, there is no constant + existence, neither of the objects’ being nor our own; both we, and + our judgments, and all mortal things, are evermore incessantly running and + rolling; and consequently nothing certain can be established from the one + to the other, both the judging and the judged being in a continual motion + and mutation. + </p> + <p> + We have no communication with being, by reason that all human nature is + always in the middle, betwixt being bom and dying, giving but an obscure + appearance and shadow, a weak and uncertain opinion of itself; and if, + perhaps, you fix your thought to apprehend your being, it would be but + like grasping water; for the more you clutch your hand to squeeze and hold + what is in its own nature flowing, so much more you lose of what you would + grasp and hold. So, seeing that all things are subject to pass from one + change to another, reason, that there looks for a real substance, finds + itself deceived, not being able to apprehend any thing that is subsistent + and permanent, because that every thing is either entering into being, and + is not yet arrived at it, or begins to die before it is bom. Plato said, + that bodies had never any existence, but only birth; conceiving that Homer + had made the Ocean and Thetis father and mother of the gods, to show us + that all things are in a perpetual fluctuation, motion, and variation; the + opinion of all the philosophers, as he says, before his time, Parmenides + only excepted, who would not allow things to have motion, on the power + whereof he sets a mighty value. Pythagoras was of opinion that all matter + was flowing and unstable; the Stoics, that there is no time present, and + that what we call so is nothing but the juncture and meeting of the future + and the past; Heraclitus, that never any man entered twice into the same + river; Epichar-mus, that he who borrowed money but an hour ago does not + owe it now; and that he who was invited over-night to come the next day to + dinner comes nevertheless uninvited, considering that they are no more the + same men, but are become others; and that there could not a mortal + substance be found twice in the same condition; for, by the suddenness and + quickness of the change, it one while disperses, and another reunites; it + comes and goes after such a manner that what begins to be born never + arrives to the perfection of being, forasmuch as that birth is never + finished and never stays, as being at an end, but from the seed is + evermore changing and shifting one to another; as human seed is first in + the mother’s womb made a formless embryo, after delivered thence a + sucking infant, afterwards it becomes a boy, then a youth, then a man, and + at last a decrepit old man; so that age and subsequent generation is + always destroying and spoiling that which went before:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mutt enira mundi naturam totius tas, + Ex alioque alius status excipere omnia debet; + Nec manet ulla sui similis res; omnia migrant, + Omnia commutt natura, et vertere cogit. + + “For time the nature of the world translates, + And from preceding gives all things new states; + Nought like itself remains, but all do range, + And nature forces every thing to change.” + </pre> + <p> + “And yet we foolishly fear one kind of death, whereas we have + already passed, and do daily pass, so many others; for not only, as + Heraclitus said, the death of fire is generation of air, and the death of + air generation of water; but, moreover, we may more manifestly discern it + in ourselves; manhood dies, and passes away when age comes on; and youth + is terminated in the flower of age of a full-grown man, infancy in youth, + and the first age dies in infancy; yesterday died in to-day, and to-day + will die in to-morrow; and there is nothing that remains in the same + state, or that is always the same thing. And that it is so let this be the + proof; if we are always one and the same, how comes it to pass that we are + now pleased with one thing, and by and by with another? How comes it to + pass that we love or hate contrary things, that we praise or condemn them? + How comes it to pass that we have different affections, and no more retain + the same sentiment in the same thought? For it is not likely that without + mutation we should assume other passions; and, that which suffers mutation + does not remain the same, and if it be not the same it is not at all; but + the same that the being is does, like it, unknowingly change and alter; + becoming evermore another from another thing; and consequently the natural + senses abuse and deceive themselves, taking that which seems for that + which is, for want of well knowing what that which is, is. But what is it + then that truly is? That which is eternal; that is to say, that never had + beginning, nor never shall have ending, and to which time can bring no + mutation. For time is a mobile thine, and that appears as in a shadow, + with a matter evermore flowing and running, without ever remaining stable + and permanent; and to which belong those words, <i>before and after, has + been, or shall be:</i> which at the first sight, evidently show that it is + not a thing that is; for it were a great folly, and a manifest falsity, to + say that that is which is not et being, or that has already ceased to be. + And as to these words, <i>present, instant, and now</i>, by which it seems + that we principally support and found the intelligence of time, reason, + discovering, does presently destroy it; for it immediately divides and + splits it into the <i>future and past</i>, being of necessity to consider + it divided in two. The same happens to nature, that is measured, as to + time that measures it; for she has nothing more subsisting and permanent + than the other, but all things are either born, bearing, or dying. So that + it were sinful to say of God, who is he only who <i>is, that he was, or + that he shall be </i>; for those are terms of declension, transmutation, + and vicissitude, of what cannot continue or remain in being; wherefore we + are to conclude that God alone is, not according to any measure of time, + but according to an immutable and an immovable eternity, not measured by + time, nor subject to any declension; before whom nothing was, and after + whom nothing shall be, either more new or more recent, but a real being, + that with one sole now fills the for ever, and that there is nothing that + truly is but he alone; without our being able to say, <i>he has been, or + shall be</i>; without beginning, and without end.” To this so + religious conclusion of a pagan I shall only add this testimony of one of + the same condition, for the close of this long and tedious discourse, + which would furnish me with endless matter: “What a vile and abject + thing,” says he, “is man, if he do not raise himself above + humanity!” ‘Tis a good word and a profitable desire, but + withal absurd; for to make the handle bigger than the hand, the cubic + longer than the arm, and to hope to stride further than our legs can + reach, is both impossible and monstrous; or that man should rise above + himself and humanity; for he cannot see but with his eyes, nor seize but + with his hold. He shall be exalted, if God will lend him an extraordinary + hand; he shall exalt himself, by abandoning and renouncing his own proper + means, and by suffering himself to be raised and elevated by means purely + celestial. It belongs to our Christian faith, and not to the stoical + virtue, to pretend to that divine and miraculous metamorphosis. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0069" id="link2HCH0069"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII——OF JUDGING OF THE DEATH OF ANOTHER + </h2> + <p> + When we judge of another’s assurance in death, which, without doubt, + is the most remarkable action of human life, we are to take heed of one + thing, which is that men very hardly believe themselves to have arrived to + that period. Few men come to die in the opinion that it is their latest + hour; and there is nothing wherein the flattery of hope more deludes us; + It never ceases to whisper in our ears, “Others have been much + sicker without dying; your condition is not so desperate as ‘tis + thought; and, at the worst, God has done other miracles.” Which + happens by reason that we set too much value upon ourselves; it seems as + if the universality of things were in some measure to suffer by our + dissolution, and that it commiserates our condition, forasmuch as our + disturbed sight represents things to itself erroneously, and that we are + of opinion they stand in as much need of us as we do of them, like people + at sea, to whom mountains, fields, cities, heaven and earth are tossed at + the same rate as they are: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Provehimur portu, terraeque urbesque recedunt:” + + [“We sail out of port, and cities and lands recede.” + —AEneid, iii. 72.] +</pre> + <p> + Whoever saw old age that did not applaud the past and condemn the present + time, laying the fault of his misery and discontent upon the world and the + manners of men? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jamque caput quassans, grandis suspirat arator. + Et cum tempora temporibus praesentia confert + Praeteritis, laudat fortunas saepe parentis, + Et crepat antiquum genus ut pietate repletum.” + + [“Now the old ploughman, shaking his head, sighs, and compares + present times with past, often praises his parents’ happiness, and + talks of the old race as full of piety.”—Lucretius, ii. 1165.] +</pre> + <p> + We will make all things go along with us; whence it follows that we + consider our death as a very great thing, and that does not so easily + pass, nor without the solemn consultation of the stars: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tot circa unum caput tumultuantes dens,” + + [“All the gods to agitation about one man.” + —Seneca, Suasor, i. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + and so much the more think it as we more value ourselves. “What, + shall so much knowledge be lost, with so much damage to the world, without + a particular concern of the destinies? Does so rare and exemplary a soul + cost no more the killing than one that is common and of no use to the + public? This life, that protects so many others, upon which so many other + lives depend, that employs so vast a number of men in his service, that + fills so many places, shall it drop off like one that hangs but by its own + simple thread? None of us lays it enough to heart that he is but one: + thence proceeded those words of Caesar to his pilot, more tumid than the + sea that threatened him: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Italiam si coelo auctore recusas, + Me pete: sola tibi causa est haec justa timoris, + Vectorem non nosce tuum; perrumpe procellas, + Tutela secure mea.” + + [“If you decline to sail to Italy under the God’s protection, trust + to mine; the only just cause you have to fear is, that you do not + know your passenger; sail on, secure in my guardianship.” + —Lucan, V. 579.] +</pre> + <p> + And these: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Credit jam digna pericula Caesar + Fatis esse suis; tantusne evertere, dixit, + Me superis labor est, parva quern puppe sedentem, + Tam magno petiere mari;” + + [“Caesar now deemed these dangers worthy of his destiny: ‘What!’ + said he, ‘is it for the gods so great a task to overthrow me, that + they must be fain to assail me with great seas in a poor little + bark.’”—Lucan, v. 653.] +</pre> + <p> + and that idle fancy of the public, that the sun bore on his face mourning + for his death a whole year: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ille etiam extincto miseratus Caesare Romam, + Cum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine texit:” + + [“Caesar being dead, the sun in mourning clouds, pitying Rome, + clothed himself.”—Virgil, Georg., i. 466.] +</pre> + <p> + and a thousand of the like, wherewith the world suffers itself to be so + easily imposed upon, believing that our interests affect the heavens, and + that their infinity is concerned at our ordinary actions: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non tanta caelo societas nobiscum est, ut nostro + fato mortalis sit ille quoque siderum fulgor.” + + [“There is no such alliance betwixt us and heaven, that the + brightness of the stars should be made also mortal by our death.” + —Pliny, Nat. Hist., ii. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + Now, to judge of constancy and resolution in a man who does not yet + believe himself to be certainly in danger, though he really is, is not + reason; and ‘tis not enough that he die in this posture, unless he + purposely put himself into it for this effect. It commonly falls out in + most men that they set a good face upon the matter and speak with great + indifference, to acquire reputation, which they hope afterwards, living, + to enjoy. Of all whom I have seen die, fortune has disposed their + countenances and no design of theirs; and even of those who in ancient + times have made away with themselves, there is much to be considered + whether it were a sudden or a lingering death. That cruel Roman Emperor + would say of his prisoners, that he would make them feel death, and if any + one killed himself in prison, “That fellow has made an escape from + me”; he would prolong death and make it felt by torments: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vidimus et toto quamvis in corpore caeso + Nil anima lethale datum, moremque nefandae, + Durum saevitix, pereuntis parcere morti.” + + [“We have seen in tortured bodies, amongst the wounds, none that + have been mortal, inhuman mode of dire cruelty, that means to kill, + but will not let men die.”—Lucan, iv. i. 78.] +</pre> + <p> + In plain truth, it is no such great matter for a man in health and in a + temperate state of mind to resolve to kill himself; it is very easy to + play the villain before one comes to the point, insomuch that + Heliogabalus, the most effeminate man in the world, amongst his lowest + sensualities, could forecast to make himself die delicately, when he + should be forced thereto; and that his death might not give the lie to the + rest of his life, had purposely built a sumptuous tower, the front and + base of which were covered with planks enriched with gold and precious + stones, thence to precipitate himself; and also caused cords twisted with + gold and crimson silk to be made, wherewith to strangle himself; and a + sword with the blade of gold to be hammered out to fall upon; and kept + poison in vessels of emerald and topaz wherewith to poison himself + according as he should like to choose one of these ways of dying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Impiger. . . ad letum et fortis virtute coacta.” + + [“Resolute and brave in the face of death by a forced courage. + —“Lucan, iv. 798.] +</pre> + <p> + Yet in respect of this person, the effeminacy of his preparations makes it + more likely that he would have thought better on’t, had he been put + to the test. But in those who with greater resolution have determined to + despatch themselves, we must examine whether it were with one blow which + took away the leisure of feeling the effect for it is to be questioned + whether, perceiving life, by little and little, to steal away the + sentiment of the body mixing itself with that of the soul, and the means + of repenting being offered, whether, I say, constancy and obstinacy in so + dangerous an intention would have been found. + </p> + <p> + In the civil wars of Caesar, Lucius Domitius, being taken in the Abruzzi, + and thereupon poisoning himself, afterwards repented. It has happened in + our time that a certain person, being resolved to die and not having gone + deep enough at the first thrust, the sensibility of the flesh opposing his + arm, gave himself two or three wounds more, but could never prevail upon + himself to thrust home. Whilst Plautius Silvanus was upon his trial, + Urgulania, his grandmother, sent him a poniard with which, not being able + to kill himself, he made his servants cut his veins. Albucilla in Tiberius + time having, to kill himself, struck with too much tenderness, gave his + adversaries opportunity to imprison and put him to death their own way.’ + And that great leader, Demosthenes, after his rout in Sicily, did the + same; and C. Fimbria, having struck himself too weakly, entreated his + servant to despatch him. On the contrary, Ostorius, who could not make use + of his own arm, disdained to employ that of his servant to any other use + but only to hold the poniard straight and firm; and bringing his throat to + it, thrust himself through. ‘Tis, in truth, a morsel that is to be + swallowed without chewing, unless a man be thoroughly resolved; and yet + Adrian the emperor made his physician mark and encircle on his pap the + mortal place wherein he was to stab to whom he had given orders to kill + him. For this reason it was that Caesar, being asked what death he thought + to be the most desired, made answer, “The least premeditated and the + shortest.”—[Tacitus, Annals, xvi. 15]— If Caesar dared + to say it, it is no cowardice in me to believe it.” A short death,” + says Pliny, “is the sovereign good hap of human life. “People + do not much care to recognise it. No one can say that he is resolute for + death who fears to deal with it and cannot undergo it with his eyes open: + they whom we see in criminal punishments run to their death and hasten and + press their execution, do it not out of resolution, but because they will + not give them selves leisure to consider it; it does not trouble them to + be dead, but to die: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Emodi nolo, sed me esse mortem nihil astigmia:” + + [“I have no mind to die, but I have no objection to be dead.” + —Epicharmus, apud Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., i. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘tis a degree of constancy to which I have experimented, that I can + arrive, like those who plunge into dangers, as into the sea, with their + eyes shut. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing, in my opinion, more illustrious in the life of Socrates, + than that he had thirty whole days wherein to ruminate upon the sentence + of his death, to have digested it all that time with a most assured hope, + without care, and without alteration, and with a series of words and + actions rather careless and indifferent than any way stirred or + discomposed by the weight of such a thought. + </p> + <p> + That Pomponius Atticus, to whom Cicero writes so often, being sick, caused + Agrippa, his son-in-law, and two or three more of his friends, to be + called to him, and told them, that having found all means practised upon + him for his recovery to be in vain, and that all he did to prolong his + life also prolonged and augmented his pain, he was resolved to put an end + both to the one and the other, desiring them to approve of his + determination, or at least not to lose their labour in endeavouring to + dissuade him. Now, having chosen to destroy himself by abstinence, his + disease was thereby cured: the remedy that he had made use of to kill + himself restored him to health. His physicians and friends, rejoicing at + so happy an event, and coming to congratulate him, found themselves very + much deceived, it being impossible for them to make him alter his purpose, + he telling them, that as he must one day die, and was now so far on his + way, he would save himself the labour of beginning another time. This man, + having surveyed death at leisure, was not only not discouraged at its + approach, but eagerly sought it; for being content that he had engaged in + the combat, he made it a point of bravery to see the end; ‘tis far + beyond not fearing death to taste and relish it. + </p> + <p> + The story of the philosopher Cleanthes is very like this: he had his gums + swollen and rotten; his physicians advised him to great abstinence: having + fasted two days, he was so much better that they pronounced him cured, and + permitted him to return to his ordinary course of diet; he, on the + contrary, already tasting some sweetness in this faintness of his, would + not be persuaded to go back, but resolved to proceed, and to finish what + he had so far advanced. + </p> + <p> + Tullius Marcellinus, a young man of Rome, having a mind to anticipate the + hour of his destiny, to be rid of a disease that was more trouble to him + than he was willing to endure, though his physicians assured him of a + certain, though not sudden, cure, called a council of his friends to + deliberate about it; of whom some, says Seneca, gave him the counsel that + out of unmanliness they would have taken themselves; others, out of + flattery, such as they thought he would best like; but a Stoic said this + to him: “Do not concern thyself, Marcellinus, as if thou didst + deliberate of a thing of importance; ‘tis no great matter to live; + thy servants and beasts live; but it is a great thing to die handsomely, + wisely, and firmly. Do but think how long thou hast done the same things, + eat, drink, and sleep, drink, sleep, and eat: we incessantly wheel in the + same circle. Not only ill and insupportable accidents, but even the + satiety of living, inclines a man to desire to die.” Marcellinus did + not stand in need of a man to advise, but of a man to assist him; his + servants were afraid to meddle in the business, but this philosopher gave + them to under stand that domestics are suspected even when it is in doubt + whether the death of the master were voluntary or no; otherwise, that it + would be of as ill example to hinder him as to kill him, forasmuch as: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Invitum qui servat, idem facit occidenti.” + + [“He who makes a man live against his will, ‘tis as cruel + as to kill him.”—Horat., De Arte Poet., 467] +</pre> + <p> + He then told Marcellinus that it would not be unbecoming, as what is left + on the tables when we have eaten is given to the attendants, so, life + being ended, to distribute something to those who have been our servants. + Now Marcellinus was of a free and liberal spirit; he, therefore, divided a + certain sum of money amongst his servants, and consoled them. As to the + rest, he had no need of steel nor of blood: he resolved to go out of this + life and not to run out of it; not to escape from death, but to essay it. + And to give himself leisure to deal with it, having forsaken all manner of + nourishment, the third day following, after having caused himself to be + sprinkled with warm water, he fainted by degrees, and not without some + kind of pleasure, as he himself declared. + </p> + <p> + In fact, such as have been acquainted with these faintings, proceeding + from weakness, say that they are therein sensible of no manner of pain, + but rather feel a kind of delight, as in the passage to sleep and best. + These are studied and digested deaths. + </p> + <p> + But to the end that Cato only may furnish out the whole example of virtue, + it seems as if his good with which the leisure to confront and struggle + with death, reinforcing his destiny had put his ill one into the hand he + gave himself the blow, seeing he had courage in the danger, instead of + letting it go less. And if I had had to represent him in his supreme + station, I should have done it in the posture of tearing out his bloody + bowels, rather than with his sword in his hand, as did the statuaries of + his time, for this second murder was much more furious than the first. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0070" id="link2HCH0070"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV——THAT OUR MIND HINDERS ITSELF + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis a pleasant imagination to fancy a mind exactly balanced betwixt + two equal desires: for, doubtless, it can never pitch upon either, + forasmuch as the choice and application would manifest an inequality of + esteem; and were we set betwixt the bottle and the ham, with an equal + appetite to drink and eat, there would doubtless be no remedy, but we must + die of thirst and hunger. To provide against this inconvenience, the + Stoics, when they are asked whence the election in the soul of two + indifferent things proceeds, and that makes us, out of a great number of + crowns, rather take one than another, they being all alike, and there + being no reason to incline us to such a preference, make answer, that this + movement of the soul is extraordinary and irregular, entering into us by a + foreign, accidental, and fortuitous impulse. It might rather, methinks, he + said, that nothing presents itself to us wherein there is not some + difference, how little soever; and that, either by the sight or touch, + there is always some choice that, though it be imperceptibly, tempts and + attracts us; so, whoever shall presuppose a packthread equally strong + throughout, it is utterly impossible it should break; for, where will you + have the breaking to begin? and that it should break altogether is not in + nature. Whoever, also, should hereunto join the geometrical propositions + that, by the certainty of their demonstrations, conclude the contained to + be greater than the containing, the centre to be as great as its + circumference, and that find out two lines incessantly approaching each + other, which yet can never meet, and the philosopher’s stone, and + the quadrature of the circle, where the reason and the effect are so + opposite, might, peradventure, find some argument to second this bold + saying of Pliny: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Solum certum nihil esse certi, + et homine nihil miserius ant superbius.” + + [“It is only certain that there is nothing certain, and that nothing + is more miserable or more proud than man.”—Nat. Hist., ii. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0071" id="link2HCH0071"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV——THAT OUR DESIRES ARE AUGMENTED BY DIFFICULTY + </h2> + <p> + There is no reason that has not its contrary, say the wisest of the + philosophers. I was just now ruminating on the excellent saying one of the + ancients alleges for the contempt of life: “No good can bring + pleasure, unless it be that for the loss of which we are beforehand + prepared.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In aequo est dolor amissae rei, et timor amittendae,” + + [“The grief of losing a thing, and the fear of losing it, + are equal.”—Seneca, Ep., 98.] +</pre> + <p> + meaning by this that the fruition of life cannot be truly pleasant to us + if we are in fear of losing it. It might, however, be said, on the + contrary, that we hug and embrace this good so much the more earnestly, + and with so much greater affection, by how much we see it the less assured + and fear to have it taken from us: for it is evident, as fire burns with + greater fury when cold comes to mix with it, that our will is more + obstinate by being opposed: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si nunquam Danaen habuisset ahenea turris, + Non esses, Danae, de Jove facta parens;” + + [“If a brazen tower had not held Danae, you would not, Danae, have + been made a mother by Jove.”—Ovid, Amoy., ii. 19, 27.] +</pre> + <p> + and that there is nothing naturally so contrary to our taste as satiety + which proceeds from facility; nor anything that so much whets it as rarity + and difficulty: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnium rerum voluptas ipso, quo debet fugare, periculo crescit.” + + [“The pleasure of all things increases by the same danger that + should deter it.”—Seneca, De Benef., vii. 9.] + + “Galla, nega; satiatur amor, nisi gaudia torquent.” + + [“Galla, refuse me; love is glutted with joys that are not attended + with trouble.”—Martial, iv. 37.] +</pre> + <p> + To keep love in breath, Lycurgus made a decree that the married people of + Lacedaemon should never enjoy one another but by stealth; and that it + should be as great a shame to take them in bed together as committing with + others. The difficulty of assignations, the danger of surprise, the shame + of the morning, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et languor, et silentium, + Et latere petitus imo Spiritus:” + + [“And languor, and silence, and sighs, coming from the innermost + heart.”—Hor., Epod., xi. 9.] +</pre> + <p> + these are what give the piquancy to the sauce. How many very wantonly + pleasant sports spring from the most decent and modest language of the + works on love? Pleasure itself seeks to be heightened with pain; it is + much sweeter when it smarts and has the skin rippled. The courtesan Flora + said she never lay with Pompey but that she made him wear the prints of + her teeth.—[Plutarch, Life of Pompey, c. i.] + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quod petiere, premunt arcte, faciuntque dolorem + Corporis, et dentes inlidunt saepe labellis . . . + Et stimuli subsunt, qui instigant laedere ad ipsum, + Quodcunque est, rabies unde illae germina surgunt.” + + [“What they have sought they dress closely, and cause pain; on the + lips fix the teeth, and every kiss indents: urged by latent stimulus + the part to wound”—Lucretius, i. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + And so it is in everything: difficulty gives all things their estimation; + the people of the march of Ancona more readily make their vows to St. + James, and those of Galicia to Our Lady of Loreto; they make wonderful + to-do at Liege about the baths of Lucca, and in Tuscany about those of + Aspa: there are few Romans seen in the fencing school of Rome, which is + full of French. That great Cato also, as much as us, nauseated his wife + whilst she was his, and longed for her when in the possession of another. + I was fain to turn out into the paddock an old horse, as he was not to be + governed when he smelt a mare: the facility presently sated him as towards + his own, but towards strange mares, and the first that passed by the pale + of his pasture, he would again fall to his importunate neighings and his + furious heats as before. Our appetite contemns and passes by what it has + in possession, to run after that it has not: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Transvolat in medio posita, et fugientia captat.” + + [“He slights her who is close at hand, and runs after her + who flees from him.”—Horace, Sat., i. 2, 108.] +</pre> + <p> + To forbid us anything is to make us have a mind to’t: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nisi to servare puellam + Incipis, incipiet desinere esse mea:” + + [“Unless you begin to guard your mistress, she will soon begin + to be no longer mine.”—Ovid, Amoy., ii. 19, 47.] +</pre> + <p> + to give it wholly up to us is to beget in us contempt. Want and abundance + fall into the same inconvenience: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tibi quod superest, mihi quod desit, dolet.” + + [“Your superfluities trouble you, and what I want + troubles me.—“Terence, Phoym., i. 3, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + Desire and fruition equally afflict us. The rigors of mistresses are + troublesome, but facility, to say truth, still more so; forasmuch as + discontent and anger spring from the esteem we have of the thing desired, + heat and actuate love, but satiety begets disgust; ‘tis a blunt, + dull, stupid, tired, and slothful passion: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si qua volet regnare diu, contemnat amantem.” + + [“She who would long retain her power must use her lover ill.” + —Ovid, Amor., ii. 19, 33] + + “Contemnite, amantes: + Sic hodie veniet, si qua negavit heri.” + + [“Slight your mistress; she will to-day come who denied you + yesterday.—“Propertius, ii. 14, 19.] +</pre> + <p> + Why did Poppea invent the use of a mask to hide the beauties of her face, + but to enhance it to her lovers? Why have they veiled, even below the + heels, those beauties that every one desires to show, and that every one + desires to see? Why do they cover with so many hindrances, one over + another, the parts where our desires and their own have their principal + seat? And to what serve those great bastion farthingales, with which our + ladies fortify their haunches, but to allure our appetite and to draw us + on by removing them farther from us? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri.” + + [“She flies to the osiers, and desires beforehand to be seen going.” + —Virgil, Eclog., iii. 65.] + + “Interdum tunica duxit operta moram.” + + [“The hidden robe has sometimes checked love.” + —Propertius, ii. 15, 6.] +</pre> + <p> + To what use serves the artifice of this virgin modesty, this grave + coldness, this severe countenance, this professing to be ignorant of + things that they know better than we who instruct them in them, but to + increase in us the desire to overcome, control, and trample underfoot at + pleasure all this ceremony and all these obstacles? For there is not only + pleasure, but, moreover, glory, in conquering and debauching that soft + sweetness and that childish modesty, and to reduce a cold and matronlike + gravity to the mercy of our ardent desires: ‘tis a glory, say they, + to triumph over modesty, chastity, and temperance; and whoever dissuades + ladies from those qualities, betrays both them and himself. We are to + believe that their hearts tremble with affright, that the very sound of + our words offends the purity of their ears, that they hate us for talking + so, and only yield to our importunity by a compulsive force. Beauty, all + powerful as it is, has not wherewithal to make itself relished without the + mediation of these little arts. Look into Italy, where there is the most + and the finest beauty to be sold, how it is necessitated to have recourse + to extrinsic means and other artifices to render itself charming, and yet, + in truth, whatever it may do, being venal and public, it remains feeble + and languishing. Even so in virtue itself, of two like effects, we + notwithstanding look upon that as the fairest and most worthy, wherein the + most trouble and hazard are set before us. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis an effect of the divine Providence to suffer the holy Church to + be afflicted, as we see it, with so many storms and troubles, by this + opposition to rouse pious souls, and to awaken them from that drowsy + lethargy wherein, by so long tranquillity, they had been immerged. If we + should lay the loss we have sustained in the number of those who have gone + astray, in the balance against the benefit we have had by being again put + in breath, and by having our zeal and strength revived by reason of this + opposition, I know not whether the utility would not surmount the damage. + </p> + <p> + We have thought to tie the nuptial knot of our marriages more fast and + firm by having taken away all means of dissolving it, but the knot of the + will and affection is so much the more slackened and made loose, by how + much that of constraint is drawn closer; and, on the contrary, that which + kept the marriages at Rome so long in honour and inviolate, was the + liberty every one who so desired had to break them; they kept their wives + the better, because they might part with them, if they would; and, in the + full liberty of divorce, five hundred years and more passed away before + any one made use on’t. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quod licet, ingratum est; quod non licet, acrius urit.” + + [“What you may, is displeasing; what is forbidden, whets the + appetite.—“Ovid, Amor., ii. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + We might here introduce the opinion of an ancient upon this occasion, + “that executions rather whet than dull the edge of vices: that they + do not beget the care of doing well, that being the work of reason and + discipline, but only a care not to be taken in doing ill:” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Latius excisae pestis contagia serpunt.” + + [“The plague-sore being lanced, the infection spreads all the more.” + —Rutilius, Itinerar. 1, 397.] +</pre> + <p> + I do not know that this is true; but I experimentally know, that never + civil government was by that means reformed; the order and regimen of + manners depend upon some other expedient. + </p> + <p> + The Greek histories make mention of the Argippians, neighbours to Scythia, + who live without either rod or stick for offence; where not only no one + attempts to attack them, but whoever can fly thither is safe, by reason of + their virtue and sanctity of life, and no one is so bold as to lay hands + upon them; and they have applications made to them to determine the + controversies that arise betwixt men of other countries. There is a + certain nation, where the enclosures of gardens and fields they would + preserve, are made only of a string of cotton; and, so fenced, is more + firm and secure than by our hedges and ditches. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Furem signata sollicitant . . . + aperta effractarius praeterit.” + + [“Things sealed, up invite a thief: the housebreaker + passes by open doors.”—Seneca, Epist., 68.] +</pre> + <p> + Peradventure, the facility of entering my house, amongst other things, has + been a means to preserve it from the violence of our civil wars: defence + allures attempt, and defiance provokes an enemy. I enervated the soldiers’ + design by depriving the exploit of danger and all manner of military + glory, which is wont to serve them for pretence and excuse: whatever is + bravely, is ever honourably, done, at a time when justice is dead. I + render them the conquest of my house cowardly and base; it is never shut + to any one that knocks; my gate has no other guard than a porter, and he + of ancient custom and ceremony; who does not so much serve to defend it as + to offer it with more decorum and grace; I have no other guard nor + sentinel than the stars. A gentleman would play the fool to make a show of + defence, if he be not really in a condition to defend himself. He who lies + open on one side, is everywhere so; our ancestors did not think of + building frontier garrisons. The means of assaulting, I mean without + battery or army, and of surprising our houses, increases every day more + and more beyond the means to guard them; men’s wits are generally + bent that way; in invasion every one is concerned: none but the rich in + defence. Mine was strong for the time when it was built; I have added + nothing to it of that kind, and should fear that its strength might turn + against myself; to which we are to consider that a peaceable time would + require it should be dismantled. There is danger never to be able to + regain it, and it would be very hard to keep; for in intestine + dissensions, your man may be of the party you fear; and where religion is + the pretext, even a man’s nearest relations become unreliable, with + some colour of justice. The public exchequer will not maintain our + domestic garrisons; they would exhaust it: we ourselves have not the means + to do it without ruin, or, which is more inconvenient and injurious, + without ruining the people. The condition of my loss would be scarcely + worse. As to the rest, you there lose all; and even your friends will be + more ready to accuse your want of vigilance and your improvidence, and + your ignorance of and indifference to your own business, than to pity you. + That so many garrisoned houses have been undone whereas this of mine + remains, makes me apt to believe that they were only lost by being + guarded; this gives an enemy both an invitation and colour of reason; all + defence shows a face of war. Let who will come to me in God’s name; + but I shall not invite them; ‘tis the retirement I have chosen for + my repose from war. I endeavour to withdraw this corner from the public + tempest, as I also do another corner in my soul. Our war may put on what + forms it will, multiply and diversify itself into new parties; for my + part, I stir not. Amongst so many garrisoned houses, myself alone amongst + those of my rank, so far as I know, in France, have trusted purely to + Heaven for the protection of mine, and have never removed plate, deeds, or + hangings. I will neither fear nor save myself by halves. If a full + acknowledgment acquires the Divine favour, it will stay with me to the + end: if not, I have still continued long enough to render my continuance + remarkable and fit to be recorded. How? Why, there are thirty years that I + have thus lived. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0072" id="link2HCH0072"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI——OF GLORY + </h2> + <p> + There is the name and the thing: the name is a voice which denotes and + signifies the thing; the name is no part of the thing, nor of the + substance; ‘tis a foreign piece joined to the thing, and outside it. + God, who is all fulness in Himself and the height of all perfection, + cannot augment or add anything to Himself within; but His name may be + augmented and increased by the blessing and praise we attribute to His + exterior works: which praise, seeing we cannot incorporate it in Him, + forasmuch as He can have no accession of good, we attribute to His name, + which is the part out of Him that is nearest to us. Thus is it that to God + alone glory and honour appertain; and there is nothing so remote from + reason as that we should go in quest of it for ourselves; for, being + indigent and necessitous within, our essence being imperfect, and having + continual need of amelioration, ‘tis to that we ought to employ all + our endeavour. We are all hollow and empty; ‘tis not with wind and + voice that we are to fill ourselves; we want a more solid substance to + repair us: a man starving with hunger would be very simple to seek rather + to provide himself with a gay garment than with a good meal: we are to + look after that whereof we have most need. As we have it in our ordinary + prayers: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus.” + </pre> + <p> + We are in want of beauty, health, wisdom, virtue, and such like essential + qualities: exterior ornaments should, be looked after when we have made + provision for necessary things. Divinity treats amply and more pertinently + of this subject, but I am not much versed in it. + </p> + <p> + Chrysippus and Diogenes were the earliest and firmest advocates of the + contempt of glory; and maintained that, amongst all pleasures, there was + none more dangerous nor more to be avoided than that which proceeds from + the approbation of others. And, in truth, experience makes us sensible of + many very hurtful treasons in it. There is nothing that so poisons princes + as flattery, nor anything whereby wicked men more easily obtain credit and + favour with them; nor panderism so apt and so usually made use of to + corrupt the chastity of women as to wheedle and entertain them with their + own praises. The first charm the Syrens made use of to allure Ulysses is + of this nature: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Deca vers nous, deca, o tres-louable Ulysse, + Et le plus grand honneur don’t la Grece fleurisse.” + + [“Come hither to us, O admirable Ulysses, come hither, thou greatest + ornament and pride of Greece.”—Homer, Odysseus, xii. 184.] +</pre> + <p> + These philosophers said, that all the glory of the world was not worth an + understanding man’s holding out his finger to obtain it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Gloria quantalibet quid erit, si gloria tantum est?” + + [“What is glory, be it as glorious as it may be, if it be no more + than glory?”—Juvenal, Sat., vii. 81.] +</pre> + <p> + I say for it alone; for it often brings several commodities along with it, + for which it may justly be desired: it acquires us good-will, and renders + us less subject and exposed to insult and offence from others, and the + like. It was also one of the principal doctrines of Epicurus; for this + precept of his sect, Conceal thy life, that forbids men to encumber + themselves with public negotiations and offices, also necessarily + presupposes a contempt of glory, which is the world’s approbation of + those actions we produce in public.—[Plutarch, Whether the saying, + Conceal thy life, is well said.]—He that bids us conceal ourselves, + and to have no other concern but for ourselves, and who will not have us + known to others, would much less have us honoured and glorified; and so + advises Idomeneus not in any sort to regulate his actions by the common + reputation or opinion, except so as to avoid the other accidental + inconveniences that the contempt of men might bring upon him. + </p> + <p> + These discourses are, in my opinion, very true and rational; but we are, I + know not how, double in ourselves, which is the cause that what we believe + we do not believe, and cannot disengage ourselves from what we condemn. + Let us see the last and dying words of Epicurus; they are grand, and + worthy of such a philosopher, and yet they carry some touches of the + recommendation of his name and of that humour he had decried by his + precepts. Here is a letter that he dictated a little before his last gasp: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “EPICUYUS TO HEYMACHUS, health. + + “Whilst I was passing over the happy and last day of my life, I + write this, but, at the same time, afflicted with such pain in my + bladder and bowels that nothing can be greater, but it was + recompensed with the pleasure the remembrance of my inventions and + doctrines brought to my soul. Now, as the affection thou hast ever + from thy infancy borne towards me and philosophy requires, take upon + thee the protection of Metrodorus’ children.” + </pre> + <p> + This is the letter. And that which makes me interpret that the pleasure he + says he had in his soul concerning his inventions, has some reference to + the reputation he hoped for thence after his death, is the manner of his + will, in which he gives order that Amynomachus and Timocrates, his heirs, + should, every January, defray the expense of the celebration of his + birthday as Hermachus should appoint; and also the expense that should be + made the twentieth of every moon in entertaining the philosophers, his + friends, who should assemble in honour of the memory of him and of + Metrodorus.—[Cicero, De Finibus, ii. 30.] + </p> + <p> + Carneades was head of the contrary opinion, and maintained that glory was + to be desired for itself, even as we embrace our posthumous issue for + themselves, having no knowledge nor enjoyment of them. This opinion has + not failed to be the more universally followed, as those commonly are that + are most suitable to our inclinations. Aristotle gives it the first place + amongst external goods; and avoids, as too extreme vices, the immoderate + either seeking or evading it. I believe that, if we had the books Cicero + wrote upon this subject, we should there find pretty stories; for he was + so possessed with this passion, that, if he had dared, I think he could + willingly have fallen into the excess that others did, that virtue itself + was not to be coveted, but upon the account of the honour that always + attends it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Paulum sepultae distat inertiae + Celata virtus:” + + [“Virtue concealed little differs from dead sloth.” + —Horace, Od., iv. 9, 29.] +</pre> + <p> + which is an opinion so false, that I am vexed it could ever enter into the + understanding of a man that was honoured with the name of philosopher. + </p> + <p> + If this were true, men need not be virtuous but in public; and we should + be no further concerned to keep the operations of the soul, which is the + true seat of virtue, regular and in order, than as they are to arrive at + the knowledge of others. Is there no more in it, then, but only slily and + with circumspection to do ill? “If thou knowest,” says + Carneades, “of a serpent lurking in a place where, without + suspicion, a person is going to sit down, by whose death thou expectest an + advantage, thou dost ill if thou dost not give him caution of his danger; + and so much the more because the action is to be known by none but + thyself.” If we do not take up of ourselves the rule of well-doing, + if impunity pass with us for justice, to how many sorts of wickedness + shall we every day abandon ourselves? I do not find what Sextus Peduceus + did, in faithfully restoring the treasure that C. Plotius had committed to + his sole secrecy and trust, a thing that I have often done myself, so + commendable, as I should think it an execrable baseness, had we done + otherwise; and I think it of good use in our days to recall the example of + P. Sextilius Rufus, whom Cicero accuses to have entered upon an + inheritance contrary to his conscience, not only not against law, but even + by the determination of the laws themselves; and M. Crassus and + Hortensius, who, by reason of their authority and power, having been + called in by a stranger to share in the succession of a forged will, that + so he might secure his own part, satisfied themselves with having no hand + in the forgery, and refused not to make their advantage and to come in for + a share: secure enough, if they could shroud themselves from accusations, + witnesses, and the cognisance of the laws: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Meminerint Deum se habere testem, id est (ut ego arbitror) + mentem suam.” + + [“Let them consider they have God to witness, that is (as I + interpret it), their own consciences.”—Cicero, De Offic., iii. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + Virtue is a very vain and frivolous thing if it derive its recommendation + from glory; and ‘tis to no purpose that we endeavour to give it a + station by itself, and separate it from fortune; for what is more + accidental than reputation? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Profecto fortuna in omni re dominatur: ea res cunctas ex + libidine magis, quhm ex vero, celebrat, obscuratque.” + + [“Fortune rules in all things; it advances and depresses things + more out of its own will than of right and justice.” + —Sallust, Catilina, c. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + So to order it that actions may be known and seen is purely the work of + fortune; ‘tis chance that helps us to glory, according to its own + temerity. I have often seen her go before merit, and often very much + outstrip it. He who first likened glory to a shadow did better than he was + aware of; they are both of them things pre-eminently vain glory also, like + a shadow, goes sometimes before the body, and sometimes in length + infinitely exceeds it. They who instruct gentlemen only to employ their + valour for the obtaining of honour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quasi non sit honestum, quod nobilitatum non sit;” + + [“As though it were not a virtue, unless celebrated” + —Cicero De Offic. iii. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + what do they intend by that but to instruct them never to hazard + themselves if they are not seen, and to observe well if there be witnesses + present who may carry news of their valour, whereas a thousand occasions + of well-doing present themselves which cannot be taken notice of? How many + brave individual actions are buried in the crowd of a battle? Whoever + shall take upon him to watch another’s behaviour in such a confusion + is not very busy himself, and the testimony he shall give of his + companions’ deportment will be evidence against himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vera et sapiens animi magnitudo, honestum illud, + quod maxime naturam sequitur, in factis positum, + non in gloria, judicat.” + + [“The true and wise magnanimity judges that the bravery which most + follows nature more consists in act than glory.” + —Cicero, De Offic. i. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + All the glory that I pretend to derive from my life is that I have lived + it in quiet; in quiet, not according to Metrodorus, or Arcesilaus, or + Aristippus, but according to myself. For seeing philosophy has not been + able to find out any way to tranquillity that is good in common, let every + one seek it in particular. + </p> + <p> + To what do Caesar and Alexander owe the infinite grandeur of their renown + but to fortune? How many men has she extinguished in the beginning of + their progress, of whom we have no knowledge, who brought as much courage + to the work as they, if their adverse hap had not cut them off in the + first sally of their arms? Amongst so many and so great dangers I do not + remember I have anywhere read that Caesar was ever wounded; a thousand + have fallen in less dangers than the least of those he went through. An + infinite number of brave actions must be performed without witness and + lost, before one turns to account. A man is not always on the top of a + breach, or at the head of an army, in the sight of his general, as upon a + scaffold; a man is often surprised betwixt the hedge and the ditch; he + must run the hazard of his life against a henroost; he must dislodge four + rascally musketeers out of a barn; he must prick out single from his + party, and alone make some attempts, according as necessity will have it. + And whoever will observe will, I believe, find it experimentally true, + that occasions of the least lustre are ever the most dangerous; and that + in the wars of our own times there have more brave men been lost in + occasions of little moment, and in the dispute about some little paltry + fort, than in places of greatest importance, and where their valour might + have been more honourably employed. + </p> + <p> + Who thinks his death achieved to ill purpose if he do not fall on some + signal occasion, instead of illustrating his death, wilfully obscures his + life, suffering in the meantime many very just occasions of hazarding + himself to slip out of his hands; and every just one is illustrious + enough, every man’s conscience being a sufficient trumpet to him. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Gloria nostra est testimonium conscientiae nostrae.” + + [“For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience.” + —Corinthians, i. I.] +</pre> + <p> + He who is only a good man that men may know it, and that he may be the + better esteemed when ‘tis known; who will not do well but upon + condition that his virtue may be known to men: is one from whom much + service is not to be expected: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Credo ch ‘el reste di quel verno, cose + Facesse degne di tener ne conto; + Ma fur fin’ a quel tempo si nascose, + Che non a colpa mia s’ hor ‘non le conto + Perche Orlando a far l’opre virtuose + Piu ch’a narrar le poi sempre era pronto; + Ne mai fu alcun’ de’suoi fatti espresso, + Se non quando ebbe i testimonii appresso.” + + [“The rest of the winter, I believe, was spent in actions worthy of + narration, but they were done so secretly that if I do not tell them + I am not to blame, for Orlando was more bent to do great acts than + to boast of them, so that no deeds of his were ever known but those + that had witnesses.”—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, xi. 81.] +</pre> + <p> + A man must go to the war upon the account of duty, and expect the + recompense that never fails brave and worthy actions, how private soever, + or even virtuous thoughts-the satisfaction that a well-disposed conscience + receives in itself in doing well. A man must be valiant for himself, and + upon account of the advantage it is to him to have his courage seated in a + firm and secure place against the assaults of fortune: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Virtus, repulsaa nescia sordidx + Intaminatis fulget honoribus + Nec sumit, aut ponit secures + Arbitrio popularis aura.” + + [“Virtue, repudiating all base repulse, shines in taintless + honours, nor takes nor leaves dignity at the mere will of the + vulgar.”—Horace, Od., iii. 2, 17.] +</pre> + <p> + It is not for outward show that the soul is to play its part, but for + ourselves within, where no eyes can pierce but our own; there she defends + us from the fear of death, of pain, of shame itself: there she arms us + against the loss of our children, friends, and fortunes: and when + opportunity presents itself, she leads us on to the hazards of war: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non emolumento aliquo, sed ipsius honestatis decore.” + + [“Not for any profit, but for the honour of honesty itself.” + —Cicero, De Finib., i. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + This profit is of much greater advantage, and more worthy to be coveted + and hoped for, than, honour and glory, which are no other than a + favourable judgment given of us. + </p> + <p> + A dozen men must be called out of a whole nation to judge about an acre of + land; and the judgment of our inclinations and actions, the most difficult + and most important matter that is, we refer to the voice and determination + of the rabble, the mother of ignorance, injustice, and inconstancy. Is it + reasonable that the life of a wise man should depend upon the judgment of + fools? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “An quidquam stultius, quam, quos singulos contemnas, + eos aliquid putare esse universes?” + + [“Can anything be more foolish than to think that those you despise + singly, can be anything else in general.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., v. 36.] +</pre> + <p> + He that makes it his business to please them, will have enough to do and + never have done; ‘tis a mark that can never be aimed at or hit: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nil tam inaestimabile est, quam animi multitudinis.” + + [“Nothing is to be so little understood as the minds of the + multitude.”—Livy, xxxi. 34.] +</pre> + <p> + Demetrius pleasantly said of the voice of the people, that he made no more + account of that which came from above than of that which came from below. + He [Cicero] says more: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ego hoc judico, si quando turpe non sit, tamen non + esse non turpe, quum id a multitudine laudatur.” + + [“I am of opinion, that though a thing be not foul in itself, + yet it cannot but become so when commended by the multitude.” + —Cicero, De Finib., ii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + No art, no activity of wit, could conduct our steps so as to follow so + wandering and so irregular a guide; in this windy confusion of the noise + of vulgar reports and opinions that drive us on, no way worth anything can + be chosen. Let us not propose to ourselves so floating and wavering an + end; let us follow constantly after reason; let the public approbation + follow us there, if it will; and as it wholly depends upon fortune, we + have no reason sooner to expect it by any other way than that. Even though + I would not follow the right way because it is right, I should, however, + follow it as having experimentally found that, at the end of the + reckoning, ‘tis commonly the most happy and of greatest utility. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dedit hoc providentia hominibus munus, + ut honesta magis juvarent.” + + [“This gift Providence has given to men, that honest things should + be the most agreeable.”—Quintilian, Inst. Orat., i. 12.] +</pre> + <p> + The mariner of old said thus to Neptune, in a great tempest: “O God, + thou wilt save me if thou wilt, and if thou choosest, thou wilt destroy + me; but, however, I will hold my rudder straight.”—[Seneca, + Ep., 85.]— I have seen in my time a thousand men supple, halfbred, + ambiguous, whom no one doubted to be more worldly-wise than I, lose + themselves, where I have saved myself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Risi successus posse carere dolos.” + + [“I have laughed to see cunning fail of success.” + —Ovid, Heroid, i. 18.] +</pre> + <p> + Paulus AEmilius, going on the glorious expedition of Macedonia, above all + things charged the people of Rome not to speak of his actions during his + absence. Oh, the license of judgments is a great disturbance to great + affairs! forasmuch as every one has not the firmness of Fabius against + common, adverse, and injurious tongues, who rather suffered his authority + to be dissected by the vain fancies of men, than to do less well in his + charge with a favourable reputation and the popular applause. + </p> + <p> + There is I know not what natural sweetness in hearing one’s self + commended; but we are a great deal too fond of it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Laudari metuam, neque enim mihi cornea fibra est + Sed recti finemque extremumque esse recuso + Euge tuum, et belle.” + + [“I should fear to be praised, for my heart is not made of horn; + but I deny that ‘excellent—admirably done,’ are the terms and + final aim of virtue.”—Persius, i. 47.] +</pre> + <p> + I care not so much what I am in the opinions of others, as what I am in my + own; I would be rich of myself, and not by borrowing. Strangers see + nothing but events and outward appearances; everybody can set a good face + on the matter, when they have trembling and terror within: they do not see + my heart, they see but my countenance. One is right in decrying the + hypocrisy that is in war; for what is more easy to an old soldier than to + shift in a time of danger, and to counterfeit the brave when he has no + more heart than a chicken? There are so many ways to avoid hazarding a man’s + own person, that we have deceived the world a thousand times before we + come to be engaged in a real danger: and even then, finding ourselves in + an inevitable necessity of doing something, we can make shift for that + time to conceal our apprehensions by setting a good face on the business, + though the heart beats within; and whoever had the use of the Platonic + ring, which renders those invisible that wear it, if turned inward towards + the palm of the hand, a great many would very often hide themselves when + they ought most to appear, and would repent being placed in so honourable + a post, where necessity must make them bold. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Falsus honor juvat, et mendax infamia terret + Quem nisi mendosum et mendacem?” + + [“False honour pleases, and calumny affrights, the guilty + and the sick.”—Horace, Ep., i. 16, 89.] +</pre> + <p> + Thus we see how all the judgments that are founded upon external + appearances, are marvellously uncertain and doubtful; and that there is no + so certain testimony as every one is to himself. In these, how many + soldiers’ boys are companions of our glory? he who stands firm in an + open trench, what does he in that more than fifty poor pioneers who open + to him the way and cover it with their own bodies for fivepence a day pay, + do before him? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non quicquid turbida Roma + Elevet, accedas; examenque improbum in illa + Castiges trutina: nec to quaesiveris extra.” + + [“Do not, if turbulent Rome disparage anything, accede; nor correct + a false balance by that scale; nor seek anything beyond thyself.” + —Persius, Sat., i. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + The dispersing and scattering our names into many mouths, we call making + them more great; we will have them there well received, and that this + increase turn to their advantage, which is all that can be excusable in + this design. But the excess of this disease proceeds so far that many + covet to have a name, be it what it will. Trogus Pompeius says of + Herostratus, and Titus Livius of Manlius Capitolinus, that they were more + ambitious of a great reputation than of a good one. This is very common; + we are more solicitous that men speak of us, than how they speak; and it + is enough for us that our names are often mentioned, be it after what + manner it will. It should seem that to be known, is in some sort to have a + man’s life and its duration in others’ keeping. I, for my + part, hold that I am not, but in myself; and of that other life of mine + which lies in the knowledge of my friends, to consider it naked and simply + in itself, I know very well that I am sensible of no fruit nor enjoyment + from it but by the vanity of a fantastic opinion; and when I shall be + dead, I shall be still and much less sensible of it; and shall, withal, + absolutely lose the use of those real advantages that sometimes + accidentally follow it. + </p> + <p> + I shall have no more handle whereby to take hold of reputation, neither + shall it have any whereby to take hold of or to cleave to me; for to + expect that my name should be advanced by it, in the first place, I have + no name that is enough my own; of two that I have, one is common to all my + race, and indeed to others also; there are two families at Paris and + Montpellier, whose surname is Montaigne, another in Brittany, and one in + Xaintonge, De La Montaigne. The transposition of one syllable only would + suffice so to ravel our affairs, that I shall share in their glory, and + they peradventure will partake of my discredit; and, moreover, my + ancestors have formerly been surnamed, Eyquem,—[Eyquem was the + patronymic.]—a name wherein a family well known in England is at + this day concerned. As to my other name, every one may take it that will, + and so, perhaps, I may honour a porter in my own stead. And besides, + though I had a particular distinction by myself, what can it distinguish, + when I am no more? Can it point out and favour inanity? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non levior cippus nunc imprimit ossa? + Laudat posteritas! Nunc non e manibus illis, + Nunc non a tumulo fortunataque favilla, + Nascentur violae?” + + [“Does the tomb press with less weight upon my bones? Do comrades + praise? Not from my manes, not from the tomb, not from the ashes + will violets grow.”—Persius, Sat., i. 37.] +</pre> + <p> + but of this I have spoken elsewhere. As to what remains, in a great battle + where ten thousand men are maimed or killed, there are not fifteen who are + taken notice of; it must be some very eminent greatness, or some + consequence of great importance that fortune has added to it, that + signalises a private action, not of a harquebuser only, but of a great + captain; for to kill a man, or two, or ten: to expose a man’s self + bravely to the utmost peril of death, is indeed something in every one of + us, because we there hazard all; but for the world’s concern, they + are things so ordinary, and so many of them are every day seen, and there + must of necessity be so many of the same kind to produce any notable + effect, that we cannot expect any particular renown from it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Casus multis hic cognitus, ac jam + Tritus, et a medio fortunae ductus acervo.” + + [“The accident is known to many, and now trite; and drawn from the + midst of Fortune’s heap.”—Juvenal, Sat., xiii. 9.] +</pre> + <p> + Of so many thousands of valiant men who have died within these fifteen + hundred years in France with their swords in their hands, not a hundred + have come to our knowledge. The memory, not of the commanders only, but of + battles and victories, is buried and gone; the fortunes of above half of + the world, for want of a record, stir not from their place, and vanish + without duration. If I had unknown events in my possession, I should think + with great ease to out-do those that are recorded, in all sorts of + examples. Is it not strange that even of the Greeks and Romans, with so + many writers and witnesses, and so many rare and noble exploits, so few + are arrived at our knowledge: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ad nos vix tenuis famx perlabitur aura.” + + [“An obscure rumour scarce is hither come.”—AEneid, vii. 646.] +</pre> + <p> + It will be much if, a hundred years hence, it be remembered in general + that in our times there were civil wars in France. The Lacedaemonians, + entering into battle, sacrificed to the Muses, to the end that their + actions might be well and worthily written, looking upon it as a divine + and no common favour, that brave acts should find witnesses that could + give them life and memory. Do we expect that at every musket-shot we + receive, and at every hazard we run, there must be a register ready to + record it? and, besides, a hundred registers may enrol them whose + commentaries will not last above three days, and will never come to the + sight of any one. We have not the thousandth part of ancient writings; + ‘tis fortune that gives them a shorter or longer life, according to + her favour; and ‘tis permissible to doubt whether those we have be + not the worst, not having seen the rest. Men do not write histories of + things of so little moment: a man must have been general in the conquest + of an empire or a kingdom; he must have won two-and-fifty set battles, and + always the weaker in number, as Caesar did: ten thousand brave fellows and + many great captains lost their lives valiantly in his service, whose names + lasted no longer than their wives and children lived: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quos fama obscura recondit.” + + [“Whom an obscure reputation conceals.”—AEneid, v. 302.] +</pre> + <p> + Even those whom we see behave themselves well, three months or three years + after they have departed hence, are no more mentioned than if they had + never been. Whoever will justly consider, and with due proportion, of what + kind of men and of what sort of actions the glory sustains itself in the + records of history, will find that there are very few actions and very few + persons of our times who can there pretend any right. How many worthy men + have we known to survive their own reputation, who have seen and suffered + the honour and glory most justly acquired in their youth, extinguished in + their own presence? And for three years of this fantastic and imaginary + life we must go and throw away our true and essential life, and engage + ourselves in a perpetual death! The sages propose to themselves a nobler + and more just end in so important an enterprise: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Recte facti, fecisse merces est: officii fructus, + ipsum officium est.” + + [“The reward of a thing well done is to have done it; the fruit + of a good service is the service itself.”—Seneca, Ep., 8.] +</pre> + <p> + It were, peradventure, excusable in a painter or other artisan, or in a + rhetorician or a grammarian, to endeavour to raise himself a name by his + works; but the actions of virtue are too noble in themselves to seek any + other reward than from their own value, and especially to seek it in the + vanity of human judgments. + </p> + <p> + If this false opinion, nevertheless, be of such use to the public as to + keep men in their duty; if the people are thereby stirred up to virtue; if + princes are touched to see the world bless the memory of Trajan, and + abominate that of Nero; if it moves them to see the name of that great + beast, once so terrible and feared, so freely cursed and reviled by every + schoolboy, let it by all means increase, and be as much as possible nursed + up and cherished amongst us; and Plato, bending his whole endeavour to + make his citizens virtuous, also advises them not to despise the good + repute and esteem of the people; and says it falls out, by a certain + Divine inspiration, that even the wicked themselves oft-times, as well by + word as opinion, can rightly distinguish the virtuous from the wicked. + This person and his tutor are both marvellous and bold artificers + everywhere to add divine operations and revelations where human force is + wanting: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut tragici poetae confugiunt ad deum, + cum explicare argumenti exitum non possunt:” + + [“As tragic poets fly to some god when they cannot explain + the issue of their argument.”—Cicero, De Nat. Deor., i. 20.] +</pre> + <p> + and peradventure, for this reason it was that Timon, railing at him, + called him the great forger of miracles. Seeing that men, by their + insufficiency, cannot pay themselves well enough with current money, let + the counterfeit be superadded. ‘Tis a way that has been practised by + all the legislators: and there is no government that has not some mixture + either of ceremonial vanity or of false opinion, that serves for a curb to + keep the people in their duty. ‘Tis for this that most of them have + their originals and beginnings fabulous, and enriched with supernatural + mysteries; ‘tis this that has given credit to bastard religions, and + caused them to be countenanced by men of understanding; and for this, that + Numa and Sertorius, to possess their men with a better opinion of them, + fed them with this foppery; one, that the nymph Egeria, the other that his + white hind, brought them all their counsels from the gods. And the + authority that Numa gave to his laws, under the title of the patronage of + this goddess, Zoroaster, legislator of the Bactrians and Persians, gave to + his under the name of the God Oromazis: Trismegistus, legislator of the + Egyptians, under that of Mercury; Xamolxis, legislator of the Scythians, + under that of Vesta; Charondas, legislator of the Chalcidians, under that + of Saturn; Minos, legislator of the Candiots, under that of Jupiter; + Lycurgus, legislator of the Lacedaemonians, under that of Apollo; and + Draco and Solon, legislators of the Athenians, under that of Minerva. And + every government has a god at the head of it; the others falsely, that + truly, which Moses set over the Jews at their departure out of Egypt. The + religion of the Bedouins, as the Sire de Joinville reports, amongst other + things, enjoined a belief that the soul of him amongst them who died for + his prince, went into another body more happy, more beautiful, and more + robust than the former; by which means they much more willingly ventured + their lives: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In ferrum mens prona viris, animaeque capaces + Mortis, et ignavum est rediturae parcere vitae.” + + [“Men’s minds are prone to the sword, and their souls able to bear + death; and it is base to spare a life that will be renewed.” + —Lucan, i. 461.] +</pre> + <p> + This is a very comfortable belief, however erroneous. Every nation has + many such examples of its own; but this subject would require a treatise + by itself. + </p> + <p> + To add one word more to my former discourse, I would advise the ladies no + longer to call that honour which is but their duty: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut enim consuetudo loquitur, id solum dicitur + honestum, quod est populari fama gloriosum;” + + [“As custom puts it, that only is called honest which is + glorious by the public voice.”—Cicero, De Finibus, ii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + their duty is the mark, their honour but the outward rind. Neither would I + advise them to give this excuse for payment of their denial: for I + presuppose that their intentions, their desire, and will, which are things + wherein their honour is not at all concerned, forasmuch as nothing thereof + appears without, are much better regulated than the effects: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qux quia non liceat, non facit, illa facit:” + + [“She who only refuses, because ‘tis forbidden, consents.” + —Ovid, Amor., ii. 4, 4.] +</pre> + <p> + The offence, both towards God and in the conscience, would be as great to + desire as to do it; and, besides, they are actions so private and secret + of themselves, as would be easily enough kept from the knowledge of + others, wherein the honour consists, if they had not another respect to + their duty, and the affection they bear to chastity, for itself. Every + woman of honour will much rather choose to lose her honour than to hurt + her conscience. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0073" id="link2HCH0073"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII——OF PRESUMPTION + </h2> + <p> + There is another sort of glory, which is the having too good an opinion of + our own worth. ‘Tis an inconsiderate affection with which we flatter + ourselves, and that represents us to ourselves other than we truly are: + like the passion of love, that lends beauties and graces to the object, + and makes those who are caught by it, with a depraved and corrupt + judgment, consider the thing which they love other and more perfect than + it is. + </p> + <p> + I would not, nevertheless, for fear of failing on this side, that a man + should not know himself aright, or think himself less than he is; the + judgment ought in all things to maintain its rights; ‘tis all the + reason in the world he should discern in himself, as well as in others, + what truth sets before him; if it be Caesar, let him boldly think himself + the greatest captain in the world. We are nothing but ceremony: ceremony + carries us away, and we leave the substance of things: we hold by the + branches, and quit the trunk and the body; we have taught the ladies to + blush when they hear that but named which they are not at all afraid to + do: we dare not call our members by their right names, yet are not afraid + to employ them in all sorts of debauchery: ceremony forbids us to express + by words things that are lawful and natural, and we obey it: reason + forbids us to do things unlawful and ill, and nobody obeys it. I find + myself here fettered by the laws of ceremony; for it neither permits a man + to speak well of himself, nor ill: we will leave her there for this time. + </p> + <p> + They whom fortune (call it good or ill) has made to, pass their lives in + some eminent degree, may by their public actions manifest what they are; + but they whom she has only employed in the crowd, and of whom nobody will + say a word unless they speak themselves, are to be excused if they take + the boldness to speak of themselves to such as are interested to know + them; by the example of Lucilius: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ille velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim + Credebat libris, neque si male cesserat, usquam + Decurrens alio, neque si bene: quo fit, ut omnis, + Votiva pateat veluri descripta tabella + Vita senis;” + + [“He formerly confided his secret thoughts to his books, as to tried + friends, and for good and evil, resorted not elsewhere: hence it + came to pass, that the old man’s life is there all seen as on a + votive tablet.”—Horace, Sat., ii. I, 30.] +</pre> + <p> + he always committed to paper his actions and thoughts, and there portrayed + himself such as he found himself to be: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec id Rutilio et Scauro citra fidem; aut obtrectationi fuit.” + + [“Nor was this considered a breach of good faith or a disparagement + to Rutilius or Scaurus.”—Tacitus, Agricola, c. I.] +</pre> + <p> + I remember, then, that from my infancy there was observed in me I know not + what kind of carriage and behaviour, that seemed to relish of pride and + arrogance. I will say this, by the way, that it is not unreasonable to + suppose that we have qualities and inclinations so much our own, and so + incorporate in us, that we have not the means to feel and recognise them: + and of such natural inclinations the body will retain a certain bent, + without our knowledge or consent. It was an affectation conformable with + his beauty that made Alexander carry his head on one side, and caused + Alcibiades to lisp; Julius Caesar scratched his head with one finger, + which is the fashion of a man full of troublesome thoughts; and Cicero, as + I remember, was wont to pucker up his nose, a sign of a man given to + scoffing; such motions as these may imperceptibly happen in us. There are + other artificial ones which I meddle not with, as salutations and congees, + by which men acquire, for the most part unjustly, the reputation of being + humble and courteous: one may be humble out of pride. I am prodigal enough + of my hat, especially in summer, and never am so saluted but that I pay it + again from persons of what quality soever, unless they be in my own + service. I should make it my request to some princes whom I know, that + they would be more sparing of that ceremony, and bestow that courtesy + where it is more due; for being so indiscreetly and indifferently + conferred on all, it is thrown away to no purpose; if it be without + respect of persons, it loses its effect. Amongst irregular deportment, let + us not forget that haughty one of the Emperor Constantius, who always in + public held his head upright and stiff, without bending or turning on + either side, not so much as to look upon those who saluted him on one + side, planting his body in a rigid immovable posture, without suffering it + to yield to the motion of his coach, not daring so much as to spit, blow + his nose, or wipe his face before people. I know not whether the gestures + that were observed in me were of this first quality, and whether I had + really any occult proneness to this vice, as it might well be; and I + cannot be responsible for the motions of the body; but as to the motions + of the soul, I must here confess what I think of the matter. + </p> + <p> + This glory consists of two parts; the one in setting too great a value + upon ourselves, and the other in setting too little a value upon others. + As to the one, methinks these considerations ought, in the first place, to + be of some force: I feel myself importuned by an error of the soul that + displeases me, both as it is unjust, and still more as it is troublesome; + I attempt to correct it, but I cannot root it out; and this is, that I + lessen the just value of things that I possess, and overvalue things, + because they are foreign, absent, and none of mine; this humour spreads + very far. As the prerogative of the authority makes husbands look upon + their own wives with a vicious disdain, and many fathers their children; + so I, betwixt two equal merits, should always be swayed against my own; + not so much that the jealousy of my advancement and bettering troubles my + judgment, and hinders me from satisfying myself, as that of itself + possession begets a contempt of what it holds and rules. Foreign + governments, manners, and languages insinuate themselves into my esteem; + and I am sensible that Latin allures me by the favour of its dignity to + value it above its due, as it does with children, and the common sort of + people: the domestic government, house, horse, of my neighbour, though no + better than my own, I prize above my own, because they are not mine. + Besides that I am very ignorant in my own affairs, I am struck by the + assurance that every one has of himself: whereas there is scarcely + anything that I am sure I know, or that I dare be responsible to myself + that I can do: I have not my means of doing anything in condition and + ready, and am only instructed therein after the effect; as doubtful of my + own force as I am of another’s. Whence it comes to pass that if I + happen to do anything commendable, I attribute it more to my fortune than + industry, forasmuch as I design everything by chance and in fear. I have + this, also, in general, that of all the opinions antiquity has held of men + in gross, I most willingly embrace and adhere to those that most contemn + and undervalue us, and most push us to naught; methinks, philosophy has + never so fair a game to play as when it falls upon our vanity and + presumption; when it most lays open our irresolution, weakness, and + ignorance. I look upon the too good opinion that man has of himself to be + the nursing mother of all the most false opinions, both public and + private. Those people who ride astride upon the epicycle of Mercury, who + see so far into the heavens, are worse to me than a tooth-drawer that + comes to draw my teeth; for in my study, the subject of which is man, + finding so great a variety of judgments, so profound a labyrinth of + difficulties, one upon another, so great diversity and uncertainty, even + in the school of wisdom itself, you may judge, seeing these people could + not resolve upon the knowledge of themselves and their own condition, + which is continually before their eyes, and within them, seeing they do + not know how that moves which they themselves move, nor how to give us a + description of the springs they themselves govern and make use of, how can + I believe them about the ebbing and flowing of the Nile? The curiosity of + knowing things has been given to man for a scourge, says the Holy + Scripture. + </p> + <p> + But to return to what concerns myself; I think it would be very difficult + for any other man to have a meaner opinion of himself; nay, for any other + to have a meaner opinion of me than of myself: I look upon myself as one + of the common sort, saving in this, that I have no better an opinion of + myself; guilty of the meanest and most popular defects, but not disowning + or excusing them; and I do not value myself upon any other account than + because I know my own value. If there be any vanity in the case, ‘tis + superficially infused into me by the treachery of my complexion, and has + no body that my judgment can discern: I am sprinkled, but not dyed. For in + truth, as to the effects of the mind, there is no part of me, be it what + it will, with which I am satisfied; and the approbation of others makes me + not think the better of myself. My judgment is tender and nice, especially + in things that concern myself. + </p> + <p> + I ever repudiate myself, and feel myself float and waver by reason of my + weakness. I have nothing of my own that satisfies my judgment. My sight is + clear and regular enough, but, at working, it is apt to dazzle; as I most + manifestly find in poetry: I love it infinitely, and am able to give a + tolerable judgment of other men’s works; but, in good earnest, when + I apply myself to it, I play the child, and am not able to endure myself. + A man may play the fool in everything else, but not in poetry; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mediocribus esse poetis + Non dii, non homines, non concessere columnae.” + + [“Neither men, nor gods, nor the pillars (on which the poets + offered their writings) permit mediocrity in poets.” + —Horace, De Arte Poet., 372.] +</pre> + <p> + I would to God this sentence was written over the doors of all our + printers, to forbid the entrance of so many rhymesters! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Verum + Nihil securius est malo poetae.” + + [“The truth is, that nothing is more confident than a bad poet.” + —Martial, xii. 63, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + Why have not we such people?—[As those about to be mentioned.]— + Dionysius the father valued himself upon nothing so much as his poetry; at + the Olympic games, with chariots surpassing all the others in + magnificence, he sent also poets and musicians to present his verses, with + tent and pavilions royally gilt and hung with tapestry. When his verses + came to be recited, the excellence of the delivery at first attracted the + attention of the people; but when they afterwards came to poise the + meanness of the composition, they first entered into disdain, and + continuing to nettle their judgments, presently proceeded to fury, and ran + to pull down and tear to pieces all his pavilions: and, that his chariots + neither performed anything to purpose in the race, and that the ship which + brought back his people failed of making Sicily, and was by the tempest + driven and wrecked upon the coast of Tarentum, they certainly believed was + through the anger of the gods, incensed, as they themselves were, against + the paltry Poem; and even the mariners who escaped from the wreck seconded + this opinion of the people: to which also the oracle that foretold his + death seemed to subscribe; which was, “that Dionysius should be near + his end, when he should have overcome those who were better than himself,” + which he interpreted of the Carthaginians, who surpassed him in power; and + having war with them, often declined the victory, not to incur the sense + of this prediction; but he understood it ill; for the god indicated the + time of the advantage, that by favour and injustice he obtained at Athens + over the tragic poets, better than himself, having caused his own play + called the Leneians to be acted in emulation; presently after which + victory he died, and partly of the excessive joy he conceived at the + success. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Diodorus Siculus, xv. 7.—The play, however, was called the + “Ransom of Hector.” It was the games at which it was acted that + were called Leneian; they were one of the four Dionysiac festivals.] +</pre> + <p> + What I find tolerable of mine, is not so really and in itself, but in + comparison of other worse things, that I see well enough received. I envy + the happiness of those who can please and hug themselves in what they do; + for ‘tis an easy thing to be so pleased, because a man extracts that + pleasure from himself, especially if he be constant in his self-conceit. I + know a poet, against whom the intelligent and the ignorant, abroad and at + home, both heaven and earth exclaim that he has but very little notion of + it; and yet, for all that, he has never a whit the worse opinion of + himself; but is always falling upon some new piece, always contriving some + new invention, and still persists in his opinion, by so much the more + obstinately, as it only concerns him to maintain it. + </p> + <p> + My works are so far from pleasing me, that as often as I review them, they + disgust me: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cum relego, scripsisse pudet; quia plurima cerno, + Me quoque, qui feci, judice, digna lini.” + + [“When I reperuse, I blush at what I have written; I ever see one + passage after another that I, the author, being the judge, consider + should be erased.”—Ovid, De Ponto, i. 5, 15.] +</pre> + <p> + I have always an idea in my soul, and a sort of disturbed image which + presents me as in a dream with a better form than that I have made use of; + but I cannot catch it nor fit it to my purpose; and even that idea is but + of the meaner sort. Hence I conclude that the productions of those great + and rich souls of former times are very much beyond the utmost stretch of + my imagination or my wish; their writings do not only satisfy and fill me, + but they astound me, and ravish me with admiration; I judge of their + beauty; I see it, if not to the utmost, yet so far at least as ‘tis + possible for me to aspire. Whatever I undertake, I owe a sacrifice to the + Graces, as Plutarch says of some one, to conciliate their favour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si quid enim placet, + Si quid dulce horninum sensibus influit, + Debentur lepidis omnia Gratiis.” + + [“If anything please that I write, if it infuse delight into men’s + minds, all is due to the charming Graces.” The verses are probably + by some modern poet.] +</pre> + <p> + They abandon me throughout; all I write is rude; polish and beauty are + wanting: I cannot set things off to any advantage; my handling adds + nothing to the matter; for which reason I must have it forcible, very + full, and that has lustre of its own. If I pitch upon subjects that are + popular and gay, ‘tis to follow my own inclination, who do not + affect a grave and ceremonious wisdom, as the world does; and to make + myself more sprightly, but not my style more wanton, which would rather + have them grave and severe; at least if I may call that a style which is + an inform and irregular way of speaking, a popular jargon, a proceeding + without definition, division, conclusion, perplexed like that Amafanius + and Rabirius.—[Cicero, Acad., i. 2.]—I can neither please nor + delight, nor even tickle my readers: the best story in the world is + spoiled by my handling, and becomes flat; I cannot speak but in rough + earnest, and am totally unprovided of that facility which I observe in + many of my acquaintance, of entertaining the first comers and keeping a + whole company in breath, or taking up the ear of a prince with all sorts + of discourse without wearying themselves: they never want matter by reason + of the faculty and grace they have in taking hold of the first thing that + starts up, and accommodating it to the humour and capacity of those with + whom they have to do. Princes do not much affect solid discourses, nor I + to tell stories. The first and easiest reasons, which are commonly the + best taken, I know not how to employ: I am an ill orator to the common + sort. I am apt of everything to say the extremest that I know. Cicero is + of opinion that in treatises of philosophy the exordium is the hardest + part; if this be true, I am wise in sticking to the conclusion. And yet we + are to know how to wind the string to all notes, and the sharpest is that + which is the most seldom touched. There is at least as much perfection in + elevating an empty as in supporting a weighty thing. A man must sometimes + superficially handle things, and sometimes push them home. I know very + well that most men keep themselves in this lower form from not conceiving + things otherwise than by this outward bark; but I likewise know that the + greatest masters, and Xenophon and Plato are often seen to stoop to this + low and popular manner of speaking and treating of things, but supporting + it with graces which never fail them. + </p> + <p> + Farther, my language has nothing in it that is facile and polished; + ‘tis rough, free, and irregular, and as such pleases, if not my + judgment, at all events my inclination, but I very well perceive that I + sometimes give myself too much rein, and that by endeavouring to avoid art + and affectation I fall into the other inconvenience: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Brevis esse laboro, + Obscurus fio.” + + [ Endeavouring to be brief, I become obscure.” + —Hor., Art. Poet., 25.] +</pre> + <p> + Plato says, that the long or the short are not properties, that either + take away or give value to language. Should I attempt to follow the other + more moderate, united, and regular style, I should never attain to it; and + though the short round periods of Sallust best suit with my humour, yet I + find Caesar much grander and harder to imitate; and though my inclination + would rather prompt me to imitate Seneca’s way of writing, yet I do + nevertheless more esteem that of Plutarch. Both in doing and speaking I + simply follow my own natural way; whence, peradventure, it falls out that + I am better at speaking than writing. Motion and action animate words, + especially in those who lay about them briskly, as I do, and grow hot. The + comportment, the countenance; the voice, the robe, the place, will set off + some things that of themselves would appear no better than prating. + Messalla complains in Tacitus of the straitness of some garments in his + time, and of the fashion of the benches where the orators were to declaim, + that were a disadvantage to their eloquence. + </p> + <p> + My French tongue is corrupted, both in the pronunciation and otherwise, by + the barbarism of my country. I never saw a man who was a native of any of + the provinces on this side of the kingdom who had not a twang of his place + of birth, and that was not offensive to ears that were purely French. And + yet it is not that I am so perfect in my Perigordin: for I can no more + speak it than High Dutch, nor do I much care. ‘Tis a language (as + the rest about me on every side, of Poitou, Xaintonge, Angoumousin, + Limousin, Auvergne), a poor, drawling, scurvy language. There is, indeed, + above us towards the mountains a sort of Gascon spoken, that I am mightily + taken with: blunt, brief, significant, and in truth a more manly and + military language than any other I am acquainted with, as sinewy, + powerful, and pertinent as the French is graceful, neat, and luxuriant. + </p> + <p> + As to the Latin, which was given me for my mother tongue, I have by + discontinuance lost the use of speaking it, and, indeed, of writing it + too, wherein I formerly had a particular reputation, by which you may see + how inconsiderable I am on that side. + </p> + <p> + Beauty is a thing of great recommendation in the correspondence amongst + men; ‘tis the first means of acquiring the favour and good liking of + one another, and no man is so barbarous and morose as not to perceive + himself in some sort struck with its attraction. The body has a great + share in our being, has an eminent place there, and therefore its + structure and composition are of very just consideration. They who go + about to disunite and separate our two principal parts from one another + are to blame; we must, on the contrary, reunite and rejoin them. We must + command the soul not to withdraw and entertain itself apart, not to + despise and abandon the body (neither can she do it but by some apish + counterfeit), but to unite herself close to it, to embrace, cherish, + assist, govern, and advise it, and to bring it back and set it into the + true way when it wanders; in sum, to espouse and be a husband to it, so + that their effects may not appear to be diverse and contrary, but uniform + and concurring. Christians have a particular instruction concerning this + connection, for they know that the Divine justice embraces this society + and juncture of body and soul, even to the making the body capable of + eternal rewards; and that God has an eye to the whole man’s ways, + and wills that he receive entire chastisement or reward according to his + demerits or merits. The sect of the Peripatetics, of all sects the most + sociable, attribute to wisdom this sole care equally to provide for the + good of these two associate parts: and the other sects, in not + sufficiently applying themselves to the consideration of this mixture, + show themselves to be divided, one for the body and the other for the + soul, with equal error, and to have lost sight of their subject, which is + Man, and their guide, which they generally confess to be Nature. The first + distinction that ever was amongst men, and the first consideration that + gave some pre-eminence over others, ‘tis likely was the advantage of + beauty: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Agros divisere atque dedere + Pro facie cujusque, et viribus ingenioque; + Nam facies multum valuit, viresque vigebant.” + + [“They distributed and conferred the lands to every man according + to his beauty and strength and understanding, for beauty was much + esteemed and strength was in favour.”—Lucretius, V. 1109.] +</pre> + <p> + Now I am of something lower than the middle stature, a defect that not + only borders upon deformity, but carries withal a great deal of + inconvenience along with it, especially for those who are in office and + command; for the authority which a graceful presence and a majestic mien + beget is wanting. C. Marius did not willingly enlist any soldiers who were + not six feet high. The Courtier has, indeed, reason to desire a moderate + stature in the gentlemen he is setting forth, rather than any other, and + to reject all strangeness that should make him be pointed at. But if I + were to choose whether this medium must be rather below than above the + common standard, I would not have it so in a soldier. Little men, says + Aristotle, are pretty, but not handsome; and greatness of soul is + discovered in a great body, as beauty is in a conspicuous stature: the + Ethiopians and Indians, says he, in choosing their kings and magistrates, + had regard to the beauty and stature of their persons. They had reason; + for it creates respect in those who follow them, and is a terror to the + enemy, to see a leader of a brave and goodly stature march at the head of + a battalion: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipse inter primos praestanti corpore Turnus + Vertitur arma, tenens, et toto vertice supra est.” + + [“In the first rank marches Turnus, brandishing his weapon, + taller by a head than all the rest.”—Virgil, AEneid, vii. 783.] +</pre> + <p> + Our holy and heavenly king, of whom every circumstance is most carefully + and with the greatest religion and reverence to be observed, has not + himself rejected bodily recommendation, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum.” + + [“He is fairer than the children of men.”—Psalm xiv. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + And Plato, together with temperance and fortitude, requires beauty in the + conservators of his republic. It would vex you that a man should apply + himself to you amongst your servants to inquire where Monsieur is, and + that you should only have the remainder of the compliment of the hat that + is made to your barber or your secretary; as it happened to poor + Philopoemen, who arriving the first of all his company at an inn where he + was expected, the hostess, who knew him not, and saw him an unsightly + fellow, employed him to go help her maids a little to draw water, and make + a fire against Philopoemen’s coming; the gentlemen of his train + arriving presently after, and surprised to see him busy in this fine + employment, for he failed not to obey his landlady’s command, asked + him what he was doing there: “I am,” said he, “paying + the penalty of my ugliness.” The other beauties belong to women; the + beauty of stature is the only beauty of men. Where there is a contemptible + stature, neither the largeness and roundness of the forehead, nor the + whiteness and sweetness of the eyes, nor the moderate proportion of the + nose, nor the littleness of the ears and mouth, nor the evenness and + whiteness of the teeth, nor the thickness of a well-set brown beard, + shining like the husk of a chestnut, nor curled hair, nor the just + proportion of the head, nor a fresh complexion, nor a pleasing air of a + face, nor a body without any offensive scent, nor the just proportion of + limbs, can make a handsome man. I am, as to the rest, strong and well + knit; my face is not puffed, but full, and my complexion betwixt jovial + and melancholic, moderately sanguine and hot, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Unde rigent setis mihi crura, et pectora villis;” + + [“Whence ‘tis my legs and breast bristle with hair.” + —Martial, ii. 36, 5.] +</pre> + <p> + my health vigorous and sprightly, even to a well advanced age, and rarely + troubled with sickness. Such I was, for I do not now make any account of + myself, now that I am engaged in the avenues of old age, being already + past forty: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Minutatim vires et robur adultum + Frangit, et in partem pejorem liquitur aetas:” + + [“Time by degrees breaks our strength and makes us grow feeble. + —“Lucretius, ii. 1131.] +</pre> + <p> + what shall be from this time forward, will be but a half-being, and no + more me: I every day escape and steal away from myself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes.” + + [“Of the fleeting years each steals something from me.” + —Horace, Ep., ii. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + Agility and address I never had, and yet am the son of a very active and + sprightly father, who continued to be so to an extreme old age. I have + scarce known any man of his condition, his equal in all bodily exercises, + as I have seldom met with any who have not excelled me, except in running, + at which I was pretty good. In music or singing, for which I have a very + unfit voice, or to play on any sort of instrument, they could never teach + me anything. In dancing, tennis, or wrestling, I could never arrive to + more than an ordinary pitch; in swimming, fencing, vaulting, and leaping, + to none at all. My hands are so clumsy that I cannot even write so as to + read it myself, so that I had rather do what I have scribbled over again, + than take upon me the trouble to make it out. I do not read much better + than I write, and feel that I weary my auditors otherwise (I am) not a bad + clerk. I cannot decently fold up a letter, nor could ever make a pen, or + carve at table worth a pin, nor saddle a horse, nor carry a hawk and fly + her, nor hunt the dogs, nor lure a hawk, nor speak to a horse. In fine, my + bodily qualities are very well suited to those of my soul; there is + nothing sprightly, only a full and firm vigour: I am patient enough of + labour and pains, but it is only when I go voluntary to work, and only so + long as my own desire prompts me to it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Molliter austerum studio fallente laborem.” + + [“Study softly beguiling severe labour.” + —Horace, Sat., ii. 2, 12.] +</pre> + <p> + otherwise, if I am not allured with some pleasure, or have other guide + than my own pure and free inclination, I am good for nothing: for I am of + a humour that, life and health excepted, there is nothing for which I will + bite my nails, and that I will purchase at the price of torment of mind + and constraint: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tanti mihi non sit opaci + Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum.” + + [“I would not buy rich Tagus sands so dear, nor all the gold that + lies in the sea.”—Juvenal, Sat., iii. 54.] +</pre> + <p> + Extremely idle, extremely given up to my own inclination both by nature + and art, I would as willingly lend a man my blood as my pains. I have a + soul free and entirely its own, and accustomed to guide itself after its + own fashion; having hitherto never had either master or governor imposed + upon me: I have walked as far as I would, and at the pace that best + pleased myself; this is it that has rendered me unfit for the service of + others, and has made me of no use to any one but myself. + </p> + <p> + Nor was there any need of forcing my heavy and lazy disposition; for being + born to such a fortune as I had reason to be contented with (a reason, + nevertheless, that a thousand others of my acquaintance would have rather + made use of for a plank upon which to pass over in search of higher + fortune, to tumult and disquiet), and with as much intelligence as I + required, I sought for no more, and also got no more: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone secundo, + Non tamen adversis aetatem ducimus Austris + Viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re, + Extremi primorum, extremis usque priores.” + + [“The northern wind does not agitate our sails; nor Auster trouble + our course with storms. In strength, talent, figure, virtue, + honour, wealth, we are short of the foremost, but before the last.” + —Horace, Ep., ii. 2, 201.] +</pre> + <p> + I had only need of what was sufficient to content me: which nevertheless + is a government of soul, to take it right, equally difficult in all sorts + of conditions, and that, of custom, we see more easily found in want than + in abundance: forasmuch, peradventure, as according to the course of our + other passions, the desire of riches is more sharpened by their use than + by the need of them: and the virtue of moderation more rare than that of + patience; and I never had anything to desire, but happily to enjoy the + estate that God by His bounty had put into my hands. I have never known + anything of trouble, and have had little to do in anything but the + management of my own affairs: or, if I have, it has been upon condition to + do it at my own leisure and after my own method; committed to my trust by + such as had a confidence in me, who did not importune me, and who knew my + humour; for good horsemen will make shift to get service out of a rusty + and broken-winded jade. + </p> + <p> + Even my infancy was trained up after a gentle and free manner, and exempt + from any rigorous subjection. All this has helped me to a complexion + delicate and incapable of solicitude, even to that degree that I love to + have my losses and the disorders wherein I am concerned, concealed from + me. In the account of my expenses, I put down what my negligence costs me + in feeding and maintaining it; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haec nempe supersunt, + Quae dominum fallunt, quae prosunt furibus.” + + [“That overplus, which the owner knows not of, + but which benefits the thieves”—Horace, Ep., i. 645] +</pre> + <p> + I love not to know what I have, that I may be less sensible of my loss; I + entreat those who serve me, where affection and integrity are absent, to + deceive me with something like a decent appearance. For want of constancy + enough to support the shock of adverse accidents to which we are subject, + and of patience seriously to apply myself to the management of my affairs, + I nourish as much as I can this in myself, wholly leaving all to fortune + “to take all things at the worst, and to resolve to bear that worst + with temper and patience”; that is the only thing I aim at, and to + which I apply my whole meditation. In a danger, I do not so much consider + how I shall escape it, as of how little importance it is, whether I escape + it or no: should I be left dead upon the place, what matter? Not being + able to govern events, I govern myself, and apply myself to them, if they + will not apply themselves to me. I have no great art to evade, escape from + or force fortune, and by prudence to guide and incline things to my own + bias. I have still less patience to undergo the troublesome and painful + care therein required; and the most uneasy condition for me is to be + suspended on urgent occasions, and to be agitated betwixt hope and fear. + </p> + <p> + Deliberation, even in things of lightest moment, is very troublesome to + me; and I find my mind more put to it to undergo the various tumblings and + tossings of doubt and consultation, than to set up its rest and to + acquiesce in whatever shall happen after the die is thrown. Few passions + break my sleep, but of deliberations, the least will do it. As in roads, I + preferably avoid those that are sloping and slippery, and put myself into + the beaten track how dirty or deep soever, where I can fall no lower, and + there seek my safety: so I love misfortunes that are purely so, that do + not torment and tease me with the uncertainty of their growing better; but + that at the first push plunge me directly into the worst that can be + expected + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dubia plus torquent mala.” + + [“Doubtful ills plague us worst.” + —Seneca, Agamemnon, iii. 1, 29.] +</pre> + <p> + In events I carry myself like a man; in conduct, like a child. The fear of + the fall more fevers me than the fall itself. The game is not worth the + candle. The covetous man fares worse with his passion than the poor, and + the jealous man than the cuckold; and a man ofttimes loses more by + defending his vineyard than if he gave it up. The lowest walk is the + safest; ‘tis the seat of constancy; you have there need of no one + but yourself; ‘tis there founded and wholly stands upon its own + basis. Has not this example of a gentleman very well known, some air of + philosophy in it? He married, being well advanced in years, having spent + his youth in good fellowship, a great talker and a great jeerer, calling + to mind how much the subject of cuckoldry had given him occasion to talk + and scoff at others. To prevent them from paying him in his own coin, he + married a wife from a place where any one finds what he wants for his + money: “Good morrow, strumpet”; “Good morrow, cuckold”; + and there was not anything wherewith he more commonly and openly + entertained those who came to see him than with this design of his, by + which he stopped the private chattering of mockers, and blunted all the + point from this reproach. + </p> + <p> + As to ambition, which is neighbour, or rather daughter, to presumption, + fortune, to advance me, must have come and taken me by the hand; for to + trouble myself for an uncertain hope, and to have submitted myself to all + the difficulties that accompany those who endeavour to bring themselves + into credit in the beginning of their progress, I could never have done + it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Spem pretio non emo.” + + [“I will not purchase hope with ready money,” (or), + “I do not purchase hope at a price.” + —Terence, Adelphi, ii. 3, 11.] +</pre> + <p> + I apply myself to what I see and to what I have in my hand, and go not + very far from the shore, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Alter remus aquas, alter tibi radat arenas:” + + [“One oar plunging into the sea, the other raking the sands.” + —Propertius, iii. 3, 23.] +</pre> + <p> + and besides, a man rarely arrives at these advancements but in first + hazarding what he has of his own; and I am of opinion that if a man have + sufficient to maintain him in the condition wherein he was born and + brought up, ‘tis a great folly to hazard that upon the uncertainty + of augmenting it. He to whom fortune has denied whereon to set his foot, + and to settle a quiet and composed way of living, is to be excused if he + venture what he has, because, happen what will, necessity puts him upon + shifting for himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Capienda rebus in malis praeceps via est:” + + [“A course is to be taken in bad cases.” (or), + “A desperate case must have a desperate course.” + —-Seneca, Agamemnon, ii. 1, 47.] +</pre> + <p> + and I rather excuse a younger brother for exposing what his friends have + left him to the courtesy of fortune, than him with whom the honour of his + family is entrusted, who cannot be necessitous but by his own fault. I + have found a much shorter and more easy way, by the advice of the good + friends I had in my younger days, to free myself from any such ambition, + and to sit still: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cui sit conditio dulcis sine pulvere palmae:” + + [“What condition can compare with that where one has gained the + palm without the dust of the course.”—Horace, Ep., i. I, 51.] +</pre> + <p> + judging rightly enough of my own strength, that it was not capable of any + great matters; and calling to mind the saying of the late Chancellor + Olivier, that the French were like monkeys that swarm up a tree from + branch to branch, and never stop till they come to the highest, and there + shew their breech. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Turpe est, quod nequeas, capiti committere pondus, + Et pressum inflexo mox dare terga genu.” + + [“It is a shame to load the head so that it cannot bear the + burthen, and the knees give way.”—Propertius, iii. 9, 5.] +</pre> + <p> + I should find the best qualities I have useless in this age; the facility + of my manners would have been called weakness and negligence; my faith and + conscience, scrupulosity and superstition; my liberty and freedom would + have been reputed troublesome, inconsiderate, and rash. Ill luck is good + for something. It is good to be born in a very depraved age; for so, in + comparison of others, you shall be reputed virtuous good cheap; he who in + our days is but a parricide and a sacrilegious person is an honest man and + a man of honour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nunc, si depositum non inficiatur amicus, + Si reddat veterem cum tota aerugine follem, + Prodigiosa fides, et Tuscis digna libellis, + Quaeque coronata lustrari debeat agna:” + + [“Now, if a friend does not deny his trust, but restores the old + purse with all its rust; ‘tis a prodigious faith, worthy to be + enrolled in amongst the Tuscan annals, and a crowned lamb should be + sacrificed to such exemplary integrity.”—Juvenal, Sat., xiii. 611.] +</pre> + <p> + and never was time or place wherein princes might propose to themselves + more assured or greater rewards for virtue and justice. The first who + shall make it his business to get himself into favour and esteem by those + ways, I am much deceived if he do not and by the best title outstrip his + competitors: force and violence can do something, but not always all. We + see merchants, country justices, and artisans go cheek by jowl with the + best gentry in valour and military knowledge: they perform honourable + actions, both in public engagements and private quarrels; they fight + duels, they defend towns in our present wars; a prince stifles his special + recommendation, renown, in this crowd; let him shine bright in humanity, + truth, loyalty, temperance, and especially injustice; marks rare, unknown, + and exiled; ‘tis by no other means but by the sole goodwill of the + people that he can do his business; and no other qualities can attract + their goodwill like those, as being of the greatest utility to them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nil est tam populare, quam bonitas.” + + [“Nothing is so popular as an agreeable manner (goodness).” + —Cicero, Pro Ligar., c. 12.] +</pre> + <p> + By this standard I had been great and rare, just as I find myself now + pigmy and vulgar by the standard of some past ages, wherein, if no other + better qualities concurred, it was ordinary and common to see a man + moderate in his revenges, gentle in resenting injuries, religious of his + word, neither double nor supple, nor accommodating his faith to the will + of others, or the turns of the times: I would rather see all affairs go to + wreck and ruin than falsify my faith to secure them. For as to this new + virtue of feigning and dissimulation, which is now in so great credit, I + mortally hate it; and of all vices find none that evidences so much + baseness and meanness of spirit. ‘Tis a cowardly and servile humour + to hide and disguise a man’s self under a visor, and not to dare to + show himself what he is; ‘tis by this our servants are trained up to + treachery; being brought up to speak what is not true, they make no + conscience of a lie. A generous heart ought not to belie its own thoughts; + it will make itself seen within; all there is good, or at least human. + Aristotle reputes it the office of magnanimity openly and professedly to + love and hate; to judge and speak with all freedom; and not to value the + approbation or dislike of others in comparison of truth. Apollonius said + it was for slaves to lie, and for freemen to speak truth: ‘tis the + chief and fundamental part of virtue; we must love it for itself. He who + speaks truth because he is obliged so to do, and because it serves him, + and who is not afraid to lie when it signifies nothing to anybody, is not + sufficiently true. My soul naturally abominates lying, and hates the very + thought of it. I have an inward shame and a sharp remorse, if sometimes a + lie escapes me: as sometimes it does, being surprised by occasions that + allow me no premeditation. A man must not always tell all, for that were + folly: but what a man says should be what he thinks, otherwise ‘tis + knavery. I do not know what advantage men pretend to by eternally + counterfeiting and dissembling, if not never to be believed when they + speak the truth; it may once or twice pass with men; but to profess the + concealing their thought, and to brag, as some of our princes have done, + that they would burn their shirts if they knew their true intentions, + which was a saying of the ancient Metellius of Macedon; and that they who + know not how to dissemble know not how to rule, is to give warning to all + who have anything to do with them, that all they say is nothing but lying + and deceit: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quo quis versutior et callidior est, hoc invisior et + suspectior, detracto opinione probitatis:” + + [“By how much any one is more subtle and cunning, by so much is he + hated and suspected, the opinion of his integrity being withdrawn.” + —Cicero, De Off., ii. 9.] +</pre> + <p> + it were a great simplicity in any one to lay any stress either on the + countenance or word of a man who has put on a resolution to be always + another thing without than he is within, as Tiberius did; and I cannot + conceive what part such persons can have in conversation with men, seeing + they produce nothing that is received as true: whoever is disloyal to + truth is the same to falsehood also. + </p> + <p> + Those of our time who have considered in the establishment of the duty of + a prince the good of his affairs only, and have preferred that to the care + of his faith and conscience, might have something to say to a prince whose + affairs fortune had put into such a posture that he might for ever + establish them by only once breaking his word: but it will not go so; they + often buy in the same market; they make more than one peace and enter into + more than one treaty in their lives. Gain tempts to the first breach of + faith, and almost always presents itself, as in all other ill acts, + sacrileges, murders, rebellions, treasons, as being undertaken for some + kind of advantage; but this first gain has infinite mischievous + consequences, throwing this prince out of all correspondence and + negotiation, by this example of infidelity. Soliman, of the Ottoman race, + a race not very solicitous of keeping their words or compacts, when, in my + infancy, he made his army land at Otranto, being informed that Mercurino + de’ Gratinare and the inhabitants of Castro were detained prisoners, + after having surrendered the place, contrary to the articles of their + capitulation, sent orders to have them set at liberty, saying, that having + other great enterprises in hand in those parts, the disloyalty, though it + carried a show of present utility, would for the future bring on him a + disrepute and distrust of infinite prejudice. + </p> + <p> + Now, for my part, I had rather be troublesome and indiscreet than a + flatterer and a dissembler. I confess that there may be some mixture of + pride and obstinacy in keeping myself so upright and open as I do, without + any consideration of others; and methinks I am a little too free, where I + ought least to be so, and that I grow hot by the opposition of respect; + and it may be also, that I suffer myself to follow the propension of my + own nature for want of art; using the same liberty, speech, and + countenance towards great persons, that I bring with me from my own house: + I am sensible how much it declines towards incivility and indiscretion + but, besides that I am so bred, I have not a wit supple enough to evade a + sudden question, and to escape by some evasion, nor to feign a truth, nor + memory enough to retain it so feigned; nor, truly, assurance enough to + maintain it, and so play the brave out of weakness. And therefore it is + that I abandon myself to candour, always to speak as I think, both by + complexion and design, leaving the event to fortune. Aristippus was wont + to say, that the principal benefit he had extracted from philosophy was + that he spoke freely and openly to all. + </p> + <p> + Memory is a faculty of wonderful use, and without which the judgment can + very hardly perform its office: for my part I have none at all. What any + one will propound to me, he must do it piecemeal, for to answer a speech + consisting of several heads I am not able. I could not receive a + commission by word of mouth without a note-book. And when I have a speech + of consequence to make, if it be long, I am reduced to the miserable + necessity of getting by heart word for word, what I am to say; I should + otherwise have neither method nor assurance, being in fear that my memory + would play me a slippery trick. But this way is no less difficult to me + than the other; I must have three hours to learn three verses. And + besides, in a work of a man’s own, the liberty and authority of + altering the order, of changing a word, incessantly varying the matter, + makes it harder to stick in the memory of the author. The more I mistrust + it the worse it is; it serves me best by chance; I must solicit it + negligently; for if I press it, ‘tis confused, and after it once + begins to stagger, the more I sound it, the more it is perplexed; it + serves me at its own hour, not at mine. + </p> + <p> + And the same defect I find in my memory, I find also in several other + parts. I fly command, obligation, and constraint; that which I can + otherwise naturally and easily do, if I impose it upon myself by an + express and strict injunction, I cannot do it. Even the members of my + body, which have a more particular jurisdiction of their own, sometimes + refuse to obey me, if I enjoin them a necessary service at a certain hour. + This tyrannical and compulsive appointment baffles them; they shrink up + either through fear or spite, and fall into a trance. Being once in a + place where it is looked upon as barbarous discourtesy not to pledge those + who drink to you, though I had there all liberty allowed me, I tried to + play the good fellow, out of respect to the ladies who were there, + according to the custom of the country; but there was sport enough for + this pressure and preparation, to force myself contrary to my custom and + inclination, so stopped my throat that I could not swallow one drop, and + was deprived of drinking so much as with my meat; I found myself gorged, + and my, thirst quenched by the quantity of drink that my imagination had + swallowed. This effect is most manifest in such as have the most vehement + and powerful imagination: but it is natural, notwithstanding, and there is + no one who does not in some measure feel it. They offered an excellent + archer, condemned to die, to save his life, if he would show some notable + proof of his art, but he refused to try, fearing lest the too great + contention of his will should make him shoot wide, and that instead of + saving his life, he should also lose the reputation he had got of being a + good marksman. A man who thinks of something else, will not fail to take + over and over again the same number and measure of steps, even to an inch, + in the place where he walks; but if he made it his business to measure and + count them, he will find that what he did by nature and accident, he + cannot so exactly do by design. + </p> + <p> + My library, which is a fine one among those of the village type, is + situated in a corner of my house; if anything comes into my head that I + have a mind to search or to write, lest I should forget it in but going + across the court, I am fain to commit it to the memory of some other. If I + venture in speaking to digress never so little from my subject, I am + infallibly lost, which is the reason that I keep myself, in discourse, + strictly close. I am forced to call the men who serve me either by the + names of their offices or their country; for names are very hard for me to + remember. I can tell indeed that there are three syllables, that it has a + harsh sound, and that it begins or ends with such a letter; but that’s + all; and if I should live long, I do not doubt but I should forget my own + name, as some others have done. Messala Corvinus was two years without any + trace of memory, which is also said of Georgius Trapezuntius. For my own + interest, I often meditate what a kind of life theirs was, and if, without + this faculty, I should have enough left to support me with any manner of + ease; and prying narrowly into it, I fear that this privation, if + absolute, destroys all the other functions of the soul: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Plenus rimarum sum, hac atque iliac perfluo.” + + [“I’m full of chinks, and leak out every way.” + —Ter., Eunuchus, ii. 2, 23.] +</pre> + <p> + It has befallen me more than once to forget the watchword I had three + hours before given or received, and to forget where I had hidden my purse; + whatever Cicero is pleased to say, I help myself to lose what I have a + particular care to lock safe up: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Memoria certe non modo Philosophiam sed omnis + vitae usum, omnesque artes, una maxime continet.” + + [“It is certain that memory contains not only philosophy, + but all the arts and all that appertain to the use of life.” + —Cicero, Acad., ii. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + Memory is the receptacle and case of science: and therefore mine being so + treacherous, if I know little, I cannot much complain. I know, in general, + the names of the arts, and of what they treat, but nothing more. I turn + over books; I do not study them. What I retain I no longer recognise as + another’s; ‘tis only what my judgment has made its advantage + of, the discourses and imaginations in which it has been instructed: the + author, place, words, and other circumstances, I immediately forget; and I + am so excellent at forgetting, that I no less forget my own writings and + compositions than the rest. I am very often quoted to myself, and am not + aware of it. Whoever should inquire of me where I had the verses and + examples, that I have here huddled together, would puzzle me to tell him, + and yet I have not borrowed them but from famous and known authors, not + contenting myself that they were rich, if I, moreover, had them not from + rich and honourable hands, where there is a concurrence of authority with + reason. It is no great wonder if my book run the same fortune that other + books do, if my memory lose what I have written as well as what I have + read, and what I give, as well as what I receive. + </p> + <p> + Besides the defect of memory, I have others which very much contribute to + my ignorance; I have a slow and heavy wit, the least cloud stops its + progress, so that, for example, I never propose to it any never so easy a + riddle that it could find out; there is not the least idle subtlety that + will not gravel me; in games, where wit is required, as chess, draughts, + and the like, I understand no more than the common movements. I have a + slow and perplexed apprehension, but what it once apprehends, it + apprehends well, for the time it retains it. My sight is perfect, entire, + and discovers at a very great distance, but is soon weary and heavy at + work, which occasions that I cannot read long, but am forced to have one + to read to me. The younger Pliny can inform such as have not experimented + it themselves, how important an impediment this is to those who devote + themselves to this employment. + </p> + <p> + There is no so wretched and coarse a soul, wherein some particular faculty + is not seen to shine; no soul so buried in sloth and ignorance, but it + will sally at one end or another; and how it comes to pass that a man + blind and asleep to everything else, shall be found sprightly, clear, and + excellent in some one particular effect, we are to inquire of our masters: + but the beautiful souls are they that are universal, open, and ready for + all things; if not instructed, at least capable of being so; which I say + to accuse my own; for whether it be through infirmity or negligence (and + to neglect that which lies at our feet, which we have in our hands, and + what nearest concerns the use of life, is far from my doctrine) there is + not a soul in the world so awkward as mine, and so ignorant of many common + things, and such as a man cannot without shame fail to know. I must give + some examples. + </p> + <p> + I was born and bred up in the country, and amongst husbandmen; I have had + business and husbandry in my own hands ever since my predecessors, who + were lords of the estate I now enjoy, left me to succeed them; and yet I + can neither cast accounts, nor reckon my counters: most of our current + money I do not know, nor the difference betwixt one grain and another, + either growing or in the barn, if it be not too apparent, and scarcely can + distinguish between the cabbage and lettuce in my garden. I do not so much + as understand the names of the chief instruments of husbandry, nor the + most ordinary elements of agriculture, which the very children know: much + less the mechanic arts, traffic, merchandise, the variety and nature of + fruits, wines, and viands, nor how to make a hawk fly, nor to physic a + horse or a dog. And, since I must publish my whole shame, ‘tis not + above a month ago, that I was trapped in my ignorance of the use of leaven + to make bread, or to what end it was to keep wine in the vat. They + conjectured of old at Athens, an aptitude for the mathematics in him they + saw ingeniously bavin up a burthen of brushwood. In earnest, they would + draw a quite contrary conclusion from me, for give me the whole provision + and necessaries of a kitchen, I should starve. By these features of my + confession men may imagine others to my prejudice: but whatever I deliver + myself to be, provided it be such as I really am, I have my end; neither + will I make any excuse for committing to paper such mean and frivolous + things as these: the meanness of the subject compells me to it. They may, + if they please, accuse my project, but not my progress: so it is, that + without anybody’s needing to tell me, I sufficiently see of how + little weight and value all this is, and the folly of my design: ‘tis + enough that my judgment does not contradict itself, of which these are the + essays. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nasutus sis usque licet, sis denique nasus, + Quantum noluerit ferre rogatus Atlas; + Et possis ipsum to deridere Latinum, + Non potes in nugas dicere plura mess, + Ipse ego quam dixi: quid dentem dente juvabit + Rodere? carne opus est, si satur esse velis. + Ne perdas operam; qui se mirantur, in illos + Virus habe; nos haec novimus esse nihil.” + + [“Let your nose be as keen as it will, be all nose, and even a nose + so great that Atlas will refuse to bear it: if asked, Could you even + excel Latinus in scoffing; against my trifles you could say no more + than I myself have said: then to what end contend tooth against + tooth? You must have flesh, if you want to be full; lose not your + labour then; cast your venom upon those that admire themselves; I + know already that these things are worthless.”—Mart., xiii. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + I am not obliged not to utter absurdities, provided I am not deceived in + them and know them to be such: and to trip knowingly, is so ordinary with + me, that I seldom do it otherwise, and rarely trip by chance. ‘Tis + no great matter to add ridiculous actions to the temerity of my humour, + since I cannot ordinarily help supplying it with those that are vicious. + </p> + <p> + I was present one day at Barleduc, when King Francis II., for a memorial + of Rene, king of Sicily, was presented with a portrait he had drawn of + himself: why is it not in like manner lawful for every one to draw himself + with a pen, as he did with a crayon? I will not, therefore, omit this + blemish though very unfit to be published, which is irresolution; a very + great effect and very incommodious in the negotiations of the affairs of + the world; in doubtful enterprises, I know not which to choose: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ne si, ne no, nel cor mi suona intero.” + + [“My heart does not tell me either yes or no.”—Petrarch.] +</pre> + <p> + I can maintain an opinion, but I cannot choose one. By reason that in + human things, to what sect soever we incline, many appearances present + themselves that confirm us in it; and the philosopher Chrysippus said, + that he would of Zeno and Cleanthes, his masters, learn their doctrines + only; for, as to proofs and reasons, he should find enough of his own. + Which way soever I turn, I still furnish myself with causes, and + likelihood enough to fix me there; which makes me detain doubt and the + liberty of choosing, till occasion presses; and then, to confess the + truth, I, for the most part, throw the feather into the wind, as the + saying is, and commit myself to the mercy of fortune; a very light + inclination and circumstance carries me along with it. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum in dubio est animus, paulo momento huc atque + Illuc impellitur.” + + [“While the mind is in doubt, in a short time it is impelled this + way and that.”—Terence, Andr., i. 6, 32.] +</pre> + <p> + The uncertainty of my judgment is so equally balanced in most occurrences, + that I could willingly refer it to be decided by the chance of a die: and + I observe, with great consideration of our human infirmity, the examples + that the divine history itself has left us of this custom of referring to + fortune and chance the determination of election in doubtful things: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sors cecidit super Matthiam.” + + [“The lot fell upon Matthew.”—Acts i. 26.] +</pre> + <p> + Human reason is a two-edged and dangerous sword: observe in the hands of + Socrates, her most intimate and familiar friend, how many several points + it has. I am thus good for nothing but to follow and suffer myself to be + easily carried away with the crowd; I have not confidence enough in my own + strength to take upon me to command and lead; I am very glad to find the + way beaten before me by others. If I must run the hazard of an uncertain + choice, I am rather willing to have it under such a one as is more + confident in his opinions than I am in mine, whose ground and foundation I + find to be very slippery and unsure. + </p> + <p> + Yet I do not easily change, by reason that I discern the same weakness in + contrary opinions: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipsa consuetudo assentiendi periculosa + esse videtur, et lubrica;” + + [“The very custom of assenting seems to be dangerous + and slippery.”—Cicero, Acad., ii. 21.] +</pre> + <p> + especially in political affairs, there is a large field open for changes + and contestation: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Justa pari premitur veluti cum pondere libra, + Prona, nec hac plus pane sedet, nec surgit ab illa.” + + [“As a just balance, pressed with equal weight, neither dips + nor rises on either side.”—Tibullus, iv. 41.] +</pre> + <p> + Machiavelli’s writings, for example, were solid enough for the + subject, yet were they easy enough to be controverted; and they who have + done so, have left as great a facility of controverting theirs; there was + never wanting in that kind of argument replies and replies upon replies, + and as infinite a contexture of debates as our wrangling lawyers have + extended in favour of long suits: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Caedimur et totidem plagis consumimus hostem;” + + [“We are slain, and with as many blows kill the enemy” (or), + “It is a fight wherein we exhaust each other by mutual wounds.” + —Horace, Epist., ii. 2, 97.] +</pre> + <p> + the reasons have little other foundation than experience, and the variety + of human events presenting us with infinite examples of all sorts of + forms. An understanding person of our times says: That whoever would, in + contradiction to our almanacs, write cold where they say hot, and wet + where they say dry, and always put the contrary to what they foretell; if + he were to lay a wager, he would not care which side he took, excepting + where no uncertainty could fall out, as to promise excessive heats at + Christmas, or extremity of cold at Midsummer. I have the same opinion of + these political controversies; be on which side you will, you have as fair + a game to play as your adversary, provided you do not proceed so far as to + shock principles that are broad and manifest. And yet, in my conceit, in + public affairs, there is no government so ill, provided it be ancient and + has been constant, that is not better than change and alteration. + </p> + <p> + Our manners are infinitely corrupt, and wonderfully incline to the worse; + of our laws and customs there are many that are barbarous and monstrous + nevertheless, by reason of the difficulty of reformation, and the danger + of stirring things, if I could put something under to stop the wheel, and + keep it where it is, I would do it with all my heart: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Numquam adeo foedis, adeoque pudendis + Utimur exemplis, ut non pejora supersint.” + + [“The examples we use are not so shameful and foul + but that worse remain behind.”—Juvenal, viii. 183.] +</pre> + <p> + The worst thing I find in our state is instability, and that our laws, no + more than our clothes, cannot settle in any certain form. It is very easy + to accuse a government of imperfection, for all mortal things are full of + it: it is very easy to beget in a people a contempt of ancient + observances; never any man undertook it but he did it; but to establish a + better regimen in the stead of that which a man has overthrown, many who + have attempted it have foundered. I very little consult my prudence in my + conduct; I am willing to let it be guided by the public rule. Happy the + people who do what they are commanded, better than they who command, + without tormenting themselves as to the causes; who suffer themselves + gently to roll after the celestial revolution! Obedience is never pure nor + calm in him who reasons and disputes. + </p> + <p> + In fine, to return to myself: the only thing by which I something esteem + myself, is that wherein never any man thought himself to be defective; my + recommendation is vulgar, common, and popular; for who ever thought he + wanted sense? It would be a proposition that would imply a contradiction + in itself; ‘tis a disease that never is where it is discerned; + ‘tis tenacious and strong, but what the first ray of the patient’s + sight nevertheless pierces through and disperses, as the beams of the sun + do thick and obscure mists; to accuse one’s self would be to excuse + in this case, and to condemn, to absolve. There never was porter or the + silliest girl, that did not think they had sense enough to do their + business. We easily enough confess in others an advantage of courage, + strength, experience, activity, and beauty, but an advantage in judgment + we yield to none; and the reasons that proceed simply from the natural + conclusions of others, we think, if we had but turned our thoughts that + way, we should ourselves have found out as well as they. Knowledge, style, + and such parts as we see in others’ works, we are soon aware of, if + they excel our own: but for the simple products of the understanding, + every one thinks he could have found out the like in himself, and is + hardly sensible of the weight and difficulty, if not (and then with much + ado) in an extreme and incomparable distance. And whoever should be able + clearly to discern the height of another’s judgment, would be also + able to raise his own to the same pitch. So that it is a sort of exercise, + from which a man is to expect very little praise; a kind of composition of + small repute. And, besides, for whom do you write? The learned, to whom + the authority appertains of judging books, know no other value but that of + learning, and allow of no other proceeding of wit but that of erudition + and art: if you have mistaken one of the Scipios for another, what is all + the rest you have to say worth? Whoever is ignorant of Aristotle, + according to their rule, is in some sort ignorant of himself; vulgar souls + cannot discern the grace and force of a lofty and delicate style. Now + these two sorts of men take up the world. The third sort into whose hands + you fall, of souls that are regular and strong of themselves, is so rare, + that it justly has neither name nor place amongst us; and ‘tis so + much time lost to aspire unto it, or to endeavour to please it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis commonly said that the justest portion Nature has given us of + her favours is that of sense; for there is no one who is not contented + with his share: is it not reason? whoever should see beyond that, would + see beyond his sight. I think my opinions are good and sound, but who does + not think the same of his own? One of the best proofs I have that mine are + so is the small esteem I have of myself; for had they not been very well + assured, they would easily have suffered themselves to have been deceived + by the peculiar affection I have to myself, as one that places it almost + wholly in myself, and do not let much run out. All that others distribute + amongst an infinite number of friends and acquaintance, to their glory and + grandeur, I dedicate to the repose of my own mind and to myself; that + which escapes thence is not properly by my direction: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mihi nempe valere et vivere doctus.” + + [“To live and to do well for myself.” + —Lucretius, v. 959.] +</pre> + <p> + Now I find my opinions very bold and constant in condemning my own + imperfection. And, to say the truth, ‘tis a subject upon which I + exercise my judgment as much as upon any other. The world looks always + opposite; I turn my sight inwards, and there fix and employ it. I have no + other business but myself, I am eternally meditating upon myself, + considering and tasting myself. Other men’s thoughts are ever + wandering abroad, if they will but see it; they are still going forward: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nemo in sese tentat descendere;” + + [“No one thinks of descending into himself.” + —Persius, iv. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + for my part, I circulate in myself. This capacity of trying the truth, + whatever it be, in myself, and this free humour of not over easily + subjecting my belief, I owe principally to myself; for the strongest and + most general imaginations I have are those that, as a man may say, were + born with me; they are natural and entirely my own. I produced them crude + and simple, with a strong and bold production, but a little troubled and + imperfect; I have since established and fortified them with the authority + of others and the sound examples of the ancients, whom I have found of the + same judgment: they have given me faster hold, and a more manifest + fruition and possession of that I had before embraced. The reputation that + every one pretends to of vivacity and promptness of wit, I seek in + regularity; the glory they pretend to from a striking and signal action, + or some particular excellence, I claim from order, correspondence, and + tranquillity of opinions and manners: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnino si quidquam est decorum, nihil est profecto magis, quam + aequabilitas universae vitae, tum singularum actionum, quam + conservare non possis, si, aliorum naturam imitans, omittas tuam.” + + [“If anything be entirely decorous, nothing certainly can be more so + than an equability alike in the whole life and in every particular + action; which thou canst not possibly observe if, imitating other + men’s natures, thou layest aside thy own.”—Cicero, De Of., i. 31.] +</pre> + <p> + Here, then, you see to what degree I find myself guilty of this first + part, that I said was the vice of presumption. As to the second, which + consists in not having a sufficient esteem for others, I know not whether + or no I can so well excuse myself; but whatever comes on’t I am + resolved to speak the truth. And whether, peradventure, it be that the + continual frequentation I have had with the humours of the ancients, and + the idea of those great souls of past ages, put me out of taste both with + others and myself, or that, in truth, the age we live in produces but very + indifferent things, yet so it is that I see nothing worthy of any great + admiration. Neither, indeed, have I so great an intimacy with many men as + is requisite to make a right judgment of them; and those with whom my + condition makes me the most frequent, are, for the most part, men who have + little care of the culture of the soul, but that look upon honour as the + sum of all blessings, and valour as the height of all perfection. + </p> + <p> + What I see that is fine in others I very readily commend and esteem: nay, + I often say more in their commendation than I think they really deserve, + and give myself so far leave to lie, for I cannot invent a false subject: + my testimony is never wanting to my friends in what I conceive deserves + praise, and where a foot is due I am willing to give them a foot and a + half; but to attribute to them qualities that they have not, I cannot do + it, nor openly defend their imperfections. Nay, I frankly give my very + enemies their due testimony of honour; my affection alters, my judgment + does not, and I never confound my animosity with other circumstances that + are foreign to it; and I am so jealous of the liberty of my judgment that + I can very hardly part with it for any passion whatever. I do myself a + greater injury in lying than I do him of whom I tell a lie. This + commendable and generous custom is observed of the Persian nation, that + they spoke of their mortal enemies and with whom they were at deadly war, + as honourably and justly as their virtues deserved. + </p> + <p> + I know men enough that have several fine parts; one wit, another courage, + another address, another conscience, another language: one science, + another, another; but a generally great man, and who has all these brave + parts together, or any one of them to such a degree of excellence that we + should admire him or compare him with those we honour of times past, my + fortune never brought me acquainted with; and the greatest I ever knew, I + mean for the natural parts of the soul, was Etienne De la Boetie; his was + a full soul indeed, and that had every way a beautiful aspect: a soul of + the old stamp, and that had produced great effects had his fortune been so + pleased, having added much to those great natural parts by learning and + study. + </p> + <p> + But how it comes to pass I know not, and yet it is certainly so, there is + as much vanity and weakness of judgment in those who profess the greatest + abilities, who take upon them learned callings and bookish employments as + in any other sort of men whatever; either because more is required and + expected from them, and that common defects are excusable in them, or + because the opinion they have of their own learning makes them more bold + to expose and lay themselves too open, by which they lose and betray + themselves. As an artificer more manifests his want of skill in a rich + matter he has in hand, if he disgrace the work by ill handling and + contrary to the rules required, than in a matter of less value; and men + are more displeased at a disproportion in a statue of gold than in one of + plaster; so do these when they advance things that in themselves and in + their place would be good; for they make use of them without discretion, + honouring their memories at the expense of their understandings, and + making themselves ridiculous by honouring Cicero, Galen, Ulpian, and St. + Jerome alike. + </p> + <p> + I willingly fall again into the discourse of the vanity of our education, + the end of which is not to render us good and wise, but learned, and she + has obtained it. She has not taught us to follow and embrace virtue and + prudence, but she has imprinted in us their derivation and etymology; we + know how to decline Virtue, if we know not how to love it; if we do not + know what prudence is really and in effect, and by experience, we have it + however by jargon and heart: we are not content to know the extraction, + kindred, and alliances of our neighbours; we desire, moreover, to have + them our friends and to establish a correspondence and intelligence with + them; but this education of ours has taught us definitions, divisions, and + partitions of virtue, as so many surnames and branches of a genealogy, + without any further care of establishing any familiarity or intimacy + betwixt her and us. It has culled out for our initiatory instruction not + such books as contain the soundest and truest opinions, but those that + speak the best Greek and Latin, and by their fine words has instilled into + our fancy the vainest humours of antiquity. + </p> + <p> + A good education alters the judgment and manners; as it happened to + Polemon, a lewd and debauched young Greek, who going by chance to hear one + of Xenocrates’ lectures, did not only observe the eloquence and + learning of the reader, and not only brought away, the knowledge of some + fine matter, but a more manifest and more solid profit, which was the + sudden change and reformation of his former life. Whoever found such an + effect of our discipline? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Faciasne, quod olim + Mutatus Polemon? ponas insignia morbi + Fasciolas, cubital, focalia; potus ut ille + Dicitur ex collo furtim carpsisse coronas, + Postquam est impransi correptus voce magistri?” + + [“Will you do what reformed Polemon did of old? will you lay aside + the joys of your disease, your garters, capuchin, muffler, as he in + his cups is said to have secretly torn off his garlands from his + neck when he heard what that temperate teacher said?” + —Horace, Sat., ii. 3, 253] +</pre> + <p> + That seems to me to be the least contemptible condition of men, which by + its plainness and simplicity is seated in the lowest degree, and invites + us to a more regular course. I find the rude manners and language of + country people commonly better suited to the rule and prescription of true + philosophy, than those of our philosophers themselves: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Plus sapit vulgus, quia tantum, quantum opus est, sapit.” + + [“The vulgar are so much the wiser, because they only know what + is needful for them to know.”—Lactantms, Instit. Div., iii. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + The most remarkable men, as I have judged by outward appearance (for to + judge of them according to my own method, I must penetrate a great deal + deeper), for soldiers and military conduct, were the Duc de Guise, who + died at Orleans, and the late Marshal Strozzi; and for men of great + ability and no common virtue, Olivier and De l’Hospital, Chancellors + of France. Poetry, too, in my opinion, has flourished in this age of ours; + we have abundance of very good artificers in the trade: D’Aurat, + Beza, Buchanan, L’Hospital, Montdore, Turnebus; as to the French + poets, I believe they raised their art to the highest pitch to which it + can ever arrive; and in those parts of it wherein Ronsard and Du Bellay + excel, I find them little inferior to the ancient perfection. Adrian + Turnebus knew more, and what he did know, better than any man of his time, + or long before him. The lives of the last Duke of Alva, and of our + Constable de Montmorency, were both of them great and noble, and that had + many rare resemblances of fortune; but the beauty and glory of the death + of the last, in the sight of Paris and of his king, in their service, + against his nearest relations, at the head of an army through his conduct + victorious, and by a sudden stroke, in so extreme old age, merits methinks + to be recorded amongst the most remarkable events of our times. As also + the constant goodness, sweetness of manners, and conscientious facility of + Monsieur de la Noue, in so great an injustice of armed parties (the true + school of treason, inhumanity, and robbery), wherein he always kept up the + reputation of a great and experienced captain. + </p> + <p> + I have taken a delight to publish in several places the hopes I have of + Marie de Gournay le Jars, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [She was adopted by him in 1588. See Leon Feugere’s Mademoiselle + de Gournay: ‘Etude sur sa Vie et ses Ouvrages’.] +</pre> + <p> + my adopted daughter; and certainly beloved by me more than paternally, and + enveloped in my retirement and solitude as one of the best parts of my own + being: I have no longer regard to anything in this world but her. And if a + man may presage from her youth, her soul will one day be capable of very + great things; and amongst others, of the perfection of that sacred + friendship, to which we do not read that any of her sex could ever yet + arrive; the sincerity and solidity of her manners are already sufficient + for it, and her affection towards me more than superabundant, and such, in + short, as that there is nothing more to be wished, if not that the + apprehension she has of my end, being now five-and-fifty years old, might + not so much afflict her. The judgment she made of my first Essays, being a + woman, so young, and in this age, and alone in her own country; and the + famous vehemence wherewith she loved me, and desired my acquaintance + solely from the esteem she had thence of me, before she ever saw my face, + is an incident very worthy of consideration. + </p> + <p> + Other virtues have had little or no credit in this age; but valour is + become popular by our civil wars; and in this, we have souls brave even to + perfection, and in so great number that the choice is impossible to make. + </p> + <p> + This is all of extraordinary and uncommon grandeur that has hitherto + arrived at my knowledge. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0074" id="link2HCH0074"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII——OF GIVING THE LIE + </h2> + <p> + Well, but some one will say to me, this design of making a man’s + self the subject of his writing, were indeed excusable in rare and famous + men, who by their reputation had given others a curiosity to be fully + informed of them. It is most true, I confess and know very well, that a + mechanic will scarce lift his eyes from his work to look at an ordinary + man, whereas a man will forsake his business and his shop to stare at an + eminent person when he comes into a town. It misbecomes any other to give + his own character, but him who has qualities worthy of imitation, and + whose life and opinions may serve for example: Caesar and Xenophon had a + just and solid foundation whereon to found their narrations, the greatness + of their own performances; and were to be wished that we had the journals + of Alexander the Great, the commentaries that Augustus, Cato, Sylla, + Brutus, and others left of their actions; of such persons men love and + contemplate the very statues even in copper and marble. This remonstrance + is very true; but it very little concerns me: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non recito cuiquam, nisi amicis, idque coactus; + Non ubivis, coramve quibuslibet, in medio qui + Scripta foro recitant, sunt multi, quique lavantes.” + + [“I repeat my poems only to my friends, and when bound to do so; + not before every one and everywhere; there are plenty of reciters + in the open market-place and at the baths.”—Horace, sat. i. 4, 73.] +</pre> + <p> + I do not here form a statue to erect in the great square of a city, in a + church, or any public place: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non equidem hoc studeo, bullatis ut mihi nugis, + Pagina turgescat...... + Secreti loquimur:” + + [“I study not to make my pages swell with empty trifles; + you and I are talking in private.”—Persius, Sat., v. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘tis for some corner of a library, or to entertain a neighbour, a + kinsman, a friend, who has a mind to renew his acquaintance and + familiarity with me in this image of myself. Others have been encouraged + to speak of themselves, because they found the subject worthy and rich; I, + on the contrary, am the bolder, by reason the subject is so poor and + sterile that I cannot be suspected of ostentation. I judge freely of the + actions of others; I give little of my own to judge of, because they are + nothing: I do not find so much good in myself, that I cannot tell it + without blushing. + </p> + <p> + What contentment would it not be to me to hear any one thus relate to me + the manners, faces, countenances, the ordinary words and fortunes of my + ancestors? how attentively should I listen to it! In earnest, it would be + evil nature to despise so much as the pictures of our friends and + predecessors, the fashion of their clothes and arms. I preserve their + writing, seal, and a particular sword they wore, and have not thrown the + long staves my father used to carry in his hand, out of my closet. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Paterna vestis, et annulus, tanto charior est + posteris, quanto erga parentes major affectus.” + + [“A father’s garment and ring is by so much dearer to his posterity, + as there is the greater affection towards parents.” + —St. Aug., De Civat. Dei, i. 13.] +</pre> + <p> + If my posterity, nevertheless, shall be of another mind, I shall be + avenged on them; for they cannot care less for me than I shall then do for + them. All the traffic that I have in this with the public is, that I + borrow their utensils of writing, which are more easy and most at hand; + and in recompense shall, peradventure, keep a pound of butter in the + market from melting in the sun:—[Montaigne semi-seriously speculates + on the possibility of his MS. being used to wrap up butter.] + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ne toga cordyllis, ne penula desit olivis; + Et laxas scombris saepe dabo tunicas;” + + [“Let not wrappers be wanting to tunny-fish, nor olives; + and I shall supply loose coverings to mackerel.” + —Martial, xiii. I, I.] +</pre> + <p> + And though nobody should read me, have I wasted time in entertaining + myself so many idle hours in so pleasing and useful thoughts? In moulding + this figure upon myself, I have been so often constrained to temper and + compose myself in a right posture, that the copy is truly taken, and has + in some sort formed itself; painting myself for others, I represent myself + in a better colouring than my own natural complexion. I have no more made + my book than my book has made me: ‘tis a book consubstantial with + the author, of a peculiar design, a parcel of my life, and whose business + is not designed for others, as that of all other books is. In giving + myself so continual and so exact an account of myself, have I lost my + time? For they who sometimes cursorily survey themselves only, do not so + strictly examine themselves, nor penetrate so deep, as he who makes it his + business, his study, and his employment, who intends a lasting record, + with all his fidelity, and with all his force: The most delicious + pleasures digested within, avoid leaving any trace of themselves, and + avoid the sight not only of the people, but of any other person. How often + has this work diverted me from troublesome thoughts? and all that are + frivolous should be reputed so. Nature has presented us with a large + faculty of entertaining ourselves alone; and often calls us to it, to + teach us that we owe ourselves in part to society, but chiefly and mostly + to ourselves. That I may habituate my fancy even to meditate in some + method and to some end, and to keep it from losing itself and roving at + random, ‘tis but to give to body and to record all the little + thoughts that present themselves to it. I give ear to my whimsies, because + I am to record them. It often falls out, that being displeased at some + action that civility and reason will not permit me openly to reprove, I + here disgorge myself, not without design of public instruction: and also + these poetical lashes, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Zon zur l’oeil, ion sur le groin, + Zon zur le dos du Sagoin,” + + [“A slap on his eye, a slap on his snout, a slap on Sagoin’s + back.”—Marot. Fripelippes, Valet de Marot a Sagoin.] +</pre> + <p> + imprint themselves better upon paper than upon the flesh. What if I listen + to books a little more attentively than ordinary, since I watch if I can + purloin anything that may adorn or support my own? I have not at all + studied to make a book; but I have in some sort studied because I had made + it; if it be studying to scratch and pinch now one author, and then + another, either by the head or foot, not with any design to form opinions + from them, but to assist, second, and fortify those I already have + embraced. But whom shall we believe in the report he makes of himself in + so corrupt an age? considering there are so few, if, any at all, whom we + can believe when speaking of others, where there is less interest to lie. + The first thing done in the corruption of manners is banishing truth; for, + as Pindar says, to be true is the beginning of a great virtue, and the + first article that Plato requires in the governor of his Republic. The + truth of these days is not that which really is, but what every man + persuades another man to believe; as we generally give the name of money + not only to pieces of the dust alloy, but even to the false also, if they + will pass. Our nation has long been reproached with this vice; for + Salvianus of Marseilles, who lived in the time of the Emperor Valentinian, + says that lying and forswearing themselves is with the French not a vice, + but a way of speaking. He who would enhance this testimony, might say that + it is now a virtue in them; men form and fashion themselves to it as to an + exercise of honour; for dissimulation is one of the most notable qualities + of this age. + </p> + <p> + I have often considered whence this custom that we so religiously observe + should spring, of being more highly offended with the reproach of a vice + so familiar to us than with any other, and that it should be the highest + insult that can in words be done us to reproach us with a lie. Upon + examination, I find that it is natural most to defend the defects with + which we are most tainted. It seems as if by resenting and being moved at + the accusation, we in some sort acquit ourselves of the fault; though we + have it in effect, we condemn it in outward appearance. May it not also be + that this reproach seems to imply cowardice and feebleness of heart? of + which can there be a more manifest sign than to eat a man’s own + words—nay, to lie against a man’s own knowledge? Lying is a + base vice; a vice that one of the ancients portrays in the most odious + colours when he says, “that it is to manifest a contempt of God, and + withal a fear of men.” It is not possible more fully to represent + the horror, baseness, and irregularity of it; for what can a man imagine + more hateful and contemptible than to be a coward towards men, and valiant + against his Maker? Our intelligence being by no other way communicable to + one another but by a particular word, he who falsifies that betrays public + society. ‘Tis the only way by which we communicate our thoughts and + wills; ‘tis the interpreter of the soul, and if it deceive us, we no + longer know nor have further tie upon one another; if that deceive us, it + breaks all our correspondence, and dissolves all the ties of government. + Certain nations of the newly discovered Indies (I need not give them + names, seeing they are no more; for, by wonderful and unheardof example, + the desolation of that conquest has extended to the utter abolition of + names and the ancient knowledge of places) offered to their gods human + blood, but only such as was drawn from the tongue and ears, to expiate for + the sin of lying, as well heard as pronounced. That good fellow of Greece—[Plutarch, + Life of Lysander, c. 4.]—said that children are amused with toys and + men with words. + </p> + <p> + As to our diverse usages of giving the lie, and the laws of honour in that + case, and the alteration they have received, I defer saying what I know of + them to another time, and shall learn, if I can, in the meanwhile, at what + time the custom took beginning of so exactly weighing and measuring words, + and of making our honour interested in them; for it is easy to judge that + it was not anciently amongst the Romans and Greeks. And it has often + seemed to me strange to see them rail at and give one another the lie + without any quarrel. Their laws of duty steered some other course than + ours. Caesar is sometimes called thief, and sometimes drunkard, to his + teeth. We see the liberty of invective they practised upon one another, I + mean the greatest chiefs of war of both nations, where words are only + revenged with words, and do not proceed any farther. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0075" id="link2HCH0075"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX——OF LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis usual to see good intentions, if carried on without moderation, + push men on to very vicious effects. In this dispute which has at this + time engaged France in a civil war, the better and the soundest cause no + doubt is that which maintains the ancient religion and government of the + kingdom. Nevertheless, amongst the good men of that party (for I do not + speak of those who only make a pretence of it, either to execute their own + particular revenges or to gratify their avarice, or to conciliate the + favour of princes, but of those who engage in the quarrel out of true zeal + to religion and a holy desire to maintain the peace and government of + their country), of these, I say, we see many whom passion transports + beyond the bounds of reason, and sometimes inspires with counsels that are + unjust and violent, and, moreover, rash. + </p> + <p> + It is certain that in those first times, when our religion began to gain + authority with the laws, zeal armed many against all sorts of pagan books, + by which the learned suffered an exceeding great loss, a disorder that I + conceive to have done more prejudice to letters than all the flames of the + barbarians. Of this Cornelius Tacitus is a very good testimony; for though + the Emperor Tacitus, his kinsman, had, by express order, furnished all the + libraries in the world with it, nevertheless one entire copy could not + escape the curious examination of those who desired to abolish it for only + five or six idle clauses that were contrary to our belief. + </p> + <p> + They had also the trick easily to lend undue praises to all the emperors + who made for us, and universally to condemn all the actions of those who + were adversaries, as is evidently manifest in the Emperor Julian, surnamed + the Apostate, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The character of the Emperor Julian was censured, when Montaigne + was at Rome in 1581, by the Master of the Sacred Palace, who, + however, as Montaigne tells us in his journal (ii. 35), referred it + to his conscience to alter what he should think in bad taste. This + Montaigne did not do, and this chapter supplied Voltaire with the + greater part of the praises he bestowed upon the Emperor.—Leclerc.] +</pre> + <p> + who was, in truth, a very great and rare man, a man in whose soul + philosophy was imprinted in the best characters, by which he professed to + govern all his actions; and, in truth, there is no sort of virtue of which + he has not left behind him very notable examples: in chastity (of which + the whole of his life gave manifest proof) we read the same of him that + was said of Alexander and Scipio, that being in the flower of his age, for + he was slain by the Parthians at one-and-thirty, of a great many very + beautiful captives, he would not so much as look upon one. As to his + justice, he took himself the pains to hear the parties, and although he + would out of curiosity inquire what religion they were of, nevertheless, + the antipathy he had to ours never gave any counterpoise to the balance. + He made himself several good laws, and repealed a great part of the + subsidies and taxes levied by his predecessors. + </p> + <p> + We have two good historians who were eyewitnesses of his actions: one of + whom, Marcellinus, in several places of his history sharply reproves an + edict of his whereby he interdicted all Christian rhetoricians and + grammarians to keep school or to teach, and says he could wish that act of + his had been buried in silence: it is probable that had he done any more + severe thing against us, he, so affectionate as he was to our party, would + not have passed it over in silence. He was indeed sharp against us, but + yet no cruel enemy; for our own people tell this story of him, that one + day, walking about the city of Chalcedon, Maris, bishop of the place; was + so bold as to tell him that he was impious, and an enemy to Christ, at + which, they say, he was no further moved than to reply, “Go, poor + wretch, and lament the loss of thy eyes,” to which the bishop + replied again, “I thank Jesus Christ for taking away my sight, that + I may not see thy impudent visage,” affecting in that, they say, a + philosophical patience. But this action of his bears no comparison to the + cruelty that he is said to have exercised against us. “He was,” + says Eutropius, my other witness, “an enemy to Christianity, but + without putting his hand to blood.” And, to return to his justice, + there is nothing in that whereof he can be accused, the severity excepted + he practised in the beginning of his reign against those who had followed + the party of Constantius, his predecessor. As to his sobriety, he lived + always a soldier-like life; and observed a diet and routine, like one that + prepared and inured himself to the austerities of war. His vigilance was + such, that he divided the night into three or four parts, of which the + least was dedicated to sleep; the rest was spent either in visiting the + state of his army and guards in person, or in study; for amongst other + rare qualities, he was very excellent in all sorts of learning. ‘Tis + said of Alexander the Great, that being in bed, for fear lest sleep should + divert him from his thoughts and studies, he had always a basin set by his + bedside, and held one of his hands out with a ball of copper in it, to the + end, that, beginning to fall asleep, and his fingers leaving their hold, + the ball by falling into the basin, might awake him. But the other had his + soul so bent upon what he had a mind to do, and so little disturbed with + fumes by reason of his singular abstinence, that he had no need of any + such invention. As to his military experience, he was excellent in all the + qualities of a great captain, as it was likely he should, being almost all + his life in a continual exercise of war, and most of that time with us in + France, against the Germans and Franks: we hardly read of any man who ever + saw more dangers, or who made more frequent proofs of his personal valour. + </p> + <p> + His death has something in it parallel with that of Epaminondas, for he + was wounded with an arrow, and tried to pull it out, and had done so, but + that, being edged, it cut and disabled his hand. He incessantly called out + that they should carry him again into the heat of the battle, to encourage + his soldiers, who very bravely disputed the fight without him, till night + parted the armies. He stood obliged to his philosophy for the singular + contempt he had for his life and all human things. He had a firm belief of + the immortality of souls. + </p> + <p> + In matter of religion he was wrong throughout, and was surnamed the + Apostate for having relinquished ours: nevertheless, the opinion seems to + me more probable, that he had never thoroughly embraced it, but had + dissembled out of obedience to the laws, till he came to the empire. He + was in his own so superstitious, that he was laughed at for it by those of + his own time, of the same opinion, who jeeringly said, that had he got the + victory over the Parthians, he had destroyed the breed of oxen in the + world to supply his sacrifices. He was, moreover, besotted with the art of + divination, and gave authority to all sorts of predictions. He said, + amongst other things at his death, that he was obliged to the gods, and + thanked them, in that they would not cut him off by surprise, having long + before advertised him of the place and hour of his death, nor by a mean + and unmanly death, more becoming lazy and delicate people; nor by a death + that was languishing, long, and painful; and that they had thought him + worthy to die after that noble manner, in the progress of his victories, + in the flower of his glory. He had a vision like that of Marcus Brutus, + that first threatened him in Gaul, and afterward appeared to him in Persia + just before his death. These words that some make him say when he felt + himself wounded: “Thou hast overcome, Nazarene”; or as others, + “Content thyself, Nazarene”; would hardly have been omitted, + had they been believed, by my witnesses, who, being present in the army, + have set down to the least motions and words of his end; no more than + certain other miracles that are reported about it. + </p> + <p> + And to return to my subject, he long nourished, says Marcellinus, paganism + in his heart; but all his army being Christians, he durst not own it. But + in the end, seeing himself strong enough to dare to discover himself, he + caused the temples of the gods to be thrown open, and did his uttermost to + set on foot and to encourage idolatry. Which the better to effect, having + at Constantinople found the people disunited, and also the prelates of the + church divided amongst themselves, having convened them all before him, he + earnestly admonished them to calm those civil dissensions, and that every + one might freely, and without fear, follow his own religion. Which he the + more sedulously solicited, in hope that this licence would augment the + schisms and factions of their division, and hinder the people from + reuniting, and consequently fortifying themselves against him by their + unanimous intelligence and concord; having experienced by the cruelty of + some Christians, that there is no beast in the world so much to be feared + by man as man; these are very nearly his words. + </p> + <p> + Wherein this is very worthy of consideration, that the Emperor Julian made + use of the same receipt of liberty of conscience to inflame the civil + dissensions that our kings do to extinguish them. So that a man may say on + one side, that to give the people the reins to entertain every man his own + opinion, is to scatter and sow division, and, as it were, to lend a hand + to augment it, there being no legal impediment or restraint to stop or + hinder their career; but, on the other side, a man may also say, that to + give the people the reins to entertain every man his own opinion, is to + mollify and appease them by facility and toleration, and to dull the point + which is whetted and made sharper by singularity, novelty, and difficulty: + and I think it is better for the honour of the devotion of our kings, that + not having been able to do what they would, they have made a show of being + willing to do what they could. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0076" id="link2HCH0076"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX——THAT WE TASTE NOTHING PURE + </h2> + <p> + The feebleness of our condition is such that things cannot, in their + natural simplicity and purity, fall into our use; the elements that we + enjoy are changed, and so ‘tis with metals; and gold must be debased + with some other matter to fit it for our service. Neither has virtue, so + simple as that which Aristo, Pyrrho, and also the Stoics, made the end of + life; nor the Cyrenaic and Aristippic pleasure, been without mixture + useful to it. Of the pleasure and goods that we enjoy, there is not one + exempt from some mixture of ill and inconvenience: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Medio de fonte leporum, + Surgit amari aliquid, quod in ipsis fioribus angat.” + + [“From the very fountain of our pleasure, something rises that is + bitter, which even in flowers destroys.”—Lucretius, iv. 1130.] +</pre> + <p> + Our extremest pleasure has some sort of groaning and complaining in it; + would you not say that it is dying of pain? Nay, when we frame the image + of it in its full excellence, we stuff it with sickly and painful epithets + and qualities, languor, softness, feebleness, faintness, ‘morbidezza’: + a great testimony of their consanguinity and consubstantiality. The most + profound joy has more of severity than gaiety, in it. The highest and + fullest contentment offers more of the grave than of the merry: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipsa felicitas, se nisi temperat, premit.” + + [“Even felicity, unless it moderate itself, oppresses?” + —Seneca, Ep. 74.] +</pre> + <p> + Pleasure chews and grinds us; according to the old Greek verse, which says + that the gods sell us all the goods they give us; that is to say, that + they give us nothing pure and perfect, and that we do not purchase but at + the price of some evil. + </p> + <p> + Labour and pleasure, very unlike in nature, associate, nevertheless, by I + know not what natural conjunction. Socrates says, that some god tried to + mix in one mass and to confound pain and pleasure, but not being able to + do it; he bethought him at least to couple them by the tail. Metrodorus + said, that in sorrow there is some mixture of pleasure. I know not whether + or no he intended anything else by that saying; but for my part, I am of + opinion that there is design, consent, and complacency in giving a man’s + self up to melancholy. I say, that besides ambition, which may also have a + stroke in the business, there is some shadow of delight and delicacy which + smiles upon and flatters us even in the very lap of melancholy. Are there + not some constitutions that feed upon it? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Est quaedam flere voluptas;” + + [“‘Tis a certain kind of pleasure to weep.” + —Ovid, Trist., iv. 3, 27.] +</pre> + <p> + and one Attalus in Seneca says, that the memory of our lost friends is as + grateful to us, as bitterness in wine, when too old, is to the palate: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Minister vetuli, puer, Falerni + Inger’ mi calices amariores”— + + [“Boy, when you pour out old Falernian wine, the bitterest put + into my bowl.”—Catullus, xxvii. I.] +</pre> + <p> + and as apples that have a sweet tartness. + </p> + <p> + Nature discovers this confusion to us; painters hold that the same motions + and grimaces of the face that serve for weeping; serve for laughter too; + and indeed, before the one or the other be finished, do but observe the + painter’s manner of handling, and you will be in doubt to which of + the two the design tends; and the extreme of laughter does at last bring + tears: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nullum sine auctoramento malum est.” + + [“No evil is without its compensation.”—Seneca, Ep., 69.] +</pre> + <p> + When I imagine man abounding with all the conveniences that are to be + desired (let us put the case that all his members were always seized with + a pleasure like that of generation, in its most excessive height) I feel + him melting under the weight of his delight, and see him utterly unable to + support so pure, so continual, and so universal a pleasure. Indeed, he is + running away whilst he is there, and naturally makes haste to escape, as + from a place where he cannot stand firm, and where he is afraid of + sinking. + </p> + <p> + When I religiously confess myself to myself, I find that the best virtue I + have has in it some tincture of vice; and I am afraid that Plato, in his + purest virtue (I, who am as sincere and loyal a lover of virtue of that + stamp as any other whatever), if he had listened and laid his ear close to + himself and he did so no doubt—would have heard some jarring note of + human mixture, but faint and only perceptible to himself. Man is wholly + and throughout but patch and motley. Even the laws of justice themselves + cannot subsist without mixture of injustice; insomuch that Plato says, + they undertake to cut off the hydra’s head, who pretend to clear the + law of all inconveniences: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omne magnum exemplum habet aliquid ex iniquo, + quod contra singulos utilitate publics rependitur,” + + [“Every great example has in it some mixture of injustice, which + recompenses the wrong done to particular men by the public utility.” + —Annals, xiv. 44.] +</pre> + <p> + says Tacitus. + </p> + <p> + It is likewise true, that for the use of life and the service of public + commerce, there may be some excesses in the purity and perspicacity of our + minds; that penetrating light has in it too much of subtlety and + curiosity: we must a little stupefy and blunt them to render them more + obedient to example and practice, and a little veil and obscure them, the + better to proportion them to this dark and earthly life. And therefore + common and less speculative souls are found to be more proper for and more + successful in the management of affairs, and the elevated and exquisite + opinions of philosophy unfit for business. This sharp vivacity of soul, + and the supple and restless volubility attending it, disturb our + negotiations. We are to manage human enterprises more superficially and + roughly, and leave a great part to fortune; it is not necessary to examine + affairs with so much subtlety and so deep: a man loses himself in the + consideration of many contrary lustres, and so many various forms: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Volutantibus res inter se pugnantes, obtorpuerunt.... animi.” + + [“Whilst they considered of things so indifferent in themselves, + they were astonished, and knew not what to do.”—Livy, xxxii. 20.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis what the ancients say of Simonides, that by reason his + imagination suggested to him, upon the question King Hiero had put to him—[What + God was.—Cicero, De Nat. Deor., i. 22.]—(to answer which he + had had many days for thought), several sharp and subtle considerations, + whilst he doubted which was the most likely, he totally despaired of the + truth. + </p> + <p> + He who dives into and in his inquisition comprehends all circumstances and + consequences, hinders his election: a little engine well handled is + sufficient for executions, whether of less or greater weight. The best + managers are those who can worst give account how they are so; while the + greatest talkers, for the most part, do nothing to purpose; I know one of + this sort of men, and a most excellent discourser upon all sorts of good + husbandry, who has miserably let a hundred thousand livres yearly revenue + slip through his hands; I know another who talks, who better advises than + any man of his counsel, and there is not in the world a fairer show of + soul and understanding than he has; nevertheless, when he comes to the + test, his servants find him quite another thing; not to make any mention + of his misfortunes. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0077" id="link2HCH0077"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI——AGAINST IDLENESS + </h2> + <p> + The Emperor Vespasian, being sick of the disease whereof he died, did not + for all that neglect to inquire after the state of the empire, and even in + bed continually despatched very many affairs of great consequence; for + which, being reproved by his physician, as a thing prejudicial to his + health, “An emperor,” said he, “must die standing.” + A fine saying, in my opinion, and worthy a great prince. The Emperor + Adrian since made use of the same words, and kings should be often put in + mind of them, to make them know that the great office conferred upon them + of the command of so many men, is not an employment of ease; and that + there is nothing can so justly disgust a subject, and make him unwilling + to expose himself to labour and danger for the service of his prince, than + to see him, in the meantime, devoted to his ease and frivolous amusement, + and to be solicitous of his preservation who so much neglects that of his + people. + </p> + <p> + Whoever will take upon him to maintain that ‘tis better for a prince + to carry on his wars by others, than in his own person, fortune will + furnish him with examples enough of those whose lieutenants have brought + great enterprises to a happy issue, and of those also whose presence has + done more hurt than good: but no virtuous and valiant prince can with + patience endure so dishonourable councils. Under colour of saving his + head, like the statue of a saint, for the happiness of his kingdom, they + degrade him from and declare him incapable of his office, which is + military throughout: I know one—[Probably Henry IV.]—who had + much rather be beaten, than to sleep whilst another fights for him; and + who never without jealousy heard of any brave thing done even by his own + officers in his absence. And Soliman I. said, with very good reason, in my + opinion, that victories obtained without the master were never complete. + Much more would he have said that that master ought to blush for shame, to + pretend to any share in the honour, having contributed nothing to the + work, but his voice and thought; nor even so much as these, considering + that in such work as that, the direction and command that deserve honour + are only such as are given upon the spot, and in the heat of the business. + No pilot performs his office by standing still. The princes of the Ottoman + family, the chiefest in the world in military fortune, have warmly + embraced this opinion, and Bajazet II., with his son, who swerved from it, + spending their time in science and other retired employments, gave great + blows to their empire; and Amurath III., now reigning, following their + example, begins to find the same. Was it not Edward III., King of England, + who said this of our Charles V.: “There never was king who so seldom + put on his armour, and yet never king who gave me so much to do.” He + had reason to think it strange, as an effect of chance more than of + reason. And let those seek out some other to join with them than me, who + will reckon the Kings of Castile and Portugal amongst the warlike and + magnanimous conquerors, because at the distance of twelve hundred leagues + from their lazy abode, by the conduct of their captains, they made + themselves masters of both Indies; of which it has to be known if they + would have had even the courage to go and in person enjoy them. + </p> + <p> + The Emperor Julian said yet further, that a philosopher and a brave man + ought not so much as to breathe; that is to say, not to allow any more to + bodily necessities than what we cannot refuse; keeping the soul and body + still intent and busy about honourable, great, and virtuous things. He was + ashamed if any one in public saw him spit, or sweat (which is said by + some, also, of the Lacedaemonian young men, and which Xenophon says of the + Persian), forasmuch as he conceived that exercise, continual labour, and + sobriety, ought to have dried up all those superfluities. What Seneca says + will not be unfit for this place; which is, that the ancient Romans kept + their youth always standing, and taught them nothing that they were to + learn sitting. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis a generous desire to wish to die usefully and like a man, but + the effect lies not so much in our resolution as in our good fortune; a + thousand have proposed to themselves in battle, either to overcome or to + die, who have failed both in the one and the other, wounds and + imprisonment crossing their design and compelling them to live against + their will. There are diseases that overthrow even our desires, and our + knowledge. Fortune ought not to second the vanity of the Roman legions, + who bound themselves by oath, either to overcome or die: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Victor, Marce Fabi, revertar ex acie: si fallo, Jovem patrem, + Gradivumque Martem aliosque iratos invoco deos.” + + [“I will return, Marcus Fabius, a conqueror, from the fight: + and if I fail, I invoke Father Jove, Mars Gradivus, and the + other angry gods.”—Livy, ii. 45.] +</pre> + <p> + The Portuguese say that in a certain place of their conquest of the + Indies, they met with soldiers who had condemned themselves, with horrible + execrations, to enter into no other composition but either to cause + themselves to be slain, or to remain victorious; and had their heads and + beards shaved in token of this vow. ‘Tis to much purpose for us to + hazard ourselves and to be obstinate: it seems as if blows avoided those + who present themselves too briskly to them, and do not willingly fall upon + those who too willingly seek them, and so defeat them of their design. + Such there have been, who, after having tried all ways, not having been + able with all their endeavour to obtain the favour of dying by the hand of + the enemy, have been constrained, to make good their resolution of + bringing home the honour of victory or of losing their lives, to kill + themselves even in the heat of battle. Of which there are other examples, + but this is one: Philistus, general of the naval army of Dionysius the + younger against the Syracusans, presented them battle which was sharply + disputed, their forces being equal: in this engagement, he had the better + at the first, through his own valour: but the Syracusans drawing about his + gally to environ him, after having done great things in his own person to + disengage himself and hoping for no relief, with his own hand he took away + the life he had so liberally, and in vain, exposed to the enemy. + </p> + <p> + Mule Moloch, king of Fez, who lately won against Sebastian, king of + Portugal, the battle so famous for the death of three kings, and for the + transmission of that great kingdom to the crown of Castile, was extremely + sick when the Portuguese entered in an hostile manner into his dominions; + and from that day forward grew worse and worse, still drawing nearer to + and foreseeing his end; yet never did man better employ his own + sufficiency more vigorously and bravely than he did upon this occasion. He + found himself too weak to undergo the pomp and ceremony of entering. into + his camp, which after their manner is very magnificent, and therefore + resigned that honour to his brother; but this was all of the office of a + general that he resigned; all the rest of greatest utility and necessity + he most, exactly and gloriously performed in his own person; his body + lying upon a couch, but his judgment and courage upright and firm to his + last gasp, and in some sort beyond it. He might have wasted his enemy, + indiscreetly advanced into his dominions, without striking a blow; and it + was a very unhappy occurrence, that for want of a little life or somebody + to substitute in the conduct of this war and the affairs of a troubled + state, he was compelled to seek a doubtful and bloody victory, having + another by a better and surer way already in his hands. Notwithstanding, + he wonderfully managed the continuance of his sickness in consuming the + enemy, and in drawing them far from the assistance of the navy and the + ports they had on the coast of Africa, even till the last day of his life, + which he designedly reserved for this great battle. He arranged his + battalions in a circular form, environing the Portuguese army on every + side, which round circle coming to close in and to draw up close together, + not only hindered them in the conflict (which was very sharp through the + valour of the young invading king), considering that they had every way to + present a front, but prevented their flight after the defeat, so that + finding all passages possessed and shut up by the enemy, they were + constrained to close up together again: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Coacerventurque non solum caede, sed etiam fuga,” + + [“Piled up not only in slaughter but in flight.”] +</pre> + <p> + and there they were slain in heaps upon one another, leaving to the + conqueror a very bloody and entire victory. Dying, he caused himself to be + carried and hurried from place to place where most need was, and passing + along the files, encouraged the captains and soldiers one after another; + but a corner of his main battalions being broken, he was not to be held + from mounting on horseback with his sword in his hand; he did his utmost + to break from those about him, and to rush into the thickest of the + battle, they all the while withholding him, some by the bridle, some by + his robe, and others by his stirrups. This last effort totally overwhelmed + the little life he had left; they again laid him upon his bed; but coming + to himself, and starting as it were out of his swoon, all other faculties + failing, to give his people notice that they were to conceal his death the + most necessary command he had then to give, that his soldiers might not be + discouraged (with the news) he expired with his finger upon his mouth, the + ordinary sign of keeping silence. Who ever lived so long and so far into + death? whoever died so erect, or more like a man? + </p> + <p> + The most extreme degree of courageously treating death, and the most + natural, is to look upon it not only without astonishment but without + care, continuing the wonted course of life even into it, as Cato did, who + entertained himself in study, and went to sleep, having a violent and + bloody death in his heart, and the weapon in his hand with which he was + resolved to despatch himself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0078" id="link2HCH0078"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII——OF POSTING + </h2> + <p> + I have been none of the least able in this exercise, which is proper for + men of my pitch, well-knit and short; but I give it over; it shakes us too + much to continue it long. I was at this moment reading, that King Cyrus, + the better to have news brought him from all parts of the empire, which + was of a vast extent, caused it to be tried how far a horse could go in a + day without baiting, and at that distance appointed men, whose business it + was to have horses always in readiness, to mount those who were despatched + to him; and some say, that this swift way of posting is equal to that of + the flight of cranes. + </p> + <p> + Caesar says, that Lucius Vibullius Rufus, being in great haste to carry + intelligence to Pompey, rode night and day, still taking fresh horses for + the greater diligence and speed; and he himself, as Suetonius reports, + travelled a hundred miles a day in a hired coach; but he was a furious + courier, for where the rivers stopped his way he passed them by swimming, + without turning out of his way to look for either bridge or ford. Tiberius + Nero, going to see his brother Drusus, who was sick in Germany, travelled + two hundred miles in four-and-twenty hours, having three coaches. In the + war of the Romans against King Antiochus, T. Sempronius Gracchus, says + Livy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Per dispositos equos prope incredibili celeritate + ab Amphissa tertio die Pellam pervenit.” + + [“By pre-arranged relays of horses, he, with an almost incredible + speed, rode in three days from Amphissa to Pella.” + —Livy, xxxvii. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + And it appears that they were established posts, and not horses purposely + laid in upon this occasion. + </p> + <p> + Cecina’s invention to send back news to his family was much more + quick, for he took swallows along with him from home, and turned them out + towards their nests when he would send back any news; setting a mark of + some colour upon them to signify his meaning, according to what he and his + people had before agreed upon. + </p> + <p> + At the theatre at Rome masters of families carried pigeons in their bosoms + to which they tied letters when they had a mind to send any orders to + their people at home; and the pigeons were trained up to bring back an + answer. D. Brutus made use of the same device when besieged in Modena, and + others elsewhere have done the same. + </p> + <p> + In Peru they rode post upon men, who took them upon their shoulders in a + certain kind of litters made for that purpose, and ran with such agility + that, in their full speed, the first couriers transferred their load to + the second without making any stop. + </p> + <p> + I understand that the Wallachians, the grand Signior’s couriers, + perform wonderful journeys, by reason they have liberty to dismount the + first person they meet upon the road, giving him their own tired horses; + and that to preserve themselves from being weary, they gird themselves + straight about the middle with a broad girdle; but I could never find any + benefit from this. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0079" id="link2HCH0079"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII——OF ILL MEANS EMPLOYED TO A GOOD END + </h2> + <p> + There is wonderful relation and correspondence in this universal + government of the works of nature, which very well makes it appear that it + is neither accidental nor carried on by divers masters. The diseases and + conditions of our bodies are, in like manner, manifest in states and + governments; kingdoms and republics are founded, flourish, and decay with + age as we do. We are subject to a repletion of humours, useless and + dangerous: whether of those that are good (for even those the physicians + are afraid of; and seeing we have nothing in us that is stable, they say + that a too brisk and vigorous perfection of health must be abated by art, + lest our nature, unable to rest in any certain condition, and not having + whither to rise to mend itself, make too sudden and too disorderly a + retreat; and therefore prescribe wrestlers to purge and bleed, to qualify + that superabundant health), or else a repletion of evil humours, which is + the ordinary cause of sickness. States are very often sick of the like + repletion, and various sorts of purgations have commonly been applied. + Some times a great multitude of families are turned out to clear the + country, who seek out new abodes elsewhere and encroach upon others. After + this manner our ancient Franks came from the remotest part of Germany to + seize upon Gaul, and to drive thence the first inhabitants; so was that + infinite deluge of men made up who came into Italy under the conduct of + Brennus and others; so the Goths and Vandals, and also the people who now + possess Greece, left their native country to go settle elsewhere, where + they might have more room; and there are scarce two or three little + corners in the world that have not felt the effect of such removals. The + Romans by this means erected their colonies; for, perceiving their city to + grow immeasurably populous, they eased it of the most unnecessary people, + and sent them to inhabit and cultivate the lands conquered by them; + sometimes also they purposely maintained wars with some of their enemies, + not only to keep their own men in action, for fear lest idleness, the + mother of corruption, should bring upon them some worse inconvenience: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et patimur longae pacis mala; saevior armis + Luxuria incumbit.” + + [“And we suffer the ills of a long peace; luxury is more pernicious + than war.”—Juvenal, vi. 291.] +</pre> + <p> + but also to serve for a blood-letting to their Republic, and a little to + evaporate the too vehement heat of their youth, to prune and clear the + branches from the stock too luxuriant in wood; and to this end it was that + they maintained so long a war with Carthage. + </p> + <p> + In the treaty of Bretigny, Edward III., king of England, would not, in the + general peace he then made with our king, comprehend the controversy about + the Duchy of Brittany, that he might have a place wherein to discharge + himself of his soldiers, and that the vast number of English he had + brought over to serve him in his expedition here might not return back + into England. And this also was one reason why our King Philip consented + to send his son John upon a foreign expedition, that he might take along + with him a great number of hot young men who were then in his pay. + </p> + <p> + There—are many in our times who talk at this rate, wishing that this + hot emotion that is now amongst us might discharge itself in some + neighbouring war, for fear lest all the peccant humours that now reign in + this politic body of ours may diffuse themselves farther, keep the fever + still in the height, and at last cause our total ruin; and, in truth, a + foreign is much more supportable than a civil war, but I do not believe + that God will favour so unjust a design as to offend and quarrel with + others for our own advantage: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nil mihi tam valde placeat, Rhamnusia virgo, + Quod temere invitis suscipiatur heris.” + + [“Rhamnusian virgin, let nothing ever so greatly please me which is + taken without justice from the unwilling owners” + —Catullus, lxviii. 77.] +</pre> + <p> + And yet the weakness of our condition often pushes us upon the necessity + of making use of ill means to a good end. Lycurgus, the most perfect + legislator that ever was, virtuous and invented this very unjust practice + of making the helots, who were their slaves, drunk by force, to the end + that the Spartans, seeing them so lost and buried in wine, might abhor the + excess of this vice. And yet those were still more to blame who of old + gave leave that criminals, to what sort of death soever condemned, should + be cut up alive by the physicians, that they might make a true discovery + of our inward parts, and build their art upon greater certainty; for, if + we must run into excesses, it is more excusable to do it for the health of + the soul than that of the body; as the Romans trained up the people to + valour and the contempt of dangers and death by those furious spectacles + of gladiators and fencers, who, having to fight it out to the last, cut, + mangled, and killed one another in their presence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quid vesani aliud sibi vult ars impia ludi, + Quid mortes juvenum, quid sanguine pasta voluptas?” + + [“What other end does the impious art of the gladiators propose to + itself, what the slaughter of young men, what pleasure fed with + blood.”—Prudentius, Contra Symmachum, ii. 643.] +</pre> + <p> + and this custom continued till the Emperor Theodosius’ time: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Arripe dilatam tua, dux, in tempora famam, + Quodque patris superest, successor laudis habeto + Nullus in urbe cadat, cujus sit poena voluptas.... + Jam solis contenta feris, infamis arena + Nulla cruentatis homicidia ludat in armis.” + + [“Prince, take the honours delayed for thy reign, and be successor + to thy fathers; henceforth let none at Rome be slain for sport. Let + beasts’ blood stain the infamous arena, and no more homicides be + there acted.”—Prudentius, Contra Symmachum, ii. 643.] +</pre> + <p> + It was, in truth, a wonderful example, and of great advantage for the + training up the people, to see every day before their eyes a hundred; two + hundred, nay, a thousand couples of men armed against one another, cut one + another to pieces with so great a constancy of courage, that they were + never heard to utter so much as one syllable of weakness or commiseration; + never seen to turn their backs, nor so much as to make one cowardly step + to evade a blow, but rather exposed their necks to the adversary’s + sword and presented themselves to receive the stroke; and many of them, + when wounded to death, have sent to ask the spectators if they were + satisfied with their behaviour, before they lay down to die upon the + place. It was not enough for them to fight and to die bravely, but + cheerfully too; insomuch that they were hissed and cursed if they made any + hesitation about receiving their death. The very girls themselves set them + on: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Consurgit ad ictus, + Et, quoties victor ferrum jugulo inserit, illa + Delicias ait esse suas, pectusque jacentis + Virgo modesta jubet converso pollice rumpi.” + + [“The modest virgin is so delighted with the sport, that she + applauds the blow, and when the victor bathes his sword in his + fellow’s throat, she says it is her pleasure, and with turned thumb + orders him to rip up the bosom of the prostrate victim.” + —Prudentius, Contra Symmachum, ii. 617.] +</pre> + <p> + The first Romans only condemned criminals to this example: but they + afterwards employed innocent slaves in the work, and even freemen too, who + sold themselves to this purpose, nay, moreover, senators and knights of + Rome, and also women: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nunc caput in mortem vendunt, et funus arena, + Atque hostem sibi quisque parat, cum bella quiescunt.” + + [“They sell themselves to death and the circus, and, since the wars + are ceased, each for himself a foe prepares.” + —Manilius, Astron., iv. 225.] + + “Hos inter fremitus novosque lusus.... + Stat sexus rudis insciusque ferri, + Et pugnas capit improbus viriles;” + </pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Amidst these tumults and new sports, the tender sex, unskilled in + arms, immodestly engaged in manly fights.” + —Statius, Sylv., i. 6, 51.] +</pre> + <p> + which I should think strange and incredible, if we were not accustomed + every day to see in our own wars many thousands of men of other nations, + for money to stake their blood and their lives in quarrels wherein they + have no manner of concern. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0080" id="link2HCH0080"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV——OF THE ROMAN GRANDEUR + </h2> + <p> + I will only say a word or two of this infinite argument, to show the + simplicity of those who compare the pitiful greatness of these times with + that of Rome. In the seventh book of Cicero’s Familiar Epistles (and + let the grammarians put out that surname of familiar if they please, for + in truth it is not very suitable; and they who, instead of familiar, have + substituted “ad Familiares,” may gather something to justify + them for so doing out of what Suetonius says in the Life of Caesar, that + there was a volume of letters of his “ad Familiares “) there + is one directed to Caesar, then in Gaul, wherein Cicero repeats these + words, which were in the end of another letter that Caesar had written to + him: “As to what concerns Marcus Furius, whom you have recommended + to me, I will make him king of Gaul, and if you would have me advance any + other friend of yours send him to me.” It was no new thing for a + simple citizen of Rome, as Caesar then was, to dispose of kingdoms, for he + took away that of King Deiotarus from him to give it to a gentleman of the + city of Pergamus, called Mithridates; and they who wrote his Life record + several cities sold by him; and Suetonius says, that he had once from King + Ptolemy three millions and six hundred thousand crowns, which was very + like selling him his own kingdom: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tot Galatae, tot Pontus, tot Lydia, nummis.” + + [“So much for Galatia, so much for Pontus, + so much for Lydia.”—Claudius in Eutrop., i. 203.] +</pre> + <p> + Marcus Antonius said, that the greatness of the people of Rome was not so + much seen in what they took, as in what they gave; and, indeed, some ages + before Antonius, they had dethroned one amongst the rest with so wonderful + authority, that in all the Roman history I have not observed anything that + more denotes the height of their power. Antiochus possessed all Egypt, and + was, moreover, ready to conquer Cyprus and other appendages of that + empire: when being upon the progress of his victories, C. Popilius came to + him from the Senate, and at their first meeting refused to take him by the + hand, till he had first read his letters, which after the king had read, + and told him he would consider of them, Popilius made a circle about him + with his cane, saying:—“Return me an answer, that I may carry + it back to the Senate, before thou stirrest out of this circle.” + Antiochus, astonished at the roughness of so positive a command, after a + little pause, replied, “I will obey the Senate’s command.” + Then Popilius saluted him as friend of the Roman people. To have renounced + claim to so great a monarchy, and a course of such successful fortune, + from the effects of three lines in writing! Truly he had reason, as he + afterwards did, to send the Senate word by his ambassadors, that he had + received their order with the same respect as if it had come from the + immortal gods. + </p> + <p> + All the kingdoms that Augustus gained by the right of war, he either + restored to those who had lost them or presented them to strangers. And + Tacitus, in reference to this, speaking of Cogidunus, king of England, + gives us, by a marvellous touch, an instance of that infinite power: the + Romans, says he, were from all antiquity accustomed to leave the kings + they had subdued in possession of their kingdoms under their authority. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut haberent instruments servitutis et reges.” + + [“That they might have even kings to be their slaves.” + —Livy, xlv. 13.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis probable that Solyman, whom we have seen make a gift of Hungary + and other principalities, had therein more respect to this consideration + than to that he was wont to allege, viz., that he was glutted and + overcharged with so many monarchies and so much dominion, as his own + valour and that of his ancestors had acquired. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0081" id="link2HCH0081"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV——NOT TO COUNTERFEIT BEING SICK + </h2> + <p> + There is an epigram in Martial, and one of the very good ones—for he + has of all sorts—where he pleasantly tells the story of Caelius, + who, to avoid making his court to some great men of Rome, to wait their + rising, and to attend them abroad, pretended to have the gout; and the + better to colour this anointed his legs, and had them lapped up in a great + many swathings, and perfectly counterfeited both the gesture and + countenance of a gouty person; till in the end, Fortune did him the + kindness to make him one indeed: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quantum curs potest et ars doloris + Desiit fingere Caelius podagram.” + + [“How great is the power of counterfeiting pain: Caelius has ceased + to feign the gout; he has got it.”—Martial, Ep., vii. 39, 8.] +</pre> + <p> + I think I have read somewhere in Appian a story like this, of one who to + escape the proscriptions of the triumvirs of Rome, and the better to be + concealed from the discovery of those who pursued him, having hidden + himself in a disguise, would yet add this invention, to counterfeit having + but one eye; but when he came to have a little more liberty, and went to + take off the plaster he had a great while worn over his eye, he found he + had totally lost the sight of it indeed, and that it was absolutely gone. + ‘Tis possible that the action of sight was dulled from having been + so long without exercise, and that the optic power was wholly retired into + the other eye: for we evidently perceive that the eye we keep shut sends + some part of its virtue to its fellow, so that it will swell and grow + bigger; and so inaction, with the heat of ligatures and, plasters, might + very well have brought some gouty humour upon the counterfeiter in + Martial. + </p> + <p> + Reading in Froissart the vow of a troop of young English gentlemen, to + keep their left eyes bound up till they had arrived in France and + performed some notable exploit upon us, I have often been tickled with + this thought, that it might have befallen them as it did those others, and + they might have returned with but an eye a-piece to their mistresses, for + whose sakes they had made this ridiculous vow. + </p> + <p> + Mothers have reason to rebuke their children when they counterfeit having + but one eye, squinting, lameness, or any other personal defect; for, + besides that their bodies being then so tender, may be subject to take an + ill bent, fortune, I know not how, sometimes seems to delight in taking us + at our word; and I have heard several examples related of people who have + become really sick, by only feigning to be so. I have always used, whether + on horseback or on foot, to carry a stick in my hand, and even to affect + doing it with an elegant air; many have threatened that this fancy would + one day be turned into necessity: if so, I should be the first of my + family to have the gout. + </p> + <p> + But let us a little lengthen this chapter, and add another anecdote + concerning blindness. Pliny reports of one who, dreaming he was blind, + found himself so indeed in the morning without any preceding infirmity in + his eyes. The force of imagination might assist in this case, as I have + said elsewhere, and Pliny seems to be of the same opinion; but it is more + likely that the motions which the body felt within, of which physicians, + if they please, may find out the cause, taking away his sight, were the + occasion of his dream. + </p> + <p> + Let us add another story, not very improper for this subject, which Seneca + relates in one of his epistles: “You know,” says he, writing + to Lucilius, “that Harpaste, my wife’s fool, is thrown upon me + as an hereditary charge, for I have naturally an aversion to those + monsters; and if I have a mind to laugh at a fool, I need not seek him + far; I can laugh at myself. This fool has suddenly lost her sight: I tell + you a strange, but a very true thing she is not sensible that she is + blind, but eternally importunes her keeper to take her abroad, because she + says the house is dark. That what we laugh at in her, I pray you to + believe, happens to every one of us: no one knows himself to be avaricious + or grasping; and, again, the blind call for a guide, while we stray of our + own accord. I am not ambitious, we say; but a man cannot live otherwise at + Rome; I am not wasteful, but the city requires a great outlay; ‘tis + not my fault if I am choleric—if I have not yet established any + certain course of life: ‘tis the fault of youth. Let us not seek our + disease out of ourselves; ‘tis in us, and planted in our bowels; and + the mere fact that we do not perceive ourselves to be sick, renders us + more hard to be cured. If we do not betimes begin to see to ourselves, + when shall we have provided for so many wounds and evils wherewith we + abound? And yet we have a most sweet and charming medicine in philosophy; + for of all the rest we are sensible of no pleasure till after the cure: + this pleases and heals at once.” This is what Seneca says, that has + carried me from my subject, but there is advantage in the change. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0082" id="link2HCH0082"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVI——OF THUMBS + </h2> + <p> + Tacitus reports, that amongst certain barbarian kings their manner was, + when they would make a firm obligation, to join their right hands close to + one another, and intertwist their thumbs; and when, by force of straining + the blood, it appeared in the ends, they lightly pricked them with some + sharp instrument, and mutually sucked them. + </p> + <p> + Physicians say that the thumbs are the master fingers of the hand, and + that their Latin etymology is derived from “pollere.” The + Greeks called them ‘Avtixeip’, as who should say, another + hand. And it seems that the Latins also sometimes take it in this sense + for the whole hand: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sed nec vocibus excitata blandis, + Molli pollici nec rogata, surgit.” + + [“Neither to be excited by soft words or by the thumb.” + —Mart., xii. 98, 8.] +</pre> + <p> + It was at Rome a signification of favour to depress and turn in the + thumbs: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fautor utroque tuum laudabit pollice ludum:” + + [“Thy patron will applaud thy sport with both thumbs” + —Horace.] +</pre> + <p> + and of disfavour to elevate and thrust them outward: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Converso pollice vulgi, + Quemlibet occidunt populariter.” + + [“The populace, with inverted thumbs, kill all that + come before them.”—Juvenal, iii. 36] +</pre> + <p> + The Romans exempted from war all such as were maimed in the thumbs, as + having no more sufficient strength to hold their weapons. Augustus + confiscated the estate of a Roman knight who had maliciously cut off the + thumbs of two young children he had, to excuse them from going into the + armies; and, before him, the Senate, in the time of the Italic war, had + condemned Caius Vatienus to perpetual imprisonment, and confiscated all + his goods, for having purposely cut off the thumb of his left hand, to + exempt himself from that expedition. Some one, I have forgotten who, + having won a naval battle, cut off the thumbs of all his vanquished + enemies, to render them incapable of fighting and of handling the oar. The + Athenians also caused the thumbs of the AEginatans to be cut off, to + deprive them of the superiority in the art of navigation. + </p> + <p> + In Lacedaemon, pedagogues chastised their scholars by biting their thumbs. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0083" id="link2HCH0083"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVII——COWARDICE THE MOTHER OF CRUELTY + </h2> + <p> + I have often heard it said that cowardice is the mother of cruelty; and I + have found by experience that malicious and inhuman animosity and + fierceness are usually accompanied with feminine weakness. I have seen the + most cruel people, and upon frivolous occasions, apt to cry. Alexander, + the tyrant of Pheres, durst not be a spectator of tragedies in the + theatre, for fear lest his citizens should see him weep at the misfortunes + of Hecuba and Andromache, who himself without pity caused so many people + every day to be murdered. Is it not meanness of spirit that renders them + so pliable to all extremities? Valour, whose effect is only to be + exercised against resistance— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec nisi bellantis gaudet cervice juvenci”— + + [“Nor delights in killing a bull unless he resists.” + —Claudius, Ep. ad Hadrianum, v. 39.] +</pre> + <p> + stops when it sees the enemy at its mercy; but pusillanimity, to say that + it was also in the game, not having dared to meddle in the first act of + danger, takes as its part the second, of blood and massacre. The murders + in victories are commonly performed by the rascality and hangers-on of an + army, and that which causes so many unheard of cruelties in domestic wars + is, that this canaille makes war in imbruing itself up to the elbows in + blood, and ripping up a body that lies prostrate at its feet, having no + sense of any other valour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et lupus, et turpes instant morientibus ursi, + Et quaecunque minor nobilitate fera est:” + + [“Wolves and the filthy bears, and all the baser beasts, + fall upon the dying.”—Ovid, Trist., iii. 5, 35.] +</pre> + <p> + like cowardly dogs, that in the house worry and tear the skins of wild + beasts, they durst not come near in the field. What is it in these times + of ours that makes our quarrels mortal; and that, whereas our fathers had + some degrees of revenge, we now begin with the last in ours, and at the + first meeting nothing is to be said but, kill? What is this but cowardice? + </p> + <p> + Every one is sensible that there is more bravery and disdain in subduing + an enemy, than in cutting, his throat; and in making him yield, than in + putting him to the sword: besides that the appetite of revenge is better + satisfied and pleased because its only aim is to make itself felt: And + this is the reason why we do not fall upon a beast or a stone when they + hurt us, because they are not capable of being sensible of our revenge; + and to kill a man is to save him from the injury and offence we intend + him. And as Bias cried out to a wicked fellow, “I know that sooner + or later thou wilt have thy reward, but I am afraid I shall not see it”; + —[Plutarch, on the Delay in Divine Justice, c. 2.]—and pitied + the Orchomenians that the penitence of Lyciscus for the treason committed + against them, came at a season when there was no one remaining alive of + those who had been interested in the offence, and whom the pleasure of + this penitence should affect: so revenge is to be pitied, when the person + on whom it is executed is deprived of means of suffering under it: for as + the avenger will look on to enjoy the pleasure of his revenge, so the + person on whom he takes revenge should be a spectator too, to be afflicted + and to repent. “He will repent it,” we say, and because we + have given him a pistol-shot through the head, do we imagine he will + repent? On the contrary, if we but observe, we shall find, that he makes + mouths at us in falling, and is so far from penitency, that he does not so + much as repine at us; and we do him the kindest office of life, which is + to make him die insensibly, and soon: we are afterwards to hide ourselves, + and to shift and fly from the officers of justice, who pursue us, whilst + he is at rest. Killing is good to frustrate an offence to come, not to + revenge one that is already past; and more an act of fear than of bravery; + of precaution than of courage; of defence than of enterprise. It is + manifest that by it we lose both the true end of revenge and the care of + our reputation; we are afraid, if he lives he will do us another injury as + great as the first; ‘tis not out of animosity to him, but care of + thyself, that thou gettest rid of him. + </p> + <p> + In the kingdom of Narsingah this expedient would be useless to us, where + not only soldiers, but tradesmen also, end their differences by the sword. + The king never denies the field to any who wish to fight; and when they + are persons of quality; he looks on, rewarding the victor with a chain of + gold,—for which any one who pleases may fight with him again, so + that, by having come off from one combat, he has engaged himself in many. + </p> + <p> + If we thought by virtue to be always masters of our enemies, and to + triumph over them at pleasure, we should be sorry they should escape from + us as they do, by dying: but we have a mind to conquer, more with safety + than honour, and, in our quarrel, more pursue the end than the glory. + </p> + <p> + Asnius Pollio, who, as being a worthy man, was the less to be excused, + committed a like, error, when, having written a libel against Plancus, he + forbore to publish it till he was dead; which is to bite one’s thumb + at a blind man, to rail at one who is deaf, to wound a man who has no + feeling, rather than to run the hazard of his resentment. And it was also + said of him that it was only for hobgoblins to wrestle with the dead. + </p> + <p> + He who stays to see the author die, whose writings he intends to question, + what does he say but that he is weak in his aggressiveness? It was told to + Aristotle that some one had spoken ill of him: “Let him do more,” + said he; “let him whip me too, provided I am not there.” + </p> + <p> + Our fathers contented themselves with revenging an insult with the lie, + the lie with a box of the ear, and so forward; they were valiant enough + not to fear their adversaries, living and provoked we tremble for fear so + soon as we see them on foot. And that this is so, does not our noble + practice of these days, equally to prosecute to death both him that has + offended us and him we have offended, make it out? ‘Tis also a kind + of cowardice that has introduced the custom of having seconds, thirds, and + fourths in our duels; they were formerly duels; they are now skirmishes, + rencontres, and battles. Solitude was, doubtless, terrible to those who + were the first inventors of this practice: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quum in se cuique minimum fiduciae esset,” + </pre> + <p> + for naturally any company whatever is consolatory in danger. Third persons + were formerly called in to prevent disorder and foul play only, and to be + witness of the fortune of the combat; but now they have brought it to this + pass that the witnesses themselves engage; whoever is invited cannot + handsomely stand by as an idle spectator, for fear of being suspected + either of want of affection or of courage. Besides the injustice and + unworthiness of such an action, of engaging other strength and valour in + the protection of your honour than your own, I conceive it a disadvantage + to a brave man, and who wholly relies upon himself, to shuffle his fortune + with that of a second; every one runs hazard enough himself without + hazarding for another, and has enough to do to assure himself in his own + valour for the defence of his life, without intrusting a thing so dear in + a third man’s hand. For, if it be not expressly agreed upon before + to the contrary, ‘tis a combined party of all four, and if your + second be killed, you have two to deal withal, with good reason; and to + say that it is foul play, it is so indeed, as it is, well armed, to attack + a man who has but the hilt of a broken sword in his hand, or, clear and + untouched, a man who is desperately wounded: but if these be advantages + you have got by fighting, you may make use of them without reproach. The + disparity and inequality are only weighed and considered from the + condition of the combatants when they began; as to the rest, you must take + your chance: and though you had, alone, three enemies upon you at once, + your two companions being killed, you have no more wrong done you, than I + should do in a battle, by running a man through whom I should see engaged + with one of our own men, with the like advantage. The nature of society + will have it so that where there is troop against troop, as where our Duke + of Orleans challenged Henry, king of England, a hundred against a hundred; + three hundred against as many, as the Argians against the Lacedaemonians; + three to three, as the Horatii against the Curiatii, the multitude on + either side is considered but as one single man: the hazard, wherever + there is company, being confused and mixed. + </p> + <p> + I have a domestic interest in this discourse; for my brother, the Sieur de + Mattecoulom, was at Rome asked by a gentleman with whom he had no great + acquaintance, and who was a defendant challenged by another, to be his + second; in this duel he found himself matched with a gentleman much better + known to him. (I would fain have an explanation of these rules of honour, + which so often shock and confound those of reason.) After having + despatched his man, seeing the two principals still on foot and sound, he + ran in to disengage his friend. What could he do less? should he have + stood still, and if chance would have ordered it so, have seen him he was + come thither to defend killed before his face? what he had hitherto done + helped not the business; the quarrel was yet undecided. The courtesy that + you can, and certainly ought to shew to your enemy, when you have reduced + him to an ill condition and have a great advantage over him, I do not see + how you can do it, where the interest of another is concerned, where you + are only called in as an assistant, and the quarrel is none of yours: he + could neither be just nor courteous, at the hazard of him he was there to + serve. And he was therefore enlarged from the prisons of Italy at the + speedy and solemn request of our king. Indiscreet nation! we are not + content to make our vices and follies known to the world by report only, + but we must go into foreign countries, there to show them what fools we + are. Put three Frenchmen into the deserts of Libya, they will not live a + month together without fighting; so that you would say this peregrination + were a thing purposely designed to give foreigners the pleasure of our + tragedies, and, for the most part, to such as rejoice and laugh at our + miseries. We go into Italy to learn to fence, and exercise the art at the + expense of our lives before we have learned it; and yet, by the rule of + discipline, we should put the theory before the practice. We discover + ourselves to be but learners: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Primitae juvenum miserae, bellique futuri + Dura rudimenta.” + + [“Wretched the elementary trials of youth, and hard the + rudiments of approaching war.”—Virgil, AEneid, xi. 156.] +</pre> + <p> + I know that fencing is an art very useful to its end (in a duel betwixt + two princes, cousin-germans, in Spain, the elder, says Livy, by his skill + and dexterity in arms, easily overcoming the greater and more awkward + strength of the younger), and of which the knowledge, as I experimentally + know, has inspired some with courage above their natural measure; but this + is not properly valour, because it supports itself upon address, and is + founded upon something besides itself. The honour of combat consists in + the jealousy of courage, and not of skill; and therefore I have known a + friend of mine, famed as a great master in this exercise, in his quarrels + make choice of such arms as might deprive him of this advantage and that + wholly depended upon fortune and assurance, that they might not attribute + his victory rather to his skill in fencing than his valour. When I was + young, gentlemen avoided the reputation of good fencers as injurious to + them, and learned to fence with all imaginable privacy as a trade of + subtlety, derogating from true and natural valour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non schivar non parar, non ritirarsi, + Voglion costor, ne qui destrezza ha parte; + Non danno i colpi or finti, or pieni, or scarsi! + Toglie l’ira a il furor l’uso de l’arte. + Odi le spade orribilmente utarsi + A mezzo il ferro; il pie d’orma non parte, + Sempre a il pie fermo, a la man sempre in moto; + Ne scende taglio in van, ne punta a voto.” + + [“They neither shrank, nor vantage sought of ground, + They travers’d not, nor skipt from part to part, + Their blows were neither false, nor feigned found: + In fight, their rage would let them use no art. + Their swords together clash with dreadful sound, + Their feet stand fast, and neither stir nor start, + They move their hands, steadfast their feet remain. + Nor blow nor foin they strook, or thrust in vain.” + —Tasso, Gierus. Lib., c. 12, st. 55, Fairfax’s translation.] +</pre> + <p> + Butts, tilting, and barriers, the feint of warlike fights, were the + exercises of our forefathers: this other exercise is so much the less + noble, as it only respects a private end; that teaches us to destroy one + another against law and justice, and that every way always produces very + ill effects. It is much more worthy and more becoming to exercise + ourselves in things that strengthen than that weaken our government and + that tend to the public safety and common glory. The consul, Publius + Rutilius, was the first who taught the soldiers to handle their arms with + skill, and joined art with valour, not for the rise of private quarrel, + but for war and the quarrels of the people of Rome; a popular and civil + defence. And besides the example of Caesar, who commanded his men to shoot + chiefly at the face of Pompey’s soldiers in the battle of Pharsalia, + a thousand other commanders have also bethought them to invent new forms + of weapons and new ways of striking and defending, according as occasion + should require. + </p> + <p> + But as Philopoemen condemned wrestling, wherein he excelled, because the + preparatives that were therein employed were differing from those that + appertain to military discipline, to which alone he conceived men of + honour ought wholly to apply themselves; so it seems to me that this + address to which we form our limbs, those writhings and motions young men + are taught in this new school, are not only of no use, but rather contrary + and hurtful to the practice of fight in battle; and also our people + commonly make use of particular weapons, and peculiarly designed for duel; + and I have seen, when it has been disapproved, that a gentleman challenged + to fight with rapier and poignard appeared in the array of a man-at-arms, + and that another should take his cloak instead of his poignard. It is + worthy of consideration that Laches in Plato, speaking of learning to + fence after our manner, says that he never knew any great soldier come out + of that school, especially the masters of it: and, indeed, as to them, our + experience tells as much. As to the rest, we may at least conclude that + they are qualities of no relation or correspondence; and in the education + of the children of his government, Plato interdicts the art of boxing, + introduced by Amycus and Epeius, and that of wrestling, by Antaeus and + Cercyo, because they have another end than to render youth fit for the + service of war and contribute nothing to it. But I see that I have + somewhat strayed from my theme. + </p> + <p> + The Emperor Mauricius, being advertised by dreams and several prognostics, + that one Phocas, an obscure soldier, should kill him, questioned his + son-in-law, Philip, who this Phocas was, and what were his nature, + qualities, and manners; and so soon as Philip, amongst other things, had + told him that he was cowardly and timorous, the emperor immediately + concluded then that he was a murderer and cruel. What is it that makes + tyrants so sanguinary? ‘Tis only the solicitude for their own + safety, and that their faint hearts can furnish them with no other means + of securing themselves than in exterminating those who may hurt them, even + so much as women, for fear of a scratch: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cuncta ferit, dum cuncta timer.” + + [“He strikes at all who fears all.” + —Claudius, in Eutrop., i. 182.] +</pre> + <p> + The first cruelties are exercised for themselves thence springs the fear + of a just revenge, which afterwards produces a series of new cruelties, to + obliterate one another. Philip, king of Macedon, who had so much to do + with the people of Rome, agitated with the horror of so many murders + committed by his order, and doubting of being able to keep himself secure + from so many families, at divers times mortally injured and offended by + him, resolved to seize all the children of those he had caused to be + slain, to despatch them daily one after another, and so to establish his + own repose. + </p> + <p> + Fine matter is never impertinent, however placed; and therefore I, who + more consider the weight and utility of what I deliver than its order and + connection, need not fear in this place to bring in an excellent story, + though it be a little by-the-by; for when they are rich in their own + native beauty, and are able to justify themselves, the least end of a hair + will serve to draw them into my discourse. + </p> + <p> + Amongst others condemned by Philip, had been one Herodicus, prince of + Thessaly; he had, moreover, after him caused his two sons-in-law to be put + to death, each leaving a son very young behind him. Theoxena and Archo + were their two widows. Theoxena, though highly courted to it, could not be + persuaded to marry again: Archo married Poris, the greatest man among the + AEnians, and by him had a great many children, whom she, dying, left at a + very tender age. Theoxena, moved with a maternal charity towards her + nephews, that she might have them under her own eyes and in her own + protection, married Poris: when presently comes a proclamation of the king’s + edict. This brave-spirited mother, suspecting the cruelty of Philip, and + afraid of the insolence of the soldiers towards these charming and tender + children was so bold as to declare hat she would rather kill them with her + own hands than deliver them. Poris, startled at this protestation, + promised her to steal them away, and to transport them to Athens, and + there commit them to the custody of some faithful friends of his. They + took, therefore, the opportunity of an annual feast which was celebrated + at AEnia in honour of AEneas, and thither they went. Having appeared by + day at the public ceremonies and banquet, they stole the night following + into a vessel laid ready for the purpose, to escape away by sea. The wind + proved contrary, and finding themselves in the morning within sight of the + land whence they had launched overnight, and being pursued by the guards + of the port, Poris perceiving this, laboured all he could to make the + mariners do their utmost to escape from the pursuers. But Theoxena, + frantic with affection and revenge, in pursuance of her former resolution, + prepared both weapons and poison, and exposing them before them; “Go + to, my children,” said she, “death is now the only means of + your defence and liberty, and shall administer occasion to the gods to + exercise their sacred justice: these sharp swords, and these full cups, + will open you the way into it; courage, fear nothing! And thou, my son, + who art the eldest, take this steel into thy hand, that thou mayest the + more bravely die.” The children having on one side so powerful a + counsellor, and the enemy at their throats on the other, run all of them + eagerly upon what was next to hand; and, half dead, were thrown into the + sea. Theoxena, proud of having so gloriously provided for the safety of + her children, clasping her arms with great affection about her husband’s + neck. “Let us, my friend,” said she, “follow these boys, + and enjoy the same sepulchre they do”; and so, having embraced, they + threw themselves headlong into the sea; so that the ship was carried—back + without the owners into the harbour. + </p> + <p> + Tyrants, at once both to kill and to make their anger felt, have employed + their capacity to invent the most lingering deaths. They will have their + enemies despatched, but not so fast that they may not have leisure to + taste their vengeance. And therein they are mightily perplexed; for if the + torments they inflict are violent, they are short; if long, they are not + then so painful as they desire; and thus plague themselves in choice of + the greatest cruelty. Of this we have a thousand examples in antiquity, + and I know not whether we, unawares, do not retain some traces of this + barbarity. + </p> + <p> + All that exceeds a simple death appears to me absolute cruelty. Our + justice cannot expect that he, whom the fear of dying by being beheaded or + hanged will not restrain, should be any more awed by the imagination of a + languishing fire, pincers, or the wheel. And I know not, in the meantime, + whether we do not throw them into despair; for in what condition can be + the soul of a man, expecting four-and-twenty hours together to be broken + upon a wheel, or after the old way, nailed to a cross? Josephus relates + that in the time of the war the Romans made in Judaea, happening to pass + by where they had three days before crucified certain Jews, he amongst + them knew three of his own friends, and obtained the favour of having them + taken down, of whom two, he says, died; the third lived a great while + after. + </p> + <p> + Chalcondylas, a writer of good credit, in the records he has left behind + him of things that happened in his time, and near him, tells us, as of the + most excessive torment, of that the Emperor Mohammed very often practised, + of cutting off men in the middle by the diaphragm with one blow of a + scimitar, whence it followed that they died as it were two deaths at once; + and both the one part, says he, and the other, were seen to stir and + strive a great while after in very great torment. I do not think there was + any great suffering in this motion the torments that are the most dreadful + to look on are not always the greatest to endure; and I find those that + other historians relate to have been practised by him upon the Epirot + lords, are more horrid and cruel, where they were condemned to be flayed + alive piecemeal, after so malicious a manner that they continued fifteen + days in that misery. + </p> + <p> + And these other two: Croesus, having caused a gentleman, the favourite of + his brother Pantaleon, to be seized, carried him into a fuller’s + shop, where he caused him to be scratched and carded with the cards and + combs belonging to that trade, till he died. George Sechel, chief + commander of the peasants of Poland, who committed so many mischiefs under + the title of the Crusade, being defeated in battle and taken bu the + Vayvode of Transylvania, was three days bound naked upon the rack exposed + to all sorts of torments that any one could contrive against him: during + which time many other prisoners were kept fasting; in the end, he living + and looking on, they made his beloved brother Lucat, for whom alone he + entreated, taking on himself the blame of all their evil actions drink his + blood, and caused twenty of his most favoured captains to feed upon him, + tearing his flesh in pieces with their teeth, and swallowing the morsels. + The remainder of his body and his bowels, so soon as he was dead, were + boiled, and others of his followers compelled to eat them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0084" id="link2HCH0084"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVIII——ALL THINGS HAVE THEIR SEASON + </h2> + <p> + Such as compare Cato the Censor with the younger Cato, who killed himself, + compare two beautiful natures, much resembling one another. The first + acquired his reputation several ways, and excels in military exploits and + the utility of his public employments; but the virtue of the younger, + besides that it were blasphemy to compare any to it in vigour, was much + more pure and unblemished. For who could absolve that of the Censor from + envy and ambition, having dared to attack the honour of Scipio, a man in + goodness and all other excellent qualities infinitely beyond him or any + other of his time? + </p> + <p> + That which they, report of him, amongst other things, that in his extreme + old age he put himself upon learning the Greek tongue with so greedy an + appetite, as if to quench a long thirst, does not seem to me to make much + for his honour; it being properly what we call falling into second + childhood. All things have their seasons, even good ones, and I may say my + Paternoster out of time; as they accused T. Quintus Flaminius, that being + general of an army, he was seen praying apart in the time of a battle that + he won. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Imponit finem sapiens et rebus honestis.” + + [“The wise man limits even honest things.”—Juvenal, vi. 444] +</pre> + <p> + Eudemonidas, seeing Xenocrates when very old, still very intent upon his + school lectures: “When will this man be wise,” said he, + “if he is yet learning?” And Philopaemen, to those who + extolled King Ptolemy for every day inuring his person to the exercise of + arms: “It is not,” said he, “commendable in a king of + his age to exercise himself in these things; he ought now really to employ + them.” The young are to make their preparations, the old to enjoy + them, say the sages: and the greatest vice they observe in us is that our + desires incessantly grow young again; we are always re-beginning to live. + </p> + <p> + Our studies and desires should sometime be sensible of age; yet we have + one foot in the grave and still our appetites and pursuits spring every + day anew within us: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tu secanda marmora + Locas sub ipsum funus, et, sepulcri + Immemor, struis domos.” + + [“You against the time of death have marble cut for use, and, + forgetful of the tomb, build houses.”—Horace, Od., ii. 18, 17.] +</pre> + <p> + The longest of my designs is not of above a year’s extent; I think + of nothing now but ending; rid myself of all new hopes and enterprises; + take my last leave of every place I depart from, and every day dispossess + myself of what I have. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Olim jam nec perit quicquam mihi, nec acquiritur.... + plus superest viatici quam viae.” + + [“Henceforward I will neither lose, nor expect to get: I have more + wherewith to defray my journey, than I have way to go.” (Or): + “Hitherto nothing of me has been lost or gained; more remains to pay + the way than there is way.”—Seneca, Ep., 77. (The sense seems to + be that so far he had met his expenses, but that for the future he + was likely to have more than he required.)] + + “Vixi, et, quem dederat cursum fortuna, peregi.” + + [“I have lived and finished the career Fortune placed before me.” + —AEneid, iv. 653.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis indeed the only comfort I find in my old age, that it mortifies + in me several cares and desires wherewith my life has been disturbed; the + care how the world goes, the care of riches, of grandeur, of knowledge, of + health, of myself. There are men who are learning to speak at a time when + they should learn to be silent for ever. A man may always study, but he + must not always go to school what a contemptible thing is an old + Abecedarian!—[Seneca, Ep. 36] + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Diversos diversa juvant; non omnibus annis + Omnia conveniunt.” + + [“Various things delight various men; all things are not + for all ages.”—Gall., Eleg., i. 104.] +</pre> + <p> + If we must study, let us study what is suitable to our present condition, + that we may answer as he did, who being asked to what end he studied in + his decrepit age, “that I may go out better,” said he, “and + at greater ease.” Such a study was that of the younger Cato, feeling + his end approach, and which he met with in Plato’s Discourse of the + Eternity of the Soul: not, as we are to believe, that he was not long + before furnished with all sorts of provision for such a departure; for of + assurance, an established will and instruction, he had more than Plato had + in all his writings; his knowledge and courage were in this respect above + philosophy; he applied himself to this study, not for the service of his + death; but, as a man whose sleeps were never disturbed in the importance + of such a deliberation, he also, without choice or change, continued his + studies with the other accustomary actions of his life. The night that he + was denied the praetorship he spent in play; that wherein he was to die he + spent in reading. The loss either of life or of office was all one to him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0085" id="link2HCH0085"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIX——OF VIRTUE + </h2> + <p> + I find by experience, that there is a good deal to be said betwixt the + flights and emotions of the soul or a resolute and constant habit; and + very well perceive that there is nothing we may not do, nay, even to the + surpassing the Divinity itself, says a certain person, forasmuch as it is + more to render a man’s self impassible by his own study and + industry, than to be so by his natural condition; and even to be able to + conjoin to man’s imbecility and frailty a God-like resolution and + assurance; but it is by fits and starts; and in the lives of those heroes + of times past there are sometimes miraculous impulses, and that seem + infinitely to exceed our natural force; but they are indeed only impulses: + and ‘tis hard to believe, that these so elevated qualities in a man + can so thoroughly tinct and imbue the soul that they should become + ordinary, and, as it were, natural in him. It accidentally happens even to + us, who are but abortive births of men, sometimes to launch our souls, + when roused by the discourses or examples of others, much beyond their + ordinary stretch; but ‘tis a kind of passion which pushes and + agitates them, and in some sort ravishes them from themselves: but, this + perturbation once overcome, we see that they insensibly flag and slacken + of themselves, if not to the lowest degree, at least so as to be no more + the same; insomuch as that upon every trivial occasion, the losing of a + bird, or the breaking, of a glass, we suffer ourselves to be moved little + less than one of the common people. I am of opinion, that order, + moderation, and constancy excepted, all things are to be done by a man + that is very imperfect and defective in general. Therefore it is, say the + Sages, that to make a right judgment of a man, you are chiefly to pry into + his common actions, and surprise him in his everyday habit. + </p> + <p> + Pyrrho, he who erected so pleasant a knowledge upon ignorance, + endeavoured, as all the rest who were really philosophers did, to make his + life correspond with his doctrine. And because he maintained the + imbecility of human judgment to be so extreme as to be incapable of any + choice or inclination, and would have it perpetually wavering and + suspended, considering and receiving all things as indifferent, ‘tis + said, that he always comforted himself after the same manner and + countenance: if he had begun a discourse, he would always end what he had + to say, though the person he was speaking to had gone away: if he walked, + he never stopped for any impediment that stood in his way, being preserved + from precipices, collision with carts, and other like accidents, by the + care of his friends: for, to fear or to avoid anything, had been to shock + his own propositions, which deprived the senses themselves of all election + and certainty. Sometimes he suffered incision and cauteries with so great + constancy as never to be seen so much as to wince. ‘Tis something to + bring the soul to these imaginations; ‘tis more to join the effects, + and yet not impossible; but to conjoin them with such perseverance and + constancy as to make them habitual, is certainly, in attempts so remote + from the common usage, almost incredible to be done. Therefore it was, + that being sometime taken in his house sharply scolding with his sister, + and being reproached that he therein transgressed his own rules of + indifference: “What!” said he, “must this bit of a woman + also serve for a testimony to my rules?” Another time, being seen to + defend himself against a dog: “It is,” said he, “very + hard totally to put off man; and we must endeavour and force ourselves to + resist and encounter things, first by effects, but at least by reason and + argument.” + </p> + <p> + About seven or eight years since, a husbandman yet living, but two leagues + from my house, having long been tormented with his wife’s jealousy, + coming one day home from his work, and she welcoming him with her + accustomed railing, entered into so great fury that with a sickle he had + yet in his hand, he totally cut off all those parts that she was jealous + of and threw them in her face. And, ‘tis said that a young gentleman + of our nation, brisk and amorous, having by his perseverance at last + mollified the heart of a fair mistress, enraged, that upon the point of + fruition he found himself unable to perform, and that, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec viriliter + Iners senile penis extulit caput.” + + [(The 19th or 20th century translators leave this phrase + untranslated and with no explanation. D.W.) + —Tibullus, Priap. Carm., 84.] +</pre> + <p> + as soon as ever he came home he deprived himself of the rebellious member, + and sent it to his mistress, a cruel and bloody victim for the expiation + of his offence. If this had been done upon mature consideration, and upon + the account of religion, as the priests of Cybele did, what should we say + of so high an action? + </p> + <p> + A few days since, at Bergerac, five leagues from my house, up the river + Dordogne, a woman having overnight been beaten and abused by her husband, + a choleric ill-conditioned fellow, resolved to escape from his ill-usage + at the price of her life; and going so soon as she was up the next morning + to visit her neighbours, as she was wont to do, and having let some words + fall in recommendation of her affairs, she took a sister of hers by the + hand, and led her to the bridge; whither being come, and having taken + leave of her, in jest as it were, without any manner of alteration in her + countenance, she threw herself headlong from the top into the river, and + was there drowned. That which is the most remarkable in this is, that this + resolution was a whole night forming in her head. + </p> + <p> + It is quite another thing with the Indian women for it being the custom + there for the men to have many wives, and the best beloved of them to kill + herself at her husband’s decease, every one of them makes it the + business of her whole life to obtain this privilege and gain this + advantage over her companions; and the good offices they do their husbands + aim at no other recompense but to be preferred in accompanying him in + death: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ubi mortifero jacta est fax ultima lecto, + Uxorum fusis stat pia turba comis + Et certamen habent lethi, quae viva sequatur + Conjugium: pudor est non licuisse mori. + Ardent victrices, et flammae pectora praebent, + Imponuntque suis ora perusta viris.” + + [“For when they threw the torch on the funeral bed, the pious wives + with hair dishevelled, stand around striving, which, living, shall + accompany her spouse; and are ashamed that they may not die; they + who are preferred expose their breasts to the flame, and they lay + their scorched lips on those of their husbands.” + —Propertius, iii. 13, 17.] +</pre> + <p> + A certain author of our times reports that he has seen in those Oriental + nations this custom in practice, that not only the wives bury themselves + with their husbands, but even the slaves he has enjoyed also; which is + done after this manner: The husband being dead, the widow may if she will + (but few will) demand two or three months’ respite wherein to order + her affairs. The day being come, she mounts on horseback, dressed as fine + as at her wedding, and with a cheerful countenance says she is going to + sleep with her spouse, holding a looking-glass in her left hand and an + arrow in the other. Being thus conducted in pomp, accompanied with her + kindred and friends and a great concourse of people in great joy, she is + at last brought to the public place appointed for such spectacles: this is + a great space, in the midst of which is a pit full of wood, and adjoining + to it a mount raised four or five steps, upon which she is brought and + served with a magnificent repast; which being done, she falls to dancing + and singing, and gives order, when she thinks fit, to kindle the fire. + This being done, she descends, and taking the nearest of her husband’s + relations by the hand, they walk to the river close by, where she strips + herself stark naked, and having distributed her clothes and jewels to her + friends, plunges herself into the water, as if there to cleanse herself + from her sins; coming out thence, she wraps herself in a yellow linen of + five-and-twenty ells long, and again giving her hand to this kinsman of + her husband’s, they return back to the mount, where she makes a + speech to the people, and recommends her children to them, if she have + any. Betwixt the pit and the mount there is commonly a curtain drawn to + screen the burning furnace from their sight, which some of them, to + manifest the greater courage, forbid. Having ended what she has to say, a + woman presents her with a vessel of oil, wherewith to anoint her head and + her whole body, which when done with she throws into the fire, and in an + instant precipitates herself after. Immediately, the people throw a good + many billets and logs upon her that she may not be long in dying, and + convert all their joy into sorrow and mourning. If they are persons of + meaner condition, the body of the defunct is carried to the place of + sepulture, and there placed sitting, the widow kneeling before him, + embracing the dead body; and they continue in this posture whilst the + people build a wall about them, which so soon as it is raised to the + height of the woman’s shoulders, one of her relations comes behind + her, and taking hold of her head, twists her neck; so soon as she is dead, + the wall is presently raised up, and closed, and there they remain + entombed. + </p> + <p> + There was, in this same country, something like this in their + gymnosophists; for not by constraint of others nor by the impetuosity of a + sudden humour, but by the express profession of their order, their custom + was, as soon as they arrived at a certain age, or that they saw themselves + threatened by any disease, to cause a funeral pile to be erected for them, + and on the top a stately bed, where, after having joyfully feasted their + friends and acquaintance, they laid them down with so great resolution, + that fire being applied to it, they were never seen to stir either hand or + foot; and after this manner, one of them, Calanus by name; expired in the + presence of the whole army of Alexander the Great. And he was neither + reputed holy nor happy amongst them who did not thus destroy himself, + dismissing his soul purged and purified by the fire, after having consumed + all that was earthly and mortal. This constant premeditation of the whole + life is that which makes the wonder. + </p> + <p> + Amongst our other controversies, that of ‘Fatum’ has also + crept in; and to tie things to come, and even our own wills, to a certain + and inevitable necessity, we are yet upon this argument of time past: + “Since God foresees that all things shall so fall out, as doubtless + He does, it must then necessarily follow, that they must so fall out”: + to which our masters reply: “that the seeing anything come to pass, + as we do, and as God Himself also does (for all things being present with + him, He rather sees, than foresees), is not to compel an event: that is, + we see because things do fall out, but things do not fall out because we + see: events cause knowledge, but knowledge does not cause events. That + which we see happen, does happen; but it might have happened otherwise: + and God, in the catalogue of the causes of events which He has in His + prescience, has also those which we call accidental and voluntary, + depending upon the liberty. He has given our free will, and knows that we + do amiss because we would do so.” + </p> + <p> + I have seen a great many commanders encourage their soldiers with this + fatal necessity; for if our time be limited to a certain hour, neither the + enemies’ shot nor our own boldness, nor our flight and cowardice, + can either shorten or prolong our lives. This is easily said, but see who + will be so easily persuaded; and if it be so that a strong and lively + faith draws along with it actions of the same kind, certainly this faith + we so much brag of, is very light in this age of ours, unless the contempt + it has of works makes it disdain their company. So it is, that to this + very purpose the Sire de Joinville, as credible a witness as any other + whatever, tells us of the Bedouins, a nation amongst the Saracens, with + whom the king St. Louis had to do in the Holy Land, that they, in their + religion, so firmly believed the number of every man’s days to be + from all eternity prefixed and set down by an inevitable decree, that they + went naked to the wars, excepting a Turkish sword, and their bodies only + covered with a white linen cloth: and for the greatest curse they could + invent when they were angry, this was always in their mouths: “Accursed + be thou, as he that arms himself for fear of death.” This is a + testimony of faith very much beyond ours. And of this sort is that also + that two friars of Florence gave in our fathers’ days. Being engaged + in some controversy of learning, they agreed to go both of them into the + fire in the sight of all the people, each for the verification of his + argument, and all things were already prepared, and the thing just upon + the point of execution, when it was interrupted by an unexpected accident.—[7th + April 1498. Savonarola issued the challenge. After many delays from + demands and counter-demands by each side as to the details of the fire, + both parties found that they had important business to transact in another + county—both just barely escaped assassination at the hands of the + disappointed spectators. D.W.] + </p> + <p> + A young Turkish lord, having performed a notable exploit in his own person + in the sight of both armies, that of Amurath and that of Huniades, ready + to join battle, being asked by Amurath, what in such tender and + inexperienced years (for it was his first sally into arms) had inspired + him with so brave a courage, replied, that his chief tutor for valour was + a hare. “For being,” said he, “one day a hunting, I + found a hare sitting, and though I had a brace of excellent greyhounds + with me, yet methought it would be best for sureness to make use of my + bow; for she sat very fair. I then fell to letting fly my arrows, and shot + forty that I had in my quiver, not only without hurting, but without + starting her from her form. At last I slipped my dogs after her, but to no + more purpose than I had shot: by which I understood that she had been + secured by her destiny; and, that neither darts nor swords can wound + without the permission of fate, which we can neither hasten nor defer.” + This story may serve, by the way, to let us see how flexible our reason is + to all sorts of images. + </p> + <p> + A person of great years, name, dignity, and learning boasted to me that he + had been induced to a certain very important change in his faith by a + strange and whimsical incitation, and one otherwise so inadequate, that I + thought it much stronger, taken the contrary way: he called it a miracle, + and so I look upon it, but in a different sense. The Turkish historians + say, that the persuasion those of their nation have imprinted in them of + the fatal and unalterable prescription of their days, manifestly conduces + to the giving them great assurance in dangers. And I know a great prince + who makes very fortunate use of it, whether it be that he really believes + it, or that he makes it his excuse for so wonderfully hazarding himself: + let us hope Fortune may not be too soon weary of her favour to him. + </p> + <p> + There has not happened in our memory a more admirable effect of resolution + than in those two who conspired the death of the Prince of Orange. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The first of these was Jehan de Jaureguy, who wounded the Prince + 18th March 1582; the second, by whom the Prince was killed 10th July + 1584., was Balthazar Gerard.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis marvellous how the second who executed it, could ever be + persuaded into an attempt, wherein his companion, who had done his utmost, + had had so ill success; and after the same method, and with the same arms, + to go attack a lord, armed with so recent a late lesson of distrust, + powerful in followers and bodily strength, in his own hall, amidst his + guards, and in a city wholly at his devotion. Assuredly, he employed a + very resolute arm and a courage enflamed with furious passion. A poignard + is surer for striking home; but by reason that more motion and force of + hand is required than with a pistol, the blow is more subject to be put by + or hindered. That this man did not run to a certain death, I make no great + doubt; for the hopes any one could flatter him withal, could not find + place in any sober understanding, and the conduct of his exploit + sufficiently manifests that he had no want of that, no more than of + courage. The motives of so powerful a persuasion may be diverse, for our + fancy does what it will, both with itself and us. The execution that was + done near Orleans—[The murder of the Duke of Guise by Poltrot.]—was + nothing like this; there was in this more of chance than vigour; the wound + was not mortal, if fortune had not made it so, and to attempt to shoot on + horseback, and at a great distance, by one whose body was in motion from + the motion of his horse, was the attempt of a man who had rather miss his + blow than fail of saving himself. This was apparent from what followed; + for he was so astonished and stupefied with the thought of so high an + execution, that he totally lost his judgment both to find his way to + flight and to govern his tongue. What needed he to have done more than to + fly back to his friends across the river? ‘Tis what I have done in + less dangers, and that I think of very little hazard, how broad soever the + river may be, provided your horse have easy going in, and that you see on + the other side easy landing according to the stream. The other, —[Balthazar + Gerard.]—when they pronounced his dreadful sentence, “I was + prepared for this,” said he, “beforehand, and I will make you + wonder at my patience.” + </p> + <p> + The Assassins, a nation bordering upon Phoenicia, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Or in Egypt, Syria, and Persia. Derivation of ‘assassin’ is from + Hassan-ben-Saba, one of their early leaders, and they had an + existence for some centuries. They are classed among the secret + societies of the Middle Ages. D.W.] +</pre> + <p> + are reputed amongst the Mohammedans a people of very great devotion and + purity of manners. They hold that the nearest way to gain Paradise is to + kill some one of a contrary religion; which is the reason they have often + been seen, being but one or two, and without armour, to attempt against + powerful enemies, at the price of a certain death and without any + consideration of their own danger. So was our Raymond, Count of Tripoli, + assassinated (which word is derived from their name) in the heart of his + city,—[in 1151]—during our enterprises of the Holy War: and + likewise Conrad, Marquis of Monteferrat, the murderers at their execution + bearing themselves with great pride and glory that they had performed so + brave an exploit. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0086" id="link2HCH0086"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXX——OF A MONSTROUS CHILD + </h2> + <p> + This story shall go by itself; for I will leave it to physicians to + discourse of. Two days ago I saw a child that two men and a nurse, who + said they were the father, the uncle, and the aunt of it, carried about to + get money by showing it, by reason it was so strange a creature. It was, + as to all the rest, of a common form, and could stand upon its feet; could + go and gabble much like other children of the same age; it had never as + yet taken any other nourishment but from the nurse’s breasts, and + what, in my presence, they tried to put into the mouth of it, it only + chewed a little and spat it out again without swallowing; the cry of it + seemed indeed a little odd and particular, and it was just fourteen months + old. Under the breast it was joined to another child, but without a head, + and which had the spine of the back without motion, the rest entire; for + though it had one arm shorter than the other, it had been broken by + accident at their birth; they were joined breast to breast, and as if a + lesser child sought to throw its arms about the neck of one something + bigger. The juncture and thickness of the place where they were conjoined + was not above four fingers, or thereabouts, so that if you thrust up the + imperfect child you might see the navel of the other below it, and the + joining was betwixt the paps and the navel. The navel of the imperfect + child could not be seen, but all the rest of the belly, so that all that + was not joined of the imperfect one, as arms, buttocks, thighs, and legs, + hung dangling upon the other, and might reach to the mid-leg. The nurse, + moreover, told us that it urined at both bodies, and that the members of + the other were nourished, sensible, and in the same plight with that she + gave suck to, excepting that they were shorter and less. This double body + and several limbs relating to one head might be interpreted a favourable + prognostic to the king,—[Henry III.]—of maintaining these + various parts of our state under the union of his laws; but lest the event + should prove otherwise, ‘tis better to let it alone, for in things + already past there needs no divination, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut quum facts sunt, tum ad conjecturam + aliqui interpretatione revocentur;” + + [“So as when they are come to pass, they may then by some + interpretation be recalled to conjecture” + —Cicero, De Divin., ii. 31.] +</pre> + <p> + as ‘tis said of Epimenides, that he always prophesied backward. + </p> + <p> + I have just seen a herdsman in Medoc, of about thirty years of age, who + has no sign of any genital parts; he has three holes by which he + incessantly voids his water; he is bearded, has desire, and seeks contact + with women. + </p> + <p> + Those that we call monsters are not so to God, who sees in the immensity + of His work the infinite forms that He has comprehended therein; and it is + to be believed that this figure which astonishes us has relation to some + other figure of the same kind unknown to man. From His all wisdom nothing + but good, common; and regular proceeds; but we do not discern the + disposition and relation: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quod crebro videt, non miratur, etiamsi, + cur fiat, nescit. Quod ante non vidit, id, + si evenerit, ostentum esse censet.” + + [“What he often sees he does not admire, though he be ignorant how + it comes to pass. When a thing happens he never saw before, he + thinks that it is a portent.”—Cicero, De Divin., ii. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + Whatever falls out contrary to custom we say is contrary to nature, but + nothing, whatever it be, is contrary to her. Let, therefore, this + universal and natural reason expel the error and astonishment that novelty + brings along with it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0087" id="link2HCH0087"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXI——OF ANGER + </h2> + <p> + Plutarch is admirable throughout, but especially where he judges of human + actions. What fine things does he say in the comparison of Lycurgus and + Numa upon the subject of our great folly in abandoning children to the + care and government of their fathers? The most of our civil governments, + as Aristotle says, “leave, after the manner of the Cyclopes, to + every one the ordering of their wives and children, according to their own + foolish and indiscreet fancy; and the Lacedaemonian and Cretan are almost + the only governments that have committed the education of children to the + laws. Who does not see that in a state all depends upon their nurture and + bringing up? and yet they are left to the mercy of parents, let them be as + foolish and ill-conditioned as they may, without any manner of discretion.” + </p> + <p> + Amongst other things, how often have I, as I have passed along our + streets, had a good mind to get up a farce, to revenge the poor boys whom + I have seen hided, knocked down, and miserably beaten by some father or + mother, when in their fury and mad with rage? You shall see them come out + with fire and fury sparkling in their eyes: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rabie jecur incendente, feruntur, + Praecipites; ut saxa jugis abrupta, quibus mons + Subtrahitur, clivoque latus pendente recedit,” + + [“They are headlong borne with burning fury as great stones torn + from the mountains, by which the steep sides are left naked and + bare.”—Juvenal, Sat., vi. 647.] +</pre> + <p> + (and according to Hippocrates, the most dangerous maladies are they that + disfigure the countenance), with a roaring and terrible voice, very often + against those that are but newly come from nurse, and there they are lamed + and spoiled with blows, whilst our justice takes no cognisance of it, as + if these maims and dislocations were not executed upon members of our + commonwealth: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Gratum est, quod patria; civem populoque dedisti, + Si facis, ut patrix sit idoneus, utilis agris, + Utilis et bellorum et pacis rebus agendis.” + + [“It is well when to thy country and the people thou hast given a + citizen, provided thou make fit for his country’s service; useful to + till the earth, useful in affairs of war and peace” + —Juvenal, Sat., xiv. 70.] +</pre> + <p> + There is no passion that so much transports men from their right judgment + as anger. No one would demur upon punishing a judge with death who should + condemn a criminal on the account of his own choler; why, then, should + fathers and pedagogues be any more allowed to whip and chastise children + in their anger? ‘Tis then no longer correction, but revenge. + Chastisement is instead of physic to children; and would we endure a + physician who should be animated against and enraged at his patient? + </p> + <p> + We ourselves, to do well, should never lay a hand upon our servants whilst + our anger lasts. When the pulse beats, and we feel emotion in ourselves, + let us defer the business; things will indeed appear otherwise to us when + we are calm and cool. ‘Tis passion that then commands, ‘tis + passion that speaks, and not we. Faults seen through passion appear much + greater to us than they really are, as bodies do when seen through a mist. + He who is hungry uses meat; but he who will make use of chastisement + should have neither hunger nor thirst to it. And, moreover, chastisements + that are inflicted with weight and discretion are much better received and + with greater benefit by him who suffers; otherwise, he will not think + himself justly condemned by a man transported with anger and fury, and + will allege his master’s excessive passion, his inflamed + countenance, his unwonted oaths, his emotion and precipitous rashness, for + his own justification: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ora tument ira, nigrescunt sanguine venae, + Lumina Gorgoneo saevius igne micant.” + + [“Their faces swell, their veins grow black with rage, and their + eyes sparkle with Gorgonian fire.”—Ovid, De Art. Amandi, iii. 503.] +</pre> + <p> + Suetonius reports that Caius Rabirius having been condemned by Caesar, the + thing that most prevailed upon the people (to whom he had appealed) to + determine the cause in his favour, was the animosity and vehemence that + Caesar had manifested in that sentence. + </p> + <p> + Saying is a different thing from doing; we are to consider the sermon + apart and the preacher apart. These men lent themselves to a pretty + business who in our times have attempted to shake the truth of our Church + by the vices of her ministers; she extracts her testimony elsewhere; + ‘tis a foolish way of arguing and that would throw all things into + confusion. A man whose morals are good may have false opinions, and a + wicked man may preach truth, even though he believe it not himself. + ‘Tis doubtless a fine harmony when doing and saying go together; and + I will not deny but that saying, when the actions follow, is not of + greater authority and efficacy, as Eudamidas said, hearing a philosopher + talk of military affairs: “These things are finely said, but he who + speaks them is not to be believed for his ears have never been used to the + sound of the trumpet.” And Cleomenes, hearing an orator declaiming + upon valour, burst out into laughter, at which the other being angry; + “I should,” said he to him, “do the same if it were a + swallow that spoke of this subject; but if it were an eagle I should + willingly hear him.” I perceive, methinks, in the writings of the + ancients, that he who speaks what he thinks, strikes much more home than + he who only feigns. Hear Cicero speak of the love of liberty: hear Brutus + speak of it, the mere written words of this man sound as if he would + purchase it at the price of his life. Let Cicero, the father of eloquence, + treat of the contempt of death; let Seneca do the same: the first + languishingly drawls it out so you perceive he would make you resolve upon + a thing on which he is not resolved himself; he inspires you not with + courage, for he himself has none; the other animates and inflames you. I + never read an author, even of those who treat of virtue and of actions, + that I do not curiously inquire what kind of a man he was himself; for the + Ephori at Sparta, seeing a dissolute fellow propose a wholesome advice to + the people, commanded him to hold his peace, and entreated a virtuous man + to attribute to himself the invention, and to propose it. Plutarch’s + writings, if well understood, sufficiently bespeak their author, and so + that I think I know him even into his soul; and yet I could wish that we + had some fuller account of his life. And I am thus far wandered from my + subject, upon the account of the obligation I have to Aulus Gellius, for + having left us in writing this story of his manners, that brings me back + to my subject of anger. A slave of his, a vicious, ill-conditioned fellow, + but who had the precepts of philosophy often ringing in his ears, having + for some offence of his been stript by Plutarch’s command, whilst he + was being whipped, muttered at first, that it was without cause and that + he had done nothing to deserve it; but at last falling in good earnest to + exclaim against and rail at his master, he reproached him that he was no + philosopher, as he had boasted himself to be: that he had often heard him + say it was indecent to be angry, nay, had written a book to that purpose; + and that the causing him to be so cruelly beaten, in the height of his + rage, totally gave the lie to all his writings; to which Plutarch calmly + and coldly answered, “How, ruffian,” said he, “by what + dost thou judge that I am now angry? Does either my face, my colour, or my + voice give any manifestation of my being moved? I do not think my eyes + look fierce, that my countenance appears troubled, or that my voice is + dreadful: am I red, do I foam, does any word escape my lips I ought to + repent? Do I start? Do I tremble with fury? For those, I tell thee, are + the true signs of anger.” And so, turning to the fellow that was + whipping him, “Ply on thy work,” said he, “whilst this + gentleman and I dispute.” This is his story. + </p> + <p> + Archytas Tarentinus, returning from a war wherein he had been + captain-general, found all things in his house in very great disorder, and + his lands quite out of tillage, through the ill husbandry of his receiver, + and having caused him to be called to him; “Go,” said he, + “if I were not in anger I would soundly drub your sides.” + Plato likewise, being highly offended with one of his slaves, gave + Speusippus order to chastise him, excusing himself from doing it because + he was in anger. And Carillus, a Lacedaemonian, to a Helot, who carried + himself insolently towards him: “By the gods,” said he, + “if I was not angry, I would immediately cause thee to be put to + death.” + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis a passion that is pleased with and flatters itself. How often, + being moved under a false cause, if the person offending makes a good + defence and presents us with a just excuse, are we angry against truth and + innocence itself? In proof of which, I remember a marvellous example of + antiquity. + </p> + <p> + Piso, otherwise a man of very eminent virtue, being moved against a + soldier of his, for that returning alone from forage he could give him no + account where he had left a companion of his, took it for granted that he + had killed him, and presently condemned him to death. He was no sooner + mounted upon the gibbet, but, behold, his wandering companion arrives, at + which all the army were exceedingly glad, and after many embraces of the + two comrades, the hangman carried both the one and the other into Piso’s + presence, all those present believing it would be a great pleasure even to + himself; but it proved quite contrary; for through shame and spite, his + fury, which was not yet cool, redoubled; and by a subtlety which his + passion suddenly suggested to him, he made three criminals for having + found one innocent, and caused them all to be despatched: the first + soldier, because sentence had passed upon him; the second, who had lost + his way, because he was the cause of his companion’s death; and the + hangman, for not having obeyed the order which had been given him. Such as + have had to do with testy and obstinate women, may have experimented into + what a rage it puts them to oppose silence and coldness to their fury, and + that a man disdains to nourish their anger. The orator Celius was + wonderfully choleric by nature; and to one who supped in his company, a + man of a gentle and sweet conversation, and who, that he might not move + him, approved and consented to all he said; he, impatient that his + ill-humour should thus spend itself without aliment: “For the love + of the gods deny me something,” said he, “that we may be two.” + Women, in like manner, are only angry that others may be angry again, in + imitation of the laws of love. Phocion, to one who interrupted his + speaking by injurious and very opprobrious words, made no other return + than silence, and to give him full liberty and leisure to vent his spleen; + which he having accordingly done, and the storm blown over, without any + mention of this disturbance, he proceeded in his discourse where he had + left off before. No answer can nettle a man like such a contempt. + </p> + <p> + Of the most choleric man in France (anger is always an imperfection, but + more excusable in, a soldier, for in that trade it cannot sometimes be + avoided) I often say, that he is the most patient man that I know, and the + most discreet in bridling his passions; which rise in him with so great + violence and fury, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Magno veluti cum flamma sonore + Virgea suggeritur costis undantis ahem, + Exsultantque aatu latices, furit intus aquae vis. + Fumidus atque alte spumis exuberat amnis, + Nec jam se capit unda; volat vapor ater ad auras;” + + [“When with loud crackling noise, a fire of sticks is applied to the + boiling caldron’s side, by the heat in frisky bells the liquor + dances; within the water rages, and high the smoky fluid in foam + overflows. Nor can the wave now contain itself; the black steam + flies all abroad.”—AEneid, vii. 462.] +</pre> + <p> + that he must of necessity cruelly constrain himself to moderate it. And + for my part, I know no passion which I could with so much violence to + myself attempt to cover and conceal; I would not set wisdom at so high a + price; and do not so much consider what a man does, as how much it costs + him to do no worse. + </p> + <p> + Another boasted himself to me of the regularity and gentleness of his + manners, which are to truth very singular; to whom I replied, that it was + indeed something, especially m persons of so eminent a quality as himself, + upon whom every one had their eyes, to present himself always + well-tempered to the world; but that the principal thing was to make + provision for within and for himself; and that it was not in my opinion + very well to order his business outwardly well, and to grate himself + within, which I was afraid he did, in putting on and maintaining this mask + and external appearance. + </p> + <p> + A man incorporates anger by concealing it, as Diogenes told Demosthenes, + who, for fear of being seen in a tavern, withdrew himself the more + retiredly into it: “The more you retire backward, the farther you + enter in.” I would rather advise that a man should give his servant + a box of the ear a little unseasonably, than rack his fancy to present + this grave and composed countenance; and had rather discover my passions + than brood over them at my own expense; they grow less inventing and + manifesting themselves; and ‘tis much better their point should + wound others without, than be turned towards ourselves within: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnia vitia in aperto leviora sunt: et tunc perniciosissima, + quum simulata sanitate subsident.” + + [“All vices are less dangerous when open to be seen, and then most + pernicious when they lurk under a dissembled good nature.” + —Seneca, Ep. 56] +</pre> + <p> + I admonish all those who have authority to be angry in my family, in the + first place to manage their anger and not to lavish it upon every + occasion, for that both lessens the value and hinders the effect: rash and + incessant scolding runs into custom, and renders itself despised; and what + you lay out upon a servant for a theft is not felt, because it is the same + he has seen you a hundred times employ against him for having ill washed a + glass, or set a stool out of place. Secondly, that they be not angry to no + purpose, but make sure that their reprehension reach him with whom they + are offended; for, ordinarily, they rail and bawl before he comes into + their presence, and continue scolding an age after he is gone: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et secum petulans amentia certat:” + + [“And petulant madness contends with itself.” + —Claudian in Eutrop., i. 237.] +</pre> + <p> + they attack his shadow, and drive the storm in a place where no one is + either chastised or concerned, but in the clamour of their voice. I + likewise in quarrels condemn those who huff and vapour without an enemy: + those rhodomontades should be reserved to discharge upon the offending + party: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mugitus veluti cum prima in praelia taurus + Terrificos ciet, atque irasci in cornua tentat, + Arboris obnixus trunco, ventospue lacessit + Ictibus, et sparsa ad pugnum proludit arena.” + + [“As when a bull to usher in the fight, makes dreadful bellowings, + and whets his horns against the trunk of a tree; with blows he beats + the air, and rehearses the fight by scattering the sand.” + —AEneid, xii. 103.] +</pre> + <p> + When I am angry, my anger is very sharp but withal very short, and as + private as I can; I lose myself indeed in promptness and violence, but not + in trouble; so that I throw out all sorts of injurious words at random, + and without choice, and never consider pertinently to dart my language + where I think it will deepest wound, for I commonly make use of no other + weapon than my tongue. + </p> + <p> + My servants have a better bargain of me in great occasions than in little; + the little ones surprise me; and the misfortune is, that when you are once + upon the precipice, ‘tis no matter who gave you the push, you always + go to the bottom; the fall urges, moves, and makes haste of itself. In + great occasions this satisfies me, that they are so just every one expects + a reasonable indignation, and then I glorify myself in deceiving their + expectation; against these, I fortify and prepare myself; they disturb my + head, and threaten to transport me very far, should I follow them. I can + easily contain myself from entering into one of these passions, and am + strong enough, when I expect them, to repel their violence, be the cause + never so great; but if a passion once prepossess and seize me, it carries + me away, be the cause never so small. I bargain thus with those who may + contend with me when you see me moved first, let me alone, right or wrong; + I’ll do the same for you. The storm is only begot by a concurrence + of angers, which easily spring from one another, and are not born + together. Let every one have his own way, and we shall be always at peace. + A profitable advice, but hard to execute. Sometimes also it falls out that + I put on a seeming anger, for the better governing of my house, without + any real emotion. As age renders my humours more sharp, I study to oppose + them, and will, if I can, order it so, that for the future I may be so + much the less peevish and hard to please, as I have more excuse and + inclination to be so, although I have heretofore been reckoned amongst + those who have the greatest patience. + </p> + <p> + A word more to conclude this argument. Aristotle says, that anger + sometimes serves for arms to virtue and valour. That is probable; + nevertheless, they who contradict him pleasantly answer, that ‘tis a + weapon of novel use, for we move all other arms, this moves us; our hand + guides it not, ‘tis it that guides our hand; it holds us, we hold + not it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0088" id="link2HCH0088"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXII——DEFENCE OF SENECA AND PLUTARCH + </h2> + <p> + The familiarity I have with these two authors, and the assistance they + have lent to my age and to my book, wholly compiled of what I have + borrowed from them, oblige me to stand up for their honour. + </p> + <p> + As to Seneca, amongst a million of little pamphlets that those of the + so-called reformed religion disperse abroad for the defence of their cause + (and which sometimes proceed from so good a hand, that ‘tis pity his + pen is not employed in a better subject), I have formerly seen one, that + to make up the parallel he would fain find out betwixt the government of + our late poor King Charles IX. and that of Nero, compares the late + Cardinal of Lorraine with Seneca; their fortunes, in having both of them + been the prime ministers in the government of their princes, and in their + manners, conditions, and deportments to have been very near alike. + Wherein, in my opinion, he does the said cardinal a very great honour; for + though I am one of those who have a very high esteem for his wit, + eloquence, and zeal to religion and the service of his king, and his good + fortune to have lived in an age wherein it was so novel, so rare, and also + so necessary for the public good to have an ecclesiastical person of such + high birth and dignity, and so sufficient and capable of his place; yet, + to confess the truth, I do not think his capacity by many degrees near to + the other, nor his virtue either so clean, entire, or steady as that of + Seneca. + </p> + <p> + Now the book whereof I speak, to bring about its design, gives a very + injurious description of Seneca, having borrowed its approaches from Dion + the historian, whose testimony I do not at all believe for besides that he + is inconsistent, that after having called Seneca one while very wise, and + again a mortal enemy to Nero’s vices, makes him elsewhere + avaricious, an usurer, ambitious, effeminate, voluptuous, and a false + pretender to philosophy, his virtue appears so vivid and vigorous in his + writings, and his vindication is so clear from any of these imputations, + as of his riches and extraordinarily expensive way of living, that I + cannot believe any testimony to the contrary. And besides, it is much more + reasonable to believe the Roman historians in such things than Greeks and + foreigners. Now Tacitus and the rest speak very honourably both of his + life and death; and represent him to us a very excellent and virtuous + person in all things; and I will allege no other reproach against Dion’s + report but this, which I cannot avoid, namely, that he has so weak a + judgment in the Roman affairs, that he dares to maintain Julius Caesar’s + cause against Pompey [And so does this editor. D.W.], and that of Antony + against Cicero. + </p> + <p> + Let us now come to Plutarch: Jean Bodin is a good author of our times, and + a writer of much greater judgment than the rout of scribblers of his age, + and who deserves to be read and considered. I find him, though, a little + bold in this passage of his Method of history, where he accuses Plutarch + not only of ignorance (wherein I would have let him alone: for that is + beyond my criticism), but that he “often writes things incredible, + and absolutely fabulous “: these are his own words. If he had simply + said, that he had delivered things otherwise than they really are, it had + been no great reproach; for what we have not seen, we are forced to + receive from other hands, and take upon trust, and I see that he purposely + sometimes variously relates the same story; as the judgment of the three + best captains that ever were, given by Hannibal; ‘tis one way in the + Life of Flammius, and another in that of Pyrrhus. But to charge him with + having taken incredible and impossible things for current pay, is to + accuse the most judicious author in the world of want of judgment. And + this is his example; “as,” says he, “when he relates + that a Lacedaemonian boy suffered his bowels to be torn out by a fox-cub + he had stolen, and kept it still concealed under his coat till he fell + down dead, rather than he would discover his theft.” I find, in the + first place, this example ill chosen, forasmuch as it is very hard to + limit the power of the faculties of—the soul, whereas we have better + authority to limit and know the force of the bodily limbs; and therefore, + if I had been he, I should rather have chosen an example of this second + sort; and there are some of these less credible: and amongst others, that + which he refates of Pyrrhus, that “all wounded as he was, he struck + one of his enemies, who was armed from head to foot, so great a blow with + his sword, that he clave him down from his crown to his seat, so that the + body was divided into two parts.” In this example I find no great + miracle, nor do I admit the excuse with which he defends Plutarch, in + having added these words, “as ‘tis said,” to suspend our + belief; for unless it be in things received by authority, and the + reverence to antiquity or religion, he would never have himself admitted, + or enjoined us to believe things incredible in themselves; and that these + words, “as ‘tis said,” are not put in this place to that + effect, is easy to be seen, because he elsewhere relates to us, upon this + subject, of the patience of the Lacedaemonian children, examples happening + in his time, more unlikely to prevail upon our faith; as what Cicero has + also testified before him, as having, as he says, been upon the spot: that + even to their times there were children found who, in the trial of + patience they were put to before the altar of Diana, suffered themselves + to be there whipped till the blood ran down all over their bodies, not + only without crying out, but without so much as a groan, and some till + they there voluntarily lost their lives: and that which Plutarch also, + amongst a hundred other witnesses, relates, that at a sacrifice, a burning + coal having fallen into the sleeve of a Lacedaemonian boy, as he was + censing, he suffered his whole arm to be burned, till the smell of the + broiling flesh was perceived by those present. There was nothing, + according to their custom, wherein their reputation was more concerned, + nor for which they were to undergo more blame and disgrace, than in being + taken in theft. I am so fully satisfied of the greatness of those people, + that this story does not only not appear to me, as to Bodin, incredible; + but I do not find it so much as rare and strange. The Spartan history is + full of a thousand more cruel and rare examples; and is; indeed, all + miracle in this respect. + </p> + <p> + Marcellinus, concerning theft, reports that in his time there was no sort + of torments which could compel the Egyptians, when taken in this act, + though a people very much addicted to it, so much as to tell their name. + </p> + <p> + A Spanish peasant, being put to the rack as to the accomplices of the + murder of the Praetor Lucius Piso, cried out in the height of the torment, + “that his friends should not leave him, but look on in all + assurance, and that no pain had the power to force from him one word of + confession,” which was all they could get the first day. The next + day, as they were leading him a second time to another trial, strongly + disengaging himself from the hands of his guards, he furiously ran his + head against a wall, and beat out his brains. + </p> + <p> + Epicharis, having tired and glutted the cruelty of Nero’s + satellites, and undergone their fire, their beating, their racks, a whole + day together, without one syllable of confession of her conspiracy; being + the next day brought again to the rack, with her limbs almost torn to + pieces, conveyed the lace of her robe with a running noose over one of the + arms of her chair, and suddenly slipping her head into it, with the weight + of her own body hanged herself. Having the courage to die in that manner, + is it not to be presumed that she purposely lent her life to the trial of + her fortitude the day before, to mock the tyrant, and encourage others to + the like attempt? + </p> + <p> + And whoever will inquire of our troopers the experiences they have had in + our civil wars, will find effects of patience and obstinate resolution in + this miserable age of ours, and amongst this rabble even more effeminate + than the Egyptians, worthy to be compared with those we have just related + of the Spartan virtue. + </p> + <p> + I know there have been simple peasants amongst us who have endured the + soles of their feet to be broiled upon a gridiron, their finger-ends to be + crushed with the cock of a pistol, and their bloody eyes squeezed out of + their heads by force of a cord twisted about their brows, before they + would so much as consent to a ransom. I have seen one left stark naked for + dead in a ditch, his neck black and swollen, with a halter yet about it + with which they had dragged him all night at a horse’s tail, his + body wounded in a hundred places, with stabs of daggers that had been + given him, not to kill him, but to put him to pain and to affright him, + who had endured all this, and even to being speechless and insensible, + resolved, as he himself told me, rather to die a thousand deaths (as + indeed, as to matter of suffering, he had borne one) before he would + promise anything; and yet he was one of the richest husbandmen of all the + country. How many have been seen patiently to suffer themselves to be + burnt and roasted for opinions taken upon trust from others, and by them + not at all understood? I have known a hundred and a hundred women (for + Gascony has a certain prerogative for obstinacy) whom you might sooner + have made eat fire than forsake an opinion they had conceived in anger. + They are all the more exasperated by blows and constraint. And he that + made the story of the woman who, in defiance of all correction, threats, + and bastinadoes, ceased not to call her husband lousy knave, and who being + plunged over head and ears in water, yet lifted her hands above her head + and made a sign of cracking lice, feigned a tale of which, in truth, we + every day see a manifest image in the obstinacy of women. And obstinacy is + the sister of constancy, at least in vigour and stability. + </p> + <p> + We are not to judge what is possible and what is not, according to what is + credible and incredible to our apprehension, as I have said elsewhere and + it is a great fault, and yet one that most men are guilty of, which, + nevertheless, I do not mention with any reflection upon Bodin, to make a + difficulty of believing that in another which they could not or would not + do themselves. Every one thinks that the sovereign stamp of human nature + is imprinted in him, and that from it all others must take their rule; and + that all proceedings which are not like his are feigned and false. Is + anything of another’s actions or faculties proposed to him? the + first thing he calls to the consultation of his judgment is his own + example; and as matters go with him, so they must of necessity do with all + the world besides dangerous and intolerable folly! For my part, I consider + some men as infinitely beyond me, especially amongst the ancients, and + yet, though I clearly discern my inability to come near them by a thousand + paces, I do not forbear to keep them in sight, and to judge of what so + elevates them, of which I perceive some seeds in myself, as I also do of + the extreme meanness of some other minds, which I neither am astonished at + nor yet misbelieve. I very well perceive the turns those great souls take + to raise themselves to such a pitch, and admire their grandeur; and those + flights that I think the bravest I could be glad to imitate; where, though + I want wing, yet my judgment readily goes along with them. The other + example he introduces of “things incredible and wholly fabulous,” + delivered by Plutarch, is, that “Agesilaus was fined by the Ephori + for having wholly engrossed the hearts and affections of his citizens to + himself alone.” And herein I do not see what sign of falsity is to + be found: clearly Plutarch speaks of things that must needs be better + known to him than to us; and it was no new thing in Greece to see men + punished and exiled for this very thing, for being too acceptable to the + people; witness the Ostracism and Petalism.—[Ostracism at Athens was + banishment for ten years; petalism at Syracuse was banishment for five + years.] + </p> + <p> + There is yet in this place another accusation laid against Plutarch which + I cannot well digest, where Bodin says that he has sincerely paralleled + Romans with Romans, and Greeks amongst themselves, but not Romans with + Greeks; witness, says he, Demosthenes and Cicero, Cato and Aristides, + Sylla and Lysander, Marcellus and Pelopidas, Pompey and Agesilaus, holding + that he has favoured the Greeks in giving them so unequal companions. This + is really to attack what in Plutarch is most excellent and most to be + commended; for in his parallels (which is the most admirable part of all + his works, and with which, in my opinion, he is himself the most pleased) + the fidelity and sincerity of his judgments equal their depth and weight; + he is a philosopher who teaches us virtue. Let us see whether we cannot + defend him from this reproach of falsity and prevarication. All that I can + imagine could give occasion to this censure is the great and shining + lustre of the Roman names which we have in our minds; it does not seem + likely to us that Demosthenes could rival the glory of a consul, + proconsul, and proctor of that great Republic; but if a man consider the + truth of the thing, and the men in themselves, which is Plutarch’s + chiefest aim, and will rather balance their manners, their natures, and + parts, than their fortunes, I think, contrary to Bodin, that Cicero and + the elder Cato come far short of the men with whom they are compared. I + should sooner, for his purpose, have chosen the example of the younger + Cato compared with Phocion, for in this couple there would have been a + more likely disparity, to the Roman’s advantage. As to Marcellus, + Sylla, and Pompey, I very well discern that their exploits of war are + greater and more full of pomp and glory than those of the Greeks, whom + Plutarch compares with them; but the bravest and most virtuous actions any + more in war than elsewhere, are not always the most renowned. I often see + the names of captains obscured by the splendour of other names of less + desert; witness Labienus, Ventidius, Telesinus, and several others. And to + take it by that, were I to complain on the behalf of the Greeks, could I + not say, that Camillus was much less comparable to Themistocles, the + Gracchi to Agis and Cleomenes, and Numa to Lycurgus? But ‘tis folly + to judge, at one view, of things that have so many aspects. When Plutarch + compares them, he does not, for all that, make them equal; who could more + learnedly and sincerely have marked their distinctions? Does he parallel + the victories, feats of arms, the force of the armies conducted by Pompey, + and his triumphs, with those of Agesilaus? “I do not believe,” + says he, “that Xenophon himself, if he were now living, though he + were allowed to write whatever pleased him to the advantage of Agesilaus, + would dare to bring them into comparison.” Does he speak of + paralleling Lysander to Sylla. “There is,” says he, “no + comparison, either in the number of victories or in the hazard of battles, + for Lysander only gained two naval battles.” This is not to derogate + from the Romans; for having only simply named them with the Greeks, he can + have done them no injury, what disparity soever there may be betwixt them + and Plutarch does not entirely oppose them to one another; there is no + preference in general; he only compares the pieces and circumstances one + after another, and gives of every one a particular and separate judgment. + Wherefore, if any one could convict him of partiality, he ought to pick + out some one of those particular judgments, or say, in general, that he + was mistaken in comparing such a Greek to such a Roman, when there were + others more fit and better resembling to parallel him to. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0089" id="link2HCH0089"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIII——THE STORY OF SPURINA + </h2> + <p> + Philosophy thinks she has not ill employed her talent when she has given + the sovereignty of the soul and the authority of restraining our appetites + to reason. Amongst which, they who judge that there is none more violent + than those which spring from love, have this opinion also, that they seize + both body and soul, and possess the whole man, so that even health itself + depends upon them, and medicine is sometimes constrained to pimp for them; + but one might, on the contrary, also say, that the mixture of the body + brings an abatement and weakening; for such desires are subject to + satiety, and capable of material remedies. + </p> + <p> + Many, being determined to rid their soul from the continual alarms of this + appetite, have made use of incision and amputation of the rebelling + members; others have subdued their force and ardour by the frequent + application of cold things, as snow and vinegar. The sackcloths of our + ancestors were for this purpose, which is cloth woven of horse hair, of + which some of them made shirts, and others girdles, to torture and correct + their reins. A prince, not long ago, told me that in his youth upon a + solemn festival in the court of King Francis I., where everybody was + finely dressed, he would needs put on his father’s hair shirt, which + was still kept in the house; but how great soever his devotion was, he had + not patience to wear it till night, and was sick a long time after; adding + withal, that he did not think there could be any youthful heat so fierce + that the use of this recipe would not mortify, and yet perhaps he never + essayed the most violent; for experience shows us, that such emotions are + often seen under rude and slovenly clothes, and that a hair shirt does not + always render those chaste who wear it. + </p> + <p> + Xenocrates proceeded with greater rigour in this affair; for his + disciples, to make trial of his continency, having slipt Lais, that + beautiful and famous courtesan, into his bed, quite naked, excepting the + arms of her beauty and her wanton allurements, her philters, finding that, + in despite of his reason and philosophical rules, his unruly flesh began + to mutiny, he caused those members of his to be burned that he found + consenting to this rebellion. Whereas the passions which wholly reside in + the soul, as ambition, avarice, and the rest, find the reason much more to + do, because it cannot there be helped but by its own means; neither are + those appetites capable of satiety, but grow sharper and increase by + fruition. + </p> + <p> + The sole example of Julius Caesar may suffice to demonstrate to us the + disparity of these appetites; for never was man more addicted to amorous + delights than he: of which one testimony is the peculiar care he had of + his person, to such a degree, as to make use of the most lascivious means + to that end then in use, as to have all the hairs of his body twitched + off, and to wipe all over with perfumes with the extremest nicety. And he + was a beautiful person in himself, of a fair complexion, tall, and + sprightly, full faced, with quick hazel eyes, if we may believe Suetonius; + for the statues of him that we see at Rome do not in all points answer + this description. Besides his wives, whom he four times changed, without + reckoning the amours of his boyhood with Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, he + had the maidenhead of the renowned Cleopatra, queen of Egypt; witness the + little Caesario whom he had by her. He also made love to. Eunoe, queen of + Mauritania, and at Rome, to Posthumia, the wife of Servius Sulpitius; to + Lollia, the wife of Gabinius to Tertulla, the wife of Crassus, and even to + Mutia, wife to the great Pompey: which was the reason, the Roman + historians say, that she was repudiated by her husband, which Plutarch + confesses to be more than he knew; and the Curios, both father and son, + afterwards reproached Pompey, when he married Caesar’s daughter, + that he had made himself son-in-law to a man who had made him cuckold, and + one whom he himself was wont to call AEgisthus. Besides all these, he + entertained Servilia, Cato’s sister and mother to Marcus Brutus, + whence, every one believes, proceeded the great affection he had to + Brutus, by reason that he was born at a time when it was likely he might + be his son. So that I have reason, methinks, to take him for a man + extremely given to this debauch, and of very amorous constitution. But the + other passion of ambition, with which he was infinitely smitten, arising + in him to contend with the former, it was boon compelled to give way. + </p> + <p> + And here calling to mind Mohammed, who won Constantinople, and finally + exterminated the Grecian name, I do not know where these two were so + evenly balanced; equally an indefatigable lecher and soldier: but where + they both meet in his life and jostle one another, the quarrelling passion + always gets the better of the amorous one, and this though it was out of + its natural season never regained an absolute sovereignty over the other + till he had arrived at an extreme old age and unable to undergo the + fatigues of war. + </p> + <p> + What is related for a contrary example of Ladislaus, king of Naples, is + very remarkable; that being a great captain, valiant and ambitious, he + proposed to himself for the principal end of his ambition, the execution + of his pleasure and the enjoyment of some rare and excellent beauty. His + death sealed up all the rest: for having by a close and tedious siege + reduced the city of Florence to so great distress that the inhabitants + were compelled to capitulate about surrender, he was content to let them + alone, provided they would deliver up to him a beautiful maid he had heard + of in their city; they were forced to yield to it, and by a private injury + to avert the public ruin. She was the daughter of a famous physician of + his time, who, finding himself involved in so foul a necessity, resolved + upon a high attempt. As every one was lending a hand to trick up his + daughter and to adorn her with ornaments and jewels to render her more + agreeable to this new lover, he also gave her a handkerchief most richly + wrought, and of an exquisite perfume, an implement they never go without + in those parts, which she was to make use of at their first approaches. + This handkerchief, poisoned with his greatest art, coming to be rubbed + between the chafed flesh and open pores, both of the one and the other, so + suddenly infused the poison, that immediately converting their warm into a + cold sweat they presently died in one another’s arms. + </p> + <p> + But I return to Caesar. His pleasures never made him steal one minute of + an hour, nor go one step aside from occasions that might any way conduce + to his advancement. This passion was so sovereign in him over all the + rest, and with so absolute authority possessed his soul, that it guided + him at pleasure. In truth, this troubles me, when, as to everything else, + I consider the greatness of this man, and the wonderful parts wherewith he + was endued; learned to that degree in all sorts of knowledge that there is + hardly any one science of which he has not written; so great an orator + that many have preferred his eloquence to that of Cicero, and he, I + conceive, did not think himself inferior to him in that particular, for + his two anti-Catos were written to counterbalance the elocution that + Cicero had expended in his Cato. As to the rest, was ever soul so + vigilant, so active, and so patient of labour as his? and, doubtless, it + was embellished with many rare seeds of virtue, lively, natural, and not + put on; he was singularly sober; so far from being delicate in his diet, + that Oppius relates, how that having one day at table set before him + medicated instead of common oil in some sauce, he ate heartily of it, that + he might not put his entertainer out of countenance. Another time he + caused his baker to be whipped for serving him with a finer than ordinary + sort of bread. Cato himself was wont to say of him, that he was the first + sober man who ever made it his business to ruin his country. And as to the + same Cato’s calling, him one day drunkard, it fell out thus being + both of them in the Senate, at a time when Catiline’s conspiracy was + in question of which was Caesar was suspected, one came and brought him a + letter sealed up. Cato believing that it was something the conspirators + gave him notice of, required him to deliver into his hand, which Caesar + was constrained to do to avoid further suspicion. It was by chance a + love-letter that Servilia, Cato’s sister, had written to him, which + Cato having read, he threw it back to him saying, “There, drunkard.” + This, I say, was rather a word of disdain and anger than an express + reproach of this vice, as we often rate those who anger us with the first + injurious words that come into our mouths, though nothing due to those we + are offended at; to which may be added that the vice with which Cato + upbraided him is wonderfully near akin to that wherein he had surprised + Caesar; for Bacchus and Venus, according to the proverb, very willingly + agree; but to me Venus is much more sprightly accompanied by sobriety. The + examples of his sweetness and clemency to those by whom he had been + offended are infinite; I mean, besides those he gave during the time of + the civil wars, which, as plainly enough appears by his writings, he + practised to cajole his enemies, and to make them less afraid of his + future dominion and victory. But I must also say, that if these examples + are not sufficient proofs of his natural sweetness, they, at least, + manifest a marvellous confidence and grandeur of courage in this person. + He has often been known to dismiss whole armies, after having overcome + them, to his enemies, without ransom, or deigning so much as to bind them + by oath, if not to favour him, at least no more to bear arms against him; + he has three or four times taken some of Pompey’s captains + prisoners, and as often set them at liberty. Pompey declared all those to + be enemies who did not follow him to the war; he proclaimed all those to + be his friends who sat still and did not actually take arms against him. + To such captains of his as ran away from him to go over to the other side, + he sent, moreover, their arms, horses, and equipage: the cities he had + taken by force he left at full liberty to follow which side they pleased, + imposing no other garrison upon them but the memory of his gentleness and + clemency. He gave strict and express charge, the day of his great battle + of Pharsalia, that, without the utmost necessity, no one should lay a hand + upon the citizens of Rome. These, in my opinion, were very hazardous + proceedings, and ‘tis no wonder if those in our civil war, who, like + him, fight against the ancient estate of their country, do not follow his + example; they are extraordinary means, and that only appertain to Caesar’s + fortune, and to his admirable foresight in the conduct of affairs. When I + consider the incomparable grandeur of his soul, I excuse victory that it + could not disengage itself from him, even in so unjust and so wicked a + cause. + </p> + <p> + To return to his clemency: we have many striking examples in the time of + his government, when, all things being reduced to his power, he had no + more written against him which he had as sharply answered: yet he did not + soon after forbear to use his interest to make him consul. Caius Calvus, + who had composed several injurious epigrams against him, having employed + many of his friends to mediate a reconciliation with him, Caesar + voluntarily persuaded himself to write first to him. And our good + Catullus, who had so rudely ruffled him under the name of Mamurra, coming + to offer his excuses to him, he made the same day sit at his table. Having + intelligence of some who spoke ill of him, he did no more, but only by a + public oration declare that he had notice of it. He still less feared his + enemies than he hated them; some conspiracies and cabals that were made + against his life being discovered to him, he satisfied himself in + publishing by proclamation that they were known to him, without further + prosecuting the conspirators. + </p> + <p> + As to the respect he had for his friends: Caius Oppius, being with him + upon a journey, and finding himself ill, he left him the only lodging he + had for himself, and lay all night upon a hard ground in the open air. As + to what concerns his justice, he put a beloved servant of his to death for + lying with a noble Roman’s wife, though there was no complaint made. + Never had man more moderation in his victory, nor more resolution in his + adverse fortune. + </p> + <p> + But all these good inclinations were stifled and spoiled by his furious + ambition, by which he suffered himself to be so transported and misled + that one may easily maintain that this passion was the rudder of all his + actions; of a liberal man, it made him a public thief to supply this + bounty and profusion, and made him utter this vile and unjust saying, + “That if the most wicked and profligate persons in the world had + been faithful in serving him towards his advancement, he would cherish and + prefer them to the utmost of his power, as much as the best of men.” + It intoxicated him with so excessive a vanity, as to dare to boast in the + presence of his fellow-citizens, that he had made the great commonwealth + of Rome a name without form and without body; and to say that his answers + for the future should stand for laws; and also to receive the body of the + Senate coming to him, sitting; to suffer himself to be adored, and to have + divine honours paid to him in his own presence. To conclude, this sole + vice, in my opinion, spoiled in him the most rich and beautiful nature + that ever was, and has rendered his name abominable to all good men, in + that he would erect his glory upon the ruins of his country and the + subversion of the greatest and most flourishing republic the world shall + ever see. + </p> + <p> + There might, on the contrary, many examples be produced of great men whom + pleasures have made to neglect the conduct of their affairs, as Mark + Antony and others; but where love and ambition should be in equal balance, + and come to jostle with equal forces, I make no doubt but the last would + win the prize. + </p> + <p> + To return to my subject: ‘tis much to bridle our appetites by the + argument of reason, or, by violence, to contain our members within their + duty; but to lash ourselves for our neighbour’s interest, and not + only to divest ourselves of the charming passion that tickles us, of the + pleasure we feel in being agreeable to others, and courted and beloved of + every one, but also to conceive a hatred against the graces that produce + that effect, and to condemn our beauty because it inflames others; of + this, I confess, I have met with few examples. But this is one. Spurina, a + young man of Tuscany: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qualis gemma micat, fulvum quae dividit aurum, + Aut collo decus, aut cupiti: vel quale per artem + Inclusum buxo aut Oricia terebintho + Lucet ebur,” + + [“As a gem shines enchased in yellow gold, or an ornament on the + neck or head, or as ivory has lustre, set by art in boxwood or + Orician ebony.”—AEneid, x. 134.] +</pre> + <p> + being endowed with a singular beauty, and so excessive, that the chastest + eyes could not chastely behold its rays; not contenting himself with + leaving so much flame and fever as he everywhere kindled without relief, + entered into a furious spite against himself and those great endowments + nature had so liberally conferred upon him, as if a man were responsible + to himself for the faults of others, and purposely slashed and disfigured, + with many wounds and scars, the perfect symmetry and proportion that + nature had so curiously imprinted in his face. To give my free opinion, I + more admire than honour such actions: such excesses are enemies to my + rules. The design was conscientious and good, but certainly a little + defective in prudence. What if his deformity served afterwards to make + others guilty of the sin of hatred or contempt; or of envy at the glory of + so rare a recommendation; or of calumny, interpreting this humour a mad + ambition! Is there any form from which vice cannot, if it will, extract + occasion to exercise itself, one way or another? It had been more just, + and also more noble, to have made of these gifts of God a subject of + exemplary regularity and virtue. + </p> + <p> + They who retire themselves from the common offices, from that infinite + number of troublesome rules that fetter a man of exact honesty in civil + life, are in my opinion very discreet, what peculiar sharpness of + constraint soever they impose upon themselves in so doing. ‘Tis in + some sort a kind of dying to avoid the pain of living well. They may have + another reward; but the reward of difficulty I fancy they can never have; + nor, in uneasiness, that there can be anything more or better done than + the keeping oneself upright amid the waves of the world, truly and exactly + performing all parts of our duty. ‘Tis, peradventure, more easy to + keep clear of the sex than to maintain one’s self aright in all + points in the society of a wife; and a man may with less trouble adapt + himself to entire abstinence than to the due dispensation of abundance. + Use, carried on according to reason, has in it more of difficulty than + abstinence; moderation is a virtue that gives more work than suffering; + the well living of Scipio has a thousand fashions, that of Diogenes but + one; this as much excels the ordinary lives in innocence as the most + accomplished excel them in utility and force. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0090" id="link2HCH0090"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIV——OBSERVATION ON THE MEANS TO CARRY ON A WAR + ACCORDING TO JULIUS CAESAR + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis related of many great leaders that they have had certain books + in particular esteem, as Alexander the Great, Homer; Scipio Africanus, + Xenophon; Marcus Brutus, Polybius; Charles V., Philip’de Comines; + and ‘tis said that, in our times, Machiavelli is elsewhere still in + repute; but the late Marshal Strozzi, who had taken Caesar for his man, + doubtless made the best choice, seeing that it indeed ought to be the + breviary of every soldier, as being the true and sovereign pattern of the + military art. And, moreover, God knows with that grace and beauty he has + embellished that rich matter, with so pure, delicate, and perfect + expression, that, in my opinion, there are no writings in the world + comparable to his, as to that business. + </p> + <p> + I will set down some rare and particular passages of his wars that remain + in my memory. + </p> + <p> + His army, being in some consternation upon the rumour that was spread of + the great forces that king Juba was leading against him, instead of + abating the apprehension which his soldiers had conceived at the news and + of lessening to them the forces of the enemy, having called them all + together to encourage and reassure them, he took a quite contrary way to + what we are used to do, for he told them that they need no more trouble + themselves with inquiring after the enemy’s forces, for that he was + certainly informed thereof, and then told them of a number much surpassing + both the truth and the report that was current in his army; following the + advice of Cyrus in Xenophon, forasmuch as the deception is not of so great + importance to find an enemy weaker than we expected, than to find him + really very strong, after having been made to believe that he was weak. + </p> + <p> + It was always his use to accustom his soldiers simply to obey, without + taking upon them to control, or so much as to speak of their captain’s + designs, which he never communicated to them but upon the point of + execution; and he took a delight, if they discovered anything of what he + intended, immediately to change his orders to deceive them; and to that + purpose, would often, when he had assigned his quarters in a place, pass + forward and lengthen his day’s march, especially if it was foul and + rainy weather. + </p> + <p> + The Swiss, in the beginning of his wars in Gaul, having sent to him to + demand a free passage over the Roman territories, though resolved to + hinder them by force, he nevertheless spoke kindly to the messengers, and + took some respite to return an answer, to make use of that time for the + calling his army together. These silly people did not know how good a + husband he was of his time: for he often repeats that it is the best part + of a captain to know how to make use of occasions, and his diligence in + his exploits is, in truth, unheard of and incredible. + </p> + <p> + If he was not very conscientious in taking advantage of an enemy under + colour of a treaty of agreement, he was as little so in this, that he + required no other virtue in a soldier but valour only, and seldom punished + any other faults but mutiny and disobedience. He would often after his + victories turn them loose to all sorts of licence, dispensing them for + some time from the rules of military discipline, saying withal that he had + soldiers so well trained up that, powdered and perfumed, they would run + furiously to the fight. In truth, he loved to have them richly armed, and + made them wear engraved, gilded, and damasked armour, to the end that the + care of saving it might engage them to a more obstinate defence. Speaking + to them, he called them by the name of fellow-soldiers, which we yet use; + which his successor, Augustus, reformed, supposing he had only done it + upon necessity, and to cajole those who merely followed him as volunteers: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rheni mihi Caesar in undis + Dux erat; hic socius; facinus quos inquinat, aequat:” + + [“In the waters of the Rhine Caesar was my general; here at Rome he + is my fellow. Crime levels those whom it polluted.” + —Lucan, v. 289.] +</pre> + <p> + but that this carriage was too mean and low for the dignity of an emperor + and general of an army, and therefore brought up the custom of calling + them soldiers only. + </p> + <p> + With this courtesy Caesar mixed great severity to keep them in awe; the + ninth legion having mutinied near Placentia, he ignominiously cashiered + them, though Pompey was then yet on foot, and received them not again to + grace till after many supplications; he quieted them more by authority and + boldness than by gentle ways. + </p> + <p> + In that place where he speaks of his, passage over the Rhine to Germany, + he says that, thinking it unworthy of the honour of the Roman people to + waft over his army in vessels, he built a bridge that they might pass over + dry-foot. There it was that he built that wonderful bridge of which he + gives so particular a description; for he nowhere so willingly dwells upon + his actions as in representing to us the subtlety of his inventions in + such kind of handiwork. + </p> + <p> + I have also observed this, that he set a great value upon his exhortations + to the soldiers before the fight; for where he would show that he was + either surprised or reduced to a necessity of fighting, he always brings + in this, that he had not so much as leisure to harangue his army. Before + that great battle with those of Tournay, “Caesar,” says he, + “having given order for everything else, presently ran where fortune + carried him to encourage his people, and meeting with the tenth legion, + had no more time to say anything to them but this, that they should + remember their wonted valour; not to be astonished, but bravely sustain + the enemy’s encounter; and seeing the enemy had already approached + within a dart’s cast, he gave the signal for battle; and going + suddenly thence elsewhere, to encourage others, he found that they were + already engaged.” Here is what he tells us in that place. His + tongue, indeed, did him notable service upon several occasions, and his + military eloquence was, in his own time, so highly reputed, that many of + his army wrote down his harangues as he spoke them, by which means there + were volumes of them collected that existed a long time after him. He had + so particular a grace in speaking, that his intimates, and Augustus + amongst others, hearing those orations read, could distinguish even to the + phrases and words that were not his. + </p> + <p> + The first time that he went out of Rome with any public command, he + arrived in eight days at the river Rhone, having with him in his coach a + secretary or two before him who were continually writing, and him who + carried his sword behind him. And certainly, though a man did nothing but + go on, he could hardly attain that promptitude with which, having been + everywhere victorious in Gaul, he left it, and, following Pompey to + Brundusium, in eighteen days’ time he subdued all Italy; returned + from Brundusium to Rome; from Rome went into the very heart of Spain, + where he surmounted extreme difficulties in the war against Afranius and + Petreius, and in the long siege of Marseilles; thence he returned into + Macedonia, beat the Roman army at Pharsalia, passed thence in pursuit of + Pompey into Egypt, which he also subdued; from Egypt he went into Syria + and the territories of Pontus, where he fought Pharnaces; thence into + Africa, where he defeated Scipio and Juba; again returned through Italy, + where he defeated Pompey’s sons: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ocyor et coeli fiammis, et tigride foeta.” + + [“Swifter than lightning, or the cub-bearing tigress.” + —Lucan, v. 405] + + “Ac veluti montis saxum de, vertice praeceps + Cum ruit avulsum vento, seu turbidus imber + Proluit, aut annis solvit sublapsa vetustas, + Fertur in abruptum magno mons improbus actu, + Exultatque solo, silvas, armenta, virosque, + Involvens secum.” + + [“And as a stone torn from the mountain’s top by the wind or rain + torrents, or loosened by age, falls massive with mighty force, + bounds here and there, in its course sweeps from the earth with it + woods, herds, and men.”—AEneid, xii. 684.] +</pre> + <p> + Speaking of the siege of Avaricum, he says, that it, was his custom to be + night and day with the pioneers.—[Engineers. D.W.]—In all + enterprises of consequence he always reconnoitred in person, and never + brought his army into quarters till he had first viewed the place, and, if + we may believe Suetonius, when he resolved to pass over into England, he + was the first man that sounded the passage. + </p> + <p> + He was wont to say that he more valued a victory obtained by counsel than + by force, and in the war against Petreius and Afranius, fortune presenting + him with an occasion of manifest advantage, he declined it, saying, that + he hoped, with a little more time, but less hazard, to overthrow his + enemies. He there also played a notable part in commanding his whole army + to pass the river by swimming, without any manner of necessity: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rapuitque ruens in praelia miles, + Quod fugiens timuisset, iter; mox uda receptis + Membra fovent armis, gelidosque a gurgite, cursu + Restituunt artus.” + + [“The soldier rushing through a way to fight which he would have + been afraid to have taken in flight: then with their armour they + cover wet limbs, and by running restore warmth to their numbed + joints.”—Lucan, iv. 151.] +</pre> + <p> + I find him a little more temperate and considerate in his enterprises than + Alexander, for this man seems to seek and run headlong upon dangers like + an impetuous torrent which attacks and rushes against everything it meets, + without choice or discretion; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sic tauriformis volvitur Aufidus; + Qui regna Dauni perfluit Appuli, + Dum saevit, horrendamque cultis + Diluviem meditatur agris;” + + [“So the biforked Aufidus, which flows through the realm of the + Apulian Daunus, when raging, threatens a fearful deluge to the + tilled ground.”—Horat., Od., iv. 14, 25.] +</pre> + <p> + and, indeed, he was a general in the flower and first heat of his youth, + whereas Caesar took up the trade at a ripe and well advanced age; to which + may be added that Alexander was of a more sanguine, hot, and choleric + constitution, which he also inflamed with wine, from which Caesar was very + abstinent. + </p> + <p> + But where necessary occasion required, never did any man venture his + person more than he: so much so, that for my part, methinks I read in many + of his exploits a determinate resolution to throw himself away to avoid + the shame of being overcome. In his great battle with those of Tournay, he + charged up to the head of the enemies without his shield, just as he was + seeing the van of his own army beginning to give ground’; which also + several other times befell him. Hearing that his people were besieged, he + passed through the enemy’s army in disguise to go and encourage them + with his presence. Having crossed over to Dyrrachium with very slender + forces, and seeing the remainder of his army which he had left to Antony’s + conduct slow in following him, he undertook alone to repass the sea in a + very great storms and privately stole away to fetch the rest of his + forces, the ports on the other side being seized by Pompey, and the whole + sea being in his possession. And as to what he performed by force of hand, + there are many exploits that in hazard exceed all the rules of war; for + with how small means did he undertake to subdue the kingdom of Egypt, and + afterwards to attack the forces of Scipio and Juba, ten times greater than + his own? These people had, I know not what, more than human confidence in + their fortune; and he was wont to say that men must embark, and not + deliberate, upon high enterprises. After the battle of Pharsalia, when he + had sent his army away before him into Asia, and was passing in one single + vessel the strait of the Hellespont, he met Lucius Cassius at sea with ten + tall men-of-war, when he had the courage not only to stay his coming, but + to sail up to him and summon him to yield, which he did. + </p> + <p> + Having undertaken that furious siege of Alexia, where there were fourscore + thousand men in garrison, all Gaul being in arms to raise the siege and + having set an army on foot of a hundred and nine thousand horse, and of + two hundred and forty thousand foot, what a boldness and vehement + confidence was it in him that he would not give over his attempt, but + resolved upon two so great difficulties—which nevertheless he + overcame; and, after having won that great battle against those without, + soon reduced those within to his mercy. The same happened to Lucullus at + the siege of Tigranocerta against King Tigranes, but the condition of the + enemy was not the same, considering the effeminacy of those with whom + Lucullus had to deal. I will here set down two rare and extraordinary + events concerning this siege of Alexia; one, that the Gauls having drawn + their powers together to encounter Caesar, after they had made a general + muster of all their forces, resolved in their council of war to dismiss a + good part of this great multitude, that they might not fall into + confusion. This example of fearing to be too many is new; but, to take it + right, it stands to reason that the body of an army should be of a + moderate greatness, and regulated to certain bounds, both out of respect + to the difficulty of providing for them, and the difficulty of governing + and keeping them in order. At least it is very easy to make it appear by + example that armies monstrous in number have seldom done anything to + purpose. According to the saying of Cyrus in Xenophon, “‘Tis + not the number of men, but the number of good men, that gives the + advantage”: the remainder serving rather to trouble than assist. And + Bajazet principally grounded his resolution of giving Tamerlane battle, + contrary to the opinion of all his captains, upon this, that his enemies + numberless number of men gave him assured hopes of confusion. Scanderbeg, + a very good and expert judge in such matters, was wont to say that ten or + twelve thousand reliable fighting men were sufficient to a good leader to + secure his regulation in all sorts of military occasions. The other thing + I will here record, which seems to be contrary both to the custom and + rules of war, is, that Vercingetorix, who was made general of all the + parts of the revolted Gaul, should go shut up himself in Alexia: for he + who has the command of a whole country ought never to shut himself up but + in case of such last extremity that the only place he has left is in + concern, and that the only hope he has left is in the defence of that + city; otherwise he ought to keep himself always at liberty, that he may + have the means to provide, in general, for all parts of his government. + </p> + <p> + To return to Caesar. He grew, in time, more slow and more considerate, as + his friend Oppius witnesses: conceiving that he ought not lightly to + hazard the glory of so many victories, which one blow of fortune might + deprive him of. ‘Tis what the Italians say, when they would reproach + the rashness and foolhardiness of young people, calling them Bisognosi d’onore, + “necessitous of honour,” and that being in so great a want and + dearth of reputation, they have reason to seek it at what price soever, + which they ought not to do who have acquired enough already. There may + reasonably be some moderation, some satiety, in this thirst and appetite + of glory, as well as in other things: and there are enough people who + practise it. + </p> + <p> + He was far remote from the religious scruples of the ancient Romans, who + would never prevail in their wars but by dint of pure and simple valour; + and yet he was more conscientious than we should be in these days, and did + not approve all sorts of means to obtain a victory. In the war against + Ariovistus, whilst he was parleying with him, there happened some + commotion between the horsemen, which was occasioned by the fault of + Ariovistus’ light horse, wherein, though Caesar saw he had a very + great advantage of the enemy, he would make no use on’t, lest he + should have been reproached with a treacherous proceeding. + </p> + <p> + He was always wont to wear rich garments, and of a shining colour in + battle, that he might be the more remarkable and better observed. + </p> + <p> + He always carried a stricter and tighter hand over his soldiers when near + an enemy. When the ancient Greeks would accuse any one of extreme + insufficiency, they would say, in common proverb, that he could neither + read nor swim; he was of the same opinion, that swimming was of great use + in war, and himself found it so; for when he had to use diligence, he + commonly swam over the rivers in his way; for he loved to march on foot, + as also did Alexander the Great. Being in Egypt forced, to save himself, + to go into a little boat, and so many people leaping in with him that it + was in danger of sinking, he chose rather to commit himself to the sea, + and swam to his fleet, which lay two hundred paces off, holding in his + left hand his tablets, and drawing his coatarmour in his teeth, that it + might not fall into the enemy’s hand, and at this time he was of a + pretty advanced age. + </p> + <p> + Never had any general so much credit with his soldiers: in the beginning + of the civil wars, his centurions offered him to find every one a + man-at-arms at his own charge, and the foot soldiers to serve him at their + own expense; those who were most at their ease, moreover, undertaking to + defray the more necessitous. The late Admiral Chastillon + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Gaspard de Coligny, assassinated in the St. Bartholomew + massacre, 24th August 1572.] +</pre> + <p> + showed us the like example in our civil wars; for the French of his army + provided money out of their own purses to pay the foreigners that were + with him. There are but rarely found examples of so ardent and so ready an + affection amongst the soldiers of elder times, who kept themselves + strictly to their rules of war: passion has a more absolute command over + us than reason; and yet it happened in the war against Hannibal, that by + the example of the people of Rome in the city, the soldiers and captains + refused their pay in the army, and in Marcellus’ camp those were + branded with the name of Mercenaries who would receive any. Having got the + worst of it near Dyrrachium, his soldiers came and offered themselves to + be chastised and punished, so that there was more need to comfort than + reprove them. One single cohort of his withstood four of Pompey’s + legions above four hours together, till they were almost all killed with + arrows, so that there were a hundred and thirty thousand shafts found in + the trenches. A soldier called Scaeva, who commanded at one of the + avenues, invincibly maintained his ground, having lost an eye, with one + shoulder and one thigh shot through, and his shield hit in two hundred and + thirty places. It happened that many of his soldiers being taken + prisoners, rather chose to die than promise to join the contrary side. + Granius Petronius was taken by Scipio in Africa: Scipio having put the + rest to death, sent him word that he gave him his life, for he was a man + of quality and quaestor, to whom Petronius sent answer back, that Caesar’s + soldiers were wont to give others their life, and not to receive it; and + immediately with his own hand killed himself. + </p> + <p> + Of their fidelity there are infinite examples amongst them, that which was + done by those who were besieged in Salona, a city that stood for Caesar + against Pompey, is not, for the rarity of an accident that there happened, + to be forgotten. Marcus Octavius kept them close besieged; they within + being reduced to the extremest necessity of all things, so that to supply + the want of men, most of them being either slain or wounded, they had + manumitted all their slaves, and had been constrained to cut off all the + women’s hair to make ropes for their war engines, besides a + wonderful dearth of victuals, and yet continuing resolute never to yield. + After having drawn the siege to a great length, by which Octavius was + grown more negligent and less attentive to his enterprise, they made + choice of one day about noon, and having first placed the women and + children upon the walls to make a show, sallied upon the besiegers with + such fury, that having routed the first, second, and third body, and + afterwards the fourth, and the rest, and beaten them all out of their + trenches, they pursued them even to their ships, and Octavius himself was + fain to fly to Dyrrachium, where Pompey lay. I do not at present remember + that I have met with any other example where the besieged ever gave the + besieger a total defeat and won the field, nor that a sortie ever achieved + the result of a pure and entire victory. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0091" id="link2HCH0091"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXV——OF THREE GOOD WOMEN + </h2> + <p> + They are not by the dozen, as every one knows, and especially in the + duties of marriage, for that is a bargain full of so many nice + circumstances that ‘tis hard a woman’s will should long endure + such a restraint; men, though their condition be something better under + that tie, have yet enough to do. The true touch and test of a happy + marriage have respect to the time of the companionship, if it has been + constantly gentle, loyal, and agreeable. In our age, women commonly + reserve the publication of their good offices, and their vehement + affection towards their husbands, until they have lost them, or at least, + till then defer the testimonies of their good will; a too slow testimony + and unseasonable. By it they rather manifest that they never loved them + till dead: their life is nothing but trouble; their death full of love and + courtesy. As fathers conceal their affection from their children, women, + likewise, conceal theirs from their husbands, to maintain a modest + respect. This mystery is not for my palate; ‘tis to much purpose + that they scratch themselves and tear their hair. I whisper in a + waiting-woman’s or secretary’s ear: “How were they, how + did they live together?” I always have that good saying m my head: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jactantius moerent, quae minus dolent.” + + [“They make the most ado who are least concerned.” (Or:) + “They mourn the more ostentatiously, the less they grieve.” + —Tacitus, Annal., ii. 77, writing of Germanicus.] +</pre> + <p> + Their whimpering is offensive to the living and vain to the dead. We + should willingly give them leave to laugh after we are dead, provided they + will smile upon us whilst we are alive. Is it not enough to make a man + revive in pure spite, that she, who spat in my face whilst I was in being, + shall come to kiss my feet when I am no more? If there be any honour in + lamenting a husband, it only appertains to those who smiled upon them + whilst they had them; let those who wept during their lives laugh at their + deaths, as well outwardly as within. Therefore, never regard those + blubbered eyes and that pitiful voice; consider her deportment, her + complexion, the plumpness of her cheeks under all those formal veils; + ‘tis there she talks plain French. There are few who do not mend + upon’t, and health is a quality that cannot lie. That starched and + ceremonious countenance looks not so much back as forward, and is rather + intended to get a new husband than to lament the old. When I was a boy, a + very beautiful and virtuous lady, who is yet living, the widow of a + prince, wore somewhat more ornament in her dress than our laws of + widowhood allow, and being reproached with it, she made answer that it was + because she was resolved to have no more love affairs, and would never + marry again. + </p> + <p> + I have here, not at all dissenting from our customs, made choice of three + women, who have also expressed the utmost of their goodness and affection + about their husbands’ deaths; yet are they examples of another kind + than are now m use, and so austere that they will hardly be drawn into + imitation. + </p> + <p> + The younger Pliny’ had near a house of his in Italy a neighbour who + was exceedingly tormented with certain ulcers in his private parts. His + wife seeing him so long to languish, entreated that he would give her + leave to see and at leisure to consider of the condition of his disease, + and that she would freely tell him what she thought. This permission being + obtained, and she having curiously examined the business, found it + impossible he could ever be cured, and that all he had to hope for or + expect was a great while to linger out a painful and miserable life, and + therefore, as the most sure and sovereign remedy, resolutely advised him + to kill himself. But finding him a little tender and backward in so rude + an attempt: “Do not think, my friend,” said she, “that + the torments I see thee endure are not as sensible to me as to thyself, + and that to deliver myself from them, I will not myself make use of the + same remedy I have prescribed to thee. I will accompany thee in the cure + as I have done in the disease; fear nothing, but believe that we shall + have pleasure in this passage that is to free us from so many miseries, + and we will go happily together.” Which having said, and roused up + her husband’s courage, she resolved that they should throw + themselves headlong into the sea out of a window that overlooked it, and + that she might maintain to the last the loyal and vehement affection + wherewith she had embraced him during his life, she would also have him + die in her arms; but lest they should fail, and should quit their hold in + the fall through fear, she tied herself fast to him by the waist, and so + gave up her own life to procure her husband’s repose. This was a + woman of mean condition; and, amongst that class of people, ‘tis no + very new thing to see some examples of rare virtue: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Extrema per illos + Justitia excedens terris vestigia fecit.” + + [“Justice, when she left the earth, took her last + steps among them.”—Virgil, Georg., ii. 473.] +</pre> + <p> + The other two were noble and rich, where examples of virtue are rarely + lodged. + </p> + <p> + Arria, the wife of Caecina Paetus, a consular person, was the mother of + another Arria, the wife of Thrasea Paetus, he whose virtue was so renowned + in the time of Nero, and by this son-in-law, the grandmother of Fannia: + for the resemblance of the names of these men and women, and their + fortunes, have led to several mistakes. This first Arria, her husband + Caecina Paetus, having been taken prisoner by some of the Emperor Claudius’ + people, after Scribonianus’ defeat, whose party he had embraced in + the war, begged of those who were to carry him prisoner to Rome, that they + would take her into their ship, where she would be of much less charge and + trouble to them than a great many persons they must otherwise have to + attend her husband, and that she alone would undertake to serve him in his + chamber, his kitchen, and all other offices. They refused, whereupon she + put herself into a fisher-boat she hired on the spot, and in that manner + followed him from Sclavonia. When she had come to Rome, Junia, the widow + of Scribonianus, having one day, from the resemblance of their fortune, + accosted her in the Emperor’s presence; she rudely repulsed her with + these words, “I,” said she, “speak to thee, or give ear + to any thing thou sayest! to thee in whose lap Scribonianus was slain, and + thou art yet alive!” These words, with several other signs, gave her + friends to understand that she would undoubtedly despatch herself, + impatient of supporting her husband’s misfortune. And Thrasea, her + son-in-law, beseeching her not to throw away herself, and saying to her, + “What! if I should run the same fortune that Caecina has done, would + you that your daughter, my wife, should do the same?”—“Would + I?” replied she, “yes, yes, I would: if she had lived as long, + and in as good understanding with thee as I have done, with my husband.” + These answers made them more careful of her, and to have a more watchful + eye to her proceedings. One day, having said to those who looked to her: + “Tis to much purpose that you take all this pains to prevent me; you + may indeed make me die an ill death, but to keep me from dying is not in + your power”; she in a sudden phrenzy started from a chair whereon + she sat, and with all her force dashed her head against the wall, by which + blow being laid flat in a swoon, and very much wounded, after they had + again with great ado brought her to herself: “I told you,” + said she, “that if you refused me some easy way of dying, I should + find out another, how painful soever.” The conclusion of so + admirable a virtue was this: her husband Paetus, not having resolution + enough of his own to despatch himself, as he was by the emperor’s + cruelty enjoined, one day, amongst others, after having first employed all + the reasons and exhortations which she thought most prevalent to persuade + him to it, she snatched the poignard he wore from his side, and holding it + ready in her hand, for the conclusion of her admonitions; “Do thus, + Paetus,” said she, and in the same instant giving herself a mortal + stab in the breast, and then drawing it out of the wound, presented it to + him, ending her life with this noble, generous, and immortal saying, + “Paete, non dolet”—having time to pronounce no more but + those three never-to-be-forgotten words: “Paetus, it is not painful.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Casta suo gladium cum traderet Arria Paeto, + Quern de visceribus traxerat ipsa suis + Si qua fides, vulnus quod feci non dolet, inquit, + Sed quod to facies, id mihi, Paete, dolet.” + + [“When the chaste Arria gave to Poetus the reeking sword she had + drawn from her breast, ‘If you believe me,’ she said, ‘Paetus, the + wound I have made hurts not, but ‘tis that which thou wilt make that + hurts me.’”—-Martial, i. 14.] +</pre> + <p> + The action was much more noble in itself, and of a braver sense than the + poet expressed it: for she was so far from being deterred by the thought + of her husband’s wound and death and her own, that she had been + their promotress and adviser: but having performed this high and + courageous enterprise for her husband’s only convenience, she had + even in the last gasp of her life no other concern but for him, and of + dispossessing him of the fear of dying with her. Paetus presently struck + himself to the heart with the same weapon, ashamed, I suppose, to have + stood in need of so dear and precious an example. + </p> + <p> + Pompeia Paulina, a young and very noble Roman lady, had married Seneca in + his extreme old age. Nero, his fine pupil, sent his guards to him to + denounce the sentence of death, which was performed after this manner: + When the Roman emperors of those times had condemned any man of quality, + they sent to him by their officers to choose what death he would, and to + execute it within such or such a time, which was limited, according to the + degree of their indignation, to a shorter or a longer respite, that they + might therein have better leisure to dispose their affairs, and sometimes + depriving them of the means of doing it by the shortness of the time; and + if the condemned seemed unwilling to submit to the order, they had people + ready at hand to execute it either by cutting the veins of the arms and + legs, or by compelling them by force to swallow a draught of poison. But + persons of honour would not abide this necessity, but made use of their + own physicians and surgeons for this purpose. Seneca, with a calm and + steady countenance, heard their charge, and presently called for paper to + write his will, which being by the captain refused, he turned himself + towards his friends, saying to them, “Since I cannot leave you any + other acknowledgment of the obligation I have to you, I leave you at least + the best thing I have, namely, the image of my life and manners, which I + entreat you to keep in memory of me, that by so doing you may acquire the + glory of sincere and real friends.” And there withal, one while + appeasing the sorrow he saw in them with gentle words, and presently + raising his voice to reprove them: “What,” said he, “are + become of all our brave philosophical precepts? What are become of all the + provisions we have so many years laid up against the accidents of fortune? + Is Nero’s cruelty unknown to us? What could we expect from him who + had murdered his mother and his brother, but that he should put his tutor + to death who had brought him up?” After having spoken these words in + general, he turned himself towards his wife, and embracing her fast in his + arms, as, her heart and strength failing her, she was ready to sink down + with grief, he begged of her, for his sake, to bear this accident with a + little more patience, telling her, that now the hour was come wherein he + was to show, not by argument and discourse, but effect, the fruit he had + acquired by his studies, and that he really embraced his death, not only + without grief, but moreover with joy. “Wherefore, my dearest,” + said he, “do not dishonour it with thy tears, that it may not seem + as if thou lovest thyself more than my reputation. Moderate thy grief, and + comfort thyself in the knowledge thou hast had of me and my actions, + leading the remainder of thy life in the same virtuous manner thou hast + hitherto done.” To which Paulina, having a little recovered her + spirits, and warmed the magnanimity of her courage with a most generous + affection, replied,—“No, Seneca,” said she, “I am + not a woman to suffer you to go alone in such a necessity: I will not have + you think that the virtuous examples of your life have not taught me how + to die; and when can I ever better or more fittingly do it, or more to my + own desire, than with you? and therefore assure yourself I will go along + with you.” Then Seneca, taking this noble and generous resolution of + his wife m good part, and also willing to free himself from the fear of + leaving her exposed to the cruelty of his enemies after his death: “I + have, Paulina,” said he, “instructed thee in what would serve + thee happily to live; but thou more covetest, I see, the honour of dying: + in truth, I will not grudge it thee; the constancy and resolution in our + common end are the same, but the beauty and glory of thy part are much + greater.” Which being said, the surgeons, at the same time, opened + the veins of both their arms, but as those of Seneca were more shrunk up, + as well with age as abstinence, made his blood flow too slowly, he + moreover commanded them to open the veins of his thighs; and lest the + torments he endured might pierce his wife’s heart, and also to free + himself from the affliction of seeing her in so sad a condition, after + having taken a very affectionate leave of her, he entreated she would + suffer them to carry her into her chamber, which they accordingly did. But + all these incisions being not yet enough to make him die, he commanded + Statius Anneus, his physician, to give him a draught of poison, which had + not much better effect; for by reason of the weakness and coldness of his + limbs, it could not arrive at his heart. Wherefore they were forced to + superadd a very hot bath, and then, feeling his end approach, whilst he + had breath he continued excellent discourses upon the subject of his + present condition, which the secretaries wrote down so long as they could + hear his voice, and his last words were long after in high honour and + esteem amongst men, and it is a great loss to us that they have not come + down to our times. Then, feeling the last pangs of death, with the bloody + water of the bath he bathed his head, saying: “This water I dedicate + to Jupiter the deliverer.” Nero, being presently informed of all + this, fearing lest the death of Paulina, who was one of the best-born + ladies of Rome, and against whom he had no particular unkindness, should + turn to his reproach, sent orders in all haste to bind up her wounds, + which her attendants did without her knowledge, she being already half + dead, and without all manner of sense. Thus, though she lived contrary to + her own design, it was very honourably, and befitting her own virtue, her + pale complexion ever after manifesting how much life had run from her + veins. + </p> + <p> + These are my three very true stories, which I find as entertaining and as + tragic as any of those we make out of our own heads wherewith to amuse the + common people; and I wonder that they who are addicted to such relations, + do not rather cull out ten thousand very fine stories, which are to be + found in books, that would save them the trouble of invention, and be more + useful and diverting; and he who would make a whole and connected body of + them would need to add nothing of his own, but the connection only, as it + were the solder of another metal; and might by this means embody a great + many true events of all sorts, disposing and diversifying them according + as the beauty of the work should require, after the same manner, almost, + as Ovid has made up his Metamorphoses of the infinite number of various + fables. + </p> + <p> + In the last couple, this is, moreover, worthy of consideration, that + Paulina voluntarily offered to lose her life for the love of her husband, + and that her husband had formerly also forborne to die for the love of + her. We may think there is no just counterpoise in this exchange; but, + according to his stoical humour, I fancy he thought he had done as much + for her, in prolonging his life upon her account, as if he had died for + her. In one of his letters to Lucilius, after he has given him to + understand that, being seized with an ague in Rome, he presently took + coach to go to a house he had in the country, contrary to his wife’s + opinion, who would have him stay, and that he had told her that the ague + he was seized with was not a fever of the body but of the place, it + follows thus: “She let me go,” says he, “giving me a + strict charge of my health. Now I, who know that her life is involved in + mine, begin to make much of myself, that I may preserve her. And I lose + the privilege my age has given me, of being more constant and resolute in + many things, when I call to mind that in this old fellow there is a young + girl who is interested in his health. And since I cannot persuade her to + love me more courageously, she makes me more solicitously love myself: for + we must allow something to honest affections, and, sometimes, though + occasions importune us to the contrary, we must call back life, even + though it be with torment: we must hold the soul fast in our teeth, since + the rule of living, amongst good men, is not so long as they please, but + as long as they ought. He that loves not his wife nor his friend so well + as to prolong his life for them, but will obstinately die, is too delicate + and too effeminate: the soul must impose this upon itself, when the + utility of our friends so requires; we must sometimes lend ourselves to + our friends, and when we would die for ourselves must break that + resolution for them. ‘Tis a testimony of grandeur of courage to + return to life for the consideration of another, as many excellent persons + have done: and ‘tis a mark of singular good nature to preserve old + age (of which the greatest convenience is the indifference as to its + duration, and a more stout and disdainful use of life), when a man + perceives that this office is pleasing, agreeable, and useful to some + person by whom he is very much beloved. And a man reaps by it a very + pleasing reward; for what can be more delightful than to be so dear to his + wife, as upon her account he shall become dearer to himself? Thus has my + Paulina loaded me not only with her fears, but my own; it has not been + sufficient to consider how resolutely I could die, but I have also + considered how irresolutely she would bear my death. I am enforced to + live, and sometimes to live in magnanimity.” These are his own + words, as excellent as they everywhere are. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0092" id="link2HCH0092"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVI——OF THE MOST EXCELLENT MEN + </h2> + <p> + If I should be asked my choice among all the men who have come to my + knowledge, I should make answer, that methinks I find three more excellent + than all the rest. + </p> + <p> + One of them Homer: not that Aristotle and Varro, for example, were not, + peradventure, as learned as he; nor that possibly Virgil was not equal to + him in his own art, which I leave to be determined by such as know them + both. I who, for my part, understand but one of them, can only say this, + according to my poor talent, that I do not believe the Muses themselves + could ever go beyond the Roman: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tale facit carmen docta testudine, quale + Cynthius impositis temperat articulis:” + + [“He plays on his learned lute a verse such as Cynthian Apollo + modulates with his imposed fingers.”—Propertius, ii. 34, 79.] +</pre> + <p> + and yet in this judgment we are not to forget that it is chiefly from + Homer that Virgil derives his excellence, that he is guide and teacher; + and that one touch of the Iliad has supplied him with body and matter out + of which to compose his great and divine AEneid. I do not reckon upon + that, but mix several other circumstances that render to me this poet + admirable, even as it were above human condition. And, in truth, I often + wonder that he who has produced, and, by his authority, given reputation + in the world to so many deities, was not deified himself. Being blind and + poor, living before the sciences were reduced into rule and certain + observation, he was so well acquainted with them, that all those who have + since taken upon them to establish governments, to carry on wars, and to + write either of religion or philosophy, of what sect soever, or of the + arts, have made use of him as of a most perfect instructor in the + knowledge of all things, and of his books as of a treasury of all sorts of + learning: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui, quid sit pulcrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non, + Planius ac melius Chrysippo et Crantore dicit:” + + [“Who tells us what is good, what evil, what useful, what not, more + clearly and better than Chrysippus and Crantor?” + —Horace, Ep., i. 2, 3.] +</pre> + <p> + and as this other says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “A quo, ceu fonte perenni, + Vatum Pieriis ora rigantur aquis” + + [“From which, as from a perennial spring, the lips of the poets + are moistened by Pierian waters.”—Ovid, Amoy., iii. 9, 25.] +</pre> + <p> + and the other, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Adde Heliconiadum comites, quorum unus Homerus + Sceptra potitus;” + + [“Add the companions of the Muses, whose sceptre Homer has solely + obtained.”—Lucretius, iii. 1050.] +</pre> + <p> + and the other: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cujusque ex ore profusos + Omnis posteritas latices in carmina duxit, + Amnemque in tenues ausa est deducere rivos. + Unius foecunda bonis.” + + [“From whose mouth all posterity has drawn out copious streams of + verse, and has made bold to turn the mighty river into its little + rivulets, fertile in the property of one man.” + —Manilius, Astyon., ii. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis contrary to the order of nature that he has made the most + excellent production that can possibly be; for the ordinary birth of + things is imperfect; they thrive and gather strength by growing, whereas + he rendered the infancy of poesy and several other sciences mature, + perfect, and accomplished at first. And for this reason he may be called + the first and the last of the poets, according to the fine testimony + antiquity has left us of him, “that as there was none before him + whom he could imitate, so there has been none since that could imitate + him.” His words, according to Aristotle, are the only words that + have motion and action, the only substantial words. Alexander the Great, + having found a rich cabinet amongst Darius’ spoils, gave order it + should be reserved for him to keep his Homer in, saying: that he was the + best and most faithful counsellor he had in his military affairs. For the + same reason it was that Cleomenes, the son of Anaxandridas, said that he + was the poet of the Lacedaemonians, for that he was an excellent master + for the discipline of war. This singular and particular commendation is + also left of him in the judgment of Plutarch, that he is the only author + in the world that never glutted nor disgusted his readers, presenting + himself always another thing, and always flourishing in some new grace. + That wanton Alcibiades, having asked one, who pretended to learning, for a + book of Homer, gave him a box of the ear because he had none, which he + thought as scandalous as we should if we found one of our priests without + a Breviary. Xenophanes complained one day to Hiero, the tyrant of + Syracuse, that he was so poor he had not wherewithal to maintain two + servants. “What!” replied he, “Homer, who was much + poorer than thou art, keeps above ten thousand, though he is dead.” + What did Panaetius leave unsaid when he called Plato the Homer of the + philosophers? Besides what glory can be compared to his? Nothing is so + frequent in men’s mouths as his name and works, nothing so known and + received as Troy, Helen, and the war about her, when perhaps there was + never any such thing. Our children are still called by names that he + invented above three thousand years ago; who does not know Hector and + Achilles? Not only some particular families, but most nations also seek + their origin in his inventions. Mohammed, the second of that name, emperor + of the Turks, writing to our Pope Pius II., “I am astonished,” + says he, “that the Italians should appear against me, considering + that we have our common descent from the Trojans, and that it concerns me + as well as it does them to revenge the blood of Hector upon the Greeks, + whom they countenance against me.” Is it not a noble farce wherein + kings, republics, and emperors have so many ages played their parts, and + to which the vast universe serves for a theatre? Seven Grecian cities + contended for his birth, so much honour even his obscurity helped him to! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Smyrna, Rhodos, Colophon, Salamis, Chios, Argos, Athenm.” + </pre> + <p> + The other is Alexander the Great. For whoever will consider the age at + which he began his enterprises, the small means by which he effected so + glorious a design, the authority he obtained in such mere youth with the + greatest and most experienced captains of the world, by whom he was + followed, the extraordinary favour wherewith fortune embraced and favoured + so many hazardous, not to say rash, exploits, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Impellens quicquid sibi summa petenti + Obstaret, gaudensque viam fecisse ruins;” + + [“Bearing down all who sought to withstand him, and pleased + to force his way by ruin.”—Lucan, i. 149.] +</pre> + <p> + that greatness, to have at the age of three-and-thirty years, passed + victorious through the whole habitable earth, and in half a life to have + attained to the utmost of what human nature can do; so that you cannot + imagine its just duration and the continuation of his increase in valour + and fortune, up to a due maturity of age, but that you must withal imagine + something more than man: to have made so many royal branches to spring + from his soldiers, leaving the world, at his death, divided amongst four + successors, simple captains of his army, whose posterity so long continued + and maintained that vast possession; so many excellent virtues as he was + master of, justice, temperance, liberality, truth in his word, love + towards his own people, and humanity towards those he overcame; for his + manners, in general, seem in truth incapable of any manner of reproach, + although some particular and extraordinary actions of his may fall under + censure. But it is impossible to carry on such great things as he did + within the strict rules of justice; such as he are to be judged in gross + by the main end of their actions. The ruin of Thebes and Persepolis, the + murder of Menander and of Ephistion’s physician, the massacre of so + many Persian prisoners at one time, of a troop of Indian soldiers not + without prejudice to his word, and of the Cossians, so much as to the very + children, are indeed sallies that are not well to be excused. For, as to + Clytus, the fault was more than redeemed; and that very action, as much as + any other whatever, manifests the goodness of his nature, a nature most + excellently formed to goodness; and it was ingeniously said of him, that + he had his virtues from Nature, his vices from Fortune. As to his being a + little given to bragging, a little too impatient of hearing himself + ill-spoken of, and as to those mangers, arms, and bits he caused to be + strewed in the Indies, all those little vanities, methinks, may very well + be allowed to his youth, and the prodigious prosperity of his fortune. And + who will consider withal his so many military virtues, his diligence, + foresight, patience, discipline, subtlety, magnanimity, resolution, and + good fortune, wherein (though we had not had the authority of Hannibal to + assure us) he was the first of men, the admirable beauty and symmetry of + his person, even to a miracle, his majestic port and awful mien, in a face + so young, ruddy, and radiant: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qualis, ubi Oceani perfusus Lucifer unda, + Quem Venus ante alios astrorum diligit ignes, + Extulit os sacrum coelo, tenebrasque resolvit;” + + [“As when, bathed in the waves of Ocean, Lucifer, whom Venus loves + beyond the other stars, has displayed his sacred countenance to the + heaven, and disperses the darkness”—AEneid, iii. 589.] +</pre> + <p> + the excellence of his knowledge and capacity; the duration and grandeur of + his glory, pure, clean, without spot or envy, and that long after his + death it was a religious belief that his very medals brought good fortune + to all who carried them about them; and that more kings and princes have + written his actions than other historians have written the actions of any + other king or prince whatever; and that to this very day the Mohammedans, + who despise all other histories, admit of and honour his alone, by a + special privilege: whoever, I say, will seriously consider these + particulars, will confess that, all these things put together, I had + reason to prefer him before Caesar himself, who alone could make me + doubtful in my choice: and it cannot be denied that there was more of his + own in his exploits, and more of fortune in those of Alexander. They were + in many things equal, and peradventure Caesar had some greater qualities + they were two fires, or two torrents, overrunning the world by several + ways; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ac velut immissi diversis partibus ignes + Arentem in silvam, et virgulta sonantia lauro + Aut ubi decursu rapido de montibus altis + Dant sonitum spumosi amnes, et in aequora currunt, + Quisque suum populatus iter:” + + [“And as fires applied in several parts to a dry wood and crackling + shrubs of laurel, or as with impetuous fall from the steep + mountains, foaming torrents pour down to the ocean, each clearing a + destructive course.”—AEneid, xii. 521.] +</pre> + <p> + but though Caesar’s ambition had been more moderate, it would still + be so unhappy, having the ruin of his country and universal mischief to + the world for its abominable object, that, all things raked together and + put into the balance, I must needs incline to Alexander’s side. + </p> + <p> + The third and in my opinion the most excellent, is Epaminondas. Of glory + he has not near so much as the other two (which, for that matter, is but a + part of the substance of the thing): of valour and resolution, not of that + sort which is pushed on by ambition, but of that which wisdom and reason + can plant in a regular soul, he had all that could be imagined. Of this + virtue of his, he has, in my idea, given as ample proof as Alexander + himself or Caesar: for although his warlike exploits were neither so + frequent nor so full, they were yet, if duly considered in all their + circumstances, as important, as bravely fought, and carried with them as + manifest testimony of valour and military conduct, as those of any + whatever. The Greeks have done him the honour, without contradiction, to + pronounce him the greatest man of their nation; and to be the first of + Greece, is easily to be the first of the world. As to his knowledge, we + have this ancient judgment of him, “That never any man knew so much, + and spake so little as he”;—[Plutarch, On the Demon of + Socrates, c. 23.]—for he was of the Pythagorean sect; but when he + did speak, never any man spake better; an excellent orator, and of + powerful persuasion. But as to his manners and conscience, he infinitely + surpassed all men who ever undertook the management of affairs; for in + this one thing, which ought chiefly to be considered, which alone truly + denotes us for what we are, and which alone I make counterbalance all the + rest put together, he comes not short of any philosopher whatever, not + even of Socrates himself. Innocence, in this man, is a quality peculiar, + sovereign, constant, uniform, incorruptible, compared with which, it + appears in Alexander subject to something else subaltern, uncertain, + variable, effeminate, and fortuitous. + </p> + <p> + Antiquity has judged that in thoroughly sifting all the other great + captains, there is found in every one some peculiar quality that + illustrates his name: in this man only there is a full and equal virtue + throughout, that leaves nothing to be wished for in him, whether in + private or public employment, whether in peace or war; whether to live + gloriously and grandly, and to die: I do not know any form or fortune of + man that I so much honour and love. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis true that I look upon his obstinate poverty, as it is set out + by his best friends, as a little too scrupulous and nice; and this is the + only feature, though high in itself and well worthy of admiration, that I + find so rugged as not to desire to imitate, to the degree it was in him. + </p> + <p> + Scipio AEmilianus alone, could one attribute to him as brave and + magnificent an end, and as profound and universal a knowledge, might be + put into the other scale of the balance. Oh, what an injury has time done + me to deprive me of the sight of two of the most noble lives which, by the + common consent of all the world, one of the greatest of the Greeks, and + the other of the Romans, were in all Plutarch. What a matter! what a + workman! + </p> + <p> + For a man that was no saint, but, as we say, a gentleman, of civilian and + ordinary manners, and of a moderate ambition, the richest life that I + know, and full of the richest and most to be desired parts, all things + considered, is, in my opinion, that of Alcibiades. + </p> + <p> + But as to what concerns Epaminondas, I will here, for the example of an + excessive goodness, add some of his opinions: he declared, that the + greatest satisfaction he ever had in his whole life, was the contentment + he gave his father and mother by his victory at Leuctra; wherein his + deference is great, preferring their pleasure before his own, so dust and + so full of so glorious an action. He did not think it lawful, even to + restore the liberty of his country, to kill a man without knowing a cause: + which made him so cold in the enterprise of his companion Pelopidas for + the relief of Thebes. He was also of opinion that men in battle ought to + avoid the encounter of a friend who was on the contrary side, and to spare + him. And his humanity, even towards his enemies themselves, having + rendered him suspected to the Boeotians, for that, after he had + miraculously forced the Lacedaemonians to open to him the pass which they + had undertaken to defend at the entrance into the Morea, near Corinth, he + contented himself with having charged through them, without pursuing them + to the utmost, he had his commission of general taken from him, very + honourably upon such an account, and for the shame it was to them upon + necessity afterwards to restore him to his command, and so to manifest how + much upon him depended their safety and honour; victory like a shadow + attending him wherever he went; and indeed the prosperity of his country, + as being from him derived, died with him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0093" id="link2HCH0093"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVII——OF THE RESEMBLANCE OF CHILDREN TO THEIR + FATHERS + </h2> + <p> + This faggoting up of so many divers pieces is so done that I never set pen + to paper but when I have too much idle time, and never anywhere but at + home; so that it is compiled after divers interruptions and intervals, + occasions keeping me sometimes many months elsewhere. As to the rest, I + never correct my first by any second conceptions; I, peradventure, may + alter a word or so, but ‘tis only to vary the phrase, and not to + destroy my former meaning. I have a mind to represent the progress of my + humours, and that every one may see each piece as it came from the forge. + I could wish I had begun sooner, and had taken more notice of the course + of my mutations. A servant of mine whom I employed to transcribe for me, + thought he had got a prize by stealing several pieces from me, wherewith + he was best pleased; but it is my comfort that he will be no greater a + gainer than I shall be a loser by the theft. I am grown older by seven or + eight years since I began; nor has it been without same new acquisition: I + have, in that time, by the liberality of years, been acquainted with the + stone: their commerce and long converse do not well pass away without some + such inconvenience. I could have been glad that of other infirmities age + has to present long-lived men withal, it had chosen some one that would + have been more welcome to me, for it could not possibly have laid upon me + a disease for which, even from my infancy, I have had so great a horror; + and it is, in truth, of all the accidents of old age, that of which I have + ever been most afraid. I have often thought with myself that I went on too + far, and that in so long a voyage I should at last run myself into some + disadvantage; I perceived, and have often enough declared, that it was + time to depart, and that life should be cut off in the sound and living + part, according to the surgeon’s rule in amputations; and that + nature made him pay very strict usury who did not in due time pay the + principal. And yet I was so far from being ready, that in the eighteen + months’ time or thereabout that I have been in this uneasy + condition, I have so inured myself to it as to be content to live on in + it; and have found wherein to comfort myself, and to hope: so much are men + enslaved to their miserable being, that there is no condition so wretched + they will not accept, provided they may live! Hear Maecenas: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Debilem facito manu, + Debilem pede, coxa, + Lubricos quate dentes; + Vita dum superest, bene est.” + + [“Cripple my hand, foot, hip; shake out my loose teeth: while + there’s life, ‘tis well.”—Apud Seneca, Ep., 101.] +</pre> + <p> + And Tamerlane, with a foolish humanity, palliated the fantastic cruelty he + exercised upon lepers, when he put all he could hear of to death, to + deliver them, as he pretended, from the painful life they lived. For there + was not one of them who would not rather have been thrice a leper than be + not. And Antisthenes the Stoic, being very sick, and crying out, “Who + will deliver me from these evils?” Diogenes, who had come to visit + him, “This,” said he, presenting him a knife, “soon + enough, if thou wilt.”—“I do not mean from my life,” + he replied, “but from my sufferings.” The sufferings that only + attack the mind, I am not so sensible of as most other men; and this + partly out of judgment, for the world looks upon several things as + dreadful or to be avoided at the expense of life, that are almost + indifferent to me: partly, through a dull and insensible complexion I have + in accidents which do not point-blank hit me; and that insensibility I + look upon as one of the best parts of my natural condition; but essential + and corporeal pains I am very sensible of. And yet, having long since + foreseen them, though with a sight weak and delicate and softened with the + long and happy health and quiet that God has been pleased to give me the + greatest part of my time, I had in my imagination fancied them so + insupportable, that, in truth, I was more afraid than I have since found I + had cause: by which I am still more fortified in this belief, that most of + the faculties of the soul, as we employ them, more trouble the repose of + life than they are any way useful to it. + </p> + <p> + I am in conflict with the worst, the most sudden, the most painful, the + most mortal, and the most irremediable of all diseases; I have already had + the trial of five or six very long and very painful fits; and yet I either + flatter myself, or there is even in this state what is very well to be + endured by a man who has his soul free from the fear of death, and of the + menaces, conclusions, and consequences which physic is ever thundering in + our ears; but the effect even of pain itself is not so sharp and + intolerable as to put a man of understanding into rage and despair. I have + at least this advantage by my stone, that what I could not hitherto + prevail upon myself to resolve upon, as to reconciling and acquainting + myself with death, it will perfect; for the more it presses upon and + importunes me, I shall be so much the less afraid to die. I had already + gone so far as only to love life for life’s sake, but my pain will + dissolve this intelligence; and God grant that in the end, should the + sharpness of it be once greater than I shall be able to bear, it does not + throw me into the other no less vicious extreme to desire and wish to die! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Summum nec metuas diem, nec optes:” + + [“Neither to wish, nor fear to die.” (Or:) + “Thou shouldest neither fear nor desire the last day.” + —Martial, x. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + they are two passions to be feared; but the one has its remedy much nearer + at hand than the other. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, I have always found the precept that so rigorously enjoins + a resolute countenance and disdainful and indifferent comportment in the + toleration of infirmities to be ceremonial. Why should philosophy, which + only has respect to life and effects, trouble itself about these external + appearances? Let us leave that care to actors and masters of rhetoric, who + set so great a value upon our gestures. Let her allow this vocal frailty + to disease, if it be neither cordial nor stomachic, and permit the + ordinary ways of expressing grief by sighs, sobs, palpitations, and + turning pale, that nature has put out of our power; provided the courage + be undaunted, and the tones not expressive of despair, let her be + satisfied. What matter the wringing of our hands, if we do not wring our + thoughts? She forms us for ourselves, not for others; to be, not to seem; + let her be satisfied with governing our understanding, which she has taken + upon her the care of instructing; that, in the fury of the colic, she + maintain the soul in a condition to know itself, and to follow its + accustomed way, contending with, and enduring, not meanly truckling under + pain; moved and heated, not subdued and conquered, in the contention; + capable of discourse and other things, to a certain degree. In such + extreme accidents, ‘tis cruelty to require so exact a composedness. + ‘Tis no great matter that we make a wry face, if the mind plays its + part well: if the body find itself relieved by complaining let it + complain: if agitation ease it, let it tumble and toss at pleasure; if it + seem to find the disease evaporate (as some physicians hold that it helps + women in delivery) in making loud outcries, or if this do but divert its + torments, let it roar as it will. Let us not command this voice to sally, + but stop it not. Epicurus, not only forgives his sage for crying out in + torments, but advises him to it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pugiles etiam, quum feriunt, in jactandis caestibus + ingemiscunt, quia profundenda voce omne corpus intenditur, + venitque plaga vehementior.” + + [“Boxers also, when they strike, groan in the act, because with the + strength of voice the whole body is carried, and the blow comes with + the greater vehemence.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + We have enough to do to deal with the disease, without troubling ourselves + with these superfluous rules. + </p> + <p> + Which I say in excuse of those whom we ordinarily see impatient in the + assaults of this malady; for as to what concerns myself, I have passed it + over hitherto with a little better countenance, and contented myself with + groaning without roaring out; not, nevertheless, that I put any great + constraint upon myself to maintain this exterior decorum, for I make + little account of such an advantage: I allow herein as much as the pain + requires; but either my pains are not so excessive, or I have more than + ordinary patience. I complain, I confess, and am a little impatient in a + very sharp fit, but I do not arrive to such a degree of despair as he who + with: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ejulatu, questu, gemitu, fremitibus + Resonando, multum flebiles voces refert:” + + [“Howling, roaring, groaning with a thousand noises, expressing his + torment in a dismal voice.” (Or:) “Wailing, complaining, groaning, + murmuring much avail lugubrious sounds.”—Verses of Attius, in his + Phaloctetes, quoted by Cicero, De Finib., ii. 29; Tusc. Quaes., + ii. 14.] +</pre> + <p> + I try myself in the depth of my suffering, and have always found that I + was in a capacity to speak, think, and give a rational answer as well as + at any other time, but not so firmly, being troubled and interrupted by + the pain. When I am looked upon by my visitors to be in the greatest + torment, and that they therefore forbear to trouble me, I often essay my + own strength, and myself set some discourse on foot, the most remote I can + contrive from my present condition. I can do anything upon a sudden + endeavour, but it must not continue long. Oh, what pity ‘tis I have + not the faculty of that dreamer in Cicero, who dreaming he was lying with + a wench, found he had discharged his stone in the sheets. My pains + strangely deaden my appetite that way. In the intervals from this + excessive torment, when my ureters only languish without any great dolor, + I presently feel myself in my wonted state, forasmuch as my soul takes no + other alarm but what is sensible and corporal, which I certainly owe to + the care I have had of preparing myself by meditation against such + accidents: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Laborum, + Nulla mihi nova nunc facies inopinave surgit; + Omnia praecepi, atque animo mecum ante peregi.” + + [“No new shape of suffering can arise new or unexpected; I have + anticipated all, and acted them over beforehand in my mind.” + —AEneid, vi. 103.] +</pre> + <p> + I am, however, a little roughly handled for an apprentice, and with a + sudden and sharp alteration, being fallen in an instant from a very easy + and happy condition of life into the most uneasy and painful that can be + imagined. For besides that it is a disease very much to be feared in + itself, it begins with me after a more sharp and severe manner than it is + used to do with other men. My fits come so thick upon me that I am + scarcely ever at ease; yet I have hitherto kept my mind so upright that, + provided I can still continue it, I find myself in a much better condition + of life than a thousand others, who have no fewer nor other disease but + what they create to themselves for want of meditation. + </p> + <p> + There is a certain sort of crafty humility that springs from presumption, + as this, for example, that we confess our ignorance in many things, and + are so courteous as to acknowledge that there are in the works of nature + some qualities and conditions that are imperceptible to us, and of which + our understanding cannot discover the means and causes; by this so honest + and conscientious declaration we hope to obtain that people shall also + believe us as to those that we say we do understand. We need not trouble + ourselves to seek out foreign miracles and difficulties; methinks, amongst + the things that we ordinarily see, there are such incomprehensible wonders + as surpass all difficulties of miracles. What a wonderful thing it is that + the drop of seed from which we are produced should carry in itself the + impression not only of the bodily form, but even of the thoughts and + inclinations of our fathers! Where can that drop of fluid matter contain + that infinite number of forms? and how can they carry on these + resemblances with so precarious and irregular a process that the son shall + be like his great-grandfather, the nephew like his uncle? In the family of + Lepidus at Rome there were three, not successively but by intervals, who + were born with the same eye covered with a cartilage. At Thebes there was + a race that carried from their mother’s womb the form of the head of + a lance, and he who was not born so was looked upon as illegitimate. And + Aristotle says that in a certain nation, where the women were in common, + they assigned the children to their fathers by their resemblance. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis to be believed that I derive this infirmity from my father, for + he died wonderfully tormented with a great stone in his bladder; he was + never sensible of his disease till the sixty-seventh year of his age; and + before that had never felt any menace or symptoms of it, either in his + reins, sides, or any other part, and had lived, till then, in a happy, + vigorous state of health, little subject to infirmities, and he continued + seven years after in this disease, dragging on a very painful end of life. + I was born about five-and-twenty years before his disease seized him, and + in the time of his most flourishing and healthful state of body, his third + child in order of birth: where could his propension to this malady lie + lurking all that while? And he being then so far from the infirmity, how + could that small part of his substance wherewith he made me, carry away so + great an impression for its share? and how so concealed, that till + five-and-forty years after, I did not begin to be sensible of it? being + the only one to this hour, amongst so many brothers and sisters, and all + by one mother, that was ever troubled with it. He that can satisfy me in + this point, I will believe him in as many other miracles as he pleases; + always provided that, as their manner is, he do not give me a doctrine + much more intricate and fantastic than the thing itself for current pay. + </p> + <p> + Let the physicians a little excuse the liberty I take, for by this same + infusion and fatal insinuation it is that I have received a hatred and + contempt of their doctrine; the antipathy I have against their art is + hereditary. My father lived three-score and fourteen years, my grandfather + sixty-nine, my great-grandfather almost fourscore years, without ever + tasting any sort of physic; and, with them, whatever was not ordinary + diet, was instead of a drug. Physic is grounded upon experience and + examples: so is my opinion. And is not this an express and very + advantageous experience. I do not know that they can find me in all their + records three that were born, bred, and died under the same roof, who have + lived so long by their conduct. They must here of necessity confess, that + if reason be not, fortune at least is on my side, and with physicians + fortune goes a great deal further than reason. Let them not take me now at + a disadvantage; let them not threaten me in the subdued condition wherein + I now am; that were treachery. In truth, I have enough the better of them + by these domestic examples, that they should rest satisfied. Human things + are not usually so constant; it has been two hundred years, save eighteen, + that this trial has lasted, for the first of them was born in the year + 1402: ‘tis now, indeed, very good reason that this experience should + begin to fail us. Let them not, therefore, reproach me with the + infirmities under which I now suffer; is it not enough that I for my part + have lived seven-and-forty years in good health? though it should be the + end of my career; ‘tis of the longer sort. + </p> + <p> + My ancestors had an aversion to physic by some occult and natural + instinct; for the very sight of drugs was loathsome to my father. The + Seigneur de Gaviac, my uncle by the father’s side, a churchman, and + a valetudinary from his birth, and yet who made that crazy life hold out + to sixty-seven years, being once fallen into a furious fever, it was + ordered by the physicians he should be plainly told that if he would not + make use of help (for so they call that which is very often an obstacle), + he would infallibly be a dead man. That good man, though terrified with + this dreadful sentence, yet replied, “I am then a dead man.” + But God soon after made the prognostic false. The last of the brothers—there + were four of them—and by many years the last, the Sieur de + Bussaguet, was the only one of the family who made use of medicine, by + reason, I suppose, of the concern he had with the other arts, for he was a + councillor in the court of Parliament, and it succeeded so ill with him, + that being in outward appearance of the strongest constitution, he yet + died long before any of the rest, save the Sieur de Saint Michel. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis possible I may have derived this natural antipathy to physic + from them; but had there been no other consideration in the case, I would + have endeavoured to have overcome it; for all these conditions that spring + in us without reason, are vicious; ‘tis a kind of disease that we + should wrestle with. It may be I had naturally this propension; but I have + supported and fortified it by arguments and reasons which have established + in me the opinion I am of. For I also hate the consideration of refusing + physic for the nauseous taste. + </p> + <p> + I should hardly be of that humour who hold health to be worth purchasing + by all the most painful cauteries and incisions that can be applied. And, + with Epicurus, I conceive that pleasures are to be avoided, if greater + pains be the consequence, and pains to be coveted, that will terminate in + greater pleasures. Health is a precious thing, and the only one, in truth, + meriting that a man should lay out, not only his time, sweat, labour, and + goods, but also his life itself to obtain it; forasmuch as, without it, + life is wearisome and injurious to us: pleasure, wisdom, learning, and + virtue, without it, wither away and vanish; and to the most laboured and + solid discourses that philosophy would imprint in us to the contrary, we + need no more but oppose the image of Plato being struck with an epilepsy + or apoplexy; and, in this presupposition, to defy him to call the rich + faculties of his soul to his assistance. All means that conduce to health + can neither be too painful nor too dear to me. But I have some other + appearances that make me strangely suspect all this merchandise. I do not + deny but that there may be some art in it, that there are not amongst so + many works of Nature, things proper for the conservation of health: that + is most certain: I very well know there are some simples that moisten, and + others that dry; I experimentally know that radishes are windy, and + senna-leaves purging; and several other such experiences I have, as that + mutton nourishes me, and wine warms me: and Solon said “that eating + was physic against the malady hunger.” I do not disapprove the use + we make of things the earth produces, nor doubt, in the least, of the + power and fertility of Nature, and of its application to our necessities: + I very well see that pikes and swallows live by her laws; but I mistrust + the inventions of our mind, our knowledge and art, to countenance which, + we have abandoned Nature and her rules, and wherein we keep no bounds nor + moderation. As we call the piling up of the first laws that fall into our + hands justice, and their practice and dispensation very often foolish and + very unjust; and as those who scoff at and accuse it, do not, + nevertheless, blame that noble virtue itself, but only condemn the abuse + and profanation of that sacred title; so in physic I very much honour that + glorious name, its propositions, its promises, so useful for the service + of mankind; but the ordinances it foists upon us, betwixt ourselves, I + neither honour nor esteem. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, experience makes me dread it; for amongst all my + acquaintance, I see no people so soon sick, and so long before they are + well, as those who take much physic; their very health is altered and + corrupted by their frequent prescriptions. Physicians are not content to + deal only with the sick, but they will moreover corrupt health itself, for + fear men should at any time escape their authority. Do they not, from a + continual and perfect health, draw the argument of some great sickness to + ensue? I have been sick often enough, and have always found my sicknesses + easy enough to be supported (though I have made trial of almost all + sorts), and as short as those of any other, without their help, or without + swallowing their ill-tasting doses. The health I have is full and free, + without other rule or discipline than my own custom and pleasure. Every + place serves me well enough to stay in, for I need no other conveniences, + when I am sick, than what I must have when I am well. I never disturb + myself that I have no physician, no apothecary, nor any other assistance, + which I see most other sick men more afflicted at than they are with their + disease. What! Do the doctors themselves show us more felicity and + duration in their own lives, that may manifest to us some apparent effect + of their skill? + </p> + <p> + There is not a nation in the world that has not been many ages without + physic; and these the first ages, that is to say, the best and most happy; + and the tenth part of the world knows nothing of it yet; many nations are + ignorant of it to this day, where men live more healthful and longer than + we do here, and even amongst us the common people live well enough without + it. The Romans were six hundred years before they received it; and after + having made trial of it, banished it from the city at the instance of Cato + the Censor, who made it appear how easy it was to live without it, having + himself lived fourscore and five years, and kept his wife alive to an + extreme old age, not without physic, but without a physician: for + everything that we find to be healthful to life may be called physic. He + kept his family in health, as Plutarch says if I mistake not, with hare’s + milk; as Pliny reports, that the Arcadians cured all manner of diseases + with that of a cow; and Herodotus says, the Lybians generally enjoy rare + health, by a custom they have, after their children are arrived to four + years of age, to burn and cauterise the veins of their head and temples, + by which means they cut off all defluxions of rheum for their whole lives. + And the country people of our province make use of nothing, in all sorts + of distempers, but the strongest wine they can get, mixed with a great + deal of saffron and spice, and always with the same success. + </p> + <p> + And to say the truth, of all this diversity and confusion of + prescriptions, what other end and effect is there after all, but to purge + the belly? which a thousand ordinary simples will do as well; and I do not + know whether such evacuations be so much to our advantage as they pretend, + and whether nature does not require a residence of her excrements to a + certain proportion, as wine does of its lees to keep it alive: you often + see healthful men fall into vomitings and fluxes of the belly by some + extrinsic accident, and make a great evacuation of excrements, without any + preceding need, or any following benefit, but rather with hurt to their + constitution. ‘Tis from the great Plato, that I lately learned, that + of three sorts of motions which are natural to us, purging is the worst, + and that no man, unless he be a fool, ought to take anything to that + purpose but in the extremest necessity. Men disturb and irritate the + disease by contrary oppositions; it must be the way of living that must + gently dissolve, and bring it to its end. The violent gripings and contest + betwixt the drug and the disease are ever to our loss, since the combat is + fought within ourselves, and that the drug is an assistant not to be + trusted, being in its own nature an enemy to our health, and by trouble + having only access into our condition. Let it alone a little; the general + order of things that takes care of fleas and moles, also takes care of + men, if they will have the same patience that fleas and moles have, to + leave it to itself. ‘Tis to much purpose we cry out “Bihore,”—[A + term used by the Languedoc waggoners to hasten their horses]—‘tis + a way to make us hoarse, but not to hasten the matter. ‘Tis a proud + and uncompassionate order: our fears, our despair displease and stop it + from, instead of inviting it to, our relief; it owes its course to the + disease, as well as to health; and will not suffer itself to be corrupted + in favour of the one to the prejudice of the other’s right, for it + would then fall into disorder. Let us, in God’s name, follow it; it + leads those that follow, and those who will not follow, it drags along, + both their fury and physic together. Order a purge for your brain, it will + there be much better employed than upon your stomach. + </p> + <p> + One asking a Lacedaemonian what had made him live so long, he made answer, + “the ignorance of physic”; and the Emperor Adrian continually + exclaimed as he was dying, that the crowd of physicians had killed him. A + bad wrestler turned physician: “Courage,” says Diogenes to + him; “thou hast done well, for now thou will throw those who have + formerly thrown thee.” But they have this advantage, according to + Nicocles, that the sun gives light to their success and the earth covers + their failures. And, besides, they have a very advantageous way of making + use of all sorts of events: for what fortune, nature, or any other cause + (of which the number is infinite), products of good and healthful in us, + it is the privilege of physic to attribute to itself; all the happy + successes that happen to the patient, must be thence derived; the + accidents that have cured me, and a thousand others, who do not employ + physicians, physicians usurp to themselves: and as to ill accidents, they + either absolutely disown them, in laying the fault upon the patient, by + such frivolous reasons as they are never at a loss for; as “he lay + with his arms out of bed,” or “he was disturbed with the + rattling of a coach:” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rhedarum transitus arcto + Vicorum inflexu:” + + [“The passage of the wheels in the narrow + turning of the street”—Juvenal, iii. 236.] +</pre> + <p> + or “somebody had set open the casement,” or “he had lain + upon his left side,” or “he had some disagreeable fancies in + his head”: in sum, a word, a dream, or a look, seems to them excuse + sufficient wherewith to palliate their own errors: or, if they so please, + they even make use of our growing worse, and do their business in this way + which can never fail them: which is by buzzing us in the ear, when the + disease is more inflamed by their medicaments, that it had been much worse + but for those remedies; he, whom from an ordinary cold they have thrown + into a double tertian-ague, had but for them been in a continued fever. + They do not much care what mischief they do, since it turns to their own + profit. In earnest, they have reason to require a very favourable belief + from their patients; and, indeed, it ought to be a very easy one, to + swallow things so hard to be believed. Plato said very well, that + physicians were the only men who might lie at pleasure, since our health + depends upon the vanity and falsity of their promises. + </p> + <p> + AEsop, a most excellent author, and of whom few men discover all the + graces, pleasantly represents to us the tyrannical authority physicians + usurp over poor creatures, weakened and subdued by sickness and fear, when + he tells us, that a sick person, being asked by his physician what + operation he found of the potion he had given him: “I have sweated + very much,” says the sick man. “That’s good,” says + the physician. Another time, having asked how he felt himself after his + physic: “I have been very cold, and have had a great shivering upon + me,” said he. “That is good,” replied the physician. + After the third potion, he asked him again how he did: “Why, I find + myself swollen and puffed up,” said he, “as if I had a dropsy.”—“That + is very well,” said the physician. One of his servants coming + presently after to inquire how he felt himself, “Truly, friend,” + said he, “with being too well I am about to die.” + </p> + <p> + There was a more just law in Egypt, by which the physician, for the three + first days, was to take charge of his patient at the patient’s own + risk and cost; but, those three days being past, it was to be at his own. + For what reason is it that their patron, AEsculapius, should be struck + with thunder for restoring Hippolitus from death to life: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam Pater omnipotens, aliquem indignatus ab umbris + Mortalem infernis ad lumina surgere vitae, + Ipse repertorem medicinae talis, et artis + Fulmine Phoebigenam Stygias detrusit ad undas;” + + [“Then the Almighty Father, offended that any mortal should rise to + the light of life from the infernal shades, struck the son of + Phoebus with his forked lightning to the Stygian lake.” + —AEneid, vii. 770.] +</pre> + <p> + and his followers be pardoned, who send so many souls from life to death? + A physician, boasting to Nicocles that his art was of great authority: + “It is so, indeed,” said Nicocles, “that can with + impunity kill so many people.” + </p> + <p> + As to what remains, had I been of their counsel, I would have rendered my + discipline more sacred and mysterious; they begun well, but they have not + ended so. It was a good beginning to make gods and demons the authors of + their science, and to have used a peculiar way of speaking and writing, + notwithstanding that philosophy concludes it folly to persuade a man to + his own good by an unintelligible way: “Ut si quis medicus imperet, + ut sumat:” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Terrigenam, herbigradam, domiportam, sanguine cassam.” + + [“Describing it by the epithets of an animal trailing with its slime + over the herbage, without blood or bones, and carrying its house + upon its back, meaning simply a snail.”—Coste] +</pre> + <p> + It was a good rule in their art, and that accompanies all other vain, + fantastic, and supernatural arts, that the patient’s belief should + prepossess them with good hope and assurance of their effects and + operation: a rule they hold to that degree, as to maintain that the most + inexpert and ignorant physician is more proper for a patient who has + confidence in him, than the most learned and experienced whom he is not so + acquainted with. Nay, even the very choice of most of their drugs is in + some sort mysterious and divine; the left foot of a tortoise, the urine of + a lizard, the dung of an elephant, the liver of a mole, blood drawn from + under the right wing of a white pigeon; and for us who have the stone (so + scornfully they use us in our miseries) the excrement of rats beaten to + powder, and such like trash and fooleries which rather carry a face of + magical enchantment than of any solid science. I omit the odd number of + their pills, the destination of certain days and feasts of the year, the + superstition of gathering their simples at certain hours, and that so + austere and very wise countenance and carriage which Pliny himself so much + derides. But they have, as I said, failed in that they have not added to + this fine beginning the making their meetings and consultations more + religious and secret, where no profane person should have admission, no + more than in the secret ceremonies of AEsculapius; for by the reason of + this it falls out that their irresolution, the weakness of their + arguments, divinations and foundations, the sharpness of their disputes, + full of hatred, jealousy, and self-consideration, coming to be discovered + by every one, a man must be marvellously blind not to see that he runs a + very great hazard in their hands. Who ever saw one physician approve of + another’s prescription, without taking something away, or adding + something to it? by which they sufficiently betray their tricks, and make + it manifest to us that they therein more consider their own reputation, + and consequently their profit, than their patient’s interest. He was + a much wiser man of their tribe, who of old gave it as a rule, that only + one physician should undertake a sick person; for if he do nothing to + purpose, one single man’s default can bring no great scandal upon + the art of medicine; and, on the contrary, the glory will be great if he + happen to have success; whereas, when there are many, they at every turn + bring a disrepute upon their calling, forasmuch as they oftener do hurt + than good. They ought to be satisfied with the perpetual disagreement + which is found in the opinions of the principal masters and ancient + authors of this science, which is only known to men well read, without + discovering to the vulgar the controversies and various judgments which + they still nourish and continue amongst themselves. + </p> + <p> + Will you have one example of the ancient controversy in physic? Herophilus + lodges the original cause of all diseases in the humours; Erasistratus, in + the blood of the arteries; Asclepiades, in the invisible atoms of the + pores; Alcmaeon, in the exuberance or defect of our bodily strength; + Diocles, in the inequality of the elements of which the body is composed, + and in the quality of the air we breathe; Strato, in the abundance, + crudity, and corruption of the nourishment we take; and Hippocrates lodges + it in the spirits. There is a certain friend of theirs,—[Celsus, + Preface to the First Book.]—whom they know better than I, who + declares upon this subject, “that the most important science in + practice amongst us, as that which is intrusted with our health and + conservation, is, by ill luck, the most uncertain, the most perplexed, and + agitated with the greatest mutations.” There is no great danger in + our mistaking the height of the sun, or the fraction of some astronomical + supputation; but here, where our whole being is concerned, ‘tis not + wisdom to abandon ourselves to the mercy of the agitation of so many + contrary winds. + </p> + <p> + Before the Peloponnesian war there was no great talk of this science. + Hippocrates brought it into repute; whatever he established, Chrysippus + overthrew; after that, Erasistratus, Aristotle’s grandson, overthrew + what Chrysippus had written; after these, the Empirics started up, who + took a quite contrary way to the ancients in the management of this art; + when the credit of these began a little to decay, Herophilus set another + sort of practice on foot, which Asclepiades in turn stood up against, and + overthrew; then, in their turn, the opinions first of Themiso, and then of + Musa, and after that those of Vectius Valens, a physician famous through + the intelligence he had with Messalina, came in vogue; the empire of + physic in Nero’s time was established in Thessalus, who abolished + and condemned all that had been held till his time; this man’s + doctrine was refuted by Crinas of Marseilles, who first brought all + medicinal operations under the Ephemerides and motions of the stars, and + reduced eating, sleeping, and drinking to hours that were most pleasing to + Mercury and the moon; his authority was soon after supplanted by Charinus, + a physician of the same city of Marseilles, a man who not only + controverted all the ancient methods of physic, but moreover the usage of + hot baths, that had been generally and for so many ages in common use; he + made men bathe in cold water, even in winter, and plunged his sick + patients in the natural waters of streams. No Roman till Pliny’s + time had ever vouchsafed to practise physic; that office was only + performed by Greeks and foreigners, as ‘tis now amongst us French, + by those who sputter Latin; for, as a very great physician says, we do not + easily accept the medicine we understand, no more than we do the drugs we + ourselves gather. If the nations whence we fetch our guaiacum, + sarsaparilla, and China wood, have physicians, how great a value must we + imagine, by the same recommendation of strangeness, rarity, and dear + purchase, do they set upon our cabbage and parsley? for who would dare to + contemn things so far fetched, and sought out at the hazard of so long and + dangerous a voyage? + </p> + <p> + Since these ancient mutations in physic, there have been infinite others + down to our own times, and, for the most part, mutations entire and + universal, as those, for example, produced by Paracelsus, Fioravanti, and + Argentier; for they, as I am told, not only alter one recipe, but the + whole contexture and rules of the body of physic, accusing all others of + ignorance and imposition who have practised before them. At this rate, in + what a condition the poor patient must be, I leave you to judge. + </p> + <p> + If we were even assured that, when they make a mistake, that mistake of + theirs would do us no harm, though it did us no good, it were a reasonable + bargain to venture the making ourselves better without any danger of being + made worse. AEsop tells a story, that one who had bought a Morisco slave, + believing that his black complexion had arrived by accident and the ill + usage of his former master, caused him to enter with great care into a + course of baths and potions: it happened that the Moor was nothing amended + in his tawny complexion, but he wholly lost his former health. How often + do we see physicians impute the death of their patients to one another? I + remember that some years ago there was an epidemical disease, very + dangerous and for the most part mortal, that raged in the towns about us: + the storm being over which had swept away an infinite number of men, one + of the most famous physicians of all the country, presently after + published a book upon that subject, wherein, upon better thoughts, he + confesses that the letting blood in that disease was the principal cause + of so many mishaps. Moreover, their authors hold that there is no physic + that has not something hurtful in it. And if even those of the best + operation in some measure offend us, what must those do that are totally + misapplied? For my own part, though there were nothing else in the case, I + am of opinion, that to those who loathe the taste of physic, it must needs + be a dangerous and prejudicial endeavour to force it down at so + incommodious a time, and with so much aversion, and believe that it + marvellously distempers a sick person at a time when he has so much need + of repose. And more over, if we but consider the occasions upon which they + usually ground the cause of our diseases, they are so light and nice, that + I thence conclude a very little error in the dispensation of their drugs + may do a great deal of mischief. Now, if the mistake of a physician be so + dangerous, we are in but a scurvy condition; for it is almost impossible + but he must often fall into those mistakes: he had need of too many parts, + considerations, and circumstances, rightly to level his design: he must + know the sick person’s complexion, his temperament, his humours, + inclinations, actions, nay, his very thoughts and imaginations; he must be + assured of the external circumstances, of the nature of the place, the + quality of the air and season, the situation of the planets, and their + influences: he must know in the disease, the causes, prognostics, + affections, and critical days; in the drugs, the weight, the power of + working, the country, figure, age, and dispensation, and he must know how + rightly to proportion and mix them together, to beget a just and perfect + symmetry; wherein if there be the least error, if amongst so many springs + there be but any one out of order, ‘tis enough to destroy us. God + knows with how great difficulty most of these things are to be understood: + for (for example) how shall the physician find out the true sign of the + disease, every disease being capable of an infinite number of indications? + How many doubts and controversies have they amongst themselves upon the + interpretation of urines? otherwise, whence should the continual debates + we see amongst them about the knowledge of the disease proceed? how could + we excuse the error they so oft fall into, of taking fox for marten? In + the diseases I have had, though there were ever so little difficulty in + the case, I never found three of one opinion: which I instance, because I + love to introduce examples wherein I am myself concerned. + </p> + <p> + A gentleman at Paris was lately cut for the stone by order of the + physicians, in whose bladder, being accordingly so cut, there was found no + more stone than in the palm of his hand; and in the same place a bishop, + who was my particular friend, having been earnestly pressed by the + majority of the physicians whom he consulted, to suffer himself to be cut, + to which also, upon their word, I used my interest to persuade him, when + he was dead and opened, it appeared that he had no malady but in the + kidneys. They are least excusable for any error in this disease, by reason + that it is in some sort palpable; and ‘tis thence that I conclude + surgery to be much more certain, by reason that it sees and feels what it + does, and so goes less upon conjecture; whereas the physicians have no + ‘speculum matricis’, by which to examine our brains, lungs, + and liver. + </p> + <p> + Even the very promises of physic are incredible in themselves; for, having + to provide against divers and contrary accidents that often afflict us at + one and the same time, and that have almost a necessary relation, as the + heat of the liver and the coldness of the stomach, they will needs + persuade us, that of their ingredients one will heat the stomach and the + other will cool the liver: one has its commission to go directly to the + kidneys, nay, even to the bladder, without scattering its operations by + the way, and is to retain its power and virtue through all those turns and + meanders, even to the place to the service of which it is designed, by its + own occult property this will dry-the brain; that will moisten the lungs. + Of all this bundle of things having mixed up a potion, is it not a kind of + madness to imagine or to hope that these differing virtues should separate + themselves from one another in this mixture and confusion, to perform so + many various errands? I should very much fear that they would either lose + or change their tickets, and disturb one another’s quarters. And who + can imagine but that, in this liquid confusion, these faculties must + corrupt, confound, and spoil one another? And is not the danger still more + when the making up of this medicine is entrusted to the skill and fidelity + of still another, to whose mercy we again abandon our lives? + </p> + <p> + As we have doublet and breeches-makers, distinct trades, to clothe us, and + are so much the better fitted, seeing that each of them meddles only with + his own business, and has less to trouble his head with than the tailor + who undertakes all; and as in matter of diet, great persons, for their + better convenience, and to the end they may be better served, have cooks + for the different offices, this for soups and potages, that for roasting, + instead of which if one cook should undertake the whole service, he could + not so well perform it; so also as to the cure of our maladies. The + Egyptians had reason to reject this general trade of physician, and to + divide the profession: to each disease, to each part of the body, its + particular workman; for that part was more properly and with less + confusion cared for, seeing the person looked to nothing else. Ours are + not aware that he who provides for all, provides for nothing; and that the + entire government of this microcosm is more than they are able to + undertake. Whilst they were afraid of stopping a dysentery, lest they + should put the patient into a fever, they killed me a friend, —[Estienne + de la Boetie.]—who was worth more than the whole of them. They + counterpoise their own divinations with the present evils; and because + they will not cure the brain to the prejudice of the stomach, they injure + both with their dissentient and tumultuary drugs. + </p> + <p> + As to the variety and weakness of the rationale of this art, they are more + manifest in it than in any other art; aperitive medicines are proper for a + man subject to the stone, by reason that opening and dilating the passages + they help forward the slimy matter whereof gravel and stone are + engendered, and convey that downward which begins to harden and gather in + the reins; aperitive things are dangerous for a man subject to the stone, + by reason that, opening and dilating the passages, they help forward the + matter proper to create the gravel toward the reins, which by their own + propension being apt to seize it, ‘tis not to be imagined but that a + great deal of what has been conveyed thither must remain behind; moreover, + if the medicine happen to meet with anything too large to be carried + through all the narrow passages it must pass to be expelled, that + obstruction, whatever it is, being stirred by these aperitive things and + thrown into those narrow passages, coming to stop them, will occasion a + certain and most painful death. They have the like uniformity in the + counsels they give us for the regimen of life: it is good to make water + often; for we experimentally see that, in letting it lie long in the + bladder, we give it time to settle the sediment, which will concrete into + a stone; it is good not to make water often, for the heavy excrements it + carries along with it will not be voided without violence, as we see by + experience that a torrent that runs with force washes the ground it rolls + over much cleaner than the course of a slow and tardy stream; so, it is + good to have often to do with women, for that opens the passages and helps + to evacuate gravel; it is also very ill to have often to do with women, + because it heats, tires, and weakens the reins. It is good to bathe + frequently in hot water, forasmuch as that relaxes and mollifies the + places where the gravel and stone lie; it is also ill by reason that this + application of external heat helps the reins to bake, harden, and petrify + the matter so disposed. For those who are taking baths it is most + healthful. To eat little at night, to the end that the waters they are to + drink the next morning may have a better operation upon an empty stomach; + on the other hand, it is better to eat little at dinner, that it hinder + not the operation of the waters, while it is not yet perfect, and not to + oppress the stomach so soon after the other labour, but leave the office + of digestion to the night, which will much better perform it than the day, + when the body and soul are in perpetual moving and action. Thus do they + juggle and trifle in all their discourses at our expense; and they could + not give me one proposition against which I should not know how to raise a + contrary of equal force. Let them, then, no longer exclaim against those + who in this trouble of sickness suffer themselves to be gently guided by + their own appetite and the advice of nature, and commit themselves to the + common fortune. + </p> + <p> + I have seen in my travels almost all the famous baths of Christendom, and + for some years past have begun to make use of them myself: for I look upon + bathing as generally wholesome, and believe that we suffer no little + inconveniences in our health by having left off the custom that was + generally observed, in former times, almost by all nations, and is yet in + many, of bathing every day; and I cannot imagine but that we are much the + worse by, having our limbs crusted and our pores stopped with dirt. And as + to the drinking of them, fortune has in the first place rendered them not + at all unacceptable to my taste; and secondly, they are natural and + simple, which at least carry no danger with them, though they may do us no + good, of which the infinite crowd of people of all sorts and complexions + who repair thither I take to be a sufficient warranty; and although I have + not there observed any extraordinary and miraculous effects, but that on + the contrary, having more narrowly than ordinary inquired into it, I have + found all the reports of such operations that have been spread abroad in + those places ill-grounded and false, and those that believe them (as + people are willing to be gulled in what they desire) deceived in them, yet + I have seldom known any who have been made worse by those waters, and a + man cannot honestly deny but that they beget a better appetite, help + digestion, and do in some sort revive us, if we do not go too late and in + too weak a condition, which I would dissuade every one from doing. They + have not the virtue to raise men from desperate and inveterate diseases, + but they may help some light indisposition, or prevent some threatening + alteration. He who does not bring along with him so much cheerfulness as + to enjoy the pleasure of the company he will there meet, and of the walks + and exercises to which the amenity of those places invite us, will + doubtless lose the best and surest part of their effect. For this reason I + have hitherto chosen to go to those of the most pleasant situation, where + there was the best conveniency of lodging, provision, and company, as the + baths of Bagneres in France, those of Plombieres on the frontiers of + Germany and Lorraine, those of Baden in Switzerland, those of Lucca in + Tuscany, and especially those of Della Villa, which I have the most and at + various seasons frequented. + </p> + <p> + Every nation has particular opinions touching their use, and particular + rules and methods in using them; and all of them, according to what I have + seen, almost with like effect. Drinking them is not at all received in + Germany; the Germans bathe for all diseases, and will lie dabbling in the + water almost from sun to sun; in Italy, where they drink nine days, they + bathe at least thirty, and commonly drink the water mixed with some other + drugs to make it work the better. Here we are ordered to walk to digest + it; there we are kept in bed after taking it till it be wrought off, our + stomachs and feet having continually hot cloths applied to them all the + while; and as the Germans have a particular practice generally to use + cupping and scarification in the bath, so the Italians have their ‘doccie’, + which are certain little streams of this hot water brought through pipes, + and with these bathe an hour in the morning, and as much in the afternoon, + for a month together, either the head, stomach, or any other part where + the evil lies. There are infinite other varieties of customs in every + country, or rather there is no manner of resemblance to one another. By + this you may see that this little part of physic to which I have only + submitted, though the least depending upon art of all others, has yet a + great share of the confusion and uncertainty everywhere else manifest in + the profession. + </p> + <p> + The poets put what they would say with greater emphasis and grace; witness + these two epigrams: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Alcon hesterno signum Jovis attigit: ille, + Quamvis marmoreus, vim patitur medici. + Ecce hodie, jussus transferri ex aeede vetusta, + Effertur, quamvis sit Deus atque lapis.” + + [“Alcon yesterday touched Jove’s statue; he, although marble, + suffers the force of the physician: to-day ordered to be transferred + from the old temple, where it stood, it is carried out, although it + be a god and a stone.”—Ausonius, Ep., 74.] +</pre> + <p> + and the other: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Lotus nobiscum est, hilaris coenavit; et idem + Inventus mane est mortuus Andragoras. + Tam subitae mortis causam, Faustine, requiris? + In somnis medicum viderat Hermocratem:” + + [“Andragoras bathed with us, supped gaily, and in the morning the + same was found dead. Dost thou ask, Faustinus, the cause of this so + sudden death? In his dreams he had seen the physician Hermocrates.” + —Martial, vi. 53.] +</pre> + <p> + upon which I will relate two stories. + </p> + <p> + The Baron de Caupene in Chalosse and I have betwixt us the advowson of a + benefice of great extent, at the foot of our mountains, called Lahontan. + It is with the inhabitants of this angle, as ‘tis said of those of + the Val d’Angrougne; they lived a peculiar sort of life, their + fashions, clothes, and manners distinct from other people; ruled and + governed by certain particular laws and usages, received from father to + son, to which they submitted, without other constraint than the reverence + to custom. This little state had continued from all antiquity in so happy + a condition, that no neighbouring judge was ever put to the trouble of + inquiring into their doings; no advocate was ever retained to give them + counsel, no stranger ever called in to compose their differences; nor was + ever any of them seen to go a-begging. They avoided all alliances and + traffic with the outer world, that they might not corrupt the purity of + their own government; till, as they say, one of them, in the memory of + man, having a mind spurred on with a noble ambition, took it into his + head, to bring his name into credit and reputation, to make one of his + sons something more than ordinary, and having put him to learn to write in + a neighbouring town, made him at last a brave village notary. This fellow, + having acquired such dignity, began to disdain their ancient customs, and + to buzz into the people’s ears the pomp of the other parts of the + nation; the first prank he played was to advise a friend of his, whom + somebody had offended by sawing off the horns of one of his goats, to make + his complaint to the royal judges thereabout, and so he went on from one + to another, till he had spoiled and confounded all. In the tail of this + corruption, they say, there happened another, and of worse consequence, by + means of a physician, who, falling in love with one of their daughters, + had a mind to marry her and to live amongst them. This man first of all + began to teach them the names of fevers, colds, and imposthumes; the seat + of the heart, liver, and intestines, a science till then utterly unknown + to them; and instead of garlic, with which they were wont to cure all + manner of diseases, how painful or extreme soever, he taught them, though + it were but for a cough or any little cold, to take strange mixtures, and + began to make a trade not only of their health, but of their lives. They + swear till then they never perceived the evening air to be offensive to + the head; that to drink when they were hot was hurtful, and that the winds + of autumn were more unwholesome than those of spring; that, since this use + of physic, they find themselves oppressed with a legion of unaccustomed + diseases, and that they perceive a general decay in their ancient vigour, + and their lives are cut shorter by the half. This is the first of my + stories. + </p> + <p> + The other is, that before I was afflicted with the stone, hearing that the + blood of a he-goat was with many in very great esteem, and looked upon as + a celestial manna rained down upon these latter ages for the good and + preservation of the lives of men, and having heard it spoken of by men of + understanding for an admirable drug, and of infallible operation; I, who + have ever thought myself subject to all the accidents that can befall + other men, had a mind, in my perfect health, to furnish myself with this + miracle, and therefore gave order to have a goat fed at home according to + the recipe: for he must be taken in the hottest month of all summer, and + must only have aperitive herbs given him to eat, and white wine to drink. + I came home by chance the very day he was to be killed; and some one came + and told me that the cook had found two or three great balls in his + paunch, that rattled against one another amongst what he had eaten. I was + curious to have all his entrails brought before me, where, having caused + the skin that enclosed them to be cut, there tumbled out three great + lumps, as light as sponges, so that they appeared to be hollow, but as to + the rest, hard and firm without, and spotted and mixed all over with + various dead colours; one was perfectly round, and of the bigness of an + ordinary ball; the other two something less, of an imperfect roundness, as + seeming not to be arrived at their, full growth. I find, by inquiry of + people accustomed to open these animals, that it is a rare and unusual + accident. ‘Tis likely these are stones of the same nature with ours + and if so, it must needs be a very vain hope in those who have the stone, + to extract their cure from the blood of a beast that was himself about to + die of the same disease. For to say that the blood does not participate of + this contagion, and does not thence alter its wonted virtue, it is rather + to be believed that nothing is engendered in a body but by the conspiracy + and communication of all the parts: the whole mass works together, though + one part contributes more to the work than another, according to the + diversity of operations; wherefore it is very likely that there was some + petrifying quality in all the parts of this goat. It was not so much for + fear of the future, and for myself, that I was curious in this experiment, + but because it falls out in mine, as it does in many other families, that + the women store up such little trumperies for the service of the people, + using the same recipe in fifty several diseases, and such a recipe as they + will not take themselves, and yet triumph when they happen to be + successful. + </p> + <p> + As to what remains, I honour physicians, not according to the precept for + their necessity (for to this passage may be opposed another of the prophet + reproving King Asa for having recourse to a physician), but for + themselves, having known many very good men of that profession, and most + worthy to be beloved. I do not attack them; ‘tis their art I inveigh + against, and do not much blame them for making their advantage of our + folly, for most men do the same. Many callings, both of greater and of + less dignity than theirs, have no other foundation or support than public + abuse. When I am sick I send for them if they be near, only to have their + company, and pay them as others do. I give them leave to command me to + keep myself warm, because I naturally love to do it, and to appoint leeks + or lettuce for my broth; to order me white wine or claret; and so as to + all other things, which are indifferent to my palate and custom. I know + very well that I do nothing for them in so doing, because sharpness and + strangeness are incidents of the very essence of physic. Lycurgus ordered + wine for the sick Spartans. Why? because they abominated the drinking it + when they were well; as a gentleman, a neighbour of mine, takes it as an + excellent medicine in his fever, because naturally he mortally hates the + taste of it. How many do we see amongst them of my humour, who despise + taking physic themselves, are men of a liberal diet, and live a quite + contrary sort of life to what they prescribe others? What is this but + flatly to abuse our simplicity? for their own lives and health are no less + dear to them than ours are to us, and consequently they would accommodate + their practice to their rules, if they did not themselves know how false + these are. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis the fear of death and of pain, impatience of disease, and a + violent and indiscreet desire of a present cure, that so blind us: ‘tis + pure cowardice that makes our belief so pliable and easy to be imposed + upon: and yet most men do not so much believe as they acquiesce and + permit; for I hear them find fault and complain as well as we; but they + resolve at last, “What should I do then?” As if impatience + were of itself a better remedy than patience. Is there any one of those + who have suffered themselves to be persuaded into this miserable + subjection, who does not equally surrender himself to all sorts of + impostures? who does not give up himself to the mercy of whoever has the + impudence to promise him a cure? The Babylonians carried their sick into + the public square; the physician was the people: every one who passed by + being in humanity and civility obliged to inquire of their condition, gave + some advice according to his own experience. We do little better; there is + not so simple a woman, whose gossips and drenches we do not make use of: + and according to my humour, if I were to take physic, I would sooner + choose to take theirs than any other, because at least, if they do no + good, they will do no harm. What Homer and Plato said of the Egyptians, + that they were all physicians, may be said of all nations; there is not a + man amongst any of them who does not boast of some rare recipe, and who + will not venture it upon his neighbour, if he will let him. I was the + other day in a company where one, I know not who, of my fraternity brought + us intelligence of a new sort of pills made up of a hundred and odd + ingredients: it made us very merry, and was a singular consolation, for + what rock could withstand so great a battery? And yet I hear from those + who have made trial of it, that the least atom of gravel deigned not to + stir fort. + </p> + <p> + I cannot take my hand from the paper before I have added a word concerning + the assurance they give us of the certainty of their drugs, from the + experiments they have made. + </p> + <p> + The greatest part, I should say above two-thirds of the medicinal virtues, + consist in the quintessence or occult property of simples, of which we can + have no other instruction than use and custom; for quintessence is no + other than a quality of which we cannot by our reason find out the cause. + In such proofs, those they pretend to have acquired by the inspiration of + some daemon, I am content to receive (for I meddle not with miracles); and + also the proofs which are drawn from things that, upon some other account, + often fall into use amongst us; as if in the wool, wherewith we are wont + to clothe ourselves, there has accidentally some occult desiccative + property been found out of curing kibed heels, or as if in the radish we + eat for food there has been found out some aperitive operation. Galen + reports, that a man happened to be cured of a leprosy by drinking wine out + of a vessel into which a viper had crept by chance. In this example we + find the means and a very likely guide and conduct to this experience, as + we also do in those that physicians pretend to have been directed to by + the example of some beasts. But in most of their other experiments wherein + they affirm they have been conducted by fortune, and to have had no other + guide than chance, I find the progress of this information incredible. + Suppose man looking round about him upon the infinite number of things, + plants, animals, metals; I do not know where he would begin his trial; and + though his first fancy should fix him upon an elk’s horn, wherein + there must be a very pliant and easy belief, he will yet find himself as + perplexed in his second operation. There are so many maladies and so many + circumstances presented to him, that before he can attain the certainty of + the point to which the perfection of his experience should arrive, human + sense will be at the end of its lesson: and before he can, amongst this + infinity of things, find out what this horn is; amongst so many diseases, + what is epilepsy; the many complexions in a melancholy person; the many + seasons in winter; the many nations in the French; the many ages in age; + the many celestial mutations in the conjunction of Venus and Saturn; the + many parts in man’s body, nay, in a finger; and being, in all this, + directed neither by argument, conjecture, example, nor divine + inspirations, but merely by the sole motion of fortune, it must be by a + perfectly artificial, regular and methodical fortune. And after the cure + is performed, how can he assure himself that it was not because the + disease had arrived at its period or an effect of chance? or the operation + of something else that he had eaten, drunk, or touched that day? or by + virtue of his grandmother’s prayers? And, moreover, had this + experiment been perfect, how many times was it repeated, and this long + bead-roll of haps, and concurrences strung anew by chance to conclude a + certain rule? And when the rule is concluded, by whom, I pray you? Of so + many millions, there are but three men who take upon them to record their + experiments: must fortune needs just hit one of these? What if another, + and a hundred others, have made contrary experiments? We might, + peradventure, have some light in this, were all the judgments and + arguments of men known to us; but that three witnesses, three doctors, + should lord it over all mankind, is against reason: it were necessary that + human nature should have deputed and chosen them out, and that they were + declared our comptrollers by express procuration: + </p> + <p> + “TO MADAME DE DURAS. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + —[Marguerite de Grammont, widow of Jean de Durfort, Seigneur de + Duras, who was killed near Leghorn, leaving no posterity. Montaigne + seems to have been on terms of considerable intimacy with her, and + to have tendered her some very wholesome and frank advice in regard + to her relations with Henry IV.]— +</pre> + <p> + “MADAME,—The last time you honoured me with a visit, you found + me at work upon this chapter, and as these trifles may one day fall into + your hands, I would also that they testify in how great honour the author + will take any favour you shall please to show them. You will there find + the same air and mien you have observed in his conversation; and though I + could have borrowed some better or more favourable garb than my own, I + would not have done it: for I require nothing more of these writings, but + to present me to your memory such as I naturally am. The same conditions + and faculties you have been pleased to frequent and receive with much more + honour and courtesy than they deserve, I would put together (but without + alteration or change) in one solid body, that may peradventure continue + some years, or some days, after I am gone; where you may find them again + when you shall please to refresh your memory, without putting you to any + greater trouble; neither are they worth it. I desire you should continue + the favour of your friendship to me, by the same qualities by which it was + acquired. + </p> + <p> + “I am not at all ambitious that any one should love and esteem me + more dead than living. The humour of Tiberius is ridiculous, but yet + common, who was more solicitous to extend his renown to posterity than to + render himself acceptable to men of his own time. If I were one of those + to whom the world could owe commendation, I would give out of it one-half + to have the other in hand; let their praises come quick and crowding about + me, more thick than long, more full than durable; and let them cease, in + God’s name, with my own knowledge of them, and when the sweet sound + can no longer pierce my ears. It were an idle humour to essay, now that I + am about to forsake the commerce of men, to offer myself to them by a new + recommendation. I make no account of the goods I could not employ in the + service of my life. Such as I am, I will be elsewhere than in paper: my + art and industry have been ever directed to render myself good for + something; my studies, to teach me to do, and not to write. I have made it + my whole business to frame my life: this has been my trade and my work; I + am less a writer of books than anything else. I have coveted understanding + for the service of my present and real conveniences, and not to lay up a + stock for my posterity. He who has anything of value in him, let him make + it appear in his conduct, in his ordinary discourses, in his courtships, + and his quarrels: in play, in bed, at table, in the management of his + affairs, in his economics. Those whom I see make good books in ill + breeches, should first have mended their breeches, if they would have been + ruled by me. Ask a Spartan whether he had rather be a good orator or a + good soldier: and if I was asked the same question, I would rather choose + to be a good cook, had I not one already to serve me. My God! Madame, how + should I hate such a recommendation of being a clever fellow at writing, + and an ass and an inanity in everything else! Yet I had rather be a fool + both here and there than to have made so ill a choice wherein to employ my + talent. And I am so far from expecting to gain any new reputation by these + follies, that I shall think I come off pretty well if I lose nothing by + them of that little I had before. For besides that this dead and mute + painting will take from my natural being, it has no resemblance to my + better condition, but is much lapsed from my former vigour and + cheerfulness, growing faded and withered: I am towards the bottom of the + barrel, which begins to taste of the lees. + </p> + <p> + “As to the rest, Madame, I should not have dared to make so bold + with the mysteries of physic, considering the esteem that you and so many + others have of it, had I not had encouragement from their own authors. I + think there are of these among the old Latin writers but two, Pliny and + Celsus if these ever fall into your hands, you will find that they speak + much more rudely of their art than I do; I but pinch it, they cut its + throat. Pliny, amongst other things, twits them with this, that when they + are at the end of their rope, they have a pretty device to save + themselves, by recommending their patients, whom they have teased and + tormented with their drugs and diets to no purpose, some to vows and + miracles, others to the hot baths. (Be not angry, Madame; he speaks not of + those in our parts, which are under the protection of your house, and all + Gramontins.) They have a third way of saving their own credit, of ridding + their hands of us and securing themselves from the reproaches we might + cast in their teeth of our little amendment, when they have had us so long + in their hands that they have not one more invention left wherewith to + amuse us, which is to send us to the better air of some other country. + This, Madame, is enough; I hope you will give me leave to return to my + discourse, from which I have so far digressed, the better to divert you.” + </p> + <p> + It was, I think, Pericles, who being asked how he did: “You may + judge,” says he, “by these,” showing some little scrolls + of parchment he had tied about his neck and arms. By which he would infer + that he must needs be very sick when he was reduced to a necessity of + having recourse to such idle and vain fopperies, and of suffering himself + to be so equipped. I dare not promise but that I may one day be so much a + fool as to commit my life and death to the mercy and government of + physicians; I may fall into such a frenzy; I dare not be responsible for + my future constancy: but then, if any one ask me how I do, I may also + answer, as Pericles did, “You may judge by this,” shewing my + hand clutching six drachms of opium. It will be a very evident sign of a + violent sickness: my judgment will be very much out of order; if once fear + and impatience get such an advantage over me, it may very well be + concluded that there is a dreadful fever in my mind. + </p> + <p> + I have taken the pains to plead this cause, which I understand + indifferently, a little to back and support the natural aversion to drugs + and the practice of physic I have derived from my ancestors, to the end it + may not be a mere stupid and inconsiderate aversion, but have a little + more form; and also, that they who shall see me so obstinate in my + resolution against all exhortations and menaces that shall be given me, + when my infirmity shall press hardest upon me, may not think ‘tis + mere obstinacy in me; or any one so ill-natured as to judge it to be any + motive of glory: for it would be a strange ambition to seek to gain honour + by an action my gardener or my groom can perform as well as I. Certainly, + I have not a heart so tumorous and windy, that I should exchange so solid + a pleasure as health for an airy and imaginary pleasure: glory, even that + of the Four Sons of Aymon, is too dear bought by a man of my humour, if it + cost him three swinging fits of the stone. Give me health, in God’s + name! Such as love physic, may also have good, great, and convincing + considerations; I do not hate opinions contrary to my own: I am so, far + from being angry to see a discrepancy betwixt mine and other men’s + judgments, and from rendering myself unfit for the society of men, from + being of another sense and party than mine, that on the contrary (the most + general way that nature has followed being variety, and more in souls than + bodies, forasmuch as they are of a more supple substance, and more + susceptible of forms) I find it much more rare to see our humours and + designs jump and agree. And there never were, in the world, two opinions + alike, no more than two hairs, or two grains: their most universal quality + is diversity. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0114" id="link2H_4_0114"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK THE THIRD + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0094" id="link2HCH0094"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I——OF PROFIT AND HONESTY + </h2> + <p> + No man is free from speaking foolish things; but the worst on’t is, + when a man labours to play the fool: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nae iste magno conatu magnas nugas dixerit.” + + [“Truly he, with a great effort will shortly say a mighty trifle.” + —-Terence, Heaut., act iii., s. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + This does not concern me; mine slip from me with as little care as they + are of little value, and ‘tis the better for them. I would presently + part with them for what they are worth, and neither buy nor sell them, but + as they weigh. I speak on paper, as I do to the first person I meet; and + that this is true, observe what follows. + </p> + <p> + To whom ought not treachery to be hateful, when Tiberius refused it in a + thing of so great importance to him? He had word sent him from Germany + that if he thought fit, they would rid him of Arminius by poison: this was + the most potent enemy the Romans had, who had defeated them so + ignominiously under Varus, and who alone prevented their aggrandisement in + those parts. + </p> + <p> + He returned answer, “that the people of Rome were wont to revenge + themselves of their enemies by open ways, and with their swords in their + hands, and not clandestinely and by fraud”: wherein he quitted the + profitable for the honest. You will tell me that he was a braggadocio; I + believe so too: and ‘tis no great miracle in men of his profession. + But the acknowledgment of virtue is not less valid in the mouth of him who + hates it, forasmuch as truth forces it from him, and if he will not + inwardly receive it, he at least puts it on for a decoration. + </p> + <p> + Our outward and inward structure is full of imperfection; but there is + nothing useless in nature, not even inutility itself; nothing has + insinuated itself into this universe that has not therein some fit and + proper place. Our being is cemented with sickly qualities: ambition, + jealousy, envy, revenge, superstition, and despair have so natural a + possession in us, that its image is discerned in beasts; nay, and cruelty, + so unnatural a vice; for even in the midst of compassion we feel within, I + know not what tart-sweet titillation of ill-natured pleasure in seeing + others suffer; and the children feel it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Suave mari magno, turbantibus aequora ventis, + E terra magnum alterius spectare laborem:” + + [“It is sweet, when the winds disturb the waters of the vast sea, to + witness from land the peril of other persons.”—Lucretius, ii. I.] +</pre> + <p> + of the seeds of which qualities, whoever should divest man, would destroy + the fundamental conditions of human life. Likewise, in all governments + there are necessary offices, not only abject, but vicious also. Vices + there help to make up the seam in our piecing, as poisons are useful for + the conservation of health. If they become excusable because they are of + use to us, and that the common necessity covers their true qualities, we + are to resign this part to the strongest and boldest citizens, who + sacrifice their honour and conscience, as others of old sacrificed their + lives, for the good of their country: we, who are weaker, take upon us + parts both that are more easy and less hazardous. The public weal requires + that men should betray, and lie, and massacre; let us leave this + commission to men who are more obedient and more supple. + </p> + <p> + In earnest, I have often been troubled to see judges, by fraud and false + hopes of favour or pardon, allure a criminal to confess his fact, and + therein to make use of cozenage and impudence. It would become justice, + and Plato himself, who countenances this manner of proceeding, to furnish + me with other means more suitable to my own liking: this is a malicious + kind of justice, and I look upon it as no less wounded by itself than by + others. I said not long since to some company in discourse, that I should + hardly be drawn to betray my prince for a particular man, who should be + much ashamed to betray any particular man for my prince; and I do not only + hate deceiving myself, but that any one should deceive through me; I will + neither afford matter nor occasion to any such thing. + </p> + <p> + In the little I have had to mediate betwixt our princes—[Between the + King of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV., and the Duc de Guise. See De Thou, + De Vita Sua, iii. 9.]—in the divisions and subdivisions by which we + are at this time torn to pieces, I have been very careful that they should + neither be deceived in me nor deceive others by me. People of that kind of + trading are very reserved, and pretend to be the most moderate imaginable + and nearest to the opinions of those with whom they have to do; I expose + myself in my stiff opinion, and after a method the most my own; a tender + negotiator, a novice, who had rather fail in the affair than be wanting to + myself. And yet it has been hitherto with so good luck (for fortune has + doubtless the best share in it), that few things have passed from hand to + hand with less suspicion or more favour and privacy. I have a free and + open way that easily insinuates itself and obtains belief with those with + whom I am to deal at the first meeting. Sincerity and pure truth, in what + age soever, pass for current; and besides, the liberty and freedom of a + man who treats without any interest of his own is never hateful or + suspected, and he may very well make use of the answer of Hyperides to the + Athenians, who complained of his blunt way of speaking: “Messieurs, + do not consider whether or no I am free, but whether I am so without a + bribe, or without any advantage to my own affairs.” My liberty of + speaking has also easily cleared me from all suspicion of dissembling by + its vehemency, leaving nothing unsaid, how home and bitter soever (so that + I could have said no worse behind their backs), and in that it carried + along with it a manifest show of simplicity and indifference. I pretend to + no other fruit by acting than to act, and add to it no long arguments or + propositions; every action plays its own game, win if it can. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, I am not swayed by any passion, either of love or hatred, + towards the great, nor has my will captivated either by particular injury + or obligation. I look upon our kings with an affection simply loyal and + respectful, neither prompted nor restrained by any private interest, and I + love myself for it. Nor does the general and just cause attract me + otherwise than with moderation, and without heat. I am not subject to + those penetrating and close compacts and engagements. Anger and hatred are + beyond the duty of justice; and are passions only useful to those who do + not keep themselves strictly to their duty by simple reason: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Utatur motu animi, qui uti ratione non potest.” + + [“He may employ his passion, who can make no use of his reason.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 25.] +</pre> + <p> + All legitimate intentions are temperate and equable of themselves; if + otherwise, they degenerate into seditious and unlawful. This is it which + makes me walk everywhere with my head erect, my face and my heart open. In + truth, and I am not afraid to confess it, I should easily, in case of + need, hold up one candle to St. Michael and another to his dragon, like + the old woman; I will follow the right side even to the fire, but + exclusively, if I can. Let Montaigne be overwhelmed in the public ruin if + need be; but if there be no need, I should think myself obliged to fortune + to save me, and I will make use of all the length of line my duty allows + for his preservation. Was it not Atticus who, being of the just but losing + side, preserved himself by his moderation in that universal shipwreck of + the world, amongst so many mutations and diversities? For private man, as + he was, it is more easy; and in such kind of work, I think a man may + justly not be ambitious to offer and insinuate himself. For a man, indeed, + to be wavering and irresolute, to keep his affection unmoved and without + inclination in the troubles of his country and public divisions, I neither + think it handsome nor honest: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ea non media, sed nulla via est, velut eventum + exspectantium, quo fortunae consilia sua applicent.” + + [“That is not a middle way, but no way, to await events, by which + they refer their resolutions to fortune.”—Livy, xxxii. 21.] +</pre> + <p> + This may be allowed in our neighbours’ affairs; and thus Gelo, the + tyrant of Syracuse, suspended his inclination in the war betwixt the + Greeks and barbarians, keeping a resident ambassador with presents at + Delphos, to watch and see which way fortune would incline, and then take + fit occasion to fall in with the victors. It would be a kind of treason to + proceed after this manner in our own domestic affairs, wherein a man must + of necessity be of the one side or the other; though for a man who has no + office or express command to call him out, to sit still I hold it more + excusable (and yet I do not excuse myself upon these terms) than in + foreign expeditions, to which, however, according to our laws, no man is + pressed against his will. And yet even those who wholly engage themselves + in such a war may behave themselves with such temper and moderation, that + the storm may fly over their heads without doing them any harm. Had we not + reason to hope such an issue in the person of the late Bishop of Orleans, + the Sieur de Morvilliers? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [An able negotiator, who, though protected by the Guises, and + strongly supporting them, was yet very far from persecuting the + Reformists. He died 1577.] +</pre> + <p> + And I know, amongst those who behave themselves most bravely in the + present war, some whose manners are so gentle, obliging, and just, that + they will certainly stand firm, whatever event Heaven is preparing for us. + I am of opinion that it properly belongs to kings only to quarrel with + kings; and I laugh at those spirits who, out of lightness of heart, lend + themselves to so disproportioned disputes; for a man has never the more + particular quarrel with a prince, by marching openly and boldly against + him for his own honour and according to his duty; if he does not love such + a person, he does better, he esteems him. And notably the cause of the + laws and of the ancient government of a kingdom, has this always annexed + to it, that even those who, for their own private interest, invade them, + excuse, if they do not honour, the defenders. + </p> + <p> + But we are not, as we nowadays do, to call peevishness and inward + discontent, that spring from private interest and passion, duty, nor a + treacherous and malicious conduct, courage; they call their proneness to + mischief and violence zeal; ‘tis not the cause, but their interest, + that inflames them; they kindle and begin a war, not because it is just, + but because it is war. + </p> + <p> + A man may very well behave himself commodiously and loyally too amongst + those of the adverse party; carry yourself, if not with the same equal + affection (for that is capable of different measure), at least with an + affection moderate, well tempered, and such as shall not so engage you to + one party, that it may demand all you are able to do for that side, + content yourself with a moderate proportion of their, favour and goodwill; + and to swim in troubled waters without fishing in them. + </p> + <p> + The other way, of offering a man’s self and the utmost service he is + able to do, both to one party and the other, has still less of prudence in + it than conscience. Does not he to whom you betray another, to whom you + were as welcome as to himself, know that you will at another time do as + much for him? He holds you for a villain; and in the meantime hears what + you will say, gathers intelligence from you, and works his own ends out of + your disloyalty; double-dealing men are useful for bringing in, but we + must have a care they carry out as little as is possible. + </p> + <p> + I say nothing to one party that I may not, upon occasion, say to the + other, with a little alteration of accent; and report nothing but things + either indifferent or known, or what is of common consequence. I cannot + permit myself, for any consideration, to tell them a lie. What is + intrusted to my secrecy, I religiously conceal; but I take as few trusts + of that nature upon me as I can. The secrets of princes are a troublesome + burthen to such as are not interested in them. I very willingly bargain + that they trust me with little, but confidently rely upon what I tell + them. I have ever known more than I desired. One open way of speaking + introduces another open way of speaking, and draws out discoveries, like + wine and love. Philippides, in my opinion, answered King Lysimachus very + discreetly, who, asking him what of his estate he should bestow upon him? + “What you will,” said he, “provided it be none of your + secrets.” I see every one is displeased if the bottom of the affair + be concealed from him wherein he is employed, or that there be any + reservation in the thing; for my part, I am content to know no more of the + business than what they would have me employ myself in, nor desire that my + knowledge should exceed or restrict what I have to say. If I must serve + for an instrument of deceit, let it be at least with a safe conscience: I + will not be reputed a servant either so affectionate or so loyal as to be + fit to betray any one: he who is unfaithful to himself, is excusably so to + his master. But they are princes who do not accept men by halves, and + despise limited and conditional services: I cannot help it: I frankly tell + them how far I can go; for a slave I should not be, but to reason, and I + can hardly submit even to that. And they also are to blame to exact from a + freeman the same subjection and obligation to their service that they do + from him they have made and bought, or whose fortune particularly and + expressly depends upon theirs. The laws have delivered me from a great + anxiety; they have chosen a side for me, and given me a master; all other + superiority and obligation ought to be relative to that, and cut, off from + all other. Yet this is not to say, that if my affection should otherwise + incline me, my hand should presently obey it; the will and desire are a + law to themselves; but actions must receive commission from the public + appointment. + </p> + <p> + All this proceeding of mine is a little dissonant from the ordinary forms; + it would produce no great effects, nor be of any long duration; innocence + itself could not, in this age of ours, either negotiate without + dissimulation, or traffic without lying; and, indeed, public employments + are by no means for my palate: what my profession requires, I perform + after the most private manner that I can. Being young, I was engaged up to + the ears in business, and it succeeded well; but I disengaged myself in + good time. I have often since avoided meddling in it, rarely accepted, and + never asked it; keeping my back still turned to ambition; but if not like + rowers who so advance backward, yet so, at the same time, that I am less + obliged to my resolution than to my good fortune, that I was not wholly + embarked in it. For there are ways less displeasing to my taste, and more + suitable to my ability, by which, if she had formerly called me to the + public service, and my own advancement towards the world’s opinion, + I know I should, in spite of all my own arguments to the contrary, have + pursued them. Such as commonly say, in opposition to what I profess, that + what I call freedom, simplicity, and plainness in my manners, is art and + subtlety, and rather prudence than goodness, industry than nature, good + sense than good luck, do me more honour than disgrace: but, certainly, + they make my subtlety too subtle; and whoever has followed me close, and + pryed narrowly into me, I will give him the victory, if he does not + confess that there is no rule in their school that could match this + natural motion, and maintain an appearance of liberty and licence, so + equal and inflexible, through so many various and crooked paths, and that + all their wit and endeavour could never have led them through. The way of + truth is one and simple; that of particular profit, and the commodity of + affairs a man is entrusted with, is double, unequal, and casual. I have + often seen these counterfeit and artificial liberties practised, but, for + the most part, without success; they relish of AEsop’s ass who, in + emulation of the dog, obligingly clapped his two fore-feet upon his master’s + shoulders; but as many caresses as the dog had for such an expression of + kindness, twice so many blows with a cudgel had the poor ass for his + compliment: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Id maxime quemque decet, quod est cujusque suum maxime.” + + [“That best becomes every man which belongs most to him;” + —Cicero, De Offic., i. 31.] +</pre> + <p> + I will not deprive deceit of its due; that were but ill to understand the + world: I know it has often been of great use, and that it maintains and + supplies most men’s employment. There are vices that are lawful, as + there are many actions, either good or excusable, that are not lawful in + themselves. + </p> + <p> + The justice which in itself is natural and universal is otherwise and more + nobly ordered than that other justice which is special, national, and + constrained to the ends of government, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Veri juris germanaeque justitiae solidam et expressam + effigiem nullam tenemus; umbra et imaginibus utimur;” + + [“We retain no solid and express portraiture of true right and + germane justice; we have only the shadow and image of it.” + —Cicero, De Offic., iii. 17.] +</pre> + <p> + insomuch that the sage Dandamis, hearing the lives of Socrates, + Pythagoras, and Diogenes read, judged them to be great men every way, + excepting that they were too much subjected to the reverence of the laws, + which, to second and authorise, true virtue must abate very much of its + original vigour; many vicious actions are introduced, not only by their + permission, but by their advice: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ex senatus consultis plebisquescitis scelera exercentur.” + + [“Crimes are committed by the decrees of the Senate and the + popular assembly.”—Seneca, Ep., 95.] +</pre> + <p> + I follow the common phrase that distinguishes betwixt profitable and + honest things, so as to call some natural actions, that are not only + profitable but necessary, dishonest and foul. + </p> + <p> + But let us proceed in our examples of treachery two pretenders to the + kingdom of Thrace—[Rhescuporis and Cotys. Tacitus, Annal., ii. 65]— + were fallen into dispute about their title; the emperor hindered them from + proceeding to blows: but one of them, under colour of bringing things to a + friendly issue by an interview, having invited his competitor to an + entertainment in his own house, imprisoned and killed him. Justice + required that the Romans should have satisfaction for this offence; but + there was a difficulty in obtaining it by ordinary ways; what, therefore, + they could not do legitimately, without war and without danger, they + resolved to do by treachery; and what they could not honestly do, they did + profitably. For which end, one Pomponius Flaccus was found to be a fit + instrument. This man, by dissembled words and assurances, having drawn the + other into his toils, instead of the honour and favour he had promised + him, sent him bound hand and foot to Rome. Here one traitor betrayed + another, contrary to common custom: for they are full of mistrust, and + ‘tis hard to overreach them in their own art: witness the sad + experience we have lately had.—[Montaigne here probably refers to + the feigned reconciliation between Catherine de Medici and Henri, Duc de + Guise, in 1588.] + </p> + <p> + Let who will be Pomponius Flaccus, and there are enough who would: for my + part, both my word and my faith are, like all the rest, parts of this + common body: their best effect is the public service; this I take for + presupposed. But should one command me to take charge of the courts of law + and lawsuits, I should make answer, that I understood it not; or the place + of a leader of pioneers, I would say, that I was called to a more + honourable employment; so likewise, he that would employ me to lie, + betray, and forswear myself, though not to assassinate or to poison, for + some notable service, I should say, “If I have robbed or stolen + anything from any man, send me rather to the galleys.” For it is + permissible in a man of honour to say, as the Lacedaemonians did,—[Plutarch, + Difference between a Flatterer and a Friend, c. 21.]—having been + defeated by Antipater, when just upon concluding an agreement: “You + may impose as heavy and ruinous taxes upon us as you please, but to + command us to do shameful and dishonest things, you will lose your time, + for it is to no purpose.” Every one ought to make the same vow to + himself that the kings of Egypt made their judges solemnly swear, that + they would not do anything contrary to their consciences, though never so + much commanded to it by themselves. In such commissions there is evident + mark of ignominy and condemnation; and he who gives it at the same time + accuses you, and gives it, if you understand it right, for a burden and a + punishment. As much as the public affairs are bettered by your exploit, so + much are your own the worse, and the better you behave yourself in it, + ‘tis so much the worse for yourself; and it will be no new thing, + nor, peradventure, without some colour of justice, if the same person ruin + you who set you on work. + </p> + <p> + If treachery can be in any case excusable, it must be only so when it is + practised to chastise and betray treachery. There are examples enough of + treacheries, not only rejected, but chastised and punished by those in + favour of whom they were undertaken. Who is ignorant of Fabricius sentence + against the physician of Pyrrhus? + </p> + <p> + But this we also find recorded, that some persons have commanded a thing, + who afterward have severely avenged the execution of it upon him they had + employed, rejecting the reputation of so unbridled an authority, and + disowning so abandoned and base a servitude and obedience. Jaropelk, Duke + of Russia, tampered with a gentleman of Hungary to betray Boleslaus, king + of Poland, either by killing him, or by giving the Russians opportunity to + do him some notable mischief. This worthy went ably to work: he was more + assiduous than before in the service of that king, so that he obtained the + honour to be of his council, and one of the chiefest in his trust. With + these advantages, and taking an opportune occasion of his master’s + absence, he betrayed Vislicza, a great and rich city, to the Russians, + which was entirely sacked and burned, and not only all the inhabitants of + both sexes, young and old, put to the sword, but moreover a great number + of neighbouring gentry, whom he had drawn thither to that end. Jaropelk, + his revenge being thus satisfied and his anger appeased, which was not, + indeed, without pretence (for Boleslaus had highly offended him, and after + the same manner), and sated with the fruit of this treachery, coming to + consider the fulness of it, with a sound judgment and clear from passion, + looked upon what had been done with so much horror and remorse that he + caused the eyes to be bored out and the tongue and shameful parts to be + cut off of him who had performed it. + </p> + <p> + Antigonus persuaded the Argyraspides to betray Eumenes, their general, his + adversary, into his hands; but after he had caused him, so delivered, to + be slain, he would himself be the commissioner of the divine justice for + the punishment of so detestable a crime, and committed them into the hands + of the governor of the province, with express command, by whatever means, + to destroy and bring them all to an evil end, so that of that great number + of men, not so much as one ever returned again into Macedonia: the better + he had been served, the more wickedly he judged it to be, and meriting + greater punishment. + </p> + <p> + The slave who betrayed the place where his master, P. Sulpicius, lay + concealed, was, according to the promise of Sylla’s proscription, + manumitted for his pains; but according to the promise of the public + justice, which was free from any such engagement, he was thrown headlong + from the Tarpeian rock. + </p> + <p> + Our King Clovis, instead of the arms of gold he had promised them, caused + three of Cararie’s servants to be hanged after they had betrayed + their master to him, though he had debauched them to it: he hanged them + with the purse of their reward about their necks; after having satisfied + his second and special faith, he satisfied the general and first. + </p> + <p> + Mohammed II. having resolved to rid himself of his brother, out of + jealousy of state, according to the practice of the Ottoman family, he + employed one of his officers in the execution, who, pouring a quantity of + water too fast into him, choked him. This being done, to expiate the + murder, he delivered the murderer into the hands of the mother of him he + had so caused to be put to death, for they were only brothers by the + father’s side; she, in his presence, ripped up the murderer’s + bosom, and with her own hands rifled his breast for his heart, tore it + out, and threw it to the dogs. And even to the worst people it is the + sweetest thing imaginable, having once gained their end by a vicious + action, to foist, in all security, into it some show of virtue and + justice, as by way of compensation and conscientious correction; to which + may be added, that they look upon the ministers of such horrid crimes as + upon men who reproach them with them, and think by their deaths to erase + the memory and testimony of such proceedings. + </p> + <p> + Or if, perhaps, you are rewarded, not to frustrate the public necessity + for that extreme and desperate remedy, he who does it cannot for all that, + if he be not such himself, but look upon you as an accursed and execrable + fellow, and conclude you a greater traitor than he does, against whom you + are so: for he tries the malignity of your disposition by your own hands, + where he cannot possibly be deceived, you having no object of preceding + hatred to move you to such an act; but he employs you as they do condemned + malefactors in executions of justice, an office as necessary as + dishonourable. Besides the baseness of such commissions, there is, + moreover, a prostitution of conscience. Seeing that the daughter of + Sejanus could not be put to death by the law of Rome, because she was a + virgin, she was, to make it lawful, first ravished by the hangman and then + strangled: not only his hand but his soul is slave to the public + convenience. + </p> + <p> + When Amurath I., more grievously to punish his subjects who had taken part + in the parricide rebellion of his son, ordained that their nearest kindred + should assist in the execution, I find it very handsome in some of them to + have rather chosen to be unjustly thought guilty of the parricide of + another than to serve justice by a parricide of their own. And where I + have seen, at the taking of some little fort by assault in my time, some + rascals who, to save their own lives, would consent to hang their friends + and companions, I have looked upon them to be of worse condition than + those who were hanged. ‘Tis said, that Witold, Prince of Lithuania, + introduced into the nation the practice that the criminal condemned to + death should with his own hand execute the sentence, thinking it strange + that a third person, innocent of the fault, should be made guilty of + homicide. + </p> + <p> + A prince, when by some urgent circumstance or some impetuous and + unforeseen accident that very much concerns his state, compelled to + forfeit his word and break his faith, or otherwise forced from his + ordinary duty, ought to attribute this necessity to a lash of the divine + rod: vice it is not, for he has given up his own reason to a more + universal and more powerful reason; but certainly ‘tis a misfortune: + so that if any one should ask me what remedy? “None,” say I, + “if he were really racked between these two extremes: ‘sed + videat, ne quoeratur latebya perjurio’, he must do it: but if he did + it without regret, if it did not weigh on him to do it, ‘tis a sign + his conscience is in a sorry condition.” If there be a person to be + found of so tender a conscience as to think no cure whatever worth so + important a remedy, I shall like him never the worse; he could not more + excusably or more decently perish. We cannot do all we would, so that we + must often, as the last anchorage, commit the protection of our vessels to + the simple conduct of heaven. To what more just necessity does he reserve + himself? What is less possible for him to do than what he cannot do but at + the expense of his faith and honour, things that, perhaps, ought to be + dearer to him than his own safety, or even the safety of his people. + Though he should, with folded arms, only call God to his assistance, has + he not reason to hope that the divine goodness will not refuse the favour + of an extraordinary arm to just and pure hands? These are dangerous + examples, rare and sickly exceptions to our natural rules: we must yield + to them, but with great moderation and circumspection: no private utility + is of such importance that we should upon that account strain our + consciences to such a degree: the public may be, when very manifest and of + very great concern. + </p> + <p> + Timoleon made a timely expiation for his strange exploit by the tears he + shed, calling to mind that it was with a fraternal hand that he had slain + the tyrant; and it justly pricked his conscience that he had been + necessitated to purchase the public utility at so great a price as the + violation of his private morality. Even the Senate itself, by his means + delivered from slavery, durst not positively determine of so high a fact, + and divided into two so important and contrary aspects; but the + Syracusans, sending at the same time to the Corinthians to solicit their + protection, and to require of them a captain fit to re-establish their + city in its former dignity and to clear Sicily of several little tyrants + by whom it was oppressed, they deputed Timoleon for that service, with + this cunning declaration; “that according as he should behave + himself well or ill in his employment, their sentence should incline + either to favour the deliverer of his country, or to disfavour the + murderer of his brother.” This fantastic conclusion carries along + with it some excuse, by reason of the danger of the example, and the + importance of so strange an action: and they did well to discharge their + own judgment of it, and to refer it to others who were not so much + concerned. But Timoleon’s comportment in this expedition soon made + his cause more clear, so worthily and virtuously he demeaned himself upon + all occasions; and the good fortune that accompanied him in the + difficulties he had to overcome in this noble employment, seemed to be + strewed in his way by the gods, favourably conspiring for his + justification. + </p> + <p> + The end of this matter is excusable, if any can be so; but the profit of + the augmentation of the public revenue, that served the Roman Senate for a + pretence to the foul conclusion I am going to relate, is not sufficient to + warrant any such injustice. + </p> + <p> + Certain cities had redeemed themselves and their liberty by money, by the + order and consent of the Senate, out of the hands of L. Sylla: the + business coming again in question, the Senate condemned them to be taxable + as they were before, and that the money they had disbursed for their + redemption should be lost to them. Civil war often produces such + villainous examples; that we punish private men for confiding in us when + we were public ministers: and the self-same magistrate makes another man + pay the penalty of his change that has nothing to do with it; the + pedagogue whips his scholar for his docility; and the guide beats the + blind man whom he leads by the hand; a horrid image of justice. + </p> + <p> + There are rules in philosophy that are both false and weak. The example + that is proposed to us for preferring private utility before faith given, + has not weight enough by the circumstances they put to it; robbers have + seized you, and after having made you swear to pay them a certain sum of + money, dismiss you. ‘Tis not well done to say, that an honest man + can be quit of his oath without payment, being out of their hands. ‘Tis + no such thing: what fear has once made me willing to do, I am obliged to + do it when I am no longer in fear; and though that fear only prevailed + with my tongue without forcing my will, yet am I bound to keep my word. + For my part, when my tongue has sometimes inconsiderately said something + that I did not think, I have made a conscience of disowning it: otherwise, + by degrees, we shall abolish all the right another derives from our + promises and oaths: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quasi vero forti viro vis possit adhiberi.” + + [“As though a man of true courage could be compelled.” + —Cicero, De Offic., iii. 30.] +</pre> + <p> + And ‘tis only lawful, upon the account of private interest, to + excuse breach of promise, when we have promised something that is unlawful + and wicked in itself; for the right of virtue ought to take place of the + right of any obligation of ours. + </p> + <p> + I have formerly placed Epaminondas in the first rank of excellent men, and + do not repent it. How high did he stretch the consideration of his own + particular duty? he who never killed a man whom he had overcome; who, for + the inestimable benefit of restoring the liberty of his country, made + conscience of killing a tyrant or his accomplices without due form of + justice: and who concluded him to be a wicked man, how good a citizen + soever otherwise, who amongst his enemies in battle spared not his friend + and his guest. This was a soul of a rich composition: he married goodness + and humanity, nay, even the tenderest and most delicate in the whole + school of philosophy, to the roughest and most violent human actions. Was + it nature or art that had intenerated that great courage of his, so full, + so obstinate against pain and death and poverty, to such an extreme degree + of sweetness and compassion? Dreadful in arms and blood, he overran and + subdued a nation invincible by all others but by him alone; and yet in the + heat of an encounter, could turn aside from his friend and guest. + Certainly he was fit to command in war who could so rein himself with the + curb of good nature, in the height and heat of his fury, a fury inflamed + and foaming with blood and slaughter. ‘Tis a miracle to be able to + mix any image of justice with such violent actions: and it was only + possible for such a steadfastness of mind as that of Epaminondas therein + to mix sweetness and the facility of the gentlest manners and purest + innocence. And whereas one told the Mamertini that statutes were of no + efficacy against armed men; and another told the tribune of the people + that the time of justice and of war were distinct things; and a third said + that the noise of arms deafened the voice of laws, this man was not + precluded from listening to the laws of civility and pure courtesy. Had he + not borrowed from his enemies the custom of sacrificing to the Muses when + he went to war, that they might by their sweetness and gaiety soften his + martial and rigorous fury? Let us not fear, by the example of so great a + master, to believe that there is something unlawful, even against an + enemy, and that the common concern ought not to require all things of all + men, against private interest: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Manente memoria, etiam in dissidio publicorum + foederum, privati juris:” + + [“The memory of private right remaining even amid + public dissensions.”—Livy, xxv. 18.] + + “Et nulla potentia vires + Praestandi, ne quid peccet amicus, habet;” + + [“No power on earth can sanction treachery against a friend.” + —Ovid, De Ponto, i. 7, 37.] +</pre> + <p> + and that all things are not lawful to an honest man for the service of his + prince, the laws, or the general quarrel: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non enim patria praestat omnibus officiis.... + et ipsi conducit pios habere cives in parentes.” + + [“The duty to one’s country does not supersede all other duties. + The country itself requires that its citizens should act piously + toward their parents.”—Cicero, De Offic., iii. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + Tis an instruction proper for the time wherein we live: we need not harden + our courage with these arms of steel; ‘tis enough that our shoulders + are inured to them: ‘tis enough to dip our pens in ink without + dipping them in blood. If it be grandeur of courage, and the effect of a + rare and singular virtue, to contemn friendship, private obligations, a + man’s word and relationship, for the common good and obedience to + the magistrate, ‘tis certainly sufficient to excuse us, that ‘tis + a grandeur that can have no place in the grandeur of Epaminondas’ + courage. + </p> + <p> + I abominate those mad exhortations of this other discomposed soul, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum tela micant, non vos pietatis imago + Ulla, nec adversa conspecti fronte parentes + Commoveant; vultus gladio turbate verendos.” + + [“While swords glitter, let no idea of piety, nor the face even of a + father presented to you, move you: mutilate with your sword those + venerable features “—Lucan, vii. 320.] +</pre> + <p> + Let us deprive wicked, bloody, and treacherous natures of such a pretence + of reason: let us set aside this guilty and extravagant justice, and stick + to more human imitations. How great things can time and example do! In an + encounter of the civil war against Cinna, one of Pompey’s soldiers + having unawares killed his brother, who was of the contrary party, he + immediately for shame and sorrow killed himself: and some years after, in + another civil war of the same people, a soldier demanded a reward of his + officer for having killed his brother. + </p> + <p> + A man but ill proves the honour and beauty of an action by its utility: + and very erroneously concludes that every one is obliged to it, and that + it becomes every one to do it, if it be of utility: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnia non pariter rerum sunt omnibus apta.” + </pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“All things are not equally fit for all men.” + —Propertius, iii. 9, 7.] +</pre> + <p> + Let us take that which is most necessary and profitable for human society; + it will be marriage; and yet the council of the saints find the contrary + much better, excluding from it the most venerable vocation of man: as we + design those horses for stallions of which we have the least esteem. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0095" id="link2HCH0095"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II——OF REPENTANCE + </h2> + <p> + Others form man; I only report him: and represent a particular one, ill + fashioned enough, and whom, if I had to model him anew, I should certainly + make something else than what he is but that’s past recalling. Now, + though the features of my picture alter and change, ‘tis not, + however, unlike: the world eternally turns round; all things therein are + incessantly moving, the earth, the rocks of Caucasus, and the pyramids of + Egypt, both by the public motion and their own. Even constancy itself is + no other but a slower and more languishing motion. I cannot fix my object; + ‘tis always tottering and reeling by a natural giddiness; I take it + as it is at the instant I consider it; I do not paint its being, I paint + its passage; not a passing from one age to another, or, as the people say, + from seven to seven years, but from day to day, from minute to minute, I + must accommodate my history to the hour: I may presently change, not only + by fortune, but also by intention. ‘Tis a counterpart of various and + changeable accidents, and of irresolute imaginations, and, as it falls + out, sometimes contrary: whether it be that I am then another self, or + that I take subjects by other circumstances and considerations: so it is + that I may peradventure contradict myself, but, as Demades said, I never + contradict the truth. Could my soul once take footing, I would not essay + but resolve: but it is always learning and making trial. + </p> + <p> + I propose a life ordinary and without lustre: ‘tis all one; all + moral philosophy may as well be applied to a common and private life, as + to one of richer composition: every man carries the entire form of human + condition. Authors communicate themselves to the people by some especial + and extrinsic mark; I, the first of any, by my universal being; as Michel + de Montaigne, not as a grammarian, a poet, or a lawyer. If the world find + fault that I speak too much of myself, I find fault that they do not so + much as think of themselves. But is it reason that, being so particular in + my way of living, I should pretend to recommend myself to the public + knowledge? And is it also reason that I should produce to the world, where + art and handling have so much credit and authority, crude and simple + effects of nature, and of a weak nature to boot? Is it not to build a wall + without stone or brick, or some such thing, to write books without + learning and without art? The fancies of music are carried on by art; mine + by chance. I have this, at least, according to discipline, that never any + man treated of a subject he better understood and knew than I what I have + undertaken, and that in this I am the most understanding man alive: + secondly, that never any man penetrated farther into his matter, nor + better and more distinctly sifted the parts and sequences of it, nor ever + more exactly and fully arrived at the end he proposed to himself. To + perfect it, I need bring nothing but fidelity to the work; and that is + there, and the most pure and sincere that is anywhere to be found. I speak + truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little + the more, as I grow older; for, methinks, custom allows to age more + liberty of prating, and more indiscretion of talking of a man’s + self. That cannot fall out here, which I often see elsewhere, that the + work and the artificer contradict one another: “Can a man of such + sober conversation have written so foolish a book?” Or “Do so + learned writings proceed from a man of so weak conversation?” He who + talks at a very ordinary rate, and writes rare matter, ‘tis to say + that his capacity is borrowed and not his own. A learned man is not + learned in all things: but a sufficient man is sufficient throughout, even + to ignorance itself; here my book and I go hand in hand together. + Elsewhere men may commend or censure the work, without reference to the + workman; here they cannot: who touches the one, touches the other. He who + shall judge of it without knowing him, will more wrong himself than me; he + who does know him, gives me all the satisfaction I desire. I shall be + happy beyond my desert, if I can obtain only thus much from the public + approbation, as to make men of understanding perceive that I was capable + of profiting by knowledge, had I had it; and that I deserved to have been + assisted by a better memory. + </p> + <p> + Be pleased here to excuse what I often repeat, that I very rarely repent, + and that my conscience is satisfied with itself, not as the conscience of + an angel, or that of a horse, but as the conscience of a man; always + adding this clause, not one of ceremony, but a true and real submission, + that I speak inquiring and doubting, purely and simply referring myself to + the common and accepted beliefs for the resolution. I do not teach; I only + relate. + </p> + <p> + There is no vice that is absolutely a vice which does not offend, and that + a sound judgment does not accuse; for there is in it so manifest a + deformity and inconvenience, that peradventure they are in the right who + say that it is chiefly begotten by stupidity and ignorance: so hard is it + to imagine that a man can know without abhorring it. Malice sucks up the + greatest part of its own venom, and poisons itself. Vice leaves repentance + in the soul, like an ulcer in the flesh, which is always scratching and + lacerating itself: for reason effaces all other grief and sorrows, but it + begets that of repentance, which is so much the more grievous, by reason + it springs within, as the cold and heat of fevers are more sharp than + those that only strike upon the outward skin. I hold for vices (but every + one according to its proportion), not only those which reason and nature + condemn, but those also which the opinion of men, though false and + erroneous, have made such, if authorised by law and custom. + </p> + <p> + There is likewise no virtue which does not rejoice a well-descended + nature: there is a kind of, I know not what, congratulation in well-doing + that gives us an inward satisfaction, and a generous boldness that + accompanies a good conscience: a soul daringly vicious may, peradventure, + arm itself with security, but it cannot supply itself with this + complacency and satisfaction. ‘Tis no little satisfaction to feel a + man’s self preserved from the contagion of so depraved an age, and + to say to himself: “Whoever could penetrate into my soul would not + there find me guilty either of the affliction or ruin of any one, or of + revenge or envy, or any offence against the public laws, or of innovation + or disturbance, or failure of my word; and though the licence of the time + permits and teaches every one so to do, yet have I not plundered any + Frenchman’s goods, or taken his money, and have lived upon what is + my own, in war as well as in peace; neither have I set any man to work + without paying him his hire.” These testimonies of a good conscience + please, and this natural rejoicing is very beneficial to us, and the only + reward that we can never fail of. + </p> + <p> + To ground the recompense of virtuous actions upon the approbation of + others is too uncertain and unsafe a foundation, especially in so corrupt + and ignorant an age as this, wherein the good opinion of the vulgar is + injurious: upon whom do you rely to show you what is recommendable? God + defend me from being an honest man, according to the descriptions of + honour I daily see every one make of himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae fuerant vitia, mores sunt.” + + [“What before had been vices are now manners.”—Seneca, Ep., 39.] +</pre> + <p> + Some of my friends have at times schooled and scolded me with great + sincerity and plainness, either of their own voluntary motion, or by me + entreated to it as to an office, which to a well-composed soul surpasses + not only in utility, but in kindness, all other offices of friendship: I + have always received them with the most open arms, both of courtesy and + acknowledgment; but to say the truth, I have often found so much false + measure, both in their reproaches and praises, that I had not done much + amiss, rather to have done ill, than to have done well according to their + notions. We, who live private lives, not exposed to any other view than + our own, ought chiefly to have settled a pattern within ourselves by which + to try our actions: and according to that, sometimes to encourage and + sometimes to correct ourselves. I have my laws and my judicature to judge + of myself, and apply myself more to these than to any other rules: I do, + indeed, restrain my actions according to others; but extend them not by + any other rule than my own. You yourself only know if you are cowardly and + cruel, loyal and devout: others see you not, and only guess at you by + uncertain conjectures, and do not so much see your nature as your art; + rely not therefore upon their opinions, but stick to your own: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tuo tibi judicio est utendum.... Virtutis et vitiorum grave ipsius + conscientiae pondus est: qua sublata, jacent omnia.” + + [“Thou must employ thy own judgment upon thyself; great is the + weight of thy own conscience in the discovery of virtues and vices: + which taken away, all things are lost.” + —Cicero, De Nat. Dei, iii. 35; Tusc. Quaes., i. 25.] +</pre> + <p> + But the saying that repentance immediately follows the sin seems not to + have respect to sin in its high estate, which is lodged in us as in its + own proper habitation. One may disown and retract the vices that surprise + us, and to which we are hurried by passions; but those which by a long + habit are rooted in a strong and vigorous will are not subject to + contradiction. Repentance is no other but a recanting of the will and an + opposition to our fancies, which lead us which way they please. It makes + this person disown his former virtue and continency: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae mens est hodie, cur eadem non puero fait? + Vel cur his animis incolumes non redeunt genae?” + + [“What my mind is, why was it not the same, when I was a boy? or + why do not the cheeks return to these feelings?” + —Horace, Od., v. 10, 7.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis an exact life that maintains itself in due order in private. + Every one may juggle his part, and represent an honest man upon the stage: + but within, and in his own bosom, where all may do as they list, where all + is concealed, to be regular, there’s the point. The next degree is + to be so in his house, and in his ordinary actions, for which we are + accountable to none, and where there is no study nor artifice. And + therefore Bias, setting forth the excellent state of a private family, + says: “of which a the master is the same within, by his own virtue + and temper, that he is abroad, for fear of the laws and report of men.” + And it was a worthy saying of Julius Drusus, to the masons who offered + him, for three thousand crowns, to put his house in such a posture that + his neighbours should no longer have the same inspection into it as + before; “I will give you,” said he, “six thousand to + make it so that everybody may see into every room.” ‘Tis + honourably recorded of Agesilaus, that he used in his journeys always to + take up his lodgings in temples, to the end that the people and the gods + themselves might pry into his most private actions. Such a one has been a + miracle to the world, in whom neither his wife nor servant has ever seen + anything so much as remarkable; few men have been admired by their own + domestics; no one was ever a prophet, not merely in his own house, but in + his own country, says the experience of histories: —[No man is a + hero to his valet-de-chambre, said Marshal Catinat]—‘tis the + same in things of nought, and in this low example the image of a greater + is to be seen. In my country of Gascony, they look upon it as a drollery + to see me in print; the further off I am read from my own home, the better + I am esteemed. I purchase printers in Guienne; elsewhere they purchase me. + Upon this it is that they lay their foundation who conceal themselves + present and living, to obtain a name when they are dead and absent. I had + rather have a great deal less in hand, and do not expose myself to the + world upon any other account than my present share; when I leave it I quit + the rest. See this functionary whom the people escort in state, with + wonder and applause, to his very door; he puts off the pageant with his + robe, and falls so much the lower by how much he was higher exalted: in + himself within, all is tumult and degraded. And though all should be + regular there, it will require a vivid and well-chosen judgment to + perceive it in these low and private actions; to which may be added, that + order is a dull, sombre virtue. To enter a breach, conduct an embassy, + govern a people, are actions of renown; to reprehend, laugh, sell, pay, + love, hate, and gently and justly converse with a man’s own family + and with himself; not to relax, not to give a man’s self the lie, is + more rare and hard, and less remarkable. By which means, retired lives, + whatever is said to the contrary, undergo duties of as great or greater + difficulty than the others do; and private men, says Aristotle,’ + serve virtue more painfully and highly than those in authority do: we + prepare ourselves for eminent occasions, more out of glory than + conscience. The shortest way to arrive at glory, would be to do that for + conscience which we do for glory: and the virtue of Alexander appears to + me of much less vigour in his great theatre, than that of Socrates in his + mean and obscure employment. I can easily conceive Socrates in the place + of Alexander, but Alexander in that of Socrates, I cannot. Who shall ask + the one what he can do, he will answer, “Subdue the world”: + and who shall put the same question to the other, he will say, “Carry + on human life conformably with its natural condition”; a much more + general, weighty, and legitimate science than the other.—[Montaigne + added here, “To do for the world that for which he came into the + world,” but he afterwards erased these words from the manuscript.—Naigeon.] + </p> + <p> + The virtue of the soul does not consist in flying high, but in walking + orderly; its grandeur does not exercise itself in grandeur, but in + mediocrity. As they who judge and try us within, make no great account of + the lustre of our public actions, and see they are only streaks and rays + of clear water springing from a slimy and muddy bottom so, likewise, they + who judge of us by this gallant outward appearance, in like manner + conclude of our internal constitution; and cannot couple common faculties, + and like their own, with the other faculties that astonish them, and are + so far out of their sight. Therefore it is that we give such savage forms + to demons: and who does not give Tamerlane great eyebrows, wide nostrils, + a dreadful visage, and a prodigious stature, according to the imagination + he has conceived by the report of his name? Had any one formerly brought + me to Erasmus, I should hardly have believed but that all was adage and + apothegm he spoke to his man or his hostess. We much more aptly imagine an + artisan upon his close-stool, or upon his wife, than a great president + venerable by his port and sufficiency: we fancy that they, from their high + tribunals, will not abase themselves so much as to live. As vicious souls + are often incited by some foreign impulse to do well, so are virtuous + souls to do ill; they are therefore to be judged by their settled state, + when they are at home, whenever that may be; and, at all events, when they + are nearer repose, and in their native station. + </p> + <p> + Natural inclinations are much assisted and fortified by education; but + they seldom alter and overcome their institution: a thousand natures of my + time have escaped towards virtue or vice, through a quite contrary + discipline: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sic ubi, desuetae silvis, in carcere clausae + Mansuevere ferx, et vultus posuere minaces, + Atque hominem didicere pati, si torrida parvus + Venit in ora cruor, redeunt rabiesque fororque, + Admonitaeque tument gustato sanguine fauces + Fervet, et a trepido vix abstinet ira magistro;” + + [“So savage beasts, when shut up in cages and grown unaccustomed to + the woods, have become tame, and have laid aside their fierce looks, + and submit to the rule of man; if again a slight taste of blood + comes into their mouths, their rage and fury return, their jaws are + erected by thirst of blood, and their anger scarcely abstains from + their trembling masters.”—Lucan, iv. 237.] +</pre> + <p> + these original qualities are not to be rooted out; they may be covered and + concealed. The Latin tongue is as it were natural to me; I understand it + better than French; but I have not been used to speak it, nor hardly to + write it, these forty years. Unless upon extreme and sudden emotions which + I have fallen into twice or thrice in my life, and once seeing my father + in perfect health fall upon me in a swoon, I have always uttered from the + bottom of my heart my first words in Latin; nature deafened, and forcibly + expressing itself, in spite of so long a discontinuation; and this example + is said of many others. + </p> + <p> + They who in my time have attempted to correct the manners of the world by + new opinions, reform seeming vices; but the essential vices they leave as + they were, if indeed they do not augment them, and augmentation is therein + to be feared; we defer all other well doing upon the account of these + external reformations, of less cost and greater show, and thereby expiate + good cheap, for the other natural, consubstantial, and intestine vices. + Look a little into our experience: there is no man, if he listen to + himself, who does not in himself discover a particular and governing form + of his own, that jostles his education, and wrestles with the tempest of + passions that are contrary to it. For my part, I seldom find myself + agitated with surprises; I always find myself in my place, as heavy and + unwieldy bodies do; if I am not at home, I am always near at hand; my + dissipations do not transport me very far; there is nothing strange or + extreme in the case; and yet I have sound and vigorous turns. + </p> + <p> + The true condemnation, and which touches the common practice of men, is + that their very retirement itself is full of filth and corruption; the + idea of their reformation composed, their repentance sick and faulty, very + nearly as much as their sin. Some, either from having been linked to vice + by a natural propension or long practice, cannot see its deformity. Others + (of which constitution I am) do indeed feel the weight of vice, but they + counterbalance it with pleasure, or some other occasion; and suffer and + lend themselves to it for a certain price, but viciously and basely. Yet + there might, haply, be imagined so vast a disproportion of measure, where + with justice the pleasure might excuse the sin, as we say of utility; not + only if accidental and out of sin, as in thefts, but in the very exercise + of sin, or in the enjoyment of women, where the temptation is violent, + and, ‘tis said, sometimes not to be overcome. + </p> + <p> + Being the other day at Armaignac, on the estate of a kinsman of mine, I + there saw a peasant who was by every one nicknamed the thief. He thus + related the story of his life: that, being born a beggar, and finding that + he should not be able, so as to be clear of indigence, to get his living + by the sweat of his brow, he resolved to turn thief, and by means of his + strength of body had exercised this trade all the time of his youth in + great security; for he ever made his harvest and vintage in other men’s + grounds, but a great way off, and in so great quantities, that it was not + to be imagined one man could have carried away so much in one night upon + his shoulders; and, moreover, he was careful equally to divide and + distribute the mischief he did, that the loss was of less importance to + every particular man. He is now grown old, and rich for a man of his + condition, thanks to his trade, which he openly confesses to every one. + And to make his peace with God, he says, that he is daily ready by good + offices to make satisfaction to the successors of those he has robbed, and + if he do not finish (for to do it all at once he is not able), he will + then leave it in charge to his heirs to perform the rest, proportionably + to the wrong he himself only knows he has done to each. By this + description, true or false, this man looks upon theft as a dishonest + action, and hates it, but less than poverty, and simply repents; but to + the extent he has thus recompensed he repents not. This is not that habit + which incorporates us into vice, and conforms even our understanding + itself to it; nor is it that impetuous whirlwind that by gusts troubles + and blinds our souls, and for the time precipitates us, judgment and all, + into the power of vice. + </p> + <p> + I customarily do what I do thoroughly and make but one step on’t; I + have rarely any movement that hides itself and steals away from my reason, + and that does not proceed in the matter by the consent of all my + faculties, without division or intestine sedition; my judgment is to have + all the blame or all the praise; and the blame it once has, it has always; + for almost from my infancy it has ever been one: the same inclination, the + same turn, the same force; and as to universal opinions, I fixed myself + from my childhood in the place where I resolved to stick. There are some + sins that are impetuous, prompt, and sudden; let us set them aside: but in + these other sins so often repeated, deliberated, and contrived, whether + sins of complexion or sins of profession and vocation, I cannot conceive + that they should have so long been settled in the same resolution, unless + the reason and conscience of him who has them, be constant to have them; + and the repentance he boasts to be inspired with on a sudden, is very hard + for me to imagine or form. I follow not the opinion of the Pythagorean + sect, “that men take up a new soul when they repair to the images of + the gods to receive their oracles,” unless he mean that it must + needs be extrinsic, new, and lent for the time; our own showing so little + sign of purification and cleanness, fit for such an office. + </p> + <p> + They act quite contrary to the stoical precepts, who do indeed command us + to correct the imperfections and vices we know ourselves guilty of, but + forbid us therefore to disturb the repose of our souls: these make us + believe that they have great grief and remorse within: but of amendment, + correction, or interruption, they make nothing appear. It cannot be a cure + if the malady be not wholly discharged; if repentance were laid upon the + scale of the balance, it would weigh down sin. I find no quality so easy + to counterfeit as devotion, if men do not conform their manners and life + to the profession; its essence is abstruse and occult; the appearance easy + and ostentatious. + </p> + <p> + For my own part, I may desire in general to be other than I am; I may + condemn and dislike my whole form, and beg of Almighty God for an entire + reformation, and that He will please to pardon my natural infirmity: but I + ought not to call this repentance, methinks, no more than the being + dissatisfied that I am not an angel or Cato. My actions are regular, and + conformable to what I am and to my condition; I can do no better; and + repentance does not properly touch things that are not in our power; + sorrow does.. I imagine an infinite number of natures more elevated and + regular than mine; and yet I do not for all that improve my faculties, no + more than my arm or will grow more strong and vigorous for conceiving + those of another to be so. If to conceive and wish a nobler way of acting + than that we have should produce a repentance of our own, we must then + repent us of our most innocent actions, forasmuch as we may well suppose + that in a more excellent nature they would have been carried on with + greater dignity and perfection; and we would that ours were so. When I + reflect upon the deportment of my youth, with that of my old age, I find + that I have commonly behaved myself with equal order in both according to + what I understand: this is all that my resistance can do. I do not flatter + myself; in the same circumstances I should do the same things. It is not a + patch, but rather an universal tincture, with which I am stained. I know + no repentance, superficial, half-way, and ceremonious; it must sting me + all over before I can call it so, and must prick my bowels as deeply and + universally as God sees into me. + </p> + <p> + As to business, many excellent opportunities have escaped me for want of + good management; and yet my deliberations were sound enough, according to + the occurrences presented to me: ‘tis their way to choose always the + easiest and safest course. I find that, in my former resolves, I have + proceeded with discretion, according to my own rule, and according to the + state of the subject proposed, and should do the same a thousand years + hence in like occasions; I do not consider what it is now, but what it was + then, when I deliberated on it: the force of all counsel consists in the + time; occasions and things eternally shift and change. I have in my life + committed some important errors, not for want of good understanding, but + for want of good luck. There are secret, and not to be foreseen, parts in + matters we have in hand, especially in the nature of men; mute conditions, + that make no show, unknown sometimes even to the possessors themselves, + that spring and start up by incidental occasions; if my prudence could not + penetrate into nor foresee them, I blame it not: ‘tis commissioned + no further than its own limits; if the event be too hard for me, and take + the side I have refused, there is no remedy; I do not blame myself, I + accuse my fortune, and not my work; this cannot be called repentance. + </p> + <p> + Phocion, having given the Athenians an advice that was not followed, and + the affair nevertheless succeeding contrary to his opinion, some one said + to him, “Well, Phocion, art thou content that matters go so well?”—“I + am very well content,” replied he, “that this has happened so + well, but I do not repent that I counselled the other.” When any of + my friends address themselves to me for advice, I give it candidly and + clearly, without sticking, as almost all other men do, at the hazard of + the thing’s falling out contrary to my opinion, and that I may be + reproached for my counsel; I am very indifferent as to that, for the fault + will be theirs for having consulted me, and I could not refuse them that + office. —[We may give advice to others, says Rochefoucauld, but we + cannot supply them with the wit to profit by it.] + </p> + <p> + I, for my own part, can rarely blame any one but myself for my oversights + and misfortunes, for indeed I seldom solicit the advice of another, if not + by honour of ceremony, or excepting where I stand in need of information, + special science, or as to matter of fact. But in things wherein I stand in + need of nothing but judgment, other men’s reasons may serve to + fortify my own, but have little power to dissuade me; I hear them all with + civility and patience; but, to my recollection, I never made use of any + but my own. With me, they are but flies and atoms, that confound and + distract my will; I lay no great stress upon my opinions; but I lay as + little upon those of others, and fortune rewards me accordingly: if I + receive but little advice, I also give but little. I am seldom consulted, + and still more seldom believed, and know no concern, either public or + private, that has been mended or bettered by my advice. Even they whom + fortune had in some sort tied to my direction, have more willingly + suffered themselves to be governed by any other counsels than mine. And as + a man who am as jealous of my repose as of my authority, I am better + pleased that it should be so; in leaving me there, they humour what I + profess, which is to settle and wholly contain myself within myself. I + take a pleasure in being uninterested in other men’s affairs, and + disengaged from being their warranty, and responsible for what they do. + </p> + <p> + In all affairs that are past, be it how it will, I have very little + regret; for this imagination puts me out of my pain, that they were so to + fall out they are in the great revolution of the world, and in the chain + of stoical ‘causes: your fancy cannot, by wish and imagination, move + one tittle, but that the great current of things will not reverse both the + past and the future. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, I abominate that incidental repentance which old age + brings along with it. He, who said of old, that he was obliged to his age + for having weaned him from pleasure, was of another opinion than I am; I + can never think myself beholden to impotency for any good it can do to me: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec tam aversa unquam videbitur ab opere suo providentia, + ut debilitas inter optima inventa sit.” + + [“Nor can Providence ever seem so averse to her own work, that + debility should be found to be amongst the best things.” + —Quintilian, Instit. Orat., v. 12.] +</pre> + <p> + Our appetites are rare in old age; a profound satiety seizes us after the + act; in this I see nothing of conscience; chagrin and weakness imprint in + us a drowsy and rheumatic virtue. We must not suffer ourselves to be so + wholly carried away by natural alterations as to suffer our judgments to + be imposed upon by them. Youth and pleasure have not formerly so far + prevailed with me, that I did not well enough discern the face of vice in + pleasure; neither does the distaste that years have brought me, so far + prevail with me now, that I cannot discern pleasure in vice. Now that I am + no more in my flourishing age, I judge as well of these things as if I + were. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Old though I am, for ladies’ love unfit, + The power of beauty I remember yet.”—Chaucer.] +</pre> + <p> + I, who narrowly and strictly examine it, find my reason the very same it + was in my most licentious age, except, perhaps, that ‘tis weaker and + more decayed by being grown older; and I find that the pleasure it refuses + me upon the account of my bodily health, it would no more refuse now, in + consideration of the health of my soul, than at any time heretofore. I do + not repute it the more valiant for not being able to combat; my + temptations are so broken and mortified, that they are not worth its + opposition; holding but out my hands, I repel them. Should one present the + old concupiscence before it, I fear it would have less power to resist it + than heretofore; I do not discern that in itself it judges anything + otherwise now than it formerly did, nor that it has acquired any new + light: wherefore, if there be convalescence, ‘tis an enchanted one. + Miserable kind of remedy, to owe one’s health to one’s + disease! Tis not that our misfortune should perform this office, but the + good fortune of our judgment. I am not to be made to do anything by + persecutions and afflictions, but to curse them: that is, for people who + cannot be roused but by a whip. My reason is much more free in prosperity, + and much more distracted, and put to’t to digest pains than + pleasures: I see best in a clear sky; health admonishes me more + cheerfully, and to better purpose, than sickness. I did all that in me lay + to reform and regulate myself from pleasures, at a time when I had health + and vigour to enjoy them; I should be ashamed and envious that the misery + and misfortune of my old age should have credit over my good healthful, + sprightly, and vigorous years, and that men should estimate me, not by + what I have been, but by what I have ceased to be. + </p> + <p> + In my opinion, ‘tis the happy living, and not (as Antisthenes’ + said) the happy dying, in which human felicity consists. I have not made + it my business to make a monstrous addition of a philosopher’s tail + to the head and body of a libertine; nor would I have this wretched + remainder give the lie to the pleasant, sound, and long part of my life: I + would present myself uniformly throughout. Were I to live my life over + again, I should live it just as I have lived it; I neither complain of the + past, nor do I fear the future; and if I am not much deceived, I am the + same within that I am without. ‘Tis one main obligation I have to my + fortune, that the succession of my bodily estate has been carried on + according to the natural seasons; I have seen the grass, the blossom, and + the fruit, and now see the withering; happily, however, because naturally. + I bear the infirmities I have the better, because they came not till I had + reason to expect them, and because also they make me with greater pleasure + remember that long felicity of my past life. My wisdom may have been just + the same in both ages, but it was more active, and of better grace whilst + young and sprightly, than now it is when broken, peevish, and uneasy. I + repudiate, then, these casual and painful reformations. God must touch our + hearts; our consciences must amend of themselves, by the aid of our + reason, and not by the decay of our appetites; pleasure is, in itself, + neither pale nor discoloured, to be discerned by dim and decayed eyes. + </p> + <p> + We ought to love temperance for itself, and because God has commanded that + and chastity; but that which we are reduced to by catarrhs, and for which + I am indebted to the stone, is neither chastity nor temperance; a man + cannot boast that he despises and resists pleasure if he cannot see it, if + he knows not what it is, and cannot discern its graces, its force, and + most alluring beauties; I know both the one and the other, and may + therefore the better say it. But; methinks, our souls in old age are + subject to more troublesome maladies and imperfections than in youth; I + said the same when young and when I was reproached with the want of a + beard; and I say so now that my grey hairs give me some authority. We call + the difficulty of our humours and the disrelish of present things wisdom; + but, in truth, we do not so much forsake vices as we change them, and in + my opinion, for worse. Besides a foolish and feeble pride, an impertinent + prating, froward and insociable humours, superstition, and a ridiculous + desire of riches when we have lost the use of them, I find there more + envy, injustice, and malice. Age imprints more wrinkles in the mind than + it does on the face; and souls are never, or very rarely seen, that, in + growing old, do not smell sour and musty. Man moves all together, both + towards his perfection and decay. In observing the wisdom of Socrates, and + many circumstances of his condemnation, I should dare to believe that he + in some sort himself purposely, by collusion, contributed to it, seeing + that, at the age of seventy years, he might fear to suffer the lofty + motions of his mind to be cramped and his wonted lustre obscured. What + strange metamorphoses do I see age every day make in many of my + acquaintance! ‘Tis a potent malady, and that naturally and + imperceptibly steals into us; a vast provision of study and great + precaution are required to evade the imperfections it loads us with, or at + least to weaken their progress. I find that, notwithstanding all my + entrenchments, it gets foot by foot upon me: I make the best resistance I + can, but I do not know to what at last it will reduce me. But fall out + what will, I am content the world may know, when I am fallen, from what I + fell. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0096" id="link2HCH0096"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III——OF THREE COMMERCES + </h2> + <p> + We must not rivet ourselves so fast to our humours and complexions: our + chiefest sufficiency is to know how to apply ourselves to divers + employments. ‘Tis to be, but not to live, to keep a man’s self + tied and bound by necessity to one only course; those are the bravest + souls that have in them the most variety and pliancy. Of this here is an + honourable testimony of the elder Cato: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Huic versatile ingenium sic pariter ad omnia fuit, + ut natum ad id unum diceres, quodcumque ageret.” + + [“His parts were so pliable to all uses, that one would say he had + been born only to that which he was doing.”—Livy, xxxix. 49.] +</pre> + <p> + Had I liberty to set myself forth after my own mode, there is no so + graceful fashion to which I would be so fixed as not to be able to + disengage myself from it; life is an unequal, irregular and multiform + motion. ‘Tis not to be a friend to one’s self, much less a + master ‘tis to be a slave, incessantly to be led by the nose by one’s + self, and to be so fixed in one’s previous inclinations, that one + cannot turn aside nor writhe one’s neck out of the collar. I say + this now in this part of my life, wherein I find I cannot easily disengage + myself from the importunity of my soul, which cannot ordinarily amuse + itself but in things of limited range, nor employ itself otherwise than + entirely and with all its force; upon the lightest subject offered it + expands and stretches it to that degree as therein to employ its utmost + power; wherefore it is that idleness is to me a very painful labour, and + very prejudicial to my health. Most men’s minds require foreign + matter to exercise and enliven them; mine has rather need of it to sit + still and repose itself, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vitia otii negotio discutienda sunt,” + + [“The vices of sloth are to be shaken off by business.” + —Seneca, Ep. 56.] +</pre> + <p> + for its chiefest and hardest study is to study itself. Books are to it a + sort of employment that debauch it from its study. Upon the first thoughts + that possess it, it begins to bustle and make trial of its vigour in all + directions, exercises its power of handling, now making trial of force, + now fortifying, moderating, and ranging itself by the way of grace and + order. It has of its own wherewith to rouse its faculties: nature has + given to it, as to all others, matter enough of its own to make advantage + of, and subjects proper enough where it may either invent or judge. + </p> + <p> + Meditation is a powerful and full study to such as can effectually taste + and employ themselves; I had rather fashion my soul than furnish it. There + is no employment, either more weak or more strong, than that of + entertaining a man’s own thoughts, according as the soul is; the + greatest men make it their whole business, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quibus vivere est cogitare;” + + [“To whom to live is to think.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., v. 28.] +</pre> + <p> + nature has therefore favoured it with this privilege, that there is + nothing we can do so long, nor any action to which we more frequently and + with greater facility addict ourselves. ‘Tis the business of the + gods, says Aristotle,’ and from which both their beatitude and ours + proceed. + </p> + <p> + The principal use of reading to me is, that by various objects it rouses + my reason, and employs my judgment, not my memory. Few conversations + detain me without force and effort; it is true that beauty and elegance of + speech take as much or more with me than the weight and depth of the + subject; and forasmuch as I am apt to be sleepy in all other + communication, and give but the rind of my attention, it often falls out + that in such poor and pitiful discourses, mere chatter, I either make + drowsy, unmeaning answers, unbecoming a child, and ridiculous, or more + foolishly and rudely still, maintain an obstinate silence. I have a + pensive way that withdraws me into myself, and, with that, a heavy and + childish ignorance of many very ordinary things, by which two qualities I + have earned this, that men may truly relate five or six as ridiculous + tales of me as of any other man whatever. + </p> + <p> + But, to proceed in my subject, this difficult complexion of mine renders + me very nice in my conversation with men, whom I must cull and pick out + for my purpose; and unfits me for common society. We live and negotiate + with the people; if their conversation be troublesome to us, if we disdain + to apply ourselves to mean and vulgar souls (and the mean and vulgar are + often as regular as those of the finest thread, and all wisdom is folly + that does not accommodate itself to the common ignorance), we must no more + intermeddle either with other men’s affairs or our own; for + business, both public and private, has to do with these people. The least + forced and most natural motions of the soul are the most beautiful; the + best employments, those that are least strained. My God! how good an + office does wisdom to those whose desires it limits to their power! that + is the most useful knowledge: “according to what a man can,” + was the favourite sentence and motto of Socrates. A motto of great + solidity. + </p> + <p> + We must moderate and adapt our desires to the nearest and easiest to be + acquired things. Is it not a foolish humour of mine to separate myself + from a thousand to whom my fortune has conjoined me, and without whom I + cannot live, and cleave to one or two who are out of my intercourse; or + rather a fantastic desire of a thing I cannot obtain? My gentle and easy + manners, enemies of all sourness and harshness, may easily enough have + secured me from envy and animosities; to be beloved, I do not say, but + never any man gave less occasion of being hated; but the coldness of my + conversation has, reasonably enough, deprived me of the goodwill of many, + who are to be excused if they interpret it in another and worse sense. + </p> + <p> + I am very capable of contracting and maintaining rare and exquisite + friendships; for by reason that I so greedily seize upon such acquaintance + as fit my liking, I throw myself with such violence upon them that I + hardly fail to stick, and to make an impression where I hit; as I have + often made happy proof. In ordinary friendships I am somewhat cold and + shy, for my motion is not natural, if not with full sail: besides which, + my fortune having in my youth given me a relish for one sole and perfect + friendship, has, in truth, created in me a kind of distaste to others, and + too much imprinted in my fancy that it is a beast of company, as the + ancient said, but not of the herd.—[Plutarch, On the Plurality of + Friends, c. 2.]—And also I have a natural difficulty of + communicating myself by halves, with the modifications and the servile and + jealous prudence required in the conversation of numerous and imperfect + friendships: and we are principally enjoined to these in this age of ours, + when we cannot talk of the world but either with danger or falsehood. + </p> + <p> + Yet do I very well discern that he who has the conveniences (I mean the + essential conveniences) of life for his end, as I have, ought to fly these + difficulties and delicacy of humour, as much as the plague. I should + commend a soul of several stages, that knows both how to stretch and to + slacken itself; that finds itself at ease in all conditions whither + fortune leads it; that can discourse with a neighbour, of his building, + his hunting, his quarrels; that can chat with a carpenter or a gardener + with pleasure. I envy those who can render themselves familiar with the + meanest of their followers, and talk with them in their own way; and + dislike the advice of Plato, that men should always speak in a magisterial + tone to their servants, whether men or women, without being sometimes + facetious and familiar; for besides the reasons I have given, ‘tis + inhuman and unjust to set so great a value upon this pitiful prerogative + of fortune, and the polities wherein less disparity is permitted betwixt + masters and servants seem to me the most equitable. Others study how to + raise and elevate their minds; I, how to humble mine and to bring it low; + ‘tis only vicious in extension: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Narras et genus AEaci, + Et pugnata sacro bella sub Ilio + Quo Chium pretio cadum + Mercemur, quis aquam temperet ignibus, + Quo praebente domum, et quota, + Pelignis caream frigoribus, taces.” + + [“You tell us long stories about the race of AEacus, and the battles + fought under sacred Ilium; but what to give for a cask of Chian + wine, who shall prepare the warm bath, and in whose house, and when + I may escape from the Pelignian cold, you do not tell us.” + —Horace, Od., iii. 19, 3.] +</pre> + <p> + Thus, as the Lacedaemonian valour stood in need of moderation, and of the + sweet and harmonious sound of flutes to soften it in battle, lest they + should precipitate themselves into temerity and fury, whereas all other + nations commonly make use of harsh and shrill sounds, and of loud and + imperious cries, to incite and heat the soldier’s courage to the + last degree; so, methinks, contrary to the usual method, in the practice + of our minds, we have for the most part more need of lead than of wings; + of temperance and composedness than of ardour and agitation. But, above + all things, ‘tis in my opinion egregiously to play the fool, to put + on the grave airs of a man of lofty mind amongst those who are nothing of + the sort: ever to speak in print (by the book), + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Favellare in puma di forchetta.” + + [“To talk with the point of a fork,” (affectedly)] +</pre> + <p> + You must let yourself down to those with whom you converse; and sometimes + affect ignorance: lay aside power and subtilty in common conversation; to + preserve decorum and order ‘tis enough-nay, crawl on the earth, if + they so desire it. + </p> + <p> + The learned often stumble at this stone; they will always be parading + their pedantic science, and strew their books everywhere; they have, in + these days, so filled the cabinets and ears of the ladies with them, that + if they have lost the substance, they at least retain the words; so as in + all discourse upon all sorts of subjects, how mean and common soever, they + speak and write after a new and learned way, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hoc sermone pavent, hoc iram, gaudia, curas, + Hoc cuncta effundunt animi secreta; quid ultra? + Concumbunt docte;” + + [“In this language do they express their fears, their anger, their + joys, their cares; in this pour out all their secrets; what more? + they lie with their lovers learnedly.”—Juvenal, vi. 189.] +</pre> + <p> + and quote Plato and Aquinas in things the first man they meet could + determine as well; the learning that cannot penetrate their souls hangs + still upon the tongue. If people of quality will be persuaded by me, they + shall content themselves with setting out their proper and natural + treasures; they conceal and cover their beauties under others that are + none of theirs: ‘tis a great folly to put out their own light and + shine by a borrowed lustre: they are interred and buried under ‘de + capsula totae”—[Painted and perfumed from head to foot.” + (Or:) “as if they were things carefully deposited in a band-box.”—Seneca, + Ep. 115]—It is because they do not sufficiently know themselves or + do themselves justice: the world has nothing fairer than they; ‘tis + for them to honour the arts, and to paint painting. What need have they of + anything but to live beloved and honoured? They have and know but too much + for this: they need do no more but rouse and heat a little the faculties + they have of their own. When I see them tampering with rhetoric, law, + logic, and other drugs, so improper and unnecessary for their business, I + begin to suspect that the men who inspire them with such fancies, do it + that they may govern them upon that account; for what other excuse can I + contrive? It is enough that they can, without our instruction, compose the + graces of their eyes to gaiety, severity, sweetness, and season a denial + with asperity, suspense, or favour: they need not another to interpret + what we speak for their service; with this knowledge, they command with a + switch, and rule both the tutors and the schools. But if, nevertheless, it + angers them to give place to us in anything whatever, and will, out of + curiosity, have their share in books, poetry is a diversion proper for + them; ‘tis a wanton, subtle, dissembling, and prating art, all + pleasure and all show, like themselves. They may also abstract several + commodities from history. In philosophy, out of the moral part of it, they + may select such instructions as will teach them to judge of our humours + and conditions, to defend themselves from our treacheries, to regulate the + ardour of their own desires, to manage their liberty, to lengthen the + pleasures of life, and gently to bear the inconstancy of a lover, the + rudeness of a husband; and the importunity of years, wrinkles, and the + like. This is the utmost of what I would allow them in the sciences. + </p> + <p> + There are some particular natures that are private and retired: my natural + way is proper for communication, and apt to lay me open; I am all without + and in sight, born for society and friendship. The solitude that I love + myself and recommend to others, is chiefly no other than to withdraw my + thoughts and affections into myself; to restrain and check, not my steps, + but my own cares and desires, resigning all foreign solicitude, and + mortally avoiding servitude and obligation, and not so much the crowd of + men as the crowd of business. Local solitude, to say the truth, rather + gives me more room and sets me more at large; I more readily throw myself + upon affairs of state and the world when I am alone. At the Louvre and in + the bustle of the court, I fold myself within my own skin; the crowd + thrusts me upon myself; and I never entertain myself so wantonly, with so + much licence, or so especially, as in places of respect and ceremonious + prudence: our follies do not make me laugh, it is our wisdom which does. I + am naturally no enemy to a court, life; I have therein passed a part of my + own, and am of a humour cheerfully to frequent great company, provided it + be by intervals and at my own time: but this softness of judgment whereof + I speak ties me perforce to solitude. Even at home, amidst a numerous + family, and in a house sufficiently frequented, I see people enough, but + rarely such with whom I delight to converse; and I there reserve both for + myself and others an unusual liberty: there is in my house no such thing + as ceremony, ushering, or waiting upon people down to the coach, and such + other troublesome ceremonies as our courtesy enjoins (O the servile and + importunate custom!). Every one there governs himself according to his own + method; let who will speak his thoughts, I sit mute, meditating and shut + up in my closet, without any offence to my guests. + </p> + <p> + The men whose society and familiarity I covet are those they call sincere + and able men; and the image of these makes me disrelish the rest. It is, + if rightly taken, the rarest of our forms, and a form that we chiefly owe + to nature. The end of this commerce is simply privacy, frequentation and + conference, the exercise of souls, without other fruit. In our discourse, + all subjects are alike to me; let there be neither weight, nor depth, + ‘tis all one: there is yet grace and pertinency; all there is tinted + with a mature and constant judgment, and mixed with goodness, freedom, + gaiety, and friendship. ‘Tis not only in talking of the affairs of + kings and state that our wits discover their force and beauty, but every + whit as much in private conferences. I understand my men even by their + silence and smiles; and better discover them, perhaps, at table than in + the council. Hippomachus said, very well, “that he could know the + good wrestlers by only seeing them walk in the street.” If learning + please to step into our talk, it shall not be rejected, not magisterial, + imperious, and importunate, as-it commonly is, but suffragan and docile + itself; we there only seek to pass away our time; when we have a mind to + be instructed and preached to, we will go seek this in its throne; please + let it humble itself to us for the nonce; for, useful and profitable as it + is, I imagine that, at need, we may manage well enough without it, and do + our business without its assistance. A well-descended soul, and practised + in the conversation of men, will of herself render herself sufficiently + agreeable; art is nothing but the counterpart and register of what such + souls produce. + </p> + <p> + The conversation also of beautiful and honourable women is for me a sweet + commerce: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam nos quoque oculos eruditos habemus.” + + [“For we also have eyes that are versed in the matter.” + —Cicero, Paradox, v. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + If the soul has not therein so much to enjoy, as in the first the bodily + senses, which participate more of this, bring it to a proportion next to, + though, in my opinion, not equal to the other. But ‘tis a commerce + wherein a man must stand a little upon his guard, especially those, where + the body can do much, as in me. I there scalded myself in my youth, and + suffered all the torments that poets say befall those who precipitate + themselves into love without order and judgment. It is true that that + whipping has made me wiser since: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quicumque Argolica de classe Capharea fugit, + Semper ab Euboicis vela retorquet aquis.” + + [“Whoever of the Grecian fleet has escaped the Capharean rocks, ever + takes care to steer from the Euboean sea.”—Ovid, Trist., i. i, 83.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis folly to fix all a man’s thoughts upon it, and to engage + in it with a furious and indiscreet affection; but, on the other hand, to + engage there without love and without inclination, like comedians, to play + a common part, without putting anything to it of his own but words, is + indeed to provide for his safety, but, withal, after as cowardly a manner + as he who should abandon his honour, profit, or pleasure for fear of + danger. For it is certain that from such a practice, they who set it on + foot can expect no fruit that can please or satisfy a noble soul. A man + must have, in good earnest, desired that which he, in good earnest, + expects to have a pleasure in enjoying; I say, though fortune should + unjustly favour their dissimulation; which often falls out, because there + is none of the sex, let her be as ugly as the devil, who does not think + herself well worthy to be beloved, and who does not prefer herself before + other women, either for her youth, the colour of her hair, or her graceful + motion (for there are no more women universally ugly, than there are women + universally beautiful, and such of the Brahmin virgins as have nothing + else to recommend them, the people being assembled by the common crier to + that effect, come out into the market-place to expose their matrimonial + parts to public view, to try if these at least are not of temptation + sufficient to get them a husband). Consequently, there is not one who does + not easily suffer herself to be overcome by the first vow that they make + to serve her. Now from this common and ordinary treachery of the men of + the present day, that must fall out which we already experimentally see, + either that they rally together, and separate themselves by themselves to + evade us, or else form their discipline by the example we give them, play + their parts of the farce as we do ours, and give themselves up to the + sport, without passion, care, or love; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neque afl’ectui suo, aut alieno, obnoxiae;” + + [“Neither amenable to their own affections, nor those of others.” + —Tacitus, Annal., xiii. 45.] +</pre> + <p> + believing, according to the persuasion of Lysias in Plato, that they may + with more utility and convenience surrender themselves up to us the less + we love them; where it will fall out, as in comedies, that the people will + have as much pleasure or more than the comedians. For my part, I no more + acknowledge a Venus without a Cupid than, a mother without issue: they are + things that mutully lend and owe their essence to one another. Thus this + cheat recoils upon him who is guilty of it; it does not cost him much, + indeed, but he also gets little or nothing by it. They who have made Venus + a goddess have taken notice that her principal beauty was incorporeal and + spiritual; but the Venus whom these people hunt after is not so much as + human, nor indeed brutal; the very beasts will not accept it so gross and + so earthly; we see that imagination and desire often heat and incite them + before the body does; we see in both the one sex and the other, they have + in the herd choice and particular election in their affections, and that + they have amongst themselves a long commerce of good will. Even those to + whom old age denies the practice of their desire, still tremble, neigh, + and twitter for love; we see them, before the act, full of hope and + ardour, and when the body has played its game, yet please themselves with + the sweet remembrance of the past delight; some that swell with pride + after they have performed, and others who, tired and sated, still by + vociferation express a triumphing joy. He who has nothing to do but only + to discharge his body of a natural necessity, need not trouble others with + so curious preparations: it is not meat for a gross, coarse appetite. + </p> + <p> + As one who does not desire that men should think me better than I am, I + will here say this as to the errors of my youth. Not only from the danger + of impairing my health (and yet I could not be so careful but that I had + two light mischances), but moreover upon the account of contempt, I have + seldom given myself up to common and mercenary embraces: I would heighten + the pleasure by the difficulty, by desire, and a certain kind of glory, + and was of Tiberius’s mind, who in his amours was as much taken with + modesty and birth as any other quality, and of the courtesan Flora’s + humour, who never lent herself to less than a dictator, a consul, or a + censor, and took pleasure in the dignity of her lovers. Doubtless pearls + and gold tissue, titles and train, add something to it. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, I had a great esteem for wit, provided the person was not + exceptionable; for, to confess the truth, if the one or the other of these + two attractions must of necessity be wanting, I should rather have quitted + that of the understanding, that has its use in better things; but in the + subject of love, a subject principally relating to the senses of seeing + and touching, something may be done without the graces of the mind: + without the graces of the body, nothing. Beauty is the true prerogative of + women, and so peculiarly their own, that ours, though naturally requiring + another sort of feature, is never in its lustre but when youthful and + beardless, a sort of confused image of theirs. ‘Tis said that such + as serve the Grand Signior upon the account of beauty, who are an infinite + number, are, at the latest, dismissed at two-and-twenty years of age. + Reason, prudence, and the offices of friendship are better found amongst + men, and therefore it is that they govern the affairs of the world. + </p> + <p> + These two engagements are fortuitous, and depending upon others; the one + is troublesome by its rarity, the other withers with age, so that they + could never have been sufficient for the business of my life. That of + books, which is the third, is much more certain, and much more our own. It + yields all other advantages to the two first, but has the constancy and + facility of its service for its own share. It goes side by side with me in + my whole course, and everywhere is assisting me: it comforts me in old age + and solitude; it eases me of a troublesome weight of idleness, and + delivers me at all hours from company that I dislike: it blunts the point + of griefs, if they are not extreme, and have not got an entire possession + of my soul. To divert myself from a troublesome fancy, ‘tis but to + run to my books; they presently fix me to them and drive the other out of + my thoughts, and do not mutiny at seeing that I have only recourse to them + for want of other more real, natural, and lively commodities; they always + receive me with the same kindness. He may well go a foot, they say, who + leads his horse in his hand; and our James, King of Naples and Sicily, + who, handsome, young and healthful, caused himself to be carried about on + a barrow, extended upon a pitiful mattress in a poor robe of grey cloth, + and a cap of the same, yet attended withal by a royal train, litters, led + horses of all sorts, gentlemen and officers, did yet herein represent a + tender and unsteady authority: “The sick man has not to complain who + has his cure in his sleeve.” In the experience and practice of this + maxim, which is a very true one, consists all the benefit I reap from + books. As a matter of fact, I make no more use of them, as it were, than + those who know them not. I enjoy them as misers do their money, in knowing + that I may enjoy them when I please: my mind is satisfied with this right + of possession. I never travel without books, either in peace or war; and + yet sometimes I pass over several days, and sometimes months, without + looking on them. I will read by-and-by, say I to myself, or to-morrow, or + when I please; and in the interim, time steals away without any + inconvenience. For it is not to be imagined to what degree I please myself + and rest content in this consideration, that I have them by me to divert + myself with them when I am so disposed, and to call to mind what a + refreshment they are to my life. ‘Tis the best viaticum I have yet + found out for this human journey, and I very much pity those men of + understanding who are unprovided of it. I the rather accept of any other + sort of diversion, how light soever, because this can never fail me. + </p> + <p> + When at home, I a little more frequent my library, whence I overlook at + once all the concerns of my family. ‘Tis situated at the entrance + into my house, and I thence see under me my garden, court, and base-court, + and almost all parts of the building. There I turn over now one book, and + then another, on various subjects, without method or design. One while I + meditate, another I record and dictate, as I walk to and fro, such + whimsies as these I present to you here. ‘Tis in the third storey of + a tower, of which the ground-room is my chapel, the second storey a + chamber with a withdrawing-room and closet, where I often lie, to be more + retired; and above is a great wardrobe. This formerly was the most useless + part of the house. I there pass away both most of the days of my life and + most of the hours of those days. In the night I am never there. There is + by the side of it a cabinet handsome enough, with a fireplace very + commodiously contrived, and plenty of light; and were I not more afraid of + the trouble than the expense—the trouble that frights me from all + business—I could very easily adjoin on either side, and on the same + floor, a gallery of an hundred paces long and twelve broad, having found + walls already raised for some other design to the requisite height. Every + place of retirement requires a walk: my thoughts sleep if I sit still: my + fancy does not go by itself, as when my legs move it: and all those who + study without a book are in the same condition. The figure of my study is + round, and there is no more open wall than what is taken up by my table + and my chair, so that the remaining parts of the circle present me a view + of all my books at once, ranged upon five rows of shelves round about me. + It has three noble and free prospects, and is sixteen paces in diameter. I + am not so continually there in winter; for my house is built upon an + eminence, as its name imports, and no part of it is so much exposed to the + wind and weather as this, which pleases me the better, as being of more + difficult access and a little remote, as well upon the account of + exercise, as also being there more retired from the crowd. ‘Tis + there that I am in my kingdom, and there I endeavour to make myself an + absolute monarch, and to sequester this one corner from all society, + conjugal, filial, and civil; elsewhere I have but verbal authority only, + and of a confused essence. That man, in my opinion, is very miserable, who + has not at home where to be by himself, where to entertain himself alone, + or to conceal himself from others. Ambition sufficiently plagues her + proselytes, by keeping them always in show, like the statue of a public, + square: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Magna servitus est magna fortuna.” + + [“A great fortune is a great slavery.” + —Seneca, De Consol. ad. Polyb., c. 26.] +</pre> + <p> + They cannot so much as be private in the watercloset. I have thought + nothing so severe in the austerity of life that our monks affect, as what + I have observed in some of their communities; namely, by rule, to have a + perpetual society of place, and numerous persons present in every action + whatever; and think it much more supportable to be always alone than never + to be so. + </p> + <p> + If any one shall tell me that it is to undervalue the Muses to make use of + them only for sport and to pass away the time, I shall tell him, that he + does not know so well as I the value of the sport, the pleasure, and the + pastime; I can hardly forbear to add that all other end is ridiculous. I + live from day to day, and, with reverence be it spoken, I only live for + myself; there all my designs terminate. I studied, when young, for + ostentation; since, to make myself a little wiser; and now for my + diversion, but never for any profit. A vain and prodigal humour I had + after this sort of furniture, not only for the supplying my own need, but, + moreover, for ornament and outward show, I have since quite cured myself + of. + </p> + <p> + Books have many charming qualities to such as know how to choose them; but + every good has its ill; ‘tis a pleasure that is not pure and clean, + no more than others: it has its inconveniences, and great ones too. The + soul indeed is exercised therein; but the body, the care of which I must + withal never neglect, remains in the meantime without action, and grows + heavy and sombre. I know no excess more prejudicial to me, nor more to be + avoided in this my declining age. + </p> + <p> + These have been my three favourite and particular occupations; I speak not + of those I owe to the world by civil obligation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0097" id="link2HCH0097"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV——OF DIVERSION + </h2> + <p> + I was once employed in consoling a lady truly afflicted. Most of their + mournings are artificial and ceremonious: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Uberibus semper lacrymis, semperque paratis, + In statione subatque expectantibus illam, + Quo jubeat manare modo.” + + [“A woman has ever a fountain of tears ready to gush up whenever + she requires to make use of them.”—Juvenal, vi. 272.] +</pre> + <p> + A man goes the wrong way to work when he opposes this passion; for + opposition does but irritate and make them more obstinate in sorrow; the + evil is exasperated by discussion. We see, in common discourse, that what + I have indifferently let fall from me, if any one takes it up to + controvert it, I justify it with the best arguments I have; and much more + a thing wherein I had a real interest. And besides, in so doing you enter + roughly upon your operation; whereas the first addresses of a physician to + his patient should be gracious, gay, and pleasing; never did any + ill-looking, morose physician do anything to purpose. On the contrary, + then, a man should, at the first approaches, favour their grief and + express some approbation of their sorrow. By this intelligence you obtain + credit to proceed further, and by a facile and insensible gradation fall + into discourses more solid and proper for their cure. I, whose aim it was + principally to gull the company who had their eyes fixed upon me, took it + into my head only to palliate the disease. And indeed I have found by + experience that I have an unlucky hand in persuading. My arguments are + either too sharp and dry, or pressed too roughly, or not home enough. + After I had some time applied myself to her grief, I did not attempt to + cure her by strong and lively reasons, either because I had them not at + hand, or because I thought to do my business better another way; neither + did I make choice of any of those methods of consolation which philosophy + prescribes: that what we complain of is no evil, according to Cleanthes; + that it is a light evil, according to the Peripatetics; that to bemoan one’s + self is an action neither commendable nor just, according to Chrysippus; + nor this of Epicurus, more suitable to my way, of shifting the thoughts + from afflicting things to those that are pleasing; nor making a bundle of + all these together, to make use of upon occasion, according to Cicero; + but, gently bending my discourse, and by little and little digressing, + sometimes to subjects nearer, and sometimes more remote from the purpose, + according as she was more intent on what I said, I imperceptibly led her + from that sorrowful thought, and kept her calm and in good-humour whilst I + continued there. I herein made use of diversion. They who succeeded me in + the same service did not, for all that, find any amendment in her, for I + had not gone to the root. + </p> + <p> + I, peradventure, may elsewhere have glanced upon some sort of public + diversions; and the practice of military ones, which Pericles made use of + in the Peloponnesian war, and a thousand others in other places, to + withdraw the adverse forces from their own countries, is too frequent in + history. It was an ingenious evasion whereby Monseigneur d’Hempricourt + saved both himself and others in the city of Liege, into which the Duke of + Burgundy, who kept it besieged, had made him enter to execute the articles + of their promised surrender; the people, being assembled by night to + consider of it, began to mutiny against the agreement, and several of them + resolved to fall upon the commissioners, whom they had in their power; he, + feeling the gusts of this first popular storm, who were coming to rush + into his lodgings, suddenly sent out to them two of the inhabitants of the + city (of whom he had some with him) with new and milder terms to be + proposed in their council, which he had then and there contrived for his + need: These two diverted the first tempest, carrying back the enraged + rabble to the town-hall to hear and consider of what they had to say. The + deliberation was short; a second storm arose as violent as the other, + whereupon he despatched four new mediators of the same quality to meet + them, protesting that he had now better conditions to present them with, + and such as would give them absolute satisfaction, by which means the + tumult was once more appeased, and the people again turned back to the + conclave. In fine, by this dispensation of amusements, one after another, + diverting their fury and dissipating it in frivolous consultations, he + laid it at last asleep till the day appeared, which was his principal end. + </p> + <p> + This other story that follows is also of the same category. Atalanta, a + virgin of excelling beauty and of wonderful disposition of body, to + disengage herself from the crowd of a thousand suitors who sought her in + marriage, made this proposition, that she would accept of him for her + husband who should equal her in running, upon condition that they who + failed should lose their lives. There were enough who thought the prize + very well worth the hazard, and who suffered the cruel penalty of the + contract. Hippomenes, about to make trial after the rest, made his address + to the goddess of love, imploring her assistance; and she, granting his + request, gave him three golden apples, and instructed him how to use them. + The race beginning, as Hippomenes perceived his mistress to press hard up + to him; he, as it were by chance, let fall one of these apples; the maid, + taken with the beauty of it, failed not to step out of her way to pick it + up: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Obstupuit Virgo, nitidique cupidine pomi + Declinat cursus, aurumque volubile tollit.” + + [“The virgin, astonished and attracted by the glittering apple, + stops her career, and seizes the rolling gold.” + —Ovid, Metam., x. 666.] +</pre> + <p> + He did the same, when he saw his time, by the second and the third, till + by so diverting her, and making her lose so much ground, he won the race. + When physicians cannot stop a catarrh, they divert and turn it into some + other less dangerous part. And I find also that this is the most ordinary + practice for the diseases of the mind: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Abducendus etiam nonnunquam animus est ad alia studia, + sollicitudines, curas, negotia: loci denique mutatione, + tanquam aegroti non convalescentes, saepe curandus est.” + + [“The mind is sometimes to be diverted to other studies, thoughts, + cares, business: in fine, by change of place, as where sick persons + do not become convalescent.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 35.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis to little effect directly to jostle a man’s infirmities; + we neither make him sustain nor repel the attack; we only make him decline + and evade it. + </p> + <p> + This other lesson is too high and too difficult: ‘tis for men of the + first form of knowledge purely to insist upon the thing, to consider and + judge it; it appertains to one sole Socrates to meet death with an + ordinary countenance, to grow acquainted with it, and to sport with it; he + seeks no consolation out of the thing itself; dying appears to him a + natural and indifferent accident; ‘tis there that he fixes his sight + and resolution, without looking elsewhere. The disciples of Hegesias, who + starved themselves to death, animated thereunto by his fine lectures, and + in such numbers that King Ptolemy ordered he should be forbidden to + entertain his followers with such homicidal doctrines, did not consider + death in itself, neither did they judge of it; it was not there they fixed + their thoughts; they ran towards and aimed at a new being. + </p> + <p> + The poor wretches whom we see brought upon the scaffold, full of ardent + devotion, and therein, as much as in them lies, employing all their + senses, their ears in hearing the instructions given them, their eyes and + hands lifted up towards heaven, their voices in loud prayers, with a + vehement and continual emotion, do doubtless things very commendable and + proper for such a necessity: we ought to commend them for their devotion, + but not properly for their constancy; they shun the encounter, they divert + their thoughts from the consideration of death, as children are amused + with some toy or other when the surgeon is going to give them a prick with + his lancet. I have seen some, who, casting their eyes upon the dreadful + instruments of death round about, have fainted, and furiously turned their + thoughts another way; such as are to pass a formidable precipice are + advised either to shut their eyes or to look another way. + </p> + <p> + Subrius Flavius, being by Nero’s command to be put to death, and by + the hand of Niger, both of them great captains, when they lead him to the + place appointed for his execution, seeing the grave that Niger had caused + to be hollowed to put him into ill-made: “Neither is this,” + said he, turning to the soldiers who guarded him, “according to + military discipline.” And to Niger, who exhorted him to keep his + head firm: “Do but thou strike as firmly,” said he. And he + very well foresaw what would follow when he said so; for Niger’s arm + so trembled that he had several blows at his head before he could cut it + off. This man seems to have had his thoughts rightly fixed upon the + subject. + </p> + <p> + He who dies in a battle, with his sword in his hand, does not then think + of death; he feels or considers it not; the ardour of the fight diverts + his thought another way. A worthy man of my acquaintance, falling as he + was fighting a duel, and feeling himself nailed to the earth by nine or + ten thrusts of his enemy, every one present called to him to think of his + conscience; but he has since told me, that though he very well heard what + they said, it nothing moved him, and that he never thought of anything but + how to disengage and revenge himself. He afterwards killed his man in that + very duel. He who brought to L. Silanus the sentence of death, did him a + very great kindness, in that, having received his answer, that he was well + prepared to die, but not by base hands, he ran upon him with his soldiers + to force him, and as he, unarmed as he was, obstinately defended himself + with his fists and feet, he made him lose his life in the contest, by that + means dissipating and diverting in a sudden and furious rage the painful + apprehension of the lingering death to which he was designed. + </p> + <p> + We always think of something else; either the hope of a better life + comforts and supports us, or the hope of our children’s worth, or + the future glory of our name, or the leaving behind the evils of this + life, or the vengeance that threatens those who are the causes of our + death, administers consolation to us: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Spero equidem mediis, si quid pia numina possunt, + Supplicia hausurum scopulis, et nomine Dido + Saepe vocaturum . . . . + Audiam; et haec Manes veniet mihi fama sub imos.” + + [“I hope, however, if the pious gods have any power, thou wilt feel + thy punishment amid the rocks, and will call on the name of Dido; + I shall hear, and this report will come to me below.”—AEneid, iv. + 382, 387.] +</pre> + <p> + Xenophon was sacrificing with a crown upon his head when one came to bring + him news of the death of his son Gryllus, slain in the battle of Mantinea: + at the first surprise of the news, he threw his crown to the ground; but + understanding by the sequel of the narrative the manner of a most brave + and valiant death, he took it up and replaced it upon his head. Epicurus + himself, at his death, consoles himself upon the utility and eternity of + his writings: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnes clari et nobilitati labores fiunt tolerabiles;” + + [“All labours that are illustrious and famous become supportable.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 26.] +</pre> + <p> + and the same wound, the same fatigue, is not, says Xenophon, so + intolerable to a general of an army as to a common soldier. Epaminondas + took his death much more cheerfully, having been informed that the victory + remained to him: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haec sunt solatia, haec fomenta summorum dolorum;” + + [“These are sedatives and alleviations to the greatest pains.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + and such like circumstances amuse, divert, and turn our thoughts from the + consideration of the thing in itself. Even the arguments of philosophy are + always edging and glancing on the matter, so as scarce to rub its crust; + the greatest man of the first philosophical school, and superintendent + over all the rest, the great Zeno, forms this syllogism against death: + “No evil is honourable; but death is honourable; therefore death is + no evil”; against drunkenness this: “No one commits his + secrets to a drunkard; but every one commits his secrets to a wise man: + therefore a wise man is no drunkard.” Is this to hit the white? I + love to see that these great and leading souls cannot rid themselves of + our company: perfect men as they are, they are yet simply men. + </p> + <p> + Revenge is a sweet passion, of great and natural impression; I discern it + well enough, though I have no manner of experience of it. From this not + long ago to divert a young prince, I did not tell him that he must, to him + that had struck him upon the one cheek, turn the other, upon account of + charity; nor go about to represent to him the tragical events that poetry + attributes to this passion. I left that behind; and I busied myself to + make him relish the beauty of a contrary image: and, by representing to + him what honour, esteem, and goodwill he would acquire by clemency and + good nature, diverted him to ambition. Thus a man is to deal in such + cases. + </p> + <p> + If your passion of love be too violent, disperse it, say they, and they + say true; for I have often tried it with advantage: break it into several + desires, of which let one be regent, if you will, over the rest; but, lest + it should tyrannise and domineer over you, weaken and protract, by + dividing and diverting it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cum morosa vago singultiet inguine vena,” + + [“When you are tormented with fierce desire, satisfy it with the + first person that presents herself.”—Persius, Sat., vi. 73.] + + “Conjicito humorem collectum in corpora quaeque,” + + [Lucretius, vi. 1062, to the like effect.] +</pre> + <p> + and provide for it in time, lest it prove troublesome to deal with, when + it has once seized you: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si non prima novis conturbes vulnera plagis, + Volgivagaque vagus venere ante recentia cures.” + + [“Unless you cure old wounds by new."-Lucretius, iv. 1064.] +</pre> + <p> + I was once wounded with a vehement displeasure, and withal, more just than + vehement; I might peradventure have lost myself in it, if I had merely + trusted to my own strength. Having need of a powerful diversion to + disengage me, by art and study I became amorous, wherein I was assisted by + my youth: love relieved and rescued me from the evil wherein friendship + had engaged me. ‘Tis in everything else the same; a violent + imagination hath seized me: I find it a nearer way to change than to + subdue it: I depute, if not one contrary, yet another at least, in its + place. Variation ever relieves, dissolves, and dissipates. + </p> + <p> + If I am not able to contend with it, I escape from it; and in avoiding it, + slip out of the way, and make, my doubles; shifting place, business, and + company, I secure myself in the crowd of other thoughts and fancies, where + it loses my trace, and I escape. + </p> + <p> + After the same manner does nature proceed, by the benefit of inconstancy; + for time, which she has given us for the sovereign physician of our + passions, chiefly works by this, that supplying our imaginations with + other and new affairs, it loosens and dissolves the first apprehension, + how strong soever. A wise man little less sees his friend dying at the end + of five-and-twenty years than on the first year; and according to + Epicurus, no less at all; for he did not attribute any alleviation of + afflictions, either to their foresight or their antiquity; but so many + other thoughts traverse this, that it languishes and tires at last. + </p> + <p> + Alcibiades, to divert the inclination of common rumours, cut off the ears + and tail of his beautiful dog, and turned him out into the public place, + to the end that, giving the people this occasion to prate, they might let + his other actions alone. I have also seen, for this same end of diverting + the opinions and conjectures of the people and to stop their mouths, some + women conceal their real affections by those that were only counterfeit; + but I have also seen some of them, who in counterfeiting have suffered + themselves to be caught indeed, and who have quitted the true and original + affection for the feigned: and so have learned that they who find their + affections well placed are fools to consent to this disguise: the public + and favourable reception being only reserved for this pretended lover, one + may conclude him a fellow of very little address and less wit, if he does + not in the end put himself into your place, and you into his; this is + precisely to cut out and make up a shoe for another to draw on. + </p> + <p> + A little thing will turn and divert us, because a little thing holds us. + We do not much consider subjects in gross and singly; they are little and + superficial circumstances, or images that touch us, and the outward + useless rinds that peel off from the subjects themselves: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Folliculos ut nunc teretes aestate cicadae + Linquunt.” + + [“As husks we find grasshoppers leave behind them in summer.” + —Lucretius, v. 801.] +</pre> + <p> + Even Plutarch himself laments his daughter for the little apish tricks of + her infancy.—[Consolation to his Wife on the Death of their + Daughter, c. I.]—The remembrance of a farewell, of the particular + grace of an action, of a last recommendation, afflict us. The sight of + Caesar’s robe troubled all Rome, which was more than his death had + done. Even the sound of names ringing in our ears, as “my poor + master,”—“my faithful friend,”—“alas, + my dear father,” or, “my sweet daughter,” afflict us. + When these repetitions annoy me, and that I examine it a little nearer, I + find ‘tis no other but a grammatical and word complaint; I am only + wounded with the word and tone, as the exclamations of preachers very + often work more upon their auditory than their reasons, and as the pitiful + eyes of a beast killed for our service; without my weighing or penetrating + meanwhile into the true and solid essence of my subject: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “His se stimulis dolor ipse lacessit.” + + [“With these incitements grief provokes itself.” + —Lucretius, ii. 42.] +</pre> + <p> + These are the foundations of our mourning. + </p> + <p> + The obstinacy of my stone to all remedies especially those in my bladder, + has sometimes thrown me into so long suppressions of urine for three or + four days together, and so near death, that it had been folly to have + hoped to evade it, and it was much rather to have been desired, + considering the miseries I endure in those cruel fits. Oh, that good + emperor, who caused criminals to be tied that they might die for want of + urination, was a great master in the hangman’s’ science! + Finding myself in this condition, I considered by how many light causes + and objects imagination nourished in me the regret of life; of what atoms + the weight and difficulty of this dislodging was composed in my soul; to + how many idle and frivolous thoughts we give way in so great an affair; a + dog, a horse, a book, a glass, and what not, were considered in my loss; + to others their ambitious hopes, their money, their knowledge, not less + foolish considerations in my opinion than mine. I look upon death + carelessly when I look upon it universally as the end of life. I insult + over it in gross, but in detail it domineers over me: the tears of a + footman, the disposing of my clothes, the touch of a friendly hand, a + common consolation, discourages and softens me. So do the complaints in + tragedies agitate our souls with grief; and the regrets of Dido and + Ariadne, impassionate even those who believe them not in Virgil and + Catullus. ‘Tis a symptom of an obstinate and obdurate nature to be + sensible of no emotion, as ‘tis reported for a miracle of Polemon; + but then he did not so much as alter his countenance at the biting of a + mad dog that tore away the calf of his leg; and no wisdom proceeds so far + as to conceive so vivid and entire a cause of sorrow, by judgment that it + does not suffer increase by its presence, when the eyes and ears have + their share; parts that are not to be moved but by vain accidents. + </p> + <p> + Is it reason that even the arts themselves should make an advantage of our + natural stupidity and weakness? An orator, says rhetoric in the farce of + his pleading, shall be moved with the sound of his own voice and feigned + emotions, and suffer himself to be imposed upon by the passion he + represents; he will imprint in himself a true and real grief, by means of + the part he plays, to transmit it to the judges, who are yet less + concerned than he: as they do who are hired at funerals to assist in the + ceremony of sorrow, who sell their tears and mourning by weight and + measure; for although they act in a borrowed form, nevertheless, by + habituating and settling their countenances to the occasion, ‘tis + most certain they often are really affected with an actual sorrow. I was + one, amongst several others of his friends, who conveyed the body of + Monsieur de Grammont to Spissons from the siege of La Fere, where he was + slain; I observed that in all places we passed through we filled the + people we met with lamentations and tears by the mere solemn pomp of our + convoy, for the name of the defunct was not there so much as known. + Quintilian reports as to have seen comedians so deeply engaged in a + mourning part, that they still wept in the retiring room, and who, having + taken upon them to stir up passion in another, have themselves espoused it + to that degree as to find themselves infected with it, not only to tears, + but, moreover, with pallor and the comportment of men really overwhelmed + with grief. + </p> + <p> + In a country near our mountains the women play Priest Martin, for as they + augment the regret of the deceased husband by the remembrance of the good + and agreeable qualities he possessed, they also at the same time make a + register of and publish his imperfections; as if of themselves to enter + into some composition, and divert themselves from compassion to disdain. + Yet with much better grace than we, who, when we lose an acquaintance, + strive to give him new and false praises, and to make him quite another + thing when we have lost sight of him than he appeared to us when we did + see him; as if regret were an instructive thing, or as if tears, by + washing our understandings, cleared them. For my part, I henceforth + renounce all favourable testimonies men would give of me, not because I + shall be worthy of them, but because I shall be dead. + </p> + <p> + Whoever shall ask a man, “What interest have you in this siege?” + —“The interest of example,” he will say, “and of + the common obedience to my prince: I pretend to no profit by it; and for + glory, I know how small a part can affect a private man such as I: I have + here neither passion nor quarrel.” And yet you shall see him the + next day quite another man, chafing and red with fury, ranged in battle + for the assault; ‘tis the glittering of so much steel, the fire and + noise of our cannon and drums, that have infused this new rigidity and + fury into his veins. A frivolous cause, you will say. How a cause? There + needs none to agitate the mind; a mere whimsy without body and without + subject will rule and agitate it. Let me thing of building castles in + Spain, my imagination suggests to me conveniences and pleasures with which + my soul is really tickled and pleased. How often do we torment our mind + with anger or sorrow by such shadows, and engage ourselves in fantastic + passions that impair both soul and body? What astonished, fleeting, + confused grimaces does this raving put our faces into! what sallies and + agitations both of members and voices does it inspire us with! Does it not + seem that this individual man has false visions amid the crowd of others + with whom he has to do, or that he is possessed with some internal demon + that persecutes him? Inquire of yourself where is the object of this + mutation? is there anything but us in nature which inanity sustains, over + which it has power? Cambyses, from having dreamt that his brother should + be one day king of Persia, put him to death: a beloved brother, and one in + whom he had always confided. Aristodemus, king of the Messenians, killed + himself out of a fancy of ill omen, from I know not what howling of his + dogs; and King Midas did as much upon the account of some foolish dream he + had dreamed. ‘Tis to prize life at its just value, to abandon it for + a dream. And yet hear the soul triumph over the miseries and weakness of + the body, and that it is exposed to all attacks and alterations; truly, it + has reason so to speak! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O prima infelix finger ti terra Prometheo! + Ille parum cauti pectoris egit opus + Corpora disponens, mentem non vidit in arte; + Recta animi primum debuit esse via.” + + [“O wretched clay, first formed by Prometheus. In his attempt, + what little wisdom did he shew! In framing bodies, he did not + apply his art to form the mind, which should have been his first + care.”—Propertius, iii. 5, 7.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0098" id="link2HCH0098"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V——UPON SOME VERSES OF VIRGIL + </h2> + <p> + By how much profitable thoughts are more full and solid, by so much are + they also more cumbersome and heavy: vice, death, poverty, diseases, are + grave and grievous subjects. A man should have his soul instructed in the + means to sustain and to contend with evils, and in the rules of living and + believing well: and often rouse it up, and exercise it in this noble + study; but in an ordinary soul it must be by intervals and with + moderation; it will otherwise grow besotted if continually intent upon it. + I found it necessary, when I was young, to put myself in mind and solicit + myself to keep me to my duty; gaiety and health do not, they say, so well + agree with those grave and serious meditations: I am at present in another + state: the conditions of age but too much put me in mind, urge me to + wisdom, and preach to me. From the excess of sprightliness I am fallen + into that of severity, which is much more troublesome; and for that reason + I now and then suffer myself purposely a little to run into disorder, and + occupy my mind in wanton and youthful thoughts, wherewith it diverts + itself. I am of late but too reserved, too heavy, and too ripe; years + every day read to me lectures of coldness and temperance. This body of + mine avoids disorder and dreads it; ‘tis now my body’s turn to + guide my mind towards reformation; it governs, in turn, and more rudely + and imperiously than the other; it lets me not an hour alone, sleeping or + waking, but is always preaching to me death, patience, and repentance. I + now defend myself from temperance, as I have formerly done from pleasure; + it draws me too much back, and even to stupidity. Now I will be master of + myself, to all intents and purposes; wisdom has its excesses, and has no + less need of moderation than folly. Therefore, lest I should wither, dry + up, and overcharge myself with prudence, in the intervals and truces my + infirmities allow me: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mens intenta suis ne seit usque malis.” + + [“That my mind may not eternally be intent upon my ills.” + —Ovid., Trist., iv. i, 4.] +</pre> + <p> + I gently turn aside, and avert my eyes from the stormy and cloudy sky I + have before me, which, thanks be to God, I regard without fear, but not + without meditation and study, and amuse myself in the remembrance of my + better years: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Animus quo perdidit, optat, + Atque in praeterita se totus imagine versat.” + + [“The mind wishes to have what it has lost, and throws itself + wholly into memories of the past.”—Petronius, c. 128.] +</pre> + <p> + Let childhood look forward and age backward; was not this the + signification of Janus’ double face? Let years draw me along if they + will, but it shall be backward; as long as my eyes can discern the + pleasant season expired, I shall now and then turn them that way; though + it escape from my blood and veins, I shall not, however, root the image of + it out of my memory: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hoc est + Vivere bis, vita posse priore frui.” + + [“‘Tis to live twice to be able to enjoy one’s former life again.” + —Martial, x. 23, 7.] +</pre> + <p> + Plato ordains that old men should be present at the exercises, dances, and + sports of young people, that they may rejoice in others for the activity + and beauty of body which is no more in themselves, and call to mind the + grace and comeliness of that flourishing age; and wills that in these + recreations the honour of the prize should be given to that young man who + has most diverted the company. I was formerly wont to mark cloudy and + gloomy days as extraordinary; these are now my ordinary days; the + extraordinary are the clear and bright; I am ready to leap for joy, as for + an unwonted favour, when nothing happens me. Let me tickle myself, I + cannot force a poor smile from this wretched body of mine; I am only merry + in conceit and in dreaming, by artifice to divert the melancholy of age; + but, in faith, it requires another remedy than a dream. A weak contest of + art against nature. ‘Tis great folly to lengthen and anticipate + human incommodities, as every one does; I had rather be a less while old + than be old before I am really so.’ I seize on even the least + occasions of pleasure I can meet. I know very well, by hearsay, several + sorts of prudent pleasures, effectually so, and glorious to boot; but + opinion has not power enough over me to give me an appetite to them. I + covet not so much to have them magnanimous, magnificent, and pompous, as I + do to have them sweet, facile, and ready: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “A natura discedimus; populo nos damus, + nullius rei bono auctori.” + + [“We depart from nature and give ourselves to the people, who + understand nothing.”—Seneca, Ep., 99.] +</pre> + <p> + My philosophy is in action, in natural and present practice, very little + in fancy: what if I should take pleasure in playing at cob-nut or to whip + a top! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem.” + + [“He did not sacrifice his health even to rumours.” Ennius, apud + Cicero, De Offic., i. 24] +</pre> + <p> + Pleasure is a quality of very little ambition; it thinks itself rich + enough of itself without any addition of repute; and is best pleased where + most retired. A young man should be whipped who pretends to a taste in + wine and sauces; there was nothing which, at that age, I less valued or + knew: now I begin to learn; I am very much ashamed on’t; but what + should I do? I am more ashamed and vexed at the occasions that put me upon’t. + ‘Tis for us to dote and trifle away the time, and for young men to + stand upon their reputation and nice punctilios; they are going towards + the world and the world’s opinion; we are retiring from it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sibi arma, sibi equos, sibi hastas, sibi clavam, sibi pilam, + sibi natationes, et cursus habeant: nobis senibus, ex lusionibus + multis, talos relinquant et tesseras;” + + [“Let them reserve to themselves arms, horses, spears, clubs, + tennis, swimming, and races; and of all the sports leave to us old + men cards and dice.”—Cicero, De Senec., c. 16.] +</pre> + <p> + the laws themselves send us home. I can do no less in favour of this + wretched condition into which my age has thrown me than furnish it with + toys to play withal, as they do children; and, in truth, we become such. + Both wisdom and folly will have enough to do to support and relieve me by + alternate services in this calamity of age: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Misce stultitiam consiliis brevem.” + + [“Mingle with counsels a brief interval of folly.” + —Horace, Od., iv. 12, 27.] +</pre> + <p> + I accordingly avoid the lightest punctures; and those that formerly would + not have rippled the skin, now pierce me through and through: my habit of + body is now so naturally declining to ill: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In fragili corpore odiosa omnis offensio est;” + + [“In a fragile body every shock is obnoxious.” + —Cicero, De Senec., c. 18.] + + “Mensque pati durum sustinet aegra nihil.” + + [“And the infirm mind can bear no difficult exertion.” + —Ovid, De Ponto., i. 5, 18.] +</pre> + <p> + I have ever been very susceptibly tender as to offences: I am much more + tender now, and open throughout. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et minimae vires frangere quassa valent.” + + [“And little force suffices to break what was cracked before.” + —Ovid, De Tris., iii. 11, 22.] +</pre> + <p> + My judgment restrains me from kicking against and murmuring at the + inconveniences that nature orders me to endure, but it does not take away + my feeling them: I, who have no other thing in my aim but to live and be + merry, would run from one end of the world to the other to seek out one + good year of pleasant and jocund tranquillity. A melancholic and dull + tranquillity may be enough for me, but it benumbs and stupefies me; I am + not contented with it. If there be any person, any knot of good company in + country or city, in France or elsewhere, resident or in motion, who can + like my humour, and whose humours I can like, let them but whistle and I + will run and furnish them with essays in flesh and bone: + </p> + <p> + Seeing it is the privilege of the mind to rescue itself from old age, I + advise mine to it with all the power I have; let it meanwhile continue + green, and flourish if it can, like mistletoe upon a dead tree. But I fear + ‘tis a traitor; it has contracted so strict a fraternity with the + body that it leaves me at every turn, to follow that in its need. I + wheedle and deal with it apart in vain; I try in vain to wean it from this + correspondence, to no effect; quote to it Seneca and Catullus, and ladies + and royal masques; if its companion have the stone, it seems to have it + too; even the faculties that are most peculiarly and properly its own + cannot then perform their functions, but manifestly appear stupefied and + asleep; there is no sprightliness in its productions, if there be not at + the same time an equal proportion in the body too. + </p> + <p> + Our masters are to blame, that in searching out the causes of the + extraordinary emotions of the soul, besides attributing it to a divine + ecstasy, love, martial fierceness, poesy, wine, they have not also + attributed a part to health: a boiling, vigorous, full, and lazy health, + such as formerly the verdure of youth and security, by fits, supplied me + withal; that fire of sprightliness and gaiety darts into the mind flashes + that are lively and bright beyond our natural light, and of all + enthusiasms the most jovial, if not the most extravagant. + </p> + <p> + It is, then, no wonder if a contrary state stupefy and clog my spirit, and + produce a contrary effect: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ad nullum consurgit opus, cum corpore languet;” + + [“When the mind is languishing, the body is good for nothing.” + (Or:) “It rises to no effort; it languishes with the body.” + —Pseudo Gallus, i. 125.] +</pre> + <p> + and yet would have me obliged to it for giving, as it wants to make out, + much less consent to this stupidity than is the ordinary case with men of + my age. Let us, at least, whilst we have truce, drive away incommodities + and difficulties from our commerce: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum licet, obducta solvatur fronte senectus:” + + [“Whilst we can, let us banish old age from the brow.” + —Herod., Ep., xiii. 7.] + + “Tetrica sunt amcenanda jocularibus.” + + [“Sour things are to be sweetened with those that are pleasant.” + —Sidonius Apollin., Ep., i. 9.] +</pre> + <p> + I love a gay and civil wisdom, and fly from all sourness and austerity of + manners, all repellent, mien being suspected by me: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tristemque vultus tetrici arrogantiam:” + + [“The arrogant sadness of a crabbed face.”—Auctor Incert.] + + “Et habet tristis quoque turba cinaedos.” + + [“And the dull crowd also has its voluptuaries.” (Or:) + “An austere countenance sometimes covers a debauched mind.” + —Idem.] +</pre> + <p> + I am very much of Plato’s opinion, who says that facile or harsh + humours are great indications of the good or ill disposition of the mind. + Socrates had a constant countenance, but serene and smiling, not sourly + austere, like the elder Crassus, whom no one ever saw laugh. Virtue is a + pleasant and gay quality. + </p> + <p> + I know very well that few will quarrel with the licence of my writings, + who have not more to quarrel with in the licence of their own thoughts: I + conform myself well enough to their inclinations, but I offend their eyes. + ‘Tis a fine humour to strain the writings of Plato, to wrest his + pretended intercourses with Phaedo, Dion, Stella, and Archeanassa: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non pudeat dicere, quod non pudet sentire.” + + [“Let us not be ashamed to speak what we are not ashamed to think.”] +</pre> + <p> + I hate a froward and dismal spirit, that slips over all the pleasures of + life and seizes and feeds upon misfortunes; like flies, that cannot stick + to a smooth and polished body, but fix and repose themselves upon craggy + and rough places, and like cupping-glasses, that only suck and attract bad + blood. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, I have enjoined myself to dare to say all that I dare to + do; even thoughts that are not to be published, displease me; the worst of + my actions and qualities do not appear to me so evil as I find it evil and + base not to dare to own them. Every one is wary and discreet in + confession, but men ought to be so in action; the boldness of doing ill is + in some sort compensated and restrained by the boldness of confessing it. + Whoever will oblige himself to tell all, should oblige himself to do + nothing that he must be forced to conceal. I wish that this excessive + licence of mine may draw men to freedom, above these timorous and mincing + virtues sprung from our imperfections, and that at the expense of my + immoderation I may reduce them to reason. A man must see and study his + vice to correct it; they who conceal it from others, commonly conceal it + from themselves; and do not think it close enough, if they themselves see + it: they withdraw and disguise it from their own consciences: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quare vitia sua nemo confitetur? Quia etiam nunc in + illia est; somnium narrare vigilantis est.” + + [“Why does no man confess his vices? because he is yet in them; + ‘tis for a waking man to tell his dream.”—Seneca, Ep., 53.] +</pre> + <p> + The diseases of the body explain themselves by their increase; we find + that to be the gout which we called a rheum or a strain; the diseases of + the soul, the greater they are, keep, themselves the most obscure; the + most sick are the least sensible; therefore it is that with an unrelenting + hand they most often, in full day, be taken to task, opened, and torn from + the hollow of the heart. As in doing well, so in doing ill, the mere + confession is sometimes satisfaction. Is there any deformity in doing + amiss, that can excuse us from confessing ourselves? It is so great a pain + to me to dissemble, that I evade the trust of another’s secrets, + wanting the courage to disavow my knowledge. I can keep silent, but deny I + cannot without the greatest trouble and violence to myself imaginable to + be very secret, a man must be so by nature, not by obligation. ‘Tis + little worth, in the service of a prince, to be secret, if a man be not a + liar to boot. If he who asked Thales the Milesian whether he ought + solemnly to deny that he had committed adultery, had applied himself to + me, I should have told him that he ought not to do it; for I look upon + lying as a worse fault than the other. Thales advised him quite contrary, + bidding him swear to shield the greater fault by the less; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Montaigne’s memory here serves him ill, for the question being put + to Thales, his answer was: “But is not perjury worse than + adultery?”—Diogenes Laertius, in vita, i. 36.] +</pre> + <p> + nevertheless, this counsel was not so much an election as a multiplication + of vice. Upon which let us say this in passing, that we deal liberally + with a man of conscience when we propose to him some difficulty in + counterpoise of vice; but when we shut him up betwixt two vices, he is put + to a hard choice as Origen was either to idolatrise or to suffer himself + to be carnally abused by a great Ethiopian slave they brought to him. He + submitted to the first condition, and wrongly, people say. Yet those women + of our times are not much out, according to their error, who protest they + had rather burden their consciences with ten men than one mass. + </p> + <p> + If it be indiscretion so to publish one’s errors, yet there is no + great danger that it pass into example and custom; for Ariston said, that + the winds men most fear are those that lay them open. We must tuck up this + ridiculous rag that hides our manners: they send their consciences to the + stews, and keep a starched countenance: even traitors and assassins + espouse the laws of ceremony, and there fix their duty. So that neither + can injustice complain of incivility, nor malice of indiscretion. ‘Tis + pity but a bad man should be a fool to boot, and that outward decency + should palliate his vice: this rough-cast only appertains to a good and + sound wall, that deserves to be preserved and whited. + </p> + <p> + In favour of the Huguenots, who condemn our auricular and private + confession, I confess myself in public, religiously and purely: St. + Augustin, Origeti, and Hippocrates have published the errors of their + opinions; I, moreover, of my manners. I am greedy of making myself known, + and I care not to how many, provided it be truly; or to say better, I + hunger for nothing; but I mortally hate to be mistaken by those who happen + to learn my name. He who does all things for honour and glory, what can he + think to gain by shewing himself to the world in a vizor, and by + concealing his true being from the people? Praise a humpback for his + stature, he has reason to take it for an affront: if you are a coward, and + men commend you for your valour, is it of you they speak? They take you + for another. I should like him as well who glorifies himself in the + compliments and congees that are made him as if he were master of the + company, when he is one of the least of the train. Archelaus, king of + Macedon, walking along the street, somebody threw water on his head, which + they who were with him said he ought to punish: “Aye, but,” + said he, “whoever it was, he did not throw the water upon me, but + upon him whom he took me to be.” Socrates being told that people + spoke ill of him, “Not at all,” said he, “there is + nothing, in me of what they say.” + </p> + <p> + For my part, if any one should recommend me as a good pilot, as being very + modest or very chaste, I should owe him no thanks; and so, whoever should + call me traitor, robber, or drunkard, I should be as little concerned. + They who do not rightly know themselves, may feed themselves with false + approbations; not I, who see myself, and who examine myself even to my + very bowels, and who very well know what is my due. I am content to be + less commended, provided I am better known. I may be reputed a wise man in + such a sort of wisdom as I take to be folly. I am vexed that my Essays + only serve the ladies for a common piece of furniture, and a piece for the + hall; this chapter will make me part of the water-closet. I love to + traffic with them a little in private; public conversation is without + favour and without savour. In farewells, we oftener than not heat our + affections towards the things we take leave of; I take my last leave of + the pleasures of this world: these are our last embraces. + </p> + <p> + But let us come to my subject: what has the act of generation, so natural, + so necessary, and so just, done to men, to be a thing not to be spoken of + without blushing, and to be excluded from all serious and moderate + discourse? We boldly pronounce kill, rob, betray, and that we dare only to + do betwixt the teeth. Is it to say, the less we expend in words, we may + pay so much the more in thinking? For it is certain that the words least + in use, most seldom written, and best kept in, are the best and most + generally known: no age, no manners, are ignorant of them, no more than + the word bread they imprint themselves in every one without being, + expressed, without voice, and without figure; and the sex that most + practises it is bound to say least of it. ‘Tis an act that we have + placed in the franchise of silence, from which to take it is a crime even + to accuse and judge it; neither dare we reprehend it but by periphrasis + and picture. A great favour to a criminal to be so execrable that justice + thinks it unjust to touch and see him; free, and safe by the benefit of + the severity of his condemnation. Is it not here as in matter of books, + that sell better and become more public for being suppressed? For my part, + I will take Aristotle at his word, who says, that “bashfulness is an + ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age.” These verses are + preached in the ancient school, a school that I much more adhere to than + the modern: its virtues appear to me to be greater, and the vices less: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ceux qui par trop fuyant Venus estrivent, + Faillent autant que ceulx qui trop la suyvent.” + + [“They err as much who too much forbear Venus, as they who are too + frequent in her rites.”—A translation by Amyot from Plutarch, A + philosopher should converse with princes.] + + “Tu, dea, rerum naturam sola gubernas, + Nec sine to quicquam dias in luminis oras + Exoritur, neque fit laetum, nec amabile quidquam.” + + [“Goddess, still thou alone governest nature, nor without thee + anything comes into light; nothing is pleasant, nothing joyful.” + —Lucretius, i. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + I know not who could set Pallas and the Muses at variance with Venus, and + make them cold towards Love; but I see no deities so well met, or that are + more indebted to one another. Who will deprive the Muses of amorous + imaginations, will rob them of the best entertainment they have, and of + the noblest matter of their work: and who will make Love lose the + communication and service of poesy, will disarm him of his best weapons: + by this means they charge the god of familiarity and good will, and the + protecting goddesses of humanity and justice, with the vice of ingratitude + and unthankfulness. I have not been so long cashiered from the state and + service of this god, that my memory is not still perfect in his force and + value: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae;” + + [“I recognise vestiges of my old flame.”—AEneid., iv. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + There are yet some remains of heat and emotion after the fever: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec mihi deficiat calor hic, hiemantibus annis!” + + [“Nor let this heat of youth fail me in my winter years.”] +</pre> + <p> + Withered and drooping as I am, I feel yet some remains of the past ardour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qual l’alto Egeo, per the Aquilone o Noto + Cessi, the tutto prima il volse et scosse, + Non ‘s accheta ei pero; ma’l suono e’l moto + Ritien del l’onde anco agitate e grosse:” + + [“As Aegean seas, when storms be calmed again, + That rolled their tumbling waves with troublous blasts, + Do yet of tempests passed some show retain, + And here and there their swelling billows cast.”—Fairfax.] +</pre> + <p> + but from what I understand of it, the force and power of this god are more + lively and animated in the picture of poesy than in their own essence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et versus digitos habet:” + + [“Verse has fingers.”—Altered from Juvenal, iv. 196.] +</pre> + <p> + it has I know not what kind of air, more amorous than love itself. Venus + is not so beautiful, naked, alive, and panting, as she is here in Virgil: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dixerat; et niveis hinc atque hinc Diva lacertis + Cunctantem amplexu molli fovet. Ille repente + Accepit solitam flammam; notusque medullas + Intravit calor, et labefacta per ossa cucurrit + Non secus atque olim tonitru, cum rupta corusco + Ignea rima micans percurrit lumine nimbos. + . . . . . . Ea verba loquutus, + Optatos dedit amplexus; placidumque petivit + Conjugis infusus gremio per membra soporem.” + + [“The goddess spoke, and throwing round him her snowy arms in soft + embraces, caresses him hesitating. Suddenly he caught the wonted + flame, and the well-known warmth pierced his marrow, and ran + thrilling through his shaken bones: just as when at times, with + thunder, a stream of fire in lightning flashes shoots across the + skies. Having spoken these words, he gave her the wished embrace, + and in the bosom of his spouse sought placid sleep.” + —AEneid, viii. 387 and 392.] +</pre> + <p> + All that I find fault with in considering it is, that he has represented + her a little too passionate for a married Venus; in this discreet kind of + coupling, the appetite is not usually so wanton, but more grave and dull. + Love hates that people should hold of any but itself, and goes but faintly + to work in familiarities derived from any other title, as marriage is: + alliance, dowry, therein sway by reason, as much or more than grace and + beauty. Men do not marry for themselves, let them say what they will; they + marry as much or more for their posterity and family; the custom and + interest of marriage concern our race much more than us; and therefore it + is, that I like to have a match carried on by a third hand rather than a + man’s own, and by another man’s liking than that of the party + himself; and how much is all this opposite to the conventions of love? And + also it is a kind of incest to employ in this venerable and sacred + alliance the heat and extravagance of amorous licence, as I think I have + said elsewhere. A man, says Aristotle, must approach his wife with + prudence and temperance, lest in dealing too lasciviously with her, the + extreme pleasure make her exceed the bounds of reason. What he says upon + the account of conscience, the physicians say upon the account of health: + “that a pleasure excessively lascivious, voluptuous, and frequent, + makes the seed too hot, and hinders conception”: ‘tis said, + elsewhere, that to a languishing intercourse, as this naturally is, to + supply it with a due and fruitful heat, a man must do it but seldom and at + appreciable intervals: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quo rapiat sitiens Venerem, interiusque recondat.” + + [“But let him thirstily snatch the joys of love and enclose them in + his bosom.”—Virg., Georg., iii. 137.] +</pre> + <p> + I see no marriages where the conjugal compatibility sooner fails than + those that we contract upon the account of beauty and amorous desires; + there should be more solid and constant foundation, and they should + proceed with greater circumspection; this furious ardour is worth nothing. + </p> + <p> + They who think they honour marriage by joining love to it, do, methinks, + like those who, to favour virtue, hold that nobility is nothing else but + virtue. They are indeed things that have some relation to one another, but + there is a great deal of difference; we should not so mix their names and + titles; ‘tis a wrong to them both so to confound them. Nobility is a + brave quality, and with good reason introduced; but forasmuch as ‘tis + a quality depending upon others, and may happen in a vicious person, in + himself nothing, ‘tis in estimate infinitely below virtue’; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“If nobility be virtue, it loses its quality in all things wherein + not virtuous: and if it be not virtue, ‘tis a small matter.” + —La Byuyere.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘tis a virtue, if it be one, that is artificial and apparent, + depending upon time and fortune: various in form, according to the + country; living and mortal; without birth, as the river Nile; genealogical + and common; of succession and similitude; drawn by consequence, and a very + weak one. Knowledge, strength, goodness, beauty, riches, and all other + qualities, fall into communication and commerce, but this is consummated + in itself, and of no use to the service of others. There was proposed to + one of our kings the choice of two candidates for the same command, of + whom one was a gentleman, the other not; he ordered that, without respect + to quality, they should choose him who had the most merit; but where the + worth of the competitors should appear to be entirely equal, they should + have respect to birth: this was justly to give it its rank. A young man + unknown, coming to Antigonus to make suit for his father’s command, + a valiant man lately dead: “Friend,” said he, “in such + preferments as these, I have not so much regard to the nobility of my + soldiers as to their prowess.” And, indeed, it ought not to go as it + did with the officers of the kings of Sparta, trumpeters, fiddlers, cooks, + the children of whom always succeeded to their places, how ignorant + soever, and were preferred before the most experienced in the trade. They + of Calicut make of nobles a sort of superhuman persons: they are + interdicted marriage and all but warlike employments: they may have of + concubines their fill, and the women as many lovers, without being jealous + of one another; but ‘tis a capital and irremissible crime to couple + with a person of meaner conditions than themselves; and they think + themselves polluted, if they have but touched one in walking along; and + supposing their nobility to be marvellously interested and injured in it, + kill such as only approach a little too near them: insomuch that the + ignoble are obliged to cry out as they walk, like the gondoliers of + Venice, at the turnings of streets for fear of jostling; and the nobles + command them to step aside to what part they please: by that means these + avoid what they repute a perpetual ignominy, those certain death. No time, + no favour of the prince, no office, or virtue, or riches, can ever prevail + to make a plebeian become noble: to which this custom contributes, that + marriages are interdicted betwixt different trades; the daughter of one of + the cordwainers’ gild is not permitted to marry a carpenter; and + parents are obliged to train up their children precisely in their own + callings, and not put them to any other trade; by which means the + distinction and continuance of their fortunes are maintained. + </p> + <p> + A good marriage, if there be any such, rejects the company and conditions + of love, and tries to represent those of friendship. ‘Tis a sweet + society of life, full of constancy, trust, and an infinite number of + useful and solid services and mutual obligations; which any woman who has + a right taste: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Optato quam junxit lumine taeda”— + + [“Whom the marriage torch has joined with the desired light.” + —Catullus, lxiv. 79.] +</pre> + <p> + would be loth to serve her husband in quality of a mistress. If she be + lodged in his affection as a wife, she is more honourably and securely + placed. When he purports to be in love with another, and works all he can + to obtain his desire, let any one but ask him, on which he had rather a + disgrace should fall, his wife or his mistress, which of their misfortunes + would most afflict him, and to which of them he wishes the most grandeur, + the answer to these questions is out of dispute in a sound marriage. + </p> + <p> + And that so few are observed to be happy, is a token of its price and + value. If well formed and rightly taken, ‘tis the best of all human + societies; we cannot live without it, and yet we do nothing but decry it. + It happens, as with cages, the birds without despair to get in, and those + within despair of getting out. Socrates being asked, whether it was more + commodious to take a wife or not, “Let a man take which course he + will,” said he; “he will repent.” ‘Tis a contract + to which the common saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Homo homini aut deus aut lupus,” + + [“Man to man is either a god or a wolf.”—Erasmus, Adag.] +</pre> + <p> + may very fitly be applied; there must be a concurrence of many qualities + in the construction. It is found nowadays more convenient for simple and + plebeian souls, where delights, curiosity, and idleness do not so much + disturb it; but extravagant humours, such as mine, that hate all sorts of + obligation and restraint, are not so proper for it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et mihi dulce magis resoluto vivere collo.” + + [“And it is sweet to me to live with a loosened neck.” + —Pseudo Gallus, i. 61.] +</pre> + <p> + Might I have had my own will, I would not have married Wisdom herself, if + she would have had me. But ‘tis to much purpose to evade it; the + common custom and usance of life will have it so. The most of my actions + are guided by example, not by choice, and yet I did not go to it of my own + voluntary motion; I was led and drawn to it by extrinsic occasions; for + not only things that are incommodious in themselves, but also things + however ugly, vicious, and to be avoided, may be rendered acceptable by + some condition or accident; so unsteady and vain is all human resolution! + and I was persuaded to it, when worse prepared and less tractable than I + am at present, that I have tried what it is: and as great a libertine as I + am taken to be, I have in truth more strictly observed the laws of + marriage, than I either promised or expected. ‘Tis in vain to kick, + when a man has once put on his fetters: a man must prudently manage his + liberty; but having once submitted to obligation, he must confine himself + within the laws of common duty, at least, do what he can towards it. They + who engage in this contract, with a design to carry themselves in it with + hatred and contempt, do an unjust and inconvenient thing; and the fine + rule that I hear pass from hand to hand amongst the women, as a sacred + oracle: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Serve thy husband as thy master, but guard thyself against him as + from a traitor.”] +</pre> + <p> + which is to say, comport thyself towards him with a dissembled, inimical, + and distrustful reverence (a cry of war and defiance), is equally + injurious and hard. I am too mild for such rugged designs: to say the + truth, I am not arrived to that perfection of ability and refinement of + wit, to confound reason with injustice, and to laugh at all rule and order + that does not please my palate; because I hate superstition, I do not + presently run into the contrary extreme of irreligion. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (If a man hate superstition he cannot love religion. D.W.) +</pre> + <p> + If a man does not always perform his duty, he ought at least to love and + acknowledge it; ‘tis treachery to marry without espousing. + </p> + <p> + Let us proceed. + </p> + <p> + Our poet represents a marriage happy in a good accord wherein nevertheless + there is not much loyalty. Does he mean, that it is not impossible but a + woman may give the reins to her own passion, and yield to the + importunities of love, and yet reserve some duty toward marriage, and that + it may be hurt, without being totally broken? A serving man may cheat his + master, whom nevertheless he does not hate. Beauty, opportunity, and + destiny (for destiny has also a hand in’t), + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fatum est in partibus illis + Quas sinus abscondit; nam, si tibi sidera cessent, + Nil faciet longi mensura incognita nervi;” + + [“There is a fatality about the hidden parts: let nature have + endowed you however liberally, ‘tis of no use, if your good star + fails you in the nick of time.”—Juvenal, ix. 32.] +</pre> + <p> + have attached her to a stranger; though not so wholly, peradventure, but + that she may have some remains of kindness for her husband. They are two + designs, that have several paths leading to them, without being confounded + with one another; a woman may yield to a man she would by no means have + married, not only for the condition of his fortune, but for those also of + his person. Few men have made a wife of a mistress, who have not repented + it. And even in the other world, what an unhappy life does Jupiter lead + with his, whom he had first enjoyed as a mistress! ‘Tis, as the + proverb runs, to befoul a basket and then put it upon one’s head. I + have in my time, in a good family, seen love shamefully and dishonestly + cured by marriage: the considerations are widely different. We love at + once, without any tie, two things contrary in themselves. + </p> + <p> + Socrates was wont to say, that the city of Athens pleased, as ladies do + whom men court for love; every one loved to come thither to take a turn, + and pass away his time; but no one liked it so well as to espouse it, that + is, to inhabit there, and to make it his constant residence. I have been + vexed to see husbands hate their wives only because they themselves do + them wrong; we should not, at all events, methinks, love them the less for + our own faults; they should at least, upon the account of repentance and + compassion, be dearer to us. + </p> + <p> + They are different ends, he says, and yet in some sort compatible; + marriage has utility, justice, honour, and constancy for its share; a + flat, but more universal pleasure: love founds itself wholly upon + pleasure, and, indeed, has it more full, lively, and sharp; a pleasure + inflamed by difficulty; there must be in it sting and smart: ‘tis no + longer love, if without darts and fire. The bounty of ladies is too + profuse in marriage, and dulls the point of affection and desire: to evade + which inconvenience, do but observe what pains Lycurgus and Plato take in + their laws. + </p> + <p> + Women are not to blame at all, when they refuse the rules of life that are + introduced into the world, forasmuch as the men make them without their + help. There is naturally contention and brawling betwixt them and us; and + the strictest friendship we have with them is yet mixed with tumult and + tempest. In the opinion of our author, we deal inconsiderately with them + in this: after we have discovered that they are, without comparison, more + able and ardent in the practice of love than we, and that the old priest + testified as much, who had been one while a man, and then a woman: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Venus huic erat utraque nota:” + + [“Both aspects of love were known to him,” + —Tiresias. Ovid. Metam., iii. 323.] +</pre> + <p> + and moreover, that we have learned from their own mouths the proof that, + in several ages, was made by an Emperor and Empress of Rome,—[Proclus.] + —both famous for ability in that affair! for he in one night + deflowered ten Sarmatian virgins who were his captives: but she had + five-and-twenty bouts in one night, changing her man according to her need + and liking; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Adhuc ardens rigidae tentigine vulvae + Et lassata viris, nondum satiata, recessit:” + + [“Ardent still, she retired, fatigued, but not satisfied.” + —Juvenal, vi. 128.] +</pre> + <p> + and that upon the dispute which happened in Cataluna, wherein a wife + complaining of her husband’s too frequent addresses to her, not so + much, as I conceive, that she was incommodated by it (for I believe no + miracles out of religion) as under this pretence, to curtail and curb in + this, which is the fundamental act of marriage, the authority of husbands + over their wives, and to shew that their frowardness and malignity go + beyond the nuptial bed, and spurn under foot even the graces and sweets of + Venus; the husband, a man truly brutish and unnatural, replied, that even + on fasting days he could not subsist with less than ten courses: whereupon + came out that notable sentence of the Queen of Arragon, by which, after + mature deliberation of her council, this good queen, to give a rule and + example to all succeeding ages of the moderation required in a just + marriage, set down six times a day as a legitimate and necessary stint; + surrendering and quitting a great deal of the needs and desires of her + sex, that she might, she said, establish an easy, and consequently, a + permanent and immutable rule. Hereupon the doctors cry out: what must the + female appetite and concupiscence be, when their reason, their reformation + and virtue, are taxed at such a rate, considering the divers judgments of + our appetites? for Solon, master of the law school, taxes us but at three + a month,—that men may not fail in point of conjugal frequentation: + after having, I say, believed and preached all this, we go and enjoin them + continency for their particular share, and upon the last and extreme + penalties. + </p> + <p> + There is no passion so hard to contend with as this, which we would have + them only resist, not simply as an ordinary vice, but as an execrable + abomination, worse than irreligion and parricide; whilst we, at the same + time, go to’t without offence or reproach. Even those amongst us who + have tried the experiment have sufficiently confessed what difficulty, or + rather impossibility, they have found by material remedies to subdue, + weaken, and cool the body. We, on the contrary, would have them at once + sound, vigorous plump, high-fed, and chaste; that is to say, both hot and + cold; for the marriage, which we tell them is to keep them from burning, + is but small refreshment to them, as we order the matter. If they take one + whose vigorous age is yet boiling, he will be proud to make it known + elsewhere; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sit tandem pudor; aut eamus in jus; + Multis mentula millibus redempta, + Non est haec tua, Basse; vendidisti;” + + [“Let there be some shame, or we shall go to law: your vigour, + bought by your wife with many thousands, is no longer yours: thou + hast sold it.—“Martial, xii. 90.] +</pre> + <p> + Polemon the philosopher was justly by his wife brought before the judge + for sowing in a barren field the seed that was due to one that was + fruitful: if, on the other hand, they take a decayed fellow, they are in a + worse condition in marriage than either maids or widows. We think them + well provided for, because they have a man to lie with, as the Romans + concluded Clodia Laeta, a vestal nun, violated, because Caligula had + approached her, though it was declared he did no more but approach her: + but, on the contrary, we by that increase their necessity, forasmuch as + the touch and company of any man whatever rouses their desires, that in + solitude would be more quiet. And to the end, ‘tis likely, that they + might render their chastity more meritorious by this circumstance and + consideration, Boleslas and Kinge his wife, kings of Poland, vowed it by + mutual consent, being in bed together, on their very wedding day, and kept + their vow in spite of all matrimonial conveniences. + </p> + <p> + We train them up from their infancy to the traffic of love; their grace, + dressing, knowledge, language, and whole instruction tend that way: their + governesses imprint nothing in them but the idea of love, if for nothing + else but by continually representing it to them, to give them a distaste + for it. My daughter, the only child I have, is now of an age that forward + young women are allowed to be married at; she is of a slow, thin, and + tender complexion, and has accordingly been brought up by her mother after + a retired and particular manner, so that she but now begins to be weaned + from her childish simplicity. She was reading before me in a French book + where the word ‘fouteau’, the name of a tree very well known, + occurred;—[The beech-tree; the name resembles in sound an obscene + French word.]—the woman, to whose conduct she is committed, stopped + her short a little roughly, and made her skip over that dangerous step. I + let her alone, not to trouble their rules, for I never concern myself in + that sort of government; feminine polity has a mysterious procedure; we + must leave it to them; but if I am not mistaken the commerce of twenty + lacquies could not, in six months’ time, have so imprinted in her + memory the meaning, usage, and all the consequence of the sound of these + wicked syllables, as this good old woman did by reprimand and + interdiction. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Motus doceri gaudet Ionicos + Matura virgo, et frangitur artibus; + Jam nunc et incestos amores + De tenero, meditatur ungui.” + + [“The maid ripe for marriage delights to learn Ionic dances, and to + imitate those lascivious movements. Nay, already from her infancy + she meditates criminal amours.”—Horace, Od., iii. 6, 21., the text + has ‘fingitur’.] +</pre> + <p> + Let them but give themselves the rein a little, let them but enter into + liberty of discourse, we are but children to them in this science. Hear + them but describe our pursuits and conversation, they will very well make + you understand that we bring them nothing they have not known before, and + digested without our help. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [This sentence refers to a conversation between some young women in + his immediate neighbourhood, which the Essayist just below informs + us that he overheard, and which was too shocking for him to repeat. + It must have been tolerably bad.—Remark by the editor of a later + edition.] +</pre> + <p> + Is it, perhaps, as Plato says, that they have formerly been debauched + young fellows? I happened one day to be in a place where I could hear some + of their talk without suspicion; I am sorry I cannot repeat it. By’rlady, + said I, we had need go study the phrases of Amadis, and the tales of + Boccaccio and Aretin, to be able to discourse with them: we employ our + time to much purpose indeed. There is neither word, example, nor step they + are not more perfect in than our books; ‘tis a discipline that + springs with their blood, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et mentem ipsa Venus dedit,” + + [“Venus herself made them what they are,” + —Virg., Georg., iii. 267.] +</pre> + <p> + which these good instructors, nature, youth, and health, are continually + inspiring them with; they need not learn, they breed it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec tantum niveo gavisa est ulla columbo, + Compar, vel si quid dicitur improbius, + Oscula mordenti semper decerpere rostro, + Quantum praecipue multivola est mulier.” + + [“No milk-white dove, or if there be a thing more lascivious, + takes so much delight in kissing as woman, wishful for every man + she sees.”—Catullus, lxvi. 125.] +</pre> + <p> + So that if the natural violence of their desire were not a little + restrained by fear and honour, which were wisely contrived for them, we + should be all shamed. All the motions in the world resolve into and tend + to this conjunction; ‘tis a matter infused throughout: ‘tis a + centre to which all things are directed. We yet see the edicts of the old + and wise Rome made for the service of love, and the precepts of Socrates + for the instruction of courtezans: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Noncon libelli Stoici inter sericos + Jacere pulvillos amant:” + + [“There are writings of the Stoics which we find lying upon + silken cushions.”—Horace, Epod., viii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + Zeno, amongst his laws, also regulated the motions to be observed in + getting a maidenhead. What was the philosopher Strato’s book Of + Carnal Conjunction?—[ Diogenes Laertius, v. 59.]—And what did + Theophrastus treat of in those he intituled, the one ‘The Lover’, + and the other ‘Of Love?’ Of what Aristippus in his ‘Of + Former Delights’? What do the so long and lively descriptions in + Plato of the loves of his time pretend to? and the book called ‘The + Lover’, of Demetrius Phalereus? and ‘Clinias’, or the + ‘Ravished Lover’, of Heraclides; and that of Antisthenes, + ‘Of Getting Children’, or, ‘Of Weddings’, and the + other, ‘Of the Master or the Lover’? And that of Aristo: + ‘Of Amorous Exercises’ What those of Cleanthes: one, ‘Of + Love’, the other, ‘Of the Art of Loving’? The amorous + dialogues of Sphaereus? and the fable of Jupiter and Juno, of Chrysippus, + impudent beyond all toleration? And his fifty so lascivious epistles? I + will let alone the writings of the philosophers of the Epicurean sect, + protectress of voluptuousness. Fifty deities were, in time past, assigned + to this office; and there have been nations where, to assuage the lust of + those who came to their devotion, they kept men and women in their temples + for the worshippers to lie with; and it was an act of ceremony to do this + before they went to prayers: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nimirum propter continentiam incontinentia necessaria est; + incendium ignibus extinguitur.” + + [“Forsooth incontinency is necessary for continency’s sake; a + conflagration is extinguished by fire.”] +</pre> + <p> + In the greatest part of the world, that member of our body was deified; in + the same province, some flayed off the skin to offer and consecrate a + piece; others offered and consecrated their seed. In another, the young + men publicly cut through betwixt the skin and the flesh of that part in + several places, and thrust pieces of wood into the openings as long and + thick as they would receive, and of these pieces of wood afterwards made a + fire as an offering to their gods; and were reputed neither vigorous nor + chaste, if by the force of that cruel pain they seemed to be at all + dismayed. Elsewhere the most sacred magistrate was reverenced and + acknowledged by that member and in several ceremonies the effigy of it was + carried in pomp to the honour of various divinities. The Egyptian ladies, + in their Bacchanalia, each carried one finely-carved of wood about their + necks, as large and heavy as she could so carry it; besides which, the + statue of their god presented one, which in greatness surpassed all the + rest of his body.—[Herodotus, ii. 48, says “nearly as large as + the body itself.”]—The married women, near the place where I + live, make of their kerchiefs the figure of one upon their foreheads, to + glorify themselves in the enjoyment they have of it; and coming to be + widows, they throw it behind, and cover it with their headcloths. The most + modest matrons of Rome thought it an honour to offer flowers and garlands + to the god Priapus; and they made the virgins, at the time of their + espousals, sit upon his shameful parts. And I know not whether I have not + in my time seen some air of like devotion. What was the meaning of that + ridiculous piece of the chaussuye of our forefathers, and that is still + worn by our Swiss? [“Cod-pieces worn”—Cotton]—To + what end do we make a show of our implements in figure under our breeches, + and often, which is worse, above their natural size, by falsehood and + imposture? I have half a mind to believe that this sort of vestment was + invented in the better and more conscientious ages, that the world might + not be deceived, and that every one should give a public account of his + proportions: the simple nations wear them yet, and near about the real + size. In those days, the tailor took measure of it, as the shoemaker does + now of a man’s foot. That good man, who, when I was young, gelded so + many noble and ancient statues in his great city, that they might not + corrupt the sight of the ladies, according to the advice of this other + ancient worthy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Flagitii principium est, nudare inter gives corpora,” + + [“‘Tis the beginning of wickedness to expose their persons among the + citizens”—Ennius, ap. Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 33.] +</pre> + <p> + should have called to mind, that, as in the mysteries of the Bona Dea, all + masculine appearance was excluded, he did nothing, if he did not geld + horses and asses, in short, all nature: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omne adeo genus in terris, hominumque, ferarumque, + Et genus aequoreum, pecudes, pictaeque volucres, + In furias ignemque ruunt.” + + [“So that all living things, men and animals, wild or tame, + and fish and gaudy fowl, rush to this flame of love.” + —Virgil, Georg., iii. 244.] +</pre> + <p> + The gods, says Plato, have given us one disobedient and unruly member + that, like a furious animal, attempts, by the violence of its appetite, to + subject all things to it; and so they have given to women one like a + greedy and ravenous animal, which, if it be refused food in season, grows + wild, impatient of delay, and infusing its rage into their bodies, stops + the passages, and hinders respiration, causing a thousand ills, till, + having imbibed the fruit of the common thirst, it has plentifully bedewed + the bottom of their matrix. Now my legislator—[The Pope who, as + Montaigne has told us, took it into his head to geld the statues.]— + should also have considered that, peradventure, it were a chaster and more + fruitful usage to let them know the fact as it is betimes, than permit + them to guess according to the liberty and heat of their own fancy; + instead of the real parts they substitute, through hope and desire, others + that are three times more extravagant; and a certain friend of mine lost + himself by producing his in place and time when the opportunity was not + present to put them to their more serious use. What mischief do not those + pictures of prodigious dimension do that the boys make upon the staircases + and galleries of the royal houses? they give the ladies a cruel contempt + of our natural furniture. And what do we know but that Plato, after other + well-instituted republics, ordered that the men and women, old and young, + should expose themselves naked to the view of one another, in his + gymnastic exercises, upon that very account? The Indian women who see the + men in their natural state, have at least cooled the sense of seeing. And + let the women of the kingdom of Pegu say what they will, who below the + waist have nothing to cover them but a cloth slit before, and so strait, + that what decency and modesty soever they pretend by it, at every step all + is to be seen, that it is an invention to allure the men to them, and to + divert them from boys, to whom that nation is generally inclined; yet, + peradventure they lose more by it than they get, and one may venture to + say, that an entire appetite is more sharp than one already half-glutted + by the eyes. Livia was wont to say, that to a virtuous woman a naked man + was but a statue. The Lacedaemonian women, more virgins when wives than + our daughters are, saw every day the young men of their city stripped + naked in their exercises, themselves little heeding to cover their thighs + in walking, believing themselves, says Plato, sufficiently covered by + their virtue without any other robe. But those, of whom St. Augustin + speaks, have given nudity a wonderful power of temptation, who have made + it a doubt, whether women at the day of judgment shall rise again in their + own sex, and not rather in ours, for fear of tempting us again in that + holy state. In brief, we allure and flesh them by all sorts of ways: we + incessantly heat and stir up their imagination, and then we find fault. + Let us confess the truth; there is scarce one of us who does not more + apprehend the shame that accrues to him by the vices of his wife than by + his own, and that is not more solicitous (a wonderful charity) of the + conscience of his virtuous wife than of his own; who had not rather commit + theft and sacrilege, and that his wife was a murderess and a heretic, than + that she should not be more chaste than her husband: an unjust estimate of + vices. Both we and they are capable of a thousand corruptions more + prejudicial and unnatural than lust: but we weigh vices, not according to + nature, but according to our interest; by which means they take so many + unequal forms. + </p> + <p> + The austerity of our decrees renders the application of women to this vice + more violent and vicious than its own condition needs, and engages it in + consequences worse than their cause: they will readily offer to go to the + law courts to seek for gain, and to the wars to get reputation, rather + than in the midst of ease and delights, to have to keep so difficult a + guard. Do not they very well see that there is neither merchant nor + soldier who will not leave his business to run after this sport, or the + porter or cobbler, toiled and tired out as they are with labour and + hunger? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Num tu, qux tenuit dives Achaemenes, + Aut pinguis Phrygiae Mygdonias opes, + Permutare velis crine Licymnim? + Plenas aut Arabum domos, + Dum fragrantia detorquet ad oscula + Cervicem, aut facili sxvitia negat, + Quae poscente magis gaudeat eripi, + Interdum rapere occupet?” + + [“Wouldst thou not exchange all that the wealthy Arhaemenes had, + or the Mygdonian riches of fertile Phrygia, for one ringlet of + Licymnia’s hair? or the treasures of the Arabians, when she turns + her head to you for fragrant kisses, or with easily assuaged anger + denies them, which she would rather by far you took by force, and + sometimes herself snatches one!”—Horace, Od., ii. 12, 21.] +</pre> + <p> + I do not know whether the exploits of Alexander and Caesar really surpass + the resolution of a beautiful young woman, bred up after our fashion, in + the light and commerce of the world, assailed by so many contrary + examples, and yet keeping herself entire in the midst of a thousand + continual and powerful solicitations. There is no doing more difficult + than that not doing, nor more active: + </p> + <p> + I hold it more easy to carry a suit of armour all the days of one’s + life than a maidenhead; and the vow of virginity of all others is the most + noble, as being the hardest to keep: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Diaboli virtus in lumbis est,” + </pre> + <p> + says St. Jerome. We have, doubtless, resigned to the ladies the most + difficult and most vigorous of all human endeavours, and let us resign to + them the glory too. This ought to encourage them to be obstinate in it; + ‘tis a brave thing for them to defy us, and to spurn under foot that + vain pre-eminence of valour and virtue that we pretend to have over them; + they will find if they do but observe it, that they will not only be much + more esteemed for it, but also much more beloved. A gallant man does not + give over his pursuit for being refused, provided it be a refusal of + chastity, and not of choice; we may swear, threaten, and complain to much + purpose; we therein do but lie, for we love them all the better: there is + no allurement like modesty, if it be not rude and crabbed. ‘Tis + stupidity and meanness to be obstinate against hatred and disdain; but + against a virtuous and constant resolution, mixed with goodwill, ‘tis + the exercise of a noble and generous soul. They may acknowledge our + service to a certain degree, and give us civilly to understand that they + disdain us not; for the law that enjoins them to abominate us because we + adore them, and to hate us because we love them, is certainly very cruel, + if but for the difficulty of it. Why should they not give ear to our + offers and requests, so long as they are kept within the bounds of + modesty? wherefore should we fancy them to have other thoughts within, and + to be worse than they seem? A queen of our time said with spirit, “that + to refuse these courtesies is a testimony of weakness in women and a + self-accusation of facility, and that a lady could not boast of her + chastity who was never tempted.” + </p> + <p> + The limits of honour are not cut so short; they may give themselves a + little rein, and relax a little without being faulty: there lies on the + frontier some space free, indifferent, and neuter. He that has beaten and + pursued her into her fort is a strange fellow if he be not satisfied with + his fortune: the price of the conquest is considered by the difficulty. + Would you know what impression your service and merit have made in her + heart? Judge of it by her behaviour. Such an one may grant more, who does + not grant so much. The obligation of a benefit wholly relates to the good + will of those who confer it: the other coincident circumstances are dumb, + dead, and casual; it costs her dearer to grant you that little, than it + would do her companion to grant all. If in anything rarity give + estimation, it ought especially in this: do not consider how little it is + that is given, but how few have it to give; the value of money alters + according to the coinage and stamp of the place. Whatever the spite and + indiscretion of some may make them say in the excess of their discontent, + virtue and truth will in time recover all the advantage. I have known some + whose reputation has for a great while suffered under slander, who have + afterwards been restored to the world’s universal approbation by + their mere constancy without care or artifice; every one repents, and + gives himself the lie for what he has believed and said; and from girls a + little suspected they have been afterward advanced to the first rank + amongst the ladies of honour. Somebody told Plato that all the world spoke + ill of him. “Let them talk,” said he; “I will live so as + to make them change their note.” Besides the fear of God, and the + value of so rare a glory, which ought to make them look to themselves, the + corruption of the age we live in compels them to it; and if I were they, + there is nothing I would not rather do than intrust my reputation in so + dangerous hands. In my time the pleasure of telling (a pleasure little + inferior to that of doing) was not permitted but to those who had some + faithful and only friend; but now the ordinary discourse and common + table-talk is nothing but boasts of favours received and the secret + liberality of ladies. In earnest, ‘tis too abject, too much meanness + of spirit, in men to suffer such ungrateful, indiscreet, and giddy-headed + people so to persecute, forage, and rifle those tender and charming + favours. + </p> + <p> + This our immoderate and illegitimate exasperation against this vice + springs from the most vain and turbulent disease that afflicts human + minds, which is jealousy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis vetat apposito lumen de lumine sumi? + Dent licet assidue, nil tamen inde perit;” + + [“Who says that one light should not be lighted from another light? + Let them give ever so much, as much ever remains to lose.”—Ovid, De + Arte Amandi, iii. 93. The measure of the last line is not good; + but the words are taken from the epigram in the Catalecta entitled + Priapus.] +</pre> + <p> + she, and envy, her sister, seem to me to be the most foolish of the whole + troop. As to the last, I can say little about it; ‘tis a passion + that, though said to be so mighty and powerful, had never to do with me. + As to the other, I know it by sight, and that’s all. Beasts feel it; + the shepherd Cratis, having fallen in love with a she-goat, the he-goat, + out of jealousy, came, as he lay asleep, to butt the head of the female, + and crushed it. We have raised this fever to a greater excess by the + examples of some barbarous nations; the best disciplined have been touched + with it, and ‘tis reason, but not transported: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ense maritali nemo confossus adulter + Purpureo Stygias sanguine tinxit aquas.” + + [“Never did adulterer slain by a husband + stain with purple blood the Stygian waters.”] +</pre> + <p> + Lucullus, Caesar, Pompey, Antony, Cato, and other brave men were cuckolds, + and knew it, without making any bustle about it; there was in those days + but one coxcomb, Lepidus, that died for grief that his wife had used him + so. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ah! tum te miserum malique fati, + Quem attractis pedibus, patente porta, + Percurrent raphanique mugilesque:” + + [“Wretched man! when, taken in the fact, thou wilt be + dragged out of doors by the heels, and suffer the punishment + of thy adultery.”—Catullus, xv. 17.] +</pre> + <p> + and the god of our poet, when he surprised one of his companions with his + wife, satisfied himself by putting them to shame only, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Atque aliquis de dis non tristibus optat + Sic fieri turpis:” + + [“And one of the merry gods wishes that he should himself + like to be so disgraced.”—Ovid, Metam., iv. 187.] +</pre> + <p> + and nevertheless took anger at the lukewarm embraces she gave him; + complaining that upon that account she was grown jealous of his affection: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quid causas petis ex alto? fiducia cessit + Quo tibi, diva, mei?” + + [“Dost thou seek causes from above? Why, goddess, has your + confidence in me ceased?”—Virgil, AEneid, viii. 395.] +</pre> + <p> + nay, she entreats arms for a bastard of hers, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Arena rogo genitrix nato.” + + [“I, a mother, ask armour for a son.”—Idem, ibid., 383.] +</pre> + <p> + which are freely granted; and Vulcan speaks honourably of AEneas, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Arma acri facienda viro,” + + [“Arms are to be made for a valiant hero.”—AEneid, viii. 441.] +</pre> + <p> + with, in truth, a more than human humanity. And I am willing to leave this + excess of kindness to the gods: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec divis homines componier aequum est.” + + [“Nor is it fit to compare men with gods.” + —Catullus, lxviii. 141.] +</pre> + <p> + As to the confusion of children, besides that the gravest legislators + ordain and affect it in their republics, it touches not the women, where + this passion is, I know not how, much better seated: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Saepe etiam Juno, maxima coelicolam, + Conjugis in culpa flagravit quotidiana.” + + [“Often was Juno, greatest of the heaven-dwellers, enraged by her + husband’s daily infidelities.”—Idem, ibid.] +</pre> + <p> + When jealousy seizes these poor souls, weak and incapable of resistance, + ‘tis pity to see how miserably it torments and tyrannises over them; + it insinuates itself into them under the title of friendship, but after it + has once possessed them, the same causes that served for a foundation of + good-will serve them for a foundation of mortal hatred. ‘Tis, of all + the diseases of the mind, that which the most things serve for aliment and + the fewest for remedy: the virtue, health, merit, reputation of the + husband are incendiaries of their fury and ill-will: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nullae sunt inimicitiae, nisi amoris, acerbae.” + + [“No enmities are bitter, save that of love.” + (Or:) “No hate is implacable except the hatred of love” + —Propertius, ii. 8, 3.] +</pre> + <p> + This fever defaces and corrupts all they have of beautiful and good + besides; and there is no action of a jealous woman, let her be how chaste + and how good a housewife soever, that does not relish of anger and + wrangling; ‘tis a furious agitation, that rebounds them to an + extremity quite contrary to its cause. This held good with one Octavius at + Rome. Having lain with Pontia Posthumia, he augmented love with fruition, + and solicited with all importunity to marry her: unable to persuade her, + this excessive affection precipitated him to the effects of the most cruel + and mortal hatred: he killed her. In like manner, the ordinary symptoms of + this other amorous disease are intestine hatreds, private conspiracies, + and cabals: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Notumque furens quid faemina possit,” + + [“And it is known what an angry woman is capable of doing.” + —AEneid, V. 21.] +</pre> + <p> + and a rage which so much the more frets itself, as it is compelled to + excuse itself by a pretence of good-will. + </p> + <p> + Now, the duty of chastity is of a vast extent; is it the will that we + would have them restrain? This is a very supple and active thing; a thing + very nimble, to be stayed. How? if dreams sometimes engage them so far + that they cannot deny them: it is not in them, nor, peradventure, in + chastity itself, seeing that is a female, to defend itself from lust and + desire. If we are only to trust to their will, what a case are we in, + then? Do but imagine what crowding there would be amongst men in pursuance + of the privilege to run full speed, without tongue or eyes, into every + woman’s arms who would accept them. The Scythian women put out the + eyes of all their slaves and prisoners of war, that they might have their + pleasure of them, and they never the wiser. O, the furious advantage of + opportunity! Should any one ask me, what was the first thing to be + considered in love matters, I should answer that it was how to take a + fitting time; and so the second; and so the third—‘tis a point + that can do everything. I have sometimes wanted fortune, but I have also + sometimes been wanting to myself in matters of attempt. God help him, who + yet makes light of this! There is greater temerity required in this age of + ours, which our young men excuse under the name of heat; but should women + examine it more strictly, they would find that it rather proceeds from + contempt. I was always superstitiously afraid of giving offence, and have + ever had a great respect for her I loved: besides, he who in this traffic + takes away the reverence, defaces at the same time the lustre. I would in + this affair have a man a little play the child, the timorous, and the + servant. If not this, I have in other bashfulness whereof altogether in + things some air of the foolish Plutarch makes mention; and the course of + my life has been divers ways hurt and blemished with it; a quality very + ill suiting my universal form: and, indeed, what are we but sedition and + discrepancy? I am as much out of countenance to be denied as I am to deny; + and it so much troubles me to be troublesome to others that on occasion + when duty compels me to try the good-will of any one in a thing that is + doubtful and that will be chargeable to him, I do it very faintly, and + very much against my will: but if it be for my own particular (whatever + Homer truly says, that modesty is a foolish virtue in an indigent person), + I commonly commit it to a third person to blush for me, and deny those who + employ me with the same difficulty: so that it has sometimes befallen me + to have had a mind to deny, when I had not the power to do it. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis folly, then, to attempt to bridle in women a desire that is so + powerful in them, and so natural to them. And when I hear them brag of + having so maidenly and so temperate a will, I laugh at them: they retire + too far back. If it be an old toothless trot, or a young dry consumptive + thing, though it be not altogether to be believed, at least they say it + with more similitude of truth. But they who still move and breathe, talk + at that ridiculous rate to their own prejudice, by reason that + inconsiderate excuses are a kind of self-accusation; like a gentleman, a + neighbour of mine, suspected to be insufficient: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Languidior tenera cui pendens sicula beta, + Numquam se mediam sustulit ad tunicam,” + + [Catullus, lxvii. 2, i.—The sense is in the context.] +</pre> + <p> + who three or four days after he was married, to justify himself, went + about boldly swearing that he had ridden twenty stages the night before: + an oath that was afterwards made use of to convict him of his ignorance in + that affair, and to divorce him from his wife. Besides, it signifies + nothing, for there is neither continency nor virtue where there are no + opposing desires. It is true, they may say, but we will not yield; saints + themselves speak after that manner. I mean those who boast in good gravity + of their coldness and insensibility, and who expect to be believed with a + serious countenance; for when ‘tis spoken with an affected look, + when their eyes give the lie to their tongue, and when they talk in the + cant of their profession, which always goes against the hair, ‘tis + good sport. I am a great servant of liberty and plainness; but there is no + remedy; if it be not wholly simple or childish, ‘tis silly, and + unbecoming ladies in this commerce, and presently runs into impudence. + Their disguises and figures only serve to cosen fools; lying is there in + its seat of honour; ‘tis a by-way, that by a back-door leads us to + truth. If we cannot curb their imagination, what would we have from them. + Effects? There are enough of them that evade all foreign communication, by + which chastity may be corrupted: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Illud saepe facit, quod sine teste facit;” + + [“He often does that which he does without a witness.” + —Martial, vii. 62, 6.] +</pre> + <p> + and those which we fear the least are, peradventure, most to be feared; + their sins that make the least noise are the worst: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Offendor maecha simpliciore minus.” + + [“I am less offended with a more professed strumpet.” + —Idem, vi. 7,6.] +</pre> + <p> + There are ways by which they may lose their virginity without + prostitution, and, which is more, without their knowledge: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Obsterix, virginis cujusdam integritatem manu velut explorans, sive + malevolentia, sive inscitia, sive casu, dum inspicit, perdidit.” + + [“By malevolence, or unskilfulness, or accident, the midwife, + seeking with the hand to test some maiden’s virginity, has sometimes + destroyed it.”—St. Augustine, De Civit. Dei, i. 18.] +</pre> + <p> + Such a one, by seeking her maidenhead, has lost it; another by playing + with it has destroyed it. We cannot precisely circumscribe the actions, we + interdict them; they must guess at our meaning under general and doubtful + terms; the very idea we invent for their chastity is ridiculous: for, + amongst the greatest patterns that I have is Fatua, the wife of Faunus: + who never, after her marriage, suffered herself to be seen by any man + whatever; and the wife of Hiero, who never perceived her husband’s + stinking breath, imagining that it was common to all men. They must become + insensible and invisible to satisfy us. + </p> + <p> + Now let us confess that the knot of this judgment of duty principally lies + in the will; there have been husbands who have suffered cuckoldom, not + only without reproach or taking offence at their wives, but with singular + obligation to them and great commendation of their virtue. Such a woman + has been, who prized her honour above her life, and yet has prostituted it + to the furious lust of a mortal enemy, to save her husband’s life, + and who, in so doing, did that for him she would not have done for + herself! This is not the place wherein we are to multiply these examples; + they are too high and rich to be set off with so poor a foil as I can give + them here; let us reserve them for a nobler place; but for examples of + ordinary lustre, do we not every day see women amongst us who surrender + themselves for their husbands sole benefit, and by their express order and + mediation? and, of old, Phaulius the Argian, who offered his to King + Philip out of ambition; as Galba did it out of civility, who, having + entertained Maecenas at supper, and observing that his wife and he began + to cast glances at one another and to make eyes and signs, let himself + sink down upon his cushion, like one in a profound sleep, to give + opportunity to their desires: which he handsomely confessed, for thereupon + a servant having made bold to lay hands on the plate upon the table, he + frankly cried, “What, you rogue? do you not see that I only sleep + for Maecenas?” Such there may be, whose manners may be lewd enough, + whose will may be more reformed than another, who outwardly carries + herself after a more regular manner. As we see some who complain of having + vowed chastity before they knew what they did; and I have also known + others really, complain of having been given up to debauchery before they + were of the years of discretion. The vice of the parents or the impulse of + nature, which is a rough counsellor, may be the cause. + </p> + <p> + In the East Indies, though chastity is of singular reputation, yet custom + permitted a married woman to prostitute herself to any one who presented + her with an elephant, and that with glory, to have been valued at so high + a rate. Phaedo the philosopher, a man of birth, after the taking of his + country Elis, made it his trade to prostitute the beauty of his youth, so + long as it lasted, to any one that would, for money thereby to gain his + living: and Solon was the first in Greece, ‘tis said, who by his + laws gave liberty to women, at the expense of their chastity, to provide + for the necessities of life; a custom that Herodotus says had been + received in many governments before his time. And besides, what fruit is + there of this painful solicitude? For what justice soever there is in this + passion, we are yet to consider whether it turns to account or no: does + any one think to curb them, with all his industry? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pone seram; cohibe: sed quis custodiet ipsos + Custodes? cauta est, et ab illis incipit uxor.” + + [“Put on a lock; shut them up under a guard; but who shall guard + the guard? she knows what she is about, and begins with them.” + —Juvenal, vi. 346.] +</pre> + <p> + What commodity will not serve their turn, in so knowing an age? + </p> + <p> + Curiosity is vicious throughout; but ‘tis pernicious here. ‘Tis + folly to examine into a disease for which there is no physic that does not + inflame and make it worse; of which the shame grows still greater and more + public by jealousy, and of which the revenge more wounds our children than + it heals us. You wither and die in the search of so obscure a proof. How + miserably have they of my time arrived at that knowledge who have been so + unhappy as to have found it out? If the informer does not at the same time + apply a remedy and bring relief, ‘tis an injurious information, and + that better deserves a stab than the lie. We no less laugh at him who + takes pains to prevent it, than at him who is a cuckold and knows it not. + The character of cuckold is indelible: who once has it carries it to his + grave; the punishment proclaims it more than the fault. It is to much + purpose to drag out of obscurity and doubt our private misfortunes, thence + to expose them on tragic scaffolds; and misfortunes that only hurt us by + being known; for we say a good wife or a happy marriage, not that they are + really so, but because no one says to the contrary. Men should be so + discreet as to evade this tormenting and unprofitable knowledge: and the + Romans had a custom, when returning from any expedition, to send home + before to acquaint their wives with their coming, that they might not + surprise them; and to this purpose it is that a certain nation has + introduced a custom, that the priest shall on the wedding-day open the way + to the bride, to free the husband from the doubt and curiosity of + examining in the first assault, whether she comes a virgin to his bed, or + has been at the trade before. + </p> + <p> + But the world will be talking. I know, a hundred honest men cuckolds, + honestly and not unbeseemingly; a worthy man is pitied, not disesteemed + for it. Order it so that your virtue may conquer your misfortune; that + good men may curse the occasion, and that he who wrongs you may tremble + but to think on’t. And, moreover, who escapes being talked of at the + same rate, from the least even to the greatest? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tot qui legionibus imperitivit + Et melior quam to multis fuit, improbe, rebus.” + + [“Many who have commanded legions, many a man much better far than + you, you rascal.”—Lucretius, iii. 1039, 1041.] +</pre> + <p> + Seest thou how many honest men are reproached with this in thy presence; + believe that thou art no more spared elsewhere. But, the very ladies will + be laughing too; and what are they so apt to laugh at in this virtuous age + of ours as at a peaceable and well-composed marriage? Each amongst you has + made somebody cuckold; and nature runs much in parallel, in compensation, + and turn for turn. The frequency of this accident ought long since to have + made it more easy; ‘tis now passed into custom. + </p> + <p> + Miserable passion! which has this also, that it is incommunicable, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fors etiam nostris invidit questibus aures;” + + [“Fortune also refuses ear to our complaints.” + —Catullus, lxvii.] +</pre> + <p> + for to what friend dare you intrust your griefs, who, if he does not laugh + at them, will not make use of the occasion to get a share of the quarry? + The sharps, as well as the sweets of marriage, are kept secret by the + wise; and amongst its other troublesome conditions this to a prating + fellow, as I am, is one of the chief, that custom has rendered it indecent + and prejudicial to communicate to any one all that a man knows and all + that a man feels. To give women the same counsel against jealousy would be + so much time lost; their very being is so made up of suspicion, vanity, + and curiosity, that to cure them by any legitimate way is not to be hoped. + They often recover of this infirmity by a form of health much more to be + feared than the disease itself; for as there are enchantments that cannot + take away the evil but by throwing it upon another, they also willingly + transfer this ever to their husbands, when they shake it off themselves. + And yet I know not, to speak truth, whether a man can suffer worse from + them than their jealousy; ‘tis the most dangerous of all their + conditions, as the head is of all their members. Pittacus used to say,—[Plutarch, + On Contentment, c. II.]— that every one had his trouble, and that + his was the jealous head of his wife; but for which he should think + himself perfectly happy. A mighty inconvenience, sure, which could poison + the whole life of so just, so wise, and so valiant a man; what must we + other little fellows do? The senate of Marseilles had reason to grant him + his request who begged leave to kill himself that he might be delivered + from the clamour of his wife; for ‘tis a mischief that is never + removed but by removing the whole piece; and that has no remedy but flight + or patience, though both of them very hard. He was, methinks, an + understanding fellow who said, ‘twas a happy marriage betwixt a + blind wife and a deaf husband. + </p> + <p> + Let us also consider whether the great and violent severity of obligation + we enjoin them does not produce two effects contrary to our design namely, + whether it does not render the pursuants more eager to attack, and the + women more easy to yield. For as to the first, by raising the value of the + place, we raise the value and the desire of the conquest. Might it not be + Venus herself, who so cunningly enhanced the price of her merchandise, by + making the laws her bawds; knowing how insipid a delight it would be that + was not heightened by fancy and hardness to achieve? In short, ‘tis + all swine’s flesh, varied by sauces, as Flaminius’ host said. + Cupid is a roguish god, who makes it his sport to contend with devotion + and justice: ‘tis his glory that his power mates all powers, and + that all other rules give place to his: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Materiam culpae prosequiturque suae.” + + [“And seeks out a matter (motive) for his crimes.” + —Ovid, Trist., iv. I. 34.] +</pre> + <p> + As to the second point; should we not be less cuckolds, if we less feared + to be so? according to the humour of women whom interdiction incites, and + who are more eager, being forbidden: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ubi velis, nolunt; ubi nolis, volunt ultro; + Concessa pudet ire via.” + + [“Where thou wilt, they won’t; where thou wilt not, they + spontaneously agree; they are ashamed to go in the permitted path.” + —Terence, Eunuchus, act iv., sc. 8, v 43] +</pre> + <p> + What better interpretation can we make of Messalina’s behaviour? + She, at first, made her husband a cuckold in private, as is the common + use; but, bringing her business about with too much ease, by reason of her + husband’s stupidity, she soon scorned that way, and presently fell + to making open love, to own her lovers, and to favour and entertain them + in the sight of all: she would make him know and see how she used him. + This animal, not to be roused with all this, and rendering her pleasures + dull and flat by his too stupid facility, by which he seemed to authorise + and make them lawful; what does she? Being the wife of a living and + healthful emperor, and at Rome, the theatre of the world, in the face of + the sun, and with solemn ceremony, and to Silius, who had long before + enjoyed her, she publicly marries herself one day that her husband was + gone out of the city. Does it not seem as if she was going to become + chaste by her husband’s negligence? or that she sought another + husband who might sharpen her appetite by his jealousy, and who by + watching should incite her? But the first difficulty she met with was also + the last: this beast suddenly roused these sleepy, sluggish sort of men + are often the most dangerous: I have found by experience that this extreme + toleration, when it comes to dissolve, produces the most severe revenge; + for taking fire on a sudden, anger and fury being combined in one, + discharge their utmost force at the first onset, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Irarumque omnes effundit habenas:” + + [“He let loose his whole fury.”—AEneid, xii. 499.] +</pre> + <p> + he put her to death, and with her a great number of those with whom she + had intelligence, and even one of them who could not help it, and whom she + had caused to be forced to her bed with scourges. + </p> + <p> + What Virgil says of Venus and Vulcan, Lucretius had better expressed of a + stolen enjoyment betwixt her and Mars: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Belli fera moenera Mavors + Armipotens regit, ingremium qui saepe tuum se + Rejictt, aeterno devinctus vulnere amoris + ............................ + Pascit amore avidos inhians in te, Dea, visus, + Eque tuo pendet resupini spiritus ore + Hunc tu, Diva, tuo recubantem corpore sancto + Circumfusa super, suaveis ex ore loquelas + Funde.” + + [“Mars, the god of wars, who controls the cruel tasks of war, often + reclines on thy bosom, and greedily drinks love at both his eyes, + vanquished by the eternal wound of love: and his breath, as he + reclines, hangs on thy lips; bending thy head over him as he lies + upon thy sacred person, pour forth sweet and persuasive words.” + —Lucretius, i. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + When I consider this rejicit, fiascit, inhians, ynolli, fovet, medullas, + labefacta, pendet, percurrit, and that noble circumfusa, mother of the + pretty infuses; I disdain those little quibbles and verbal allusions that + have since sprung up. Those worthy people stood in need of no subtlety to + disguise their meaning; their language is downright, and full of natural + and continued vigour; they are all epigram; not only the tail, but the + head, body, and feet. There is nothing forced, nothing languishing, but + everything keeps the same pace: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Contextus totes virilis est; non sunt circa flosculos occupati.” + + [“The whole contexture is manly; they don’t occupy themselves with + little flowers of rhetoric.”—Seneca, Ep., 33.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis not a soft eloquence, and without offence only; ‘tis + nervous and solid, that does not so much please, as it fills and ravishes + the greatest minds. When I see these brave forms of expression, so lively, + so profound, I do not say that ‘tis well said, but well thought. + ‘Tis the sprightliness of the imagination that swells and elevates + the words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pectus est quod disertum Tacit.” + + [“The heart makes the man eloquent.”—Quintilian, x. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + Our people call language, judgment, and fine words, full conceptions. This + painting is not so much carried on by dexterity of hand as by having the + object more vividly imprinted in the soul. Gallus speaks simply because he + conceives simply: Horace does not content himself with a superficial + expression; that would betray him; he sees farther and more clearly into + things; his mind breaks into and rummages all the magazine of words and + figures wherewith to express himself, and he must have them more than + ordinary, because his conception is so. Plutarch says’ that he sees + the Latin tongue by the things: ‘tis here the same: the sense + illuminates and produces the words, no more words of air, but of flesh and + bone; they signify more than they say. Moreover, those who are not well + skilled in a language present some image of this; for in Italy I said + whatever I had a mind to in common discourse, but in more serious talk, I + durst not have trusted myself with an idiom that I could not wind and turn + out of its ordinary pace; I would have a power of introducing something of + my own. + </p> + <p> + The handling and utterance of fine wits is that which sets off language; + not so much by innovating it, as by putting it to more vigorous and + various services, and by straining, bending, and adapting it to them. They + do not create words, but they enrich their own, and give them weight and + signification by the uses they put them to, and teach them unwonted + motions, but withal ingeniously and discreetly. And how little this talent + is given to all is manifest by the many French scribblers of this age: + they are bold and proud enough not to follow the common road, but want of + invention and discretion ruins them; there is nothing seen in their + writings but a wretched affectation of a strange new style, with cold and + absurd disguises, which, instead of elevating, depress the matter: + provided they can but trick themselves out with new words, they care not + what they signify; and to bring in a new word by the head and shoulders, + they leave the old one, very often more sinewy and significant than the + other. + </p> + <p> + There is stuff enough in our language, but there is a defect in cutting + out: for there is nothing that might not be made out of our terms of + hunting and war, which is a fruitful soil to borrow from; and forms of + speaking, like herbs, improve and grow stronger by being transplanted. I + find it sufficiently abundant, but not sufficiently pliable and vigorous; + it commonly quails under a powerful conception; if you would maintain the + dignity of your style, you will often perceive it to flag and languish + under you, and there Latin steps in to its relief, as Greek does to + others. Of some of these words I have just picked out we do not so easily + discern the energy, by reason that the frequent use of them has in some + sort abased their beauty, and rendered it common; as in our ordinary + language there are many excellent phrases and metaphors to be met with, of + which the beauty is withered by age, and the colour is sullied by too + common handling; but that nothing lessens the relish to an understanding + man, nor does it derogate from the glory of those ancient authors who, + ‘tis likely, first brought those words into that lustre. + </p> + <p> + The sciences treat of things too refinedly, after an artificial, very + different from the common and natural, way. My page makes love, and + understands it; but read to him Leo Hebraeus—[Leo the Jew, Ficinus, + Cardinal Bembo, and Mario Equicola all wrote Treatises on Love.]— + and Ficinus, where they speak of love, its thoughts and actions, he + understands it not. I do not find in Aristotle most of my ordinary + motions; they are there covered and disguised in another robe for the use + of the schools. Good speed them! were I of the trade, I would as much + naturalise art as they artificialise nature. Let us let Bembo and Equicola + alone. + </p> + <p> + When I write, I can very well spare both the company and the remembrance + of books, lest they should interrupt my progress; and also, in truth, the + best authors too much humble and discourage me: I am very much of the + painter’s mind, who, having represented cocks most wretchedly ill, + charged all his boys not to suffer any natural cock to come into his shop; + and had rather need to give myself a little lustre, of the invention of + Antigenides the musician, who, when he was asked to sing or play, took + care beforehand that the auditory should, either before or after, be + satiated with some other ill musicians. But I can hardly be without + Plutarch; he is so universal and so full, that upon all occasions, and + what extravagant subject soever you take in hand, he will still be at your + elbow, and hold out to you a liberal and not to be exhausted hand of + riches and embellishments. It vexes me that he is so exposed to be the + spoil of those who are conversant with him: I can scarce cast an eye upon + him but I purloin either a leg or a wing. + </p> + <p> + And also for this design of mine ‘tis convenient for me for me to + write at home, in a wild country, where I have nobody to assist or relieve + me; where I hardly see a man who understands the Latin of his Paternoster, + and of French a little less. I might have made it better elsewhere, but + then the work would have been less my own; and its principal end and + perfection is to be exactly mine. I readily correct an accidental error, + of which I am full, as I run carelessly on; but for my ordinary and + constant imperfections, it were a kind of treason to put them out. When + another tells me, or that I say to myself, “Thou art too thick of + figures: this is a word of rough Gascon: that is a dangerous phrase (I do + not reject any of those that are used in the common streets of France; + they who would fight custom with grammar are triflers): this is an + ignorant discourse: this is a paradoxical discourse: that is going too + far: thou makest thyself too merry at times: men will think thou sayest a + thing in good earnest which thou only speakest in jest.”—“Yes, + I know, but I correct the faults of inadvertence, not those of custom. Do + I not talk at the same rate throughout? Do I not represent myself to the + life? ‘Tis enough that I have done what I designed; all the world + knows me in my book, and my book in me.” + </p> + <p> + Now I have an apish, imitative quality: when I used to write verses (and I + never made any but Latin), they evidently discovered the poet I had last + read, and some of my first essays have a little exotic taste: I speak + something another kind of language at Paris than I do at Montaigne. + Whoever I steadfastly look upon easily leaves some impression of his upon + me; whatever I consider I usurp, whether a foolish countenance, a + disagreeable look, or a ridiculous way of speaking; and vices most of all, + because they seize and stick to me, and will not leave hold without + shaking. I swear more by imitation than by complexion: a murderous + imitation, like that of the apes so terrible both in stature and strength, + that Alexander met with in a certain country of the Indies, and which he + would have had much ado any other way to have subdued; but they afforded + him the means by that inclination of theirs to imitate whatever they saw + done; for by that the hunters were taught to put on shoes in their sight, + and to tie them fast with many knots, and to muffle up their heads in caps + all composed of running nooses, and to seem to anoint their eyes with + glue; so did those poor beasts employ their imitation to their own ruin + they glued up their own eyes, haltered and bound themselves. The other + faculty of playing the mimic, and ingeniously acting the words and + gestures of another, purposely to make people merry and to raise their + admiration, is no more in me than in a stock. When I swear my own oath, + ‘tis only, by God! of all oaths the most direct. They say that + Socrates swore by the dog; Zeno had for his oath the same interjection at + this time in use amongst the Italians, Cappari! Pythagoras swore By water + and air. I am so apt, without thinking of it, to receive these superficial + impressions, that if I have Majesty or Highness in my mouth three days + together, they come out instead of Excellency and Lordship eight days + after; and what I say to-day in sport and fooling I shall say the same + to-morrow seriously. Wherefore, in writing, I more unwillingly undertake + beaten arguments, lest I should handle them at another’s expense. + Every subject is equally fertile to me: a fly will serve the purpose, and + ‘tis well if this I have in hand has not been undertaken at the + recommendation of as flighty a will. I may begin, with that which pleases + me best, for the subjects are all linked to one another. + </p> + <p> + But my soul displeases me, in that it ordinarily produces its deepest and + most airy conceits and which please me best, when I least expect or study + for them, and which suddenly vanish, having at the instant, nothing to + apply them to; on horseback, at table, and in bed: but most on horseback, + where I am most given to think. My speaking is a little nicely jealous of + silence and attention: if I am talking my best, whoever interrupts me, + stops me. In travelling, the necessity of the way will often put a stop to + discourse; besides which I, for the most part, travel without company fit + for regular discourses, by which means I have all the leisure I would to + entertain myself. It falls out as it does in my dreams; whilst dreaming I + recommend them to my memory (for I am apt to dream that I dream), but, the + next morning, I may represent to myself of what complexion they were, + whether gay, or sad, or strange, but what they were, as to the rest, the + more I endeavour to retrieve them, the deeper I plunge them in oblivion. + So of thoughts that come accidentally into my head, I have no more but a + vain image remaining in my memory; only enough to make me torment myself + in their quest to no purpose. + </p> + <p> + Well, then, laying books aside, and more simply and materially speaking, I + find, after all, that Love is nothing else but the thirst of enjoying the + object desired, or Venus any other thing than the pleasure of discharging + one’s vessels, just as the pleasure nature gives in discharging + other parts, that either by immoderation or indiscretion become vicious. + According to Socrates, love is the appetite of generation by the mediation + of beauty. And when I consider the ridiculous titillation of this + pleasure, the absurd, crack-brained, wild motions with which it inspires + Zeno and Cratippus, the indiscreet rage, the countenance inflamed with + fury and cruelty in the sweetest effects of love, and then that austere + air, so grave, severe, ecstatic, in so wanton an action; that our delights + and our excrements are promiscuously shuffled together; and that the + supreme pleasure brings along with it, as in pain, fainting and + complaining; I believe it to be true, as Plato says, that the gods made + man for their sport: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quaenam ista jocandi + Saevitia!” + + [“With a sportive cruelty” (Or:) “What an unkindness there is in + jesting!”—Claudian in Eutrop. i. 24.] +</pre> + <p> + and that it was in mockery that nature has ordered the most agitative of + actions and the most common, to make us equal, and to put fools and wise + men, beasts and us, on a level. Even the most contemplative and prudent + man, when I imagine him in this posture, I hold him an impudent fellow to + pretend to be prudent and contemplative; they are the peacocks’ feet + that abate his pride: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ridentem dicere verum + Quid vetat?” + + [“What prevents us from speaking truth with a smile?” + —Horace, Sat., i. I, 24.] +</pre> + <p> + They who banish serious imaginations from their sports, do, says one, like + him who dares not adore the statue of a saint, if not covered with a veil. + We eat and drink, indeed, as beasts do; but these are not actions that + obstruct the functions of the soul, in these we maintain our advantage + over them; this other action subjects all other thought, and by its + imperious authority makes an ass of all Plato’s divinity and + philosophy; and yet there is no complaint of it. In everything else a man + may keep some decorum, all other operations submit to the rules of + decency; this cannot so much as in imagination appear other than vicious + or ridiculous: find out, if you can, therein any serious and discreet + procedure. Alexander said, that he chiefly knew himself to be mortal by + this act and sleeping; sleep suffocates and suppresses the faculties of + the soul; the familiarity with women likewise dissipates and exhausts + them: doubtless ‘tis a mark, not only of our original corruption, + but also of our vanity and deformity. + </p> + <p> + On the one side, nature pushes us on to it, having fixed the most noble, + useful, and pleasant of all her functions to this desire: and, on the + other side, leaves us to accuse and avoid it, as insolent and indecent, to + blush at it, and to recommend abstinence. Are we not brutes to call that + work brutish which begets us? People of so many differing religions have + concurred in several proprieties, as sacrifices, lamps, burning incense, + fasts, and offerings; and amongst others, in the condemning this act: all + opinions tend that way, besides the widespread custom of circumcision, + which may be regarded as a punishment. We have, peradventure, reason to + blame ourselves for being guilty of so foolish a production as man, and to + call the act, and the parts that are employed in the act, shameful (mine, + truly, are now shameful and pitiful). The Essenians, of whom Pliny speaks, + kept up their country for several ages without either nurse or + baby-clouts, by the arrival of strangers who, following this pretty + humour, came continually to them: a whole nation being resolute, rather to + hazard a total extermination, than to engage themselves in female + embraces, and rather to lose the succession of men, than to beget one. + ‘Tis said, that Zeno never had to do with a woman but once in his + life, and then out of civility, that he might not seem too obstinately to + disdain the sex. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Diogenes Laertius, vii. 13.—What is there said, however, is that + Zeno seldom had commerce with boys, lest he should be deemed a very + misogynist.] +</pre> + <p> + Every one avoids seeing a man born, every one runs to see him die; to + destroy him a spacious field is sought out in the face of the sun, but, to + make him, we creep into as dark and private a corner as we can: ‘tis + a man’s duty to withdraw himself bashfully from the light to create; + but ‘tis glory and the fountain of many virtues to know how to + destroy what we have made: the one is injury, the other favour: for + Aristotle says that to do any one a kindness, in a certain phrase of his + country, is to kill him. The Athenians, to couple the disgrace of these + two actions, having to purge the Isle of Delos, and to justify themselves + to Apollo, interdicted at once all births and burials in the precincts + thereof: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nostri nosmet paenitet.” + + [“We are ashamed of ourselves.”—Terence, Phoymio, i. 3, 20.] +</pre> + <p> + There are some nations that will not be seen to eat. I know a lady, and of + the best quality, who has the same opinion, that chewing disfigures the + face, and takes away much from the ladies’ grace and beauty; and + therefore unwillingly appears at a public table with an appetite; and I + know a man also, who cannot endure to see another eat, nor himself to be + seen eating, and who is more shy of company when putting in than when + putting out. In the Turkish empire, there are a great number of men who, + to excel others, never suffer themselves to be seen when they make their + repast: who never have any more than one a week; who cut and mangle their + faces and limbs; who never speak to any one: fanatic people who think to + honour their nature by disnaturing themselves; who value themselves upon + their contempt of themselves, and purport to grow better by being worse. + What monstrous animal is this, that is a horror to himself, to whom his + delights are grievous, and who weds himself to misfortune? There are + people who conceal their life: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Exilioque domos et dulcia limina mutant,” + + [“And change for exile their homes and pleasant abodes.” + —Virgil, Georg., ii. 511.] +</pre> + <p> + and withdraw them from the sight of other men; who avoid health and + cheerfulness, as dangerous and prejudicial qualities. Not only many sects, + but many peoples, curse their birth, and bless their death; and there is a + place where the sun is abominated and darkness adored. We are only + ingenious in using ourselves ill: ‘tis the real quarry our + intellects fly at; and intellect, when misapplied, is a dangerous tool! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O miseri! quorum gaudia crimen habent!” + + [“O wretched men, whose pleasures are a crime!” + —Pseudo Gallus, i. 180.] +</pre> + <p> + Alas, poor man! thou hast enough inconveniences that are inevitable, + without increasing them by throe own invention; and art miserable enough + by nature, without being so by art; thou hast real and essential + deformities enough, without forging those that are imaginary. Dost thou + think thou art too much at ease unless half thy ease is uneasy? dost thou + find that thou hast not performed all the necessary offices that nature + has enjoined thee, and that she is idle in thee, if thou dost not oblige + thyself to other and new offices? Thou dost not stick to infringe her + universal and undoubted laws; but stickest to thy own special and + fantastic rules, and by how much more particular, uncertain, and + contradictory they are, by so much thou employest thy whole endeavour in + them: the laws of thy parish occupy and bind thee: those of God and the + world concern thee not. Run but a little over the examples of this kind; + thy life is full of them. + </p> + <p> + Whilst the verses of these two poets, treat so reservedly and discreetly + of wantonness as they do, methinks they discover it much more openly. + Ladies cover their necks with network, priests cover several sacred + things, and painters shadow their pictures to give them greater lustre: + and ‘tis said that the sun and wind strike more violently by + reflection than in a direct line. The Egyptian wisely answered him who + asked him what he had under his cloak, “It is hid under my cloak,” + said he, “that thou mayest not know what it is:” but there are + certain other things that people hide only to show them. Hear that one, + who speaks plainer, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et nudum pressi corpus ad usque meum:” + + [“And pressed her naked body to mine” (Or:) “My body + I applied even to her naked side”—Ovid, Amor., i. 5, 24.] +</pre> + <p> + methinks that he emasculates me. Let Martial turn up Venus as high as he + may, he cannot shew her so naked: he who says all that is to be said gluts + and disgusts us. He who is afraid to express himself, draws us on to guess + at more than is meant; there is treachery in this sort of modesty, and + specially when they half open, as these do, so fair a path to imagination. + Both the action and description should relish of theft. + </p> + <p> + The more respectful, more timorous, more coy, and secret love of the + Spaniards and Italians pleases me. I know not who of old wished his throat + as long as that of a crane, that he might the longer taste what he + swallowed; it had been better wished as to this quick and precipitous + pleasure, especially in such natures as mine that have the fault of being + too prompt. To stay its flight and delay it with preambles: all things + —a glance, a bow, a word, a sign, stand for favour and recompense + betwixt them. Were it not an excellent piece of thrift in him who could + dine on the steam of the roast? ‘Tis a passion that mixes with very + little solid essence, far more vanity and feverish raving; and we should + serve and pay it accordingly. Let us teach the ladies to set a better + value and esteem upon themselves, to amuse and fool us: we give the last + charge at the first onset; the French impetuosity will still show itself; + by spinning out their favours, and exposing them in small parcels, even + miserable old age itself will find some little share of reward, according + to its worth and merit. He who has no fruition but in fruition, who wins + nothing unless he sweeps the stakes, who takes no pleasure in the chase + but in the quarry, ought not to introduce himself in our school: the more + steps and degrees there are, so much higher and more honourable is the + uppermost seat: we should take a pleasure in being conducted to it, as in + magnificent palaces, by various porticoes and passages, long and pleasant + galleries, and many windings. This disposition of things would turn to our + advantage; we should there longer stay and longer love; without hope and + without desire we proceed not worth a pin. Our conquest and entire + possession is what they ought infinitely to dread: when they wholly + surrender themselves up to the mercy of our fidelity and constancy they + run a mighty hazard; they are virtues very rare and hard to be found; the + ladies are no sooner ours, than we are no more theirs: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Postquam cupidae mentis satiata libido est, + Verba nihil metuere, nihil perjuria curant;” + + [“When our desires are once satisfied, we care little + for oaths and promises.”—Catullus, lxiv. 147.] +</pre> + <p> + And Thrasonides, a young man of Greece, was so in love with his passion + that, having, gained a mistress’s consent, he refused to enjoy her, + that he might not by fruition quench and stupefy the unquiet ardour of + which he was so proud, and with which he so fed himself. Dearness is a + good sauce to meat: do but observe how much the manner of salutation, + particular to our nation, has, by its facilities, made kisses, which + Socrates says are so powerful and dangerous for the stealing of hearts, of + no esteem. It is a displeasing custom and injurious for the ladies, that + they must be obliged to lend their lips to every fellow who has three + footmen at his heels, however ill-favoured he may be in himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cujus livida naribus caninis + Dependet glacies, rigetque barba . . . + Centum occurrere malo culilingis:” + Martial, vii. 94. +</pre> + <p> + and we ourselves barely gain by it; for as the world is divided, for three + beautiful women we must kiss fifty ugly ones; and to a tender stomach, + like those of my age, an ill kiss overpays a good one. + </p> + <p> + In Italy they passionately court even their common women who sell + themselves for money, and justify the doing so by saying, “that + there are degrees of fruition, and that by such service they would procure + for themselves that which is most entire; the women sell nothing but their + bodies; the will is too free and too much of its own to be exposed to + sale.” So that these say, ‘tis the will they undertake and + they have reason. ‘Tis indeed the will that we are to serve and gain + by wooing. I abhor to imagine mine, a body without affection: and this + madness is, methinks, cousin-german to that of the boy who would needs + pollute the beautiful statue of Venus made by Praxiteles; or that of the + furious Egyptian, who violated the dead carcase of a woman he was + embalming: which was the occasion of the law then made in Egypt, that the + corpses of beautiful young women, of those of good quality, should be kept + three days before they should be delivered to those whose office it was to + take care for the interment. Periander did more wonderfully, who extended + his conjugal affection (more regular and legitimate) to the enjoyment of + his wife Melissa after she was dead. Does it not seem a lunatic humour in + the Moon, seeing she could no otherwise enjoy her darling Endymion, to + lay-him for several months asleep, and to please herself with the fruition + of a boy who stirred not but in his sleep? I likewise say that we love a + body without a soul or sentiment when we love a body without its consent + and desire. All enjoyments are not alike: there are some that are hectic + and languishing: a thousand other causes besides good-will may procure us + this favour from the ladies; this is not a sufficient testimony of + affection: treachery may lurk there, as well as elsewhere: they sometimes + go to’t by halves: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tanquam thura merumque parent + Absentem marmoreamve putes:” + + [“As if they are preparing frankincense and wine . . . you might + think her absent or marble.”—Martial, xi. 103, 12, and 59, 8.] +</pre> + <p> + I know some who had rather lend that than their coach, and who only impart + themselves that way. You are to examine whether your company pleases them + upon any other account, or, as some strong-chined groom, for that only; in + what degree of favour and esteem you are with them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tibi si datur uni, + Quem lapide illa diem candidiore notat.” + + [“Wherefore that is enough, if that day alone is given us which she + marks with a whiter stone.”—Catullus, lxviii. 147.] +</pre> + <p> + What if they eat your bread with the sauce of a more pleasing imagination. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Te tenet, absentes alios suspirat amores.” + + [“She has you in her arms; her thoughts are with + other absent lovers.”—Tibullus, i. 6, 35.] +</pre> + <p> + What? have we not seen one in these days of ours who made use of this act + for the purpose of a most horrid revenge, by that means to kill and + poison, as he did, a worthy lady? + </p> + <p> + Such as know Italy will not think it strange if, for this subject, I seek + not elsewhere for examples; for that nation may be called the regent of + the world in this. They have more generally handsome and fewer ugly women + than we; but for rare and excellent beauties we have as many as they. I + think the same of their intellects: of those of the common sort, they have + evidently far more brutishness is immeasurably rarer there; but in + individual characters of the highest form, we are nothing indebted to + them. If I should carry on the comparison, I might say, as touching + valour, that, on the contrary, it is, to what it is with them, common and + natural with us; but sometimes we see them possessed of it to such a + degree as surpasses the greatest examples we can produce: The marriages of + that country are defective in this; their custom commonly imposes so rude + and so slavish a law upon the women, that the most distant acquaintance + with a stranger is as capital an offence as the most intimate; so that all + approaches being rendered necessarily substantial, and seeing that all + comes to one account, they have no hard choice to make; and when they have + broken down the fence, we may safely presume they get on fire: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Luxuria ipsis vinculis, sicut fera bestia, + irritata, deinde emissa.” + + [“Lust, like a wild beast, being more excited by being bound, + breaks from his chains with greater wildness.”—Livy, xxxiv. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + They must give them a little more rein: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vidi ego nuper equum, contra sua frena tenacem, + Ore reluctanti fulminis ire modo”: + + [“I saw, the other day, a horse struggling against his bit, + rush like a thunderbolt.”—Ovid, Amor., iii. 4, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + the desire of company is allayed by giving it a little liberty. We are + pretty much in the same case they are extreme in constraint, we in + licence. ‘Tis a good custom we have in France that our sons are + received into the best families, there to be entertained and bred up + pages, as in a school of nobility; and ‘tis looked upon as a + discourtesy and an affront to refuse this to a gentleman. I have taken + notice (for, so many families, so many differing forms) that the ladies + who have been strictest with their maids have had no better luck than + those who allowed them a greater liberty. There should be moderation in + these things; one must leave a great deal of their conduct to their own + discretion; for, when all comes to all, no discipline can curb them + throughout. But it is true withal that she who comes off with flying + colours from a school of liberty, brings with her whereon to repose more + confidence than she who comes away sound from a severe and strict school. + </p> + <p> + Our fathers dressed up their daughters’ looks in bashfulness and + fear (their courage and desires being the same); we ours in confidence and + assurance; we understand nothing of the matter; we must leave it to the + Sarmatian women, who may not lie with a man till with their own hands they + have first killed another in battle. For me, who have no other title left + me to these things but by the ears, ‘tis sufficient if, according to + the privilege of my age, they retain me for one of their counsel. I advise + them then, and us men too, to abstinence; but if the age we live in will + not endure it, at least modesty and discretion. For, as in the story of + Aristippus, who, speaking to some young men who blushed to see him go into + a scandalous house, said “the vice is in not coming out, not in + going in,” let her who has no care of her conscience have yet some + regard to her reputation; and though she be rotten within, let her carry a + fair outside at least. + </p> + <p> + I commend a gradation and delay in bestowing their favours: Plato ‘declares + that, in all sorts of love, facility and promptness are forbidden to the + defendant. ‘Tis a sign of eagerness which they ought to disguise + with all the art they have, so rashly, wholly, and hand-over-hand to + surrender themselves. In carrying themselves orderly and measuredly in the + granting their last favours, they much more allure our desires and hide + their own. Let them still fly before us, even those who have most mind to + be overtaken: they better conquer us by flying, as the Scythians did. To + say the truth, according to the law that nature has imposed upon them, it + is not properly for them either to will or desire; their part is to + suffer, obey, and consent and for this it is that nature has given them a + perpetual capacity, which in us is but at times and uncertain; they are + always fit for the encounter, that they may be always ready when we are so + “Pati natee."-[“Born to suffer."-Seneca, Ep., 95.]—And + whereas she has ordered that our appetites shall be manifest by a + prominent demonstration, she would have theirs to be hidden and concealed + within, and has furnished them with parts improper for ostentation, and + simply defensive. Such proceedings as this that follows must be left to + the Amazonian licence: Alexander marching his army through Hyrcania, + Thalestris, Queen of the Amazons, came with three hundred light horse of + her own-sex, well mounted, and armed, having left the remainder of a very + great, army that followed her behind the neighbouring mountains to give + him a visit; where she publicly and in plain terms told him that the fame + of his valour and victories had brought her thither to see him, and to + make him an offer of her forces to assist him in the pursuit of his + enterprises; and that, finding him so handsome, young, and vigorous, she, + who was also perfect in all those qualities, advised that they might lie + together, to the end that from the most valiant woman of the world and the + bravest man then living, there might spring some great and wonderful issue + for the time to come. Alexander returned her thanks for all the rest; but, + to give leisure for the accomplishment of her last demand, he detained her + thirteen days in that place, which were spent in royal feasting and + jollity, for the welcome of so courageous a princess. + </p> + <p> + We are, almost throughout, unjust judges of their actions, as they are of + ours. I confess the truth when it makes against me, as well as when + ‘tis on my side. ‘Tis an abominable intemperance that pushes + them on so often to change, and that will not let them limit their + affection to any one person whatever; as is evident in that goddess to + whom are attributed so many changes and so many lovers. But ‘tis + true withal that ‘tis contrary to the nature of love if it be, not + violent; and contrary to the nature of violence if it be constant. And + they who wonder, exclaim, and keep such a clutter to find out the causes + of this frailty of theirs, as unnatural and not to be believed, how comes + it to pass they do not discern how often they are themselves guilty of the + same, without any astonishment or miracle at all? It would, peradventure, + be more strange to see the passion fixed; ‘tis not a simply + corporeal passion. If there be no end to avarice and ambition, there is + doubtless no more in desire; it still lives after satiety; and ‘tis + impossible to prescribe either constant satisfaction or end; it ever goes + beyond its possession. And by that means inconstancy, peradventure, is in + some sort more pardonable in them than in us: they may plead, as well as + we, the inclination to variety and novelty common to us both; and + secondly, without us, that they buy a cat in a sack: Joanna, queen of + Naples, caused her first husband, Andrews, to be hanged at the bars of her + window in a halter of gold and silk woven with her own hand, because in + matrimonial performances she neither found his parts nor abilities answer + the expectation she had conceived from his stature, beauty, youth, and + activity, by which she had been caught and deceived. They may say there is + more pains required in doing than in suffering; and so they are on their + part always at least provided for necessity, whereas on our part it may + fall out otherwise. For this reason it was, that Plato wisely made a law + that before marriage, to determine of the fitness of persons, the judges + should see the young men who pretended to it stripped stark naked, and the + women but to the girdle only. When they come to try us they do not, + perhaps, find us worthy of their choice: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Experta latus, madidoque simillima loro + Inguina, nec lassa stare coacta manu, + Deserit imbelles thalamos.” + + [“After using every endeavour to arouse him to action, + she quits the barren couch.”—Martial, vii. 58.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis not enough that a man’s will be good; weakness and + insufficiency lawfully break a marriage, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et quaerendum aliunde foret nervosius illud, + Quod posset zonam solvere virgineam:” + + [“And seeks a more vigorous lover to undo her virgin zone.” + —Catullus, lxvii. 27.] +</pre> + <p> + why not? and according to her own standard, an amorous intelligence, more + licentious and active, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si blando nequeat superesse labori.” + + [“If his strength be unequal to the pleasant task.” + —Virgil, Georg., iii. 127.] +</pre> + <p> + But is it not great impudence to offer our imperfections and imbecilities, + where we desire to please and leave a good opinion and esteem of + ourselves? For the little that I am able to do now: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ad unum + Mollis opus.” + + [“Fit but for once.”—Horace, Epod., xii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + I would not trouble a woman, that I am to reverence and fear: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fuge suspicari, + Cujus undenum trepidavit aetas + Claudere lustrum.” + + [“Fear not him whose eleventh lustrum is closed.” + —Horace, Od., ii. 4, 12, limits it to the eighth.] +</pre> + <p> + Nature should satisfy herself in having rendered this age miserable, + without rendering it ridiculous too. I hate to see it, for one poor inch + of pitiful vigour which comes upon it but thrice a week, to strut and set + itself out with as much eagerness as if it could do mighty feats; a true + flame of flax; and laugh to see it so boil and bubble and then in a moment + so congealed and extinguished. This appetite ought to appertain only to + the flower of beautiful youth: trust not to its seconding that + indefatigable, full, constant, magnanimous ardour you think in you, for it + will certainly leave you in a pretty corner; but rather transfer it to + some tender, bashful, and ignorant boy, who yet trembles at the rod, and + blushes: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Indum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro + Si quis ebur, vel mista rubent ubi lilia multa + Alba rosa.” + + [“As Indian ivory streaked with crimson, or white lilies mixed + with the damask rose.”—AEneid, xii. 67.] +</pre> + <p> + Who can stay till the morning without dying for shame to behold the + disdain of the fair eyes of her who knows so well his fumbling + impertinence, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et taciti fecere tamen convicia vultus,” + + [“Though she nothing say, her looks betray her anger.” + —Ovid, Amor., i. 7, 21.] +</pre> + <p> + has never had the satisfaction and the glory of having cudgelled them till + they were weary, with the vigorous performance of one heroic night. When I + have observed any one to be vexed with me, I have not presently accused + her levity, but have been in doubt, if I had not reason rather to complain + of nature; she has doubtless used me very uncivilly and unkindly: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si non longa satis, si non bene mentula crassa + Nimirum sapiunt, videntque parvam + Matronae quoque mentulam illibenter:” + + [The first of these verses is the commencement of an epigram of the + Veterum Poetayurra Catalecta, and the two others are from an epigram + in the same collection (Ad Matrones). They describe untranslatably + Montaigne’s charge against nature, indicated in the previous + passage.] +</pre> + <p> + and done me a most enormous injury. Every member I have, as much one as + another, is equally my own, and no other more properly makes me a man than + this. + </p> + <p> + I universally owe my entire picture to the public. The wisdom of my + instruction consists in liberty, in truth, in essence: disdaining to + introduce those little, feigned, common, and provincial rules into the + catalogue of its real duties; all natural, general, and constant, of which + civility and ceremony are daughters indeed, but illegitimate. We are sure + to have the vices of appearance, when we shall have had those of essence: + when we have done with these, we run full drive upon the others, if we + find it must be so; for there is danger that we shall fancy new offices, + to excuse our negligence towards the natural ones, and to confound them: + and to manifest this, is it not seen that in places where faults are + crimes, crimes are but faults; that in nations where the laws of decency + are most rare and most remiss, the primitive laws of common reason are + better observed: the innumerable multitude of so many duties stifling and + dissipating our care. The application of ourselves to light and trivial + things diverts us from those that are necessary and just. Oh, how these + superficial men take an easy and plausible way in comparison of ours! + These are shadows wherewith we palliate and pay one another; but we do not + pay, but inflame the reckoning towards that great judge, who tucks up our + rags and tatters above our shameful parts, and suckles not to view us all + over, even to our inmost and most secret ordures: it were a useful decency + of our maidenly modesty, could it keep him from this discovery. In fine, + whoever could reclaim man from so scrupulous a verbal superstition, would + do the world no great disservice. Our life is divided betwixt folly and + prudence: whoever will write of it but what is reverend and canonical, + will leave above the one-half behind. I do not excuse myself to myself; + and if I did, it should rather be for my excuses that I would excuse + myself than for any other fault; I excuse myself of certain humours, which + I think more strong in number than those that are on my side. In + consideration of which, I will further say this (for I desire to please + every one, though it will be hard to do): + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Esse unum hominem accommodatum ad tantam morum + ac sermonum et voluntatum varietatem,” + + [“For a man to conform to such a variety of manners, + discourses, and will.”—Q. Cicero, De Pet. Consul, c. 14.] +</pre> + <p> + that they ought not to condemn me for what I make authorities, received + and approved by so many ages, to utter: and that there is no reason that + for want of rhyme they should refuse me the liberty they allow even to + churchmen of our nation and time, and these amongst the most notable, of + which here are two of their brisk verses: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rimula, dispeream, ni monogramma tua est.” + + “Un vit d’amy la contente et bien traicte:” + + [St. Gelais, (Euvres Poetiques), p. 99, ed. of Lyons, 1574.] +</pre> + <p> + besides how many others. I love modesty; and ‘tis not out of + judgment that I have chosen this scandalous way of speaking; ‘tis + nature that has chosen it for me. I commend it not, no more than other + forms that are contrary to common use: but I excuse it, and by + circumstances both general and particular, alleviate its accusation. + </p> + <p> + But to proceed. Whence, too, can proceed that usurpation of sovereign + authority you take upon you over the women, who favour you at their own + expense, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si furtiva dedit mira munuscula nocte,” + + [“If, in the stealthy night, she has made strange gifts.” + —Catullus, lxviii. 145.] +</pre> + <p> + so that you presently assume the interest, coldness, and authority of a + husband? ‘Tis a free contract why do you not then keep to it, as you + would have them do? there is no prescription upon voluntary things. + ‘Tis against the form, but it is true withal, that I in my time have + conducted this bargain as much as the nature of it would permit, as + conscientiously and with as much colour of justice, as any other contract; + and that I never pretended other affection than what I really had, and + have truly acquainted them with its birth, vigour, and declination, its + fits and intermissions: a man does not always hold on at the same rate. I + have been so sparing of my promises, that I think I have been better than + my word. They have found me faithful even to service of their inconstancy, + a confessed and sometimes multiplied inconstancy. I never broke with them, + whilst I had any hold at all, and what occasion soever they have given me, + never broke with them to hatred or contempt; for such privacies, though + obtained upon never so scandalous terms, do yet oblige to some good will: + I have sometimes, upon their tricks and evasions, discovered a little + indiscreet anger and impatience; for I am naturally subject to rash + emotions, which, though light and short, often spoil my market. At any + time they have consulted my judgment, I never stuck to give them sharp and + paternal counsels, and to pinch them to the quick. If I have left them any + cause to complain of me, ‘tis rather to have found in me, in + comparison of the modern use, a love foolishly conscientious than anything + else. I have kept my, word in things wherein I might easily have been + dispensed; they sometimes surrendered themselves with reputation, and upon + articles that they were willing enough should be broken by the conqueror: + I have, more than once, made pleasure in its greatest effort strike to the + interest of their honour; and where reason importuned me, have armed them + against myself; so that they ordered themselves more decorously and + securely by my rules, when they frankly referred themselves to them, than + they would have done by their own. I have ever, as much as I could, wholly + taken upon myself alone the hazard of our assignations, to acquit them; + and have always contrived our meetings after the hardest and most unusual + manner, as less suspected, and, moreover, in my opinion, more accessible. + They are chiefly more open, where they think they are most securely shut; + things least feared are least interdicted and observed; one may more + boldly dare what nobody thinks you dare, which by its difficulty becomes + easy. Never had any man his approaches more impertinently generative; this + way of loving is more according to discipline but how ridiculous it is to + our people, and how ineffectual, who better knows than I? yet I shall not + repent me of it; I have nothing there more to lose: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Me tabula sacer + Votiva paries, indicat uvida + Suspendisse potenti + Vestimenta maris deo:” + + [“The holy wall, by my votive table, shows that I have hanged up my + wet clothes in honour of the powerful god of the sea.” + —Horace, Od., i. 5, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘tis now time to speak out. But as I might, per adventure, say to + another, “Thou talkest idly, my friend; the love of thy time has + little commerce with faith and integrity;” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haec si tu postules + Ratione certa facere, nihilo plus agas, + Quam si des operam, ut cum ratione insanias:” + + [“If you seek to make these things certain by reason, you will do no + more than if you should seek to be mad in your senses.” + —Terence, Eun., act i., sc. i, v. 16.] +</pre> + <p> + on the contrary, also, if it were for me to begin again, certainly it + should be by the same method and the same progress, how fruitless soever + it might be to me; folly and insufficiency are commendable in an + incommendable action: the farther I go from their humour in this, I + approach so much nearer to my own. As to the rest, in this traffic, I did + not suffer myself to be totally carried away; I pleased myself in it, but + did not forget myself. I retained the little sense and discretion that + nature has given me, entire for their service and my own: a little + emotion, but no dotage. My conscience, also, was engaged in it, even to + debauch and licentiousness; but, as to ingratitude, treachery, malice, and + cruelty, never. I would not purchase the pleasure of this vice at any + price, but content myself with its proper and simple cost: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nullum intra se vitium est.” + + [“Nothing is a vice in itself.”—Seneca, Ep., 95.] +</pre> + <p> + I almost equally hate a stupid and slothful laziness, as I do a toilsome + and painful employment; this pinches, the other lays me asleep. I like + wounds as well as bruises, and cuts as well as dry blows. I found in this + commerce, when I was the most able for it, a just moderation betwixt these + extremes. Love is a sprightly, lively, and gay agitation; I was neither + troubled nor afflicted with it, but heated, and moreover, disordered; a + man must stop there; it hurts nobody but fools. A young man asked the + philosopher Panetius if it were becoming a wise man to be in love? “Let + the wise man look to that,” answered he, “but let not thou and + I, who are not so, engage ourselves in so stirring and violent an affair, + that enslaves us to others, and renders us contemptible to ourselves.” + He said true that we are not to intrust a thing so precipitous in itself + to a soul that has not wherewithal to withstand its assaults and disprove + practically the saying of Agesilaus, that prudence and love cannot live + together. ‘Tis a vain employment, ‘tis true, unbecoming, + shameful, and illegitimate; but carried on after this manner, I look upon + it as wholesome, and proper to enliven a drowsy soul and to rouse up a + heavy body; and, as an experienced physician, I would prescribe it to a + man of my form and condition, as soon as any other recipe whatever, to + rouse and keep him in vigour till well advanced in years, and to defer the + approaches of age. Whilst we are but in the suburbs, and that the pulse + yet beats: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum nova canities, dum prima et recta senectus, + Dum superest lachesi quod torqueat, et pedibus me + Porto meis, nullo dextram subeunte bacillo,” + + [“Whilst the white hair is new, whilst old age is still straight + shouldered, whilst there still remains something for Lachesis to + spin, whilst I walk on my own legs, and need no staff to lean upon.” + —Juvenal, iii. 26.] +</pre> + <p> + we have need to be solicited and tickled by some such nipping incitation + as this. Do but observe what youth, vigour, and gaiety it inspired the + good Anacreon withal: and Socrates, who was then older than I, speaking of + an amorous object: + </p> + <p> + “Leaning,” said he, “my shoulder to her shoulder, and my + head to hers, as we were reading together in a book, I felt, without + dissembling, a sudden sting in my shoulder like the biting of an insect, + which I still felt above five days after, and a continual itching crept + into my heart.” So that merely the accidental touch, and of a + shoulder, heated and altered a soul cooled and enerved by age, and the + strictest liver of all mankind. And, pray, why not? Socrates was a man, + and would neither be, nor seem, any other thing. Philosophy does not + contend against natural pleasures, provided they be moderate, and only + preaches moderation, not a total abstinence; the power of its resistance + is employed against those that are adulterate and strange. Philosophy says + that the appetites of the body ought not to be augmented by the mind, and + ingeniously warns us not to stir up hunger by saturity; not to stuff, + instead of merely filling, the belly; to avoid all enjoyments that may + bring us to want; and all meats and drinks that bring thirst and hunger: + as, in the service of love, she prescribes us to take such an object as + may simply satisfy the body’s need, and does not stir the soul, + which ought only barely to follow and assist the body, without mixing in + the affair. But have I not reason to hold that these precepts, which, + indeed, in my opinion, are somewhat over strict, only concern a body in + its best plight; and that in a body broken with age, as in a weak stomach, + ‘tis excusable to warm and support it by art, and by the mediation + of the fancy to restore the appetite and cheerfulness it has lost of + itself. + </p> + <p> + May we not say that there is nothing in us, during this earthly prison, + that is purely either corporeal or spiritual; and that we injuriously + break up a man alive; and that it seems but reasonable that we should + carry ourselves as favourably, at least, towards the use of pleasure as we + do towards that of pain! Pain was (for example) vehement even to + perfection in the souls of the saints by penitence: the body had there + naturally a sham by the right of union, and yet might have but little part + in the cause; and yet are they not contented that it should barely follow + and assist the afflicted soul: they have afflicted itself with grievous + and special torments, to the end that by emulation of one another the soul + and body might plunge man into misery by so much more salutiferous as it + is more severe. In like manner, is it not injustice, in bodily pleasures, + to subdue and keep under the soul, and say that it must therein be dragged + along as to some enforced and servile obligation and necessity? ‘Tis + rather her part to hatch and cherish them, there to present herself, and + to invite them, the authority of ruling belonging to her; as it is also + her part, in my opinion, in pleasures that are proper to her, to inspire + and infuse into the body all the sentiment it is capable of, and to study + how to make them sweet and useful to it. For it is good reason, as they + say, that the body should not pursue its appetites to the prejudice of the + mind; but why is it not also the reason that the mind should not pursue + hers to the prejudice of the body? + </p> + <p> + I have no other passion to keep me in breath. What avarice, ambition, + quarrels, lawsuits do for others who, like me, have no particular + vocation, love would much more commodiously do; it would restore to me + vigilance, sobriety, grace, and the care of my person; it would reassure + my countenance, so that the grimaces of old age, those deformed and dismal + looks, might not come to disgrace it; would again put me upon sound and + wise studies, by which I might render myself more loved and esteemed, + clearing my mind of the despair of itself and of its use, and + redintegrating it to itself; would divert me from a thousand troublesome + thoughts, a thousand melancholic humours that idleness and the ill posture + of our health loads us withal at such an age; would warm again, in dreams + at least, the blood that nature is abandoning; would hold up the chin, and + a little stretch out the nerves, the vigour and gaiety of life of that + poor man who is going full drive towards his ruin. But I very well + understand that it is a commodity hard to recover: by weakness and long + experience our taste is become more delicate and nice; we ask most when we + bring least, and are harder to choose when we least deserve to be + accepted: and knowing ourselves for what we are, we are less confident and + more distrustful; nothing can assure us of being beloved, considering our + condition and theirs. I am out of countenance to see myself in company + with those young wanton creatures: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cujus in indomito constantior inguine nervus, + Quam nova collibus arbor inhaeret.” + + [“In whose unbridled reins the vigour is more inherent than in the + young tree on the hills.”—Horace, Epod., xii. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + To what end should we go insinuate our misery amid their gay and sprightly + humour? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Possint ut juvenes visere fervidi. + Multo non sine risu, + Dilapsam in cineres facem.” + + [“As the fervid youths may behold, not without laughter, a burning + torch worn to ashes.”—Horace, Od., iv. 13, 21.] +</pre> + <p> + They have strength and reason on their side; let us give way; we have + nothing to do there: and these blossoms of springing beauty suffer not + themselves to be handled by such benumbed hands nor dealt with by mere + material means, for, as the old philosopher answered one who jeered him + because he could not gain the favour of a young girl he made love to: + “Friend, the hook will not stick in such soft cheese.” It is a + commerce that requires relation and correspondence: the other pleasures we + receive may be acknowledged by recompenses of another nature, but this is + not to be paid but with the same kind of coin. In earnest, in this sport, + the pleasure I give more tickles my imagination than that they give me; + now, he has nothing of generosity in him who can receive pleasure where he + confers none—it must needs be a mean soul that will owe all, and can + be content to maintain relations with persons to whom he is a continual + charge; there is no beauty, grace, nor privacy so exquisite that a + gentleman ought to desire at this rate. If they can only be kind to us out + of pity, I had much rather die than live upon charity. I would have right + to ask, in the style wherein I heard them beg in Italy: “Fate ben + per voi,”—[“Do good for yourself.”]—or after + the manner that Cyrus exhorted his soldiers, “Who loves himself let + him follow me.”—“Consort yourself,” some one will + say to me, “with women of your own condition, whom like fortune will + render more easy to your desire.” O ridiculous and insipid + composition! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nolo + Barbam vellere mortuo leoni.” + + [“I would not pluck the beard from a dead lion.”—Martial] +</pre> + <p> + Xenophon lays it for an objection and an accusation against Menon, that he + never made love to any but old women. For my part, I take more pleasure in + but seeing the just and sweet mixture of two young beauties, or only in + meditating on it in my fancy, than myself in acting second in a pitiful + and imperfect conjunction; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Which Cotton renders, “Than to be myself an actor in the second + with a deformed creature.”] +</pre> + <p> + I leave that fantastic appetite to the Emperor Galba, who was only for old + curried flesh: and to this poor wretch: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O ego Di faciant talem to cernere possim, + Caraque mutatis oscula ferre comis, + Amplectique meis corpus non pingue lacertis!” + + [Ovid, who (Ex. Ponto, i. 4, 49) writes to his wife, “O would the + gods arrange that such I might see thee, and bring dear kisses to + thy changed locks, and embrace thy withered body with my arms”] +</pre> + <p> + Amongst chief deformities I reckon forced and artificial beauties: Hemon, + a young boy of Chios, thinking by fine dressing to acquire the beauty that + nature had denied him, came to the philosopher Arcesilaus and asked him if + it was possible for a wise man to be in love—“Yes,” + replied he, “provided it be not with a farded and adulterated beauty + like thine.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Diogenes Laertius, iv. 36. The question was whether a wise man + could love him. Cotton has “Emonez, a young courtezan of Chios.”] +</pre> + <p> + Ugliness of a confessed antiquity is to me less old and less ugly than + another that is polished and plastered up. Shall I speak it, without the + danger of having my throat cut? love, in my opinion, is not properly and + naturally in its season, but in the age next to childhood, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quem si puellarum insereres choro, + Mille sagaces falleret hospites, + Discrimen obscurum, solutis + Crinibus ambiguoque vultu:” + + [“Whom if thou shouldst place in a company of girls, it would + require a thousand experts to distinguish him, with his loose locks + and ambiguous countenance.”—Horace, Od., ii. 5, 21.] +</pre> + <p> + nor beauty neither; for whereas Homer extends it so far as to the budding + of the beard, Plato himself has remarked this as rare: and the reason why + the sophist Bion so pleasantly called the first appearing hairs of + adolescence ‘Aristogitons’ and ‘Harmodiuses’—[Plutarch, + On Love, c.34.]— is sufficiently known. I find it in virility + already in some sort a little out of date, though not so much as in old + age; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Importunus enim transvolat aridas + Quercus.” + + [“For it uncivilly passes over withered oaks.” + —Horace, Od., iv. 13, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + and Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, like a woman, very far extends the + advantage of women, ordaining that it is time, at thirty years old, to + convert the title of fair into that of good. The shorter authority we give + to love over our lives, ‘tis so much the better for us. Do but + observe his port; ‘tis a beardless boy. Who knows not how, in his + school they proceed contrary to all order; study, exercise, and usage are + their ways for insufficiency there novices rule: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Amor ordinem nescit.” + + [“Love ignores rules.” (Or:) “Love knows no rule.” + —St. Jerome, Letter to Chyomatius.] +</pre> + <p> + Doubtless his conduct is much more graceful when mixed with inadvertency + and trouble; miscarriages and ill successes give him point and grace; + provided it be sharp and eager, ‘tis no great matter whether it be + prudent or no: do but observe how he goes reeling, tripping, and playing: + you put him in the stocks when you guide him by art and wisdom; and he is + restrained of his divine liberty when put into those hairy and callous + clutches. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, I often hear the women set out this intelligence as + entirely spiritual, and disdain to put the interest the senses there have + into consideration; everything there serves; but I can say that I have + often seen that we have excused the weakness of their understandings in + favour of their outward beauty, but have never yet seen that in favour of + mind, how mature and full soever, any of them would hold out a hand to a + body that was never so little in decadence. Why does not some one of them + take it into her head to make that noble Socratical bargain between body + and soul, purchasing a philosophical and spiritual intelligence and + generation at the price of her thighs, which is the highest price she can + get for them? Plato ordains in his Laws that he who has performed any + signal and advantageous exploit in war may not be refused during the whole + expedition, his age or ugliness notwithstanding, a kiss or any other + amorous favour from any woman whatever. What he thinks to be so just in + recommendation of military valour, why may it not be the same in + recommendation of any other good quality? and why does not some woman take + a fancy to possess over her companions the glory of this chaste love? I + may well say chaste; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam si quando ad praelia ventum est, + Ut quondam in stipulis magnus sine viribus ignis, + Incassum furit:” + + [“For when they sometimes engage in love’s battle, + his sterile ardour lights up but as the flame of a straw.” + —Virgil, Georg., iii. 98.] +</pre> + <p> + the vices that are stifled in the thought are not the worst. + </p> + <p> + To conclude this notable commentary, which has escaped from me in a + torrent of babble, a torrent sometimes impetuous and hurtful, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut missum sponsi furtivo munere malum + Procurrit casto virginis a gremio, + Quod miserae oblitae molli sub veste locatuat, + Dum adventu matris prosilit, excutitur, + Atque illud prono praeceps agitur decursu + Huic manat tristi conscius ore rubor.” + + [“As when an apple, sent by a lover secretly to his mistress, falls + from the chaste virgin’s bosom, where she had quite forgotten it; + when, starting at her mother’s coming in, it is shaken out and rolls + over the floor before her eyes, a conscious blush covers her face.” + —Catullus, lxv. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + I say that males and females are cast in the same mould, and that, + education and usage excepted, the difference is not great. Plato + indifferently invites both the one and the other to the society of all + studies, exercises, and vocations, both military and civil, in his + Commonwealth; and the philosopher Antisthenes rejected all distinction + betwixt their virtue and ours. It is much more easy to accuse one sex than + to excuse the other; ‘tis according to the saying, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Le fourgon se moque de la paele.” + [“The Pot and the Kettle.”] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0099" id="link2HCH0099"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI——OF COACHES + </h2> + <p> + It is very easy to verify, that great authors, when they write of causes, + not only make use of those they think to be the true causes, but also of + those they believe not to be so, provided they have in them some beauty + and invention: they speak true and usefully enough, if it be ingeniously. + We cannot make ourselves sure of the supreme cause, and therefore crowd a + great many together, to see if it may not accidentally be amongst them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Namque unam dicere causam + Non satis est, verum plures, unde una tamen sit.” + + [Lucretius, vi. 704.—The sense is in the preceding passage.] +</pre> + <p> + Do you ask me, whence comes the custom of blessing those who sneeze? We + break wind three several ways; that which sallies from below is too + filthy; that which breaks out from the mouth carries with it some reproach + of gluttony; the third is sneezing, which, because it proceeds from the + head and is without offence, we give it this civil reception: do not laugh + at this distinction; they say ‘tis Aristotle’s. + </p> + <p> + I think I have seen in Plutarch’ (who of all the authors I know, is + he who has best mixed art with nature, and judgment with knowledge), his + giving as a reason for the, rising of the stomach in those who are at sea, + that it is occasioned by fear; having first found out some reason by which + he proves that fear may produce such an effect. I, who am very subject to + it, know well that this cause concerns not me; and I know it, not by + argument, but by necessary experience. Without instancing what has been + told me, that the same thing often happens in beasts, especially hogs, who + are out of all apprehension of danger; and what an acquaintance of mine + told me of himself, that though very subject to it, the disposition to + vomit has three or four times gone off him, being very afraid in a violent + storm, as it happened to that ancient: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pejus vexabar, quam ut periculum mihi succurreret;” + + [“I was too ill to think of danger.” (Or the reverse:) + “I was too frightened to be ill.”—Seneca, Ep., 53. 2] +</pre> + <p> + I was never afraid upon the water, nor indeed in any other peril (and I + have had enough before my eyes that would have sufficed, if death be one), + so as to be astounded to lose my judgment. Fear springs sometimes as much + from want of judgment as from want of courage. All the dangers I have been + in I have looked upon without winking, with an open, sound, and entire + sight; and, indeed, a man must have courage to fear. It formerly served me + better than other help, so to order and regulate my retreat, that it was, + if not without fear, nevertheless without affright and astonishment; it + was agitated, indeed, but not amazed or stupefied. Great souls go yet much + farther, and present to us flights, not only steady and temperate, but + moreover lofty. Let us make a relation of that which Alcibiades reports of + Socrates, his fellow in arms: “I found him,” says he, “after + the rout of our army, him and Lachez, last among those who fled, and + considered him at my leisure and in security, for I was mounted on a good + horse, and he on foot, as he had fought. I took notice, in the first + place, how much judgment and resolution he showed, in comparison of + Lachez, and then the bravery of his march, nothing different from his + ordinary gait; his sight firm and regular, considering and judging what + passed about him, looking one while upon those, and then upon others, + friends and enemies, after such a manner as encouraged those, and + signified to the others that he would sell his life dear to any one who + should attempt to take it from him, and so they came off; for people are + not willing to attack such kind of men, but pursue those they see are in a + fright.” That is the testimony of this great captain, which teaches + us, what we every day experience, that nothing so much throws us into + dangers as an inconsiderate eagerness of getting ourselves clear of them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quo timoris minus est, eo minus ferme periculi est.” + + [“When there is least fear, there is for the most part least + danger.”—Livy, xxii. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + Our people are to blame who say that such an one is afraid of death, when + they would express that he thinks of it and foresees it: foresight is + equally convenient in what concerns us, whether good or ill. To consider + and judge of danger is, in some sort, the reverse to being astounded. I do + not find myself strong enough to sustain the force and impetuosity of this + passion of fear, nor of any other vehement passion whatever: if I was once + conquered and beaten down by it, I should never rise again very sound. + Whoever should once make my soul lose her footing, would never set her + upright again: she retastes and researches herself too profoundly, and too + much to the quick, and therefore would never let the wound she had + received heal and cicatrise. It has been well for me that no sickness has + yet discomposed her: at every charge made upon me, I preserve my utmost + opposition and defence; by which means the first that should rout me would + keep me from ever rallying again. I have no after-game to play: on which + side soever the inundation breaks my banks, I lie open, and am drowned + without remedy. Epicurus says, that a wise man can never become a fool; I + have an opinion reverse to this sentence, which is, that he who has once + been a very fool, will never after be very wise. God grants me cold + according to my cloth, and passions proportionable to the means I have to + withstand them: nature having laid me open on the one side, has covered me + on the other; having disarmed me of strength, she has armed me with + insensibility and an apprehension that is regular, or, if you will, dull. + </p> + <p> + I cannot now long endure (and when I was young could much less) either + coach, litter, or boat, and hate all other riding but on horseback, both + in town and country. But I can bear a litter worse than a coach; and, by + the same reason, a rough agitation upon the water, whence fear is + produced, better than the motions of a calm. At the little jerks of oars, + stealing the vessel from under us, I find, I know not how, both my head + and my stomach disordered; neither-can I endure to sit upon a tottering + chair. When the sail or the current carries us equally, or that we are + towed, the equal agitation does not disturb me at all; ‘tis an + interrupted motion that offends me, and most of all when most slow: I + cannot otherwise express it. The physicians have ordered me to squeeze and + gird myself about the bottom of the belly with a napkin to remedy this + evil; which however I have not tried, being accustomed to wrestle with my + own defects, and overcome them myself. + </p> + <p> + Would my memory serve me, I should not think my time ill spent in setting + down here the infinite variety that history presents us of the use of + chariots in the service of war: various, according to the nations and + according to the age; in my opinion, of great necessity and effect; so + that it is a wonder that we have lost all knowledge of them. I will only + say this, that very lately, in our fathers’ time, the Hungarians + made very advantageous use of them against the Turks; having in every one + of them a targetter and a musketeer, and a number of harquebuses piled + ready and loaded, and all covered with a pavesade like a galliot—[Canvas + spread along the side of a ship of war, in action to screen the movements + of those on board.]—They formed the front of their battle with three + thousand such coaches, and after the cannon had played, made them all pour + in their shot upon the enemy, who had to swallow that volley before they + tasted of the rest, which was no little advance; and that done, these + chariots charged into their squadrons to break them and open a way for the + rest; besides the use they might make of them to flank the soldiers in a + place of danger when marching to the field, or to cover a post, and + fortify it in haste. In my time, a gentleman on one of our frontiers, + unwieldy of body, and finding no horse able to carry his weight, having a + quarrel, rode through the country in a chariot of this fashion, and found + great convenience in it. But let us leave these chariots of war. + </p> + <p> + As if their effeminacy—[Which Cotton translates: “as if the + insignificancy of coaches.” ]—had not been sufficiently known + by better proofs, the last kings of our first race travelled in a chariot + drawn by four oxen. Marc Antony was the first at Rome who caused himself + to be drawn in a coach by lions, and a singing wench with him. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Cytheris, the Roman courtezan.—Plutarch’s Life of Antony, c. 3. + This, was the same person who is introduced by Gallus under the name + of Lycoris. Gallus doubtless knew her personally.] +</pre> + <p> + Heliogabalus did since as much, calling himself Cybele, the mother of the + gods; and also drawn by tigers, taking upon him the person of the god + Bacchus; he also sometimes harnessed two stags to his coach, another time + four dogs, and another four naked wenches, causing himself to be drawn by + them in pomp, stark naked too. The Emperor Firmus caused his chariot to be + drawn by ostriches of a prodigious size, so that it seemed rather to fly + than roll. + </p> + <p> + The strangeness of these inventions puts this other fancy in my head: that + it is a kind of pusillanimity in monarchs, and a testimony that they do + not sufficiently understand themselves what they are, when they study to + make themselves honoured and to appear great by excessive expense: it were + indeed excusable in a foreign country, but amongst their own subjects, + where they are in sovereign command, and may do what they please, it + derogates from their dignity the most supreme degree of honour to which + they can arrive: just as, methinks, it is superfluous in a private + gentleman to go finely dressed at home; his house, his attendants, and his + kitchen sufficiently answer for him. The advice that Isocrates gives his + king seems to be grounded upon reason: that he should be splendid in plate + and furniture; forasmuch as it is an expense of duration that devolves on + his successors; and that he should avoid all magnificences that will in a + short time be forgotten. I loved to go fine when I was a younger brother, + for want of other ornament; and it became me well: there are some upon + whom their rich clothes weep: We have strange stories of the frugality of + our kings about their own persons and in their gifts: kings who were great + in reputation, valour, and fortune. Demosthenes vehemently opposes the law + of his city that assigned the public money for the pomp of their public + plays and festivals: he would that their greatness should be seen in + numbers of ships well equipped, and good armies well provided for; and + there is good reason to condemn Theophrastus, who, in his Book on Riches, + establishes a contrary opinion, and maintains that sort of expense to be + the true fruit of abundance. They are delights, says Aristotle, that a + only please the baser sort of the people, and that vanish from the memory + as soon as the people are sated with them, and for which no serious and + judicious man can have any esteem. This money would, in my opinion, be + much more royally, as more profitably, justly, and durably, laid out in + ports, havens, walls, and fortifications; in sumptuous buildings, + churches, hospitals, colleges, the reforming of streets and highways: + wherein Pope Gregory XIII. will leave a laudable memory to future times: + and wherein our Queen Catherine would to long posterity manifest her + natural liberality and munificence, did her means supply her affection. + Fortune has done me a great despite in interrupting the noble structure of + the Pont-Neuf of our great city, and depriving me of the hope of seeing it + finished before I die. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, it seems to subjects, who are spectators of these triumphs, that + their own riches are exposed before them, and that they are entertained at + their own expense: for the people are apt to presume of kings, as we do of + our servants, that they are to take care to provide us all things + necessary in abundance, but not touch it themselves; and therefore the + Emperor Galba, being pleased with a musician who played to him at supper, + called for his money-box, and gave him a handful of crowns that he took + out of it, with these words: “This is not the public money, but my + own.” Yet it so falls out that the people, for the most part, have + reason on their side, and that the princes feed their eyes with what they + have need of to fill their bellies. + </p> + <p> + Liberality itself is not in its true lustre in a sovereign hand: private + men have therein the most right; for, to take it exactly, a king has + nothing properly his own; he owes himself to others: authority is not + given in favour of the magistrate, but of the people; a superior is never + made so for his own profit, but for the profit of the inferior, and a + physician for the sick person, and not for himself: all magistracy, as + well as all art, has its end out of itself wherefore the tutors of young + princes, who make it their business to imprint in them this virtue of + liberality, and preach to them to deny nothing and to think nothing so + well spent as what they give (a doctrine that I have known in great credit + in my time), either have more particular regard to their own profit than + to that of their master, or ill understand to whom they speak. It is too + easy a thing to inculcate liberality on him who has as much as he will to + practise it with at the expense of others; and, the estimate not being + proportioned to the measure of the gift but to the measure of the means of + him who gives it, it comes to nothing in so mighty hands; they find + themselves prodigal before they can be reputed liberal. And it is but a + little recommendation, in comparison with other royal virtues: and the + only one, as the tyrant Dionysius said, that suits well with tyranny + itself. I should rather teach him this verse of the ancient labourer: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“That whoever will have a good crop must sow with his hand, and not + pour out of the sack.”—Plutarch, Apothegms, Whether the Ancients + were more excellent in Arms than in Learning.] +</pre> + <p> + he must scatter it abroad, and not lay it on a heap in one place: and + that, seeing he is to give, or, to say better, to pay and restore to so + many people according as they have deserved, he ought to be a loyal and + discreet disposer. If the liberality of a prince be without measure or + discretion, I had rather he were covetous. + </p> + <p> + Royal virtue seems most to consist in justice; and of all the parts of + justice that best denotes a king which accompanies liberality, for this + they have particularly reserved to be performed by themselves, whereas all + other sorts of justice they remit to the administration of others. An + immoderate bounty is a very weak means to acquire for them good will; it + checks more people than it allures: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quo in plures usus sis, minus in multos uti possis.... + Quid autem est stultius, quam, quod libenter facias, + curare ut id diutius facere non possis;” + + [“By how much more you use it to many, by so much less will you be + in a capacity to use it to many more. And what greater folly can + there be than to order it so that what you would willingly do, you + cannot do longer.”—Cicero, De Offic., ii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + and if it be conferred without due respect of merit, it puts him out of + countenance who receives it, and is received ungraciously. Tyrants have + been sacrificed to the hatred of the people by the hands of those very men + they have unjustly advanced; such kind of men as buffoons, panders, + fiddlers, and such ragamuffins, thinking to assure to themselves the + possession of benefits unduly received, if they manifest to have him in + hatred and disdain of whom they hold them, and in this associate + themselves to the common judgment and opinion. + </p> + <p> + The subjects of a prince excessive in gifts grow excessive in asking, and + regulate their demands, not by reason, but by example. We have, seriously, + very often reason to blush at our own impudence: we are over-paid, + according to justice, when the recompense equals our service; for do we + owe nothing of natural obligation to our princes? If he bear our charges, + he does too much; ‘tis enough that he contribute to them: the + overplus is called benefit, which cannot be exacted: for the very name + Liberality sounds of Liberty. + </p> + <p> + In our fashion it is never done; we never reckon what we have received; we + are only for the future liberality; wherefore, the more a prince exhausts + himself in giving, the poorer he grows in friends. How should he satisfy + immoderate desires, that still increase as they are fulfilled? He who has + his thoughts upon taking, never thinks of what he has taken; covetousness + has nothing so properly and so much its own as ingratitude. + </p> + <p> + The example of Cyrus will not do amiss in this place, to serve the kings + of these times for a touchstone to know whether their gifts are well or + ill bestowed, and to see how much better that emperor conferred them than + they do, by which means they are reduced to borrow of unknown subjects, + and rather of them whom they have wronged than of them on whom they have + conferred their benefits, and so receive aids wherein there is nothing of + gratuitous but the name. Croesus reproached him with his bounty, and cast + up to how much his treasure would amount if he had been a little + closer-handed. He had a mind to justify his liberality, and therefore sent + despatches into all parts to the grandees of his dominions whom he had + particularly advanced, entreating every one of them to supply him with as + much money as they could, for a pressing occasion, and to send him + particulars of what each could advance. When all these answers were + brought to him, every one of his friends, not thinking it enough barely to + offer him so much as he had received from his bounty, and adding to it a + great deal of his own, it appeared that the sum amounted to a great deal + more than Croesus’ reckoning. Whereupon Cyrus: “I am not,” + said he, “less in love with riches than other princes, but rather a + better husband; you see with how small a venture I have acquired the + inestimable treasure of so many friends, and how much more faithful + treasurers they are to me than mercenary men without obligation, without + affection; and my money better laid up than in chests, bringing upon me + the hatred, envy, and contempt of other princes.” + </p> + <p> + The emperors excused the superfluity of their plays and public spectacles + by reason that their authority in some sort (at least in outward + appearance) depended upon the will of the people of Rome, who, time out of + mind, had been accustomed to be entertained and caressed with such shows + and excesses. But they were private citizens, who had nourished this + custom to gratify their fellow-citizens and companions (and chiefly out of + their own purses) by such profusion and magnificence it had quite another + taste when the masters came to imitate it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pecuniarum translatio a justis dominis ad alienos + non debet liberalis videri.” + + [“The transferring of money from the right owners to strangers + ought not to have the title of liberality.” + —Cicero, De Offic., i. 14.] +</pre> + <p> + Philip, seeing that his son went about by presents to gain the affection + of the Macedonians, reprimanded him in a letter after this manner: “What! + hast thou a mind that thy subjects shall look upon thee as their + cash-keeper and not as their king? Wilt thou tamper with them to win their + affections? Do it, then, by the benefits of thy virtue, and not by those + of thy chest.” And yet it was, doubtless, a fine thing to bring and + plant within the amphitheatre a great number of vast trees, with all their + branches in their full verdure, representing a great shady forest, + disposed in excellent order; and, the first day, to throw into it a + thousand ostriches and a thousand stags, a thousand boars, and a thousand + fallow-deer, to be killed and disposed of by the people: the next day, to + cause a hundred great lions, a hundred leopards, and three hundred bears + to be killed in his presence; and for the third day, to make three hundred + pair of gladiators fight it out to the last, as the Emperor Probus did. It + was also very fine to see those vast amphitheatres, all faced with marble + without, curiously wrought with figures and statues, and within glittering + with rare enrichments: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Baltheus en! gemmis, en illita porticus auro:” + + [“A belt glittering with jewels, and a portico overlaid with gold.” + —Calpurnius, Eclog., vii. 47. A baltheus was a shoulder-belt or + baldric.] +</pre> + <p> + all the sides of this vast space filled and environed, from the bottom to + the top, with three or four score rows of seats, all of marble also, and + covered with cushions: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Exeat, inquit, + Si pudor est, et de pulvino surgat equestri, + Cujus res legi non sufficit;” + + [“Let him go out, he said, if he has any sense of shame, and rise + from the equestrian cushion, whose estate does not satisfy the law.” + —Juvenal, iii. 153. The Equites were required to possess a fortune + of 400 sestertia, and they sat on the first fourteen rows behind the + orchestra.] +</pre> + <p> + where a hundred thousand men might sit at their ease: and, the place + below, where the games were played, to make it, by art, first open and + cleave in chasms, representing caves that vomited out the beasts designed + for the spectacle; and then, secondly, to be overflowed by a deep sea, + full of sea monsters, and laden with ships of war, to represent a naval + battle; and, thirdly, to make it dry and even again for the combat of the + gladiators; and, for the fourth scene, to have it strown with vermilion + grain and storax,—[A resinous gum.]—instead of sand, there to + make a solemn feast for all that infinite number of people: the last act + of one only day: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quoties nos descendentis arenae + Vidimus in partes, ruptaque voragine terrae + Emersisse feras, et eisdem saepe latebris + Aurea cum croceo creverunt arbuta libro!.... + Nec solum nobis silvestria cernere monstra + Contigit; aequoreos ego cum certantibus ursis + Spectavi vitulos, et equorum nomine dignum, + Sen deforme pecus, quod in illo nascitur amni....” + + [“How often have we seen the stage of the theatre descend and part + asunder, and from a chasm in the earth wild beasts emerge, and then + presently give birth to a grove of gilded trees, that put forth + blossoms of enamelled flowers. Nor yet of sylvan marvels alone had + we sight: I saw sea-calves fight with bears, and a deformed sort of + cattle, we might call sea-horses.”—Calpurnius, Eclog., vii. 64.] +</pre> + <p> + Sometimes they made a high mountain advance itself, covered with + fruit-trees and other leafy trees, sending down rivulets of water from the + top, as from the mouth of a fountain: otherwhiles, a great ship was seen + to come rolling in, which opened and divided of itself, and after having + disgorged from the hold four or five hundred beasts for fight, closed + again, and vanished without help. At other times, from the floor of this + place, they made spouts of perfumed water dart their streams upward, and + so high as to sprinkle all that infinite multitude. To defend themselves + from the injuries of the weather, they had that vast place one while + covered over with purple curtains of needlework, and by-and-by with silk + of one or another colour, which they drew off or on in a moment, as they + had a mind: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quamvis non modico caleant spectacula sole, + Vela reducuntur, cum venit Hermogenes.” + + [“The curtains, though the sun should scorch the spectators, are + drawn in, when Hermogenes appears."-Martial, xii. 29, 15. M. + Tigellius Hermogenes, whom Horace and others have satirised. One + editor calls him “a noted thief,” another: “He was a literary + amateur of no ability, who expressed his critical opinions with too + great a freedom to please the poets of his day.” D.W.] +</pre> + <p> + The network also that was set before the people to defend them from the + violence of these turned-out beasts was woven of gold: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Auro quoque torts refulgent + Retia.” + + [“The woven nets are refulgent with gold.” + —Calpurnius, ubi supra.] +</pre> + <p> + If there be anything excusable in such excesses as these, it is where the + novelty and invention create more wonder than the expense; even in these + vanities we discover how fertile those ages were in other kind of wits + than these of ours. It is with this sort of fertility, as with all other + products of nature: not that she there and then employed her utmost force: + we do not go; we rather run up and down, and whirl this way and that; we + turn back the way we came. I am afraid our knowledge is weak in all + senses; we neither see far forward nor far backward; our understanding + comprehends little, and lives but a little while; ‘tis short both in + extent of time and extent of matter: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona + Mufti, sed omnes illacrymabiles + Urgentur, ignotique longs + Nocte.” + + [ Many brave men lived before Agamemnon, but all are pressed by the + long night unmourned and unknown.”—Horace, Od., iv. 9, 25.] + + “Et supra bellum Thebanum et funera Trojae + Non alias alii quoque res cecinere poetae?” + + [“Why before the Theban war and the destruction of Troy, have not + other poets sung other events?”—Lucretius, v. 327. Montaigne here + diverts himself m giving Lucretius’ words a construction directly + contrary to what they bear in the poem. Lucretius puts the + question, Why if the earth had existed from all eternity, there had + not been poets, before the Theban war, to sing men’s exploits. + —Coste.] +</pre> + <p> + And the narrative of Solon, of what he had learned from the Egyptian + priests, touching the long life of their state, and their manner of + learning and preserving foreign histories, is not, methinks, a testimony + to be refused in this consideration: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si interminatam in omnes partes magnitudinem regionum videremus et + temporum, in quam se injiciens animus et intendens, ita late + longeque peregrinatur, ut nullam oram ultimi videat, in qua possit + insistere: in haec immensitate . . . infinita vis innumerabilium + appareret fomorum.” + + [“Could we see on all parts the unlimited magnitude of regions and + of times, upon which the mind being intent, could wander so far and + wide, that no limit is to be seen, in which it can bound its eye, we + should, in that infinite immensity, discover an infinite force of + innumerable atoms.” Here also Montaigne puts a sense quite + different from what the words bear in the original; but the + application he makes of them is so happy that one would declare they + were actually put together only to express his own sentiments. “Et + temporum” is an addition by Montaigne.—Coste.] +</pre> + <p> + Though all that has arrived, by report, of our knowledge of times past + should be true, and known by some one person, it would be less than + nothing in comparison of what is unknown. And of this same image of the + world, which glides away whilst we live upon it, how wretched and limited + is the knowledge of the most curious; not only of particular events, which + fortune often renders exemplary and of great concern, but of the state of + great governments and nations, a hundred more escape us than ever come to + our knowledge. We make a mighty business of the invention of artillery and + printing, which other men at the other end of the world, in China, had a + thousand years ago. Did we but see as much of the world as we do not see, + we should perceive, we may well believe, a perpetual multiplication and + vicissitude of forms. There is nothing single and rare in respect of + nature, but in respect of our knowledge, which is a wretched foundation + whereon to ground our rules, and that represents to us a very false image + of things. As we nowadays vainly conclude the declension and decrepitude + of the world, by the arguments we extract from our own weakness and decay: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jamque adeo est affecta aetas effoet aque tellus;” + + [“Our age is feeble, and the earth less fertile.” + —Lucretius, ii. 1151.] +</pre> + <p> + so did he vainly conclude as to its birth and youth, by the vigour he + observed in the wits of his time, abounding in novelties and the invention + of divers arts: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Verum, ut opinor, habet novitatem summa, recensque + Natura est mundi, neque pridem exordia coepit + Quare etiam quaedam nunc artes expoliuntur, + Nunc etiam augescunt; nunc addita navigiis sunt + Multa.” + + [“But, as I am of opinion, the whole of the world is of recent + origin, nor had its commencement in remote times; wherefore it is + that some arts are still being refined, and some just on the + increase; at present many additions are being made to shipping.” + —Lucretius, v. 331.] +</pre> + <p> + Our world has lately discovered another (and who will assure us that it is + the last of its brothers, since the Daemons, the Sybils, and we ourselves + have been ignorant of this till now?), as large, well-peopled, and + fruitful as this whereon we live and yet so raw and childish, that we are + still teaching it it’s a B C: ‘tis not above fifty years since + it knew neither letters, weights, measures, vestments, corn, nor vines: it + was then quite naked in the mother’s lap, and only lived upon what + she gave it. If we rightly conclude of our end, and this poet of the + youthfulness of that age of his, that other world will only enter into the + light when this of ours shall make its exit; the universe will fall into + paralysis; one member will be useless, the other in vigour. I am very much + afraid that we have greatly precipitated its declension and ruin by our + contagion; and that we have sold it opinions and our arts at a very dear + rate. It was an infant world, and yet we have not whipped and subjected it + to our discipline by the advantage of our natural worth and force, neither + have we won it by our justice and goodness, nor subdued it by our + magnanimity. Most of their answers, and the negotiations we have had with + them, witness that they were nothing behind us in pertinency and clearness + of natural understanding. The astonishing magnificence of the cities of + Cusco and Mexico, and, amongst many other things, the garden of the king, + where all the trees, fruits, and plants, according to the order and + stature they have in a garden, were excellently formed in gold; as, in his + cabinet, were all the animals bred upon his territory and in its seas; and + the beauty of their manufactures, in jewels, feathers, cotton, and + painting, gave ample proof that they were as little inferior to us in + industry. But as to what concerns devotion, observance of the laws, + goodness, liberality, loyalty, and plain dealing, it was of use to us that + we had not so much as they; for they have lost, sold, and betrayed + themselves by this advantage over us. + </p> + <p> + As to boldness and courage, stability, constancy against pain, hunger, and + death, I should not fear to oppose the examples I find amongst them to the + most famous examples of elder times that we find in our records on this + side of the world. Far as to those who subdued them, take but away the + tricks and artifices they practised to gull them, and the just + astonishment it was to those nations to see so sudden and unexpected an + arrival of men with beards, differing in language, religion, shape, and + countenance, from so remote a part of the world, and where they had never + heard there was any habitation, mounted upon great unknown monsters, + against those who had not only never seen a horse, but had never seen any + other beast trained up to carry a man or any other loading; shelled in a + hard and shining skin, with a cutting and glittering weapon in his hand, + against them, who, out of wonder at the brightness of a looking glass or a + knife, would exchange great treasures of gold and pearl; and who had + neither knowledge, nor matter with which, at leisure, they could penetrate + our steel: to which may be added the lightning and thunder of our cannon + and harquebuses, enough to frighten Caesar himself, if surprised, with so + little experience, against people naked, except where the invention of a + little quilted cotton was in use, without other arms, at the most, than + bows, stones, staves, and bucklers of wood; people surprised under colour + of friendship and good faith, by the curiosity of seeing strange and + unknown things; take but away, I say, this disparity from the conquerors, + and you take away all the occasion of so many victories. When I look upon + that in vincible ardour wherewith so many thousands of men, women, and + children so often presented and threw themselves into inevitable dangers + for the defence of their gods and liberties; that generous obstinacy to + suffer all extremities and difficulties, and death itself, rather than + submit to the dominion of those by whom they had been so shamefully + abused; and some of them choosing to die of hunger and fasting, being + prisoners, rather than to accept of nourishment from the hands of their so + basely victorious enemies: I see, that whoever would have attacked them + upon equal terms of arms, experience, and number, would have had a hard, + and, peradventure, a harder game to play than in any other war we have + seen. + </p> + <p> + Why did not so noble a conquest fall under Alexander, or the ancient + Greeks and Romans; and so great a revolution and mutation of so many + empires and nations, fall into hands that would have gently levelled, + rooted up, and made plain and smooth whatever was rough and savage amongst + them, and that would have cherished and propagated the good seeds that + nature had there produced; mixing not only with the culture of land and + the ornament of cities, the arts of this part of the world, in what was + necessary, but also the Greek and Roman virtues, with those that were + original of the country? What a reparation had it been to them, and what a + general good to the whole world, had our first examples and deportments in + those parts allured those people to the admiration and imitation of + virtue, and had begotten betwixt them and us a fraternal society and + intelligence? How easy had it been to have made advantage of souls so + innocent, and so eager to learn, leaving, for the most part, naturally so + good inclinations before? Whereas, on the contrary, we have taken + advantage of their ignorance and inexperience, with greater ease to + incline them to treachery, luxury, avarice, and towards all sorts of + inhumanity and cruelty, by the pattern and example of our manners. Who + ever enhanced the price of merchandise at such a rate? So many cities + levelled with the ground, so many nations exterminated, so many millions + of people fallen by the edge of the sword, and the richest and most + beautiful part of the world turned upside down, for the traffic of pearl + and pepper? Mechanic victories! Never did ambition, never did public + animosities, engage men against one another in such miserable hostilities, + in such miserable calamities. + </p> + <p> + Certain Spaniards, coasting the sea in quest of their mines, landed in a + fruitful and pleasant and very well peopled country, and there made to the + inhabitants their accustomed professions: “that they were peaceable + men, who were come from a very remote country, and sent on the behalf of + the King of Castile, the greatest prince of the habitable world, to whom + the Pope, God’s vicegerent upon earth, had given the principality of + all the Indies; that if they would become tributaries to him, they should + be very gently and courteously used”; at the same time requiring of + them victuals for their nourishment, and gold whereof to make some + pretended medicine; setting forth, moreover, the belief in one only God, + and the truth of our religion, which they advised them to embrace, + whereunto they also added some threats. To which they received this + answer: “That as to their being peaceable, they did not seem to be + such, if they were so. As to their king, since he was fain to beg, he must + be necessitous and poor; and he who had made him this gift, must be a man + who loved dissension, to give that to another which was none of his own, + to bring it into dispute against the ancient possessors. As to victuals, + they would supply them; that of gold they had little; it being a thing + they had in very small esteem, as of no use to the service of life, + whereas their only care was to pass it over happily and pleasantly: but + that what they could find excepting what was employed in the service of + their gods, they might freely take. As to one only God, the proposition + had pleased them well; but that they would not change their religion, both + because they had so long and happily lived in it, and that they were not + wont to take advice of any but their friends, and those they knew: as to + their menaces, it was a sign of want of judgment to threaten those whose + nature and power were to them unknown; that, therefore, they were to make + haste to quit their coast, for they were not used to take the civilities + and professions of armed men and strangers in good part; otherwise they + should do by them as they had done by those others,” showing them + the heads of several executed men round the walls of their city. A fair + example of the babble of these children. But so it is, that the Spaniards + did not, either in this or in several other places, where they did not + find the merchandise they sought, make any stay or attempt, whatever other + conveniences were there to be had; witness my CANNIBALS. —[Chapter + XXX. of Book I.] + </p> + <p> + Of the two most puissant monarchs of that world, and, peradventure, of + this, kings of so many kings, and the last they turned out, he of Peru, + having been taken in a battle, and put to so excessive a ransom as exceeds + all belief, and it being faithfully paid, and he having, by his + conversation, given manifest signs of a frank, liberal, and constant + spirit, and of a clear and settled understanding, the conquerors had a + mind, after having exacted one million three hundred and twenty-five + thousand and five hundred weight of gold, besides silver, and other things + which amounted to no less (so that their horses were shod with massy + gold), still to see, at the price of what disloyalty and injustice + whatever, what the remainder of the treasures of this king might be, and + to possess themselves of that also. To this end a false accusation was + preferred against him, and false witnesses brought to prove that he went + about to raise an insurrection in his provinces, to procure his own + liberty; whereupon, by the virtuous sentence of those very men who had by + this treachery conspired his ruin, he was condemned to be publicly hanged + and strangled, after having made him buy off the torment of being burnt + alive, by the baptism they gave him immediately before execution; a horrid + and unheard of barbarity, which, nevertheless, he underwent without giving + way either in word or look, with a truly grave and royal behaviour. After + which, to calm and appease the people, aroused and astounded at so strange + a thing, they counterfeited great sorrow for his death, and appointed most + sumptuous funerals. + </p> + <p> + The other king of Mexico,—[Guatimosin]—having for a long time + defended his beleaguered city, and having in this siege manifested the + utmost of what suffering and perseverance can do, if ever prince and + people did, and his misfortune having delivered him alive into his enemies’ + hands, upon articles of being treated like a king, neither did he in his + captivity discover anything unworthy of that title. His enemies, after + their victory, not finding so much gold as they expected, when they had + searched and rifled with their utmost diligence, they went about to + procure discoveries by the most cruel torments they could invent upon the + prisoners they had taken: but having profited nothing by these, their + courage being greater than their torments, they arrived at last to such a + degree of fury, as, contrary to their faith and the law of nations, to + condemn the king himself, and one of the principal noblemen of his court, + to the rack, in the presence of one another. This lord, finding himself + overcome with pain, being environed with burning coals, pitifully turned + his dying eyes towards his master, as it were to ask him pardon that he + was able to endure no more; whereupon the king, darting at him a fierce + and severe look, as reproaching his cowardice and pusillanimity, with a + harsh and constant voice said to him thus only: “And what dost thou + think I suffer? am I in a bath? am I more at ease than thou?” + Whereupon the other immediately quailed under the torment and died upon + the spot. The king, half roasted, was carried thence; not so much out of + pity (for what compassion ever touched so barbarous souls, who, upon the + doubtful information of some vessel of gold to be made a prey of, caused + not only a man, but a king, so great in fortune and desert, to be broiled + before their eyes), but because his constancy rendered their cruelty still + more shameful. They afterwards hanged him for having nobly attempted to + deliver himself by arms from so long a captivity and subjection, and he + died with a courage becoming so magnanimous a prince. + </p> + <p> + Another time, they burnt in the same fire four hundred and sixty men alive + at once, the four hundred of the common people, the sixty the principal + lords of a province, simply prisoners of war. We have these narratives + from themselves for they not only own it, but boast of it and publish it. + Could it be for a testimony of their justice or their zeal to religion? + Doubtless these are ways too differing and contrary to so holy an end. Had + they proposed to themselves to extend our faith, they would have + considered that it does not amplify in the possession of territories, but + in the gaining of men; and would have more than satisfied themselves with + the slaughters occasioned by the necessity of war, without indifferently + mixing a massacre, as upon wild beasts, as universal as fire and sword + could make it; having only, by intention, saved so many as they meant to + make miserable slaves of, for the work and service of their mines; so that + many of the captains were put to death upon the place of conquest, by + order of the kings of Castile, justly offended with the horror of their + deportment, and almost all of them hated and disesteemed. God + meritoriously permitted that all this great plunder should be swallowed up + by the sea in transportation, or in the civil wars wherewith they devoured + one another; and most of the men themselves were buried in a foreign land + without any fruit of their victory. + </p> + <p> + That the revenue from these countries, though in the hands of so + parsimonious and so prudent a prince,—[Phillip II.]—so little + answers the expectation given of it to his predecessors, and to that + original abundance of riches which was found at the first landing in those + new discovered countries (for though a great deal be fetched thence, yet + we see ‘tis nothing in comparison of that which might be expected), + is that the use of coin was there utterly unknown, and that consequently + their gold was found all hoarded together, being of no other use but for + ornament and show, as a furniture reserved from father to son by many + puissant kings, who were ever draining their mines to make this vast heap + of vessels and statues for the decoration of their palaces and temples; + whereas our gold is always in motion and traffic; we cut it into a + thousand small pieces, and cast it into a thousand forms, and scatter and + disperse it in a thousand ways. But suppose our kings should thus hoard up + all the gold they could get in several ages and let it lie idle by them. + </p> + <p> + Those of the kingdom of Mexico were in some sort more civilised and more + advanced in arts than the other nations about them. Therefore did they + judge, as we do, that the world was near its period, and looked upon the + desolation we brought amongst them as a certain sign of it. They believed + that the existence of the world was divided into five ages, and in the + life of five successive suns, of which four had already ended their time, + and that this which gave them light was the fifth. The first perished, + with all other creatures, by an universal inundation of water; the second + by the heavens falling upon us and suffocating every living thing to which + age they assigned the giants, and showed bones to the Spaniards, according + to the proportion of which the stature of men amounted to twenty feet; the + third by fire, which burned and consumed all; the fourth by an emotion of + the air and wind, which came with such violence as to beat down even many + mountains, wherein the men died not, but were turned into baboons. What + impressions will not the weakness of human belief admit? After the death + of this fourth sun, the world was twenty-five years in perpetual darkness: + in the fifteenth of which a man and a woman were created, who restored the + human race: ten years after, upon a certain day, the sun appeared newly + created, and since the account of their year takes beginning from that + day: the third day after its creation the ancient gods died, and the new + ones were since born daily. After what manner they think this last sun + shall perish, my author knows not; but their number of this fourth change + agrees with the great conjunction of stars which eight hundred and odd + years ago, as astrologers suppose, produced great alterations and + novelties in the world. + </p> + <p> + As to pomp and magnificence, upon the account of which I engaged in this + discourse, neither Greece, Rome, nor Egypt, whether for utility, + difficulty, or state, can compare any of their works with the highway to + be seen in Peru, made by the kings of the country, from the city of Quito + to that of Cusco (three hundred leagues), straight, even, five-and-twenty + paces wide, paved, and provided on both sides with high and beautiful + walls; and close by them, and all along on the inside, two perennial + streams, bordered with beautiful plants, which they call moly. In this + work, where they met with rocks and mountains, they cut them through, and + made them even, and filled up pits and valleys with lime and stone to make + them level. At the end of every day’s journey are beautiful palaces, + furnished with provisions, vestments, and arms, as well for travellers as + for the armies that are to pass that way. In the estimate of this work I + have reckoned the difficulty which is especially considerable in that + place; they did not build with any stones less than ten feet square, and + had no other conveniency of carriage but by drawing their load themselves + by force of arm, and knew not so much as the art of scaffolding, nor any + other way of standing to their work, but by throwing up earth against the + building as it rose higher, taking it away again when they had done. + </p> + <p> + Let us here return to our coaches. Instead of these, and of all other + sorts of carriages, they caused themselves to be carried upon men’s + shoulders. This last king of Peru, the day that he was taken, was thus + carried betwixt two upon staves of gold, and set in a chair of gold in the + middle of his army. As many of these sedan-men as were killed to make him + fall (for they would take him alive), so many others (and they contended + for it) took the place of those who were slain, so that they could never + beat him down, what slaughter soever they made of these people, till a + horseman, seizing upon him, brought him to the ground. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0100" id="link2HCH0100"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII——OF THE INCONVENIENCE OF GREATNESS + </h2> + <p> + Since we cannot attain unto it, let us revenge our selves by railing at + it; and yet it is not absolutely railing against anything to proclaim its + defects, because they are in all things to be found, how beautiful or how + much to be coveted soever. Greatness has, in general, this manifest + advantage, that it can lower itself when it pleases, and has, very near, + the choice of both the one and the other condition; for a man does not + fall from all heights; there are several from which one may descend + without falling down. It does, indeed, appear to me that we value it at + too high a rate, and also overvalue the resolution of those whom we have + either seen or heard have contemned it, or displaced themselves of their + own accord: its essence is not so evidently commodious that a man may not, + with out a miracle, refuse it. I find it a very hard thing to undergo + misfortunes, but to be content with a moderate measure of fortune, and to + avoid greatness, I think a very easy matter. ‘Tis, methinks, a + virtue to which I, who am no conjuror, could without any great endeavour + arrive. What, then, is to be expected from them that would yet put into + consideration the glory attending this refusal, wherein there may lurk + worse ambition than even in the desire itself, and fruition of greatness? + Forasmuch as ambition never comports itself better, according to itself, + than when it proceeds by obscure and unfrequented ways. + </p> + <p> + I incite my courage to patience, but I rein it as much as I can towards + desire. I have as much to wish for as another, and allow my wishes as much + liberty and indiscretion; but yet it never befell me to wish for either + empire or royalty, or the eminency of those high and commanding fortunes: + I do not aim that way; I love myself too well. When I think to grow + greater, ‘tis but very moderately, and by a compelled and timorous + advancement, such as is proper for me in resolution, in prudence, in + health, in beauty, and even in riches too; but this supreme reputation, + this mighty authority, oppress my imagination; and, quite contrary to that + other,—[Julius Caesar.]—I should, peradventure, rather choose + to be the second or third in Perigord than the first at Paris at least, + without lying, rather the third at Paris than the first. I would neither + dispute with a porter, a miserable unknown, nor make crowds open in + adoration as I pass. I am trained up to a moderate condition, as well by + my choice as fortune; and have made it appear, in the whole conduct of my + life and enterprises, that I have rather avoided than otherwise the + climbing above the degree of fortune wherein God has placed me by my + birth; all natural constitution is equally just and easy. My soul is such + a poltroon, that I measure not good fortune by the height, but by the + facility. + </p> + <p> + But if my heart be not great enough, ‘tis open enough to make + amends, at any one’s request, freely to lay open its weakness. + Should any one put me upon comparing the life of L. Thorius Balbus, a + brave man, handsome, learned, healthful, understanding, and abounding in + all sorts of conveniences and pleasures, leading a quiet life, and all his + own, his mind well prepared against death, superstition, pain, and other + incumbrances of human necessity, dying, at last, in battle, with his sword + in his hand, for the defence of his country, on the one part; and on the + other part, the life of M. Regulus, so great and high as is known to every + one, and his end admirable; the one without name and without dignity, the + other exemplary and glorious to a wonder. I should doubtless say, as + Cicero did, could I speak as well as he. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Cicero, De Finibus, ii. 20, gives the preference to Regulus, and + proclaims him the happier man.] +</pre> + <p> + But if I was to compare them with my own, I should then also say that the + first is as much according to my capacity, and from desire, which I + conform to my capacity, as the second is far beyond it; that I could not + approach the last but with veneration, the other I could readily attain by + use. + </p> + <p> + Let us return to our temporal greatness, from which we are digressed. I + disrelish all dominion, whether active or passive. Otanes, one of the + seven who had right to pretend to the kingdom of Persia, did as I should + willingly have done, which was, that he gave up to his competitors his + right of being promoted to it, either by election or by lot, provided that + he and his might live in the empire out of all authority and subjection, + those of the ancient laws excepted, and might enjoy all liberty that was + not prejudicial to these, being as impatient of commanding as of being + commanded. + </p> + <p> + The most painful and difficult employment in the world, in my opinion, is + worthily to discharge the office of a king. I excuse more of their + mistakes than men commonly do, in consideration of the intolerable weight + of their function, which astounds me. ‘Tis hard to keep measure in + so immeasurable a power; yet so it is that it is, even to those who are + not of the best nature, a singular incitement to virtue to be seated in a + place where you cannot do the least good that shall not be put upon + record, and where the least benefit redounds to so many men, and where + your talent of administration, like that of preachers, principally + addresses itself to the people, no very exact judge, easy to deceive, and + easily content. There are few things wherein we can give a sincere + judgment, by reason that there are few wherein we have not, in some sort, + a private interest. Superiority and inferiority, dominion and subjection + are bound to a natural envy and contest, and must of necessity perpetually + intrench upon one another. I believe neither the one nor the other + touching the rights of the other party; let reason therefore, which is + inflexible and without passion, determine when we can avail ourselves of + it. ‘Tis not above a month ago that I read over, two Scottish + authors contending upon this subject, of whom he who stands for the people + makes the king to be in a worse condition than a carter; he who writes for + monarchy places him some degrees above God in power and sovereignty. + </p> + <p> + Now, the incommodity of greatness that I have taken to remark in this + place, upon some occasion that has lately put it into my head, is this: + there is not, peradventure, anything more pleasant in the commerce of many + than the trials that we make against one another, out of emulation of + honour and worth, whether in the exercises of the body or in those of the + mind, wherein sovereign greatness can have no true part. And, in earnest, + I have often thought that by force of respect itself men use princes + disdainfully and injuriously in that particular; for the thing I was + infinitely offended at in my childhood, that they who exercised with me + forbore to do their best because they found me unworthy of their utmost + endeavour, is what we see happen to them daily, every one finding himself + unworthy to contend with them. If we discover that they have the least + desire to get the better of us, there is no one who will not make it his + business to give it them, and who will not rather betray his own glory + than offend theirs; and will therein employ so much force only as is + necessary to save their honour. What share have they, then, in the + engagement, where every one is on their side? Methinks I see those + paladins of ancient times presenting themselves to jousts and battle with + enchanted arms and bodies. Brisson, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Plutarch, On Satisfaction or Tranquillity of the Mind. But in his + essay, How a Man may Distinguish a Flatterer from a Friend, he calls + him Chriso.] +</pre> + <p> + running against Alexander, purposely missed his blow, and made a fault in + his career; Alexander chid him for it, but he ought to have had him + whipped. Upon this consideration Carneades said, that “the sons of + princes learned nothing right but to manage horses; by reason that, in all + their other exercises, every one bends and yields to them; but a horse, + that is neither a flatterer nor a courtier, throws the son of a king with + no more ceremony than he would throw that of a porter.” + </p> + <p> + Homer was fain to consent that Venus, so sweet and delicate a goddess as + she was, should be wounded at the battle of Troy, thereby to ascribe + courage and boldness to her qualities that cannot possibly be in those who + are exempt from danger. The gods are made to be angry, to fear, to run + away, to be jealous, to grieve, to be transported with passions, to honour + them with the virtues that, amongst us, are built upon these + imperfections. Who does not participate in the hazard and difficulty, can + claim no interest in the honour and pleasure that are the consequents of + hazardous actions. ‘Tis pity a man should be so potent that all + things must give way to him; fortune therein sets you too remote from + society, and places you in too great a solitude. This easiness and mean + facility of making all things bow under you, is an enemy to all sorts of + pleasure: ‘tis to slide, not to go; ‘tis to sleep, and not to + live. Conceive man accompanied with omnipotence: you overwhelm him; he + must beg disturbance and opposition as an alms: his being and his good are + in indigence. Evil to man is in its turn good, and good evil. Neither is + pain always to be shunned, nor pleasure always to be pursued. + </p> + <p> + Their good qualities are dead and lost; for they can only be perceived by + comparison, and we put them out of this: they have little knowledge of + true praise, having their ears deafened with so continual and uniform an + approbation. Have they to do with the stupidest of all their subjects? + they have no means to take any advantage of him; if he but say: “‘Tis + because he is my king,” he thinks he has said enough to express that + he therefore suffered himself to be overcome. This quality stifles and + consumes the other true and essential qualities: they are sunk in the + royalty, and leave them nothing to recommend themselves with but actions + that directly concern and serve the function of their place; ‘tis so + much to be a king, that this alone remains to them. The outer glare that + environs him conceals and shrouds him from us; our sight is there repelled + and dissipated, being filled and stopped by this prevailing light. The + senate awarded the prize of eloquence to Tiberius; he refused it, + esteeming that though it had been just, he could derive no advantage from + a judgment so partial, and that was so little free to judge. + </p> + <p> + As we give them all advantages of honour, so do we soothe and authorise + all their vices and defects, not only by approbation, but by imitation + also. Every one of Alexander’s followers carried his head on one + side, as he did; and the flatterers of Dionysius ran against one another + in his presence, and stumbled at and overturned whatever was under foot, + to shew they were as purblind as he. Hernia itself has also served to + recommend a man to favour; I have seen deafness affected; and because the + master hated his wife, Plutarch—[who, however, only gives one + instance; and in this he tells us that the man visited his wife privately.]—has + seen his courtiers repudiate theirs, whom they loved; and, which is yet + more, uncleanliness and all manner of dissoluteness have so been in + fashion; as also disloyalty, blasphemy, cruelty, heresy, superstition, + irreligion, effeminacy, and worse, if worse there be; and by an example + yet more dangerous than that of Mithridates’ flatterers, who, as + their master pretended to the honour of a good physician, came to him to + have incisions and cauteries made in their limbs; for these others + suffered the soul, a more delicate and noble part, to be cauterised. + </p> + <p> + But to end where I began: the Emperor Adrian, disputing with the + philosopher Favorinus about the interpretation of some word, Favorinus + soon yielded him the victory; for which his friends rebuking him, “You + talk simply,” said he; “would you not have him wiser than I, + who commands thirty legions?” Augustus wrote verses against Asinius + Pollio, and “I,” said Pollio, “say nothing, for it is + not prudence to write in contest with him who has power to proscribe.” + And they were right. For Dionysius, because he could not equal Philoxenus + in poesy and Plato in discourse, condemned the one to the quarries, and + sent the other to be sold for a slave into the island of AEgina. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0101" id="link2HCH0101"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII——OF THE ART OF CONFERENCE + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis a custom of our justice to condemn some for a warning to + others. To condemn them for having done amiss, were folly, as Plato says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Diogenes Laertius, however, in his Life of Plato, iii. 181, says + that Plato’s offence was the speaking too freely to the tyrant.] +</pre> + <p> + for what is done can never be undone; but ‘tis to the end they may + offend no more, and that others may avoid the example of their offence: we + do not correct the man we hang; we correct others by him. I do the same; + my errors are sometimes natural, incorrigible, and irremediable: but the + good which virtuous men do to the public, in making themselves imitated, + I, peradventure, may do in making my manners avoided: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nonne vides, Albi ut male vivat filius? utque + Barrus inops? magnum documentum, ne patriam rein + Perdere guis velit;” + + [“Dost thou not see how ill the son of Albus lives? and how the + indigent Barrus? a great warning lest any one should incline to + dissipate his patrimony.”—Horace, Sat., i. 4, 109.] +</pre> + <p> + publishing and accusing my own imperfections, some one will learn to be + afraid of them. The parts that I most esteem in myself, derive more honour + from decrying, than for commending myself which is the reason why I so + often fall into, and so much insist upon that strain. But, when all is + summed up, a man never speaks of himself without loss; a man’s + accusations of himself are always believed; his praises never: There may, + peradventure, be some of my own complexion who better instruct myself by + contrariety than by similitude, and by avoiding than by imitation. The + elder Cato was regarding this sort of discipline, when he said, “that + the wise may learn more of fools, than fools can of the wise”; and + Pausanias tells us of an ancient player upon the harp, who was wont to + make his scholars go to hear one who played very ill, who lived over + against him, that they might learn to hate his discords and false + measures. The horror of cruelty more inclines me to clemency, than any + example of clemency could possibly do. A good rider does not so much mend + my seat, as an awkward attorney or a Venetian, on horseback; and a + clownish way of speaking more reforms mine than the most correct. The + ridiculous and simple look of another always warns and advises me; that + which pricks, rouses and incites much better than that which tickles. The + time is now proper for us to reform backward; more by dissenting than by + agreeing; by differing more than by consent. Profiting little by good + examples, I make use of those that are ill, which are everywhere to be + found: I endeavour to render myself as agreeable as I see others + offensive; as constant as I see others fickle; as affable as I see others + rough; as good as I see others evil: but I propose to myself impracticable + measures. + </p> + <p> + The most fruitful and natural exercise of the mind, in my opinion, is + conversation; I find the use of it more sweet than of any other action of + life; and for that reason it is that, if I were now compelled to choose, I + should sooner, I think, consent to lose my sight, than my hearing and + speech. The Athenians, and also the Romans, kept this exercise in great + honour in their academies; the Italians retain some traces of it to this + day, to their great advantage, as is manifest by the comparison of our + understandings with theirs. The study of books is a languishing and feeble + motion that heats not, whereas conversation teaches and exercises at once. + If I converse with a strong mind and a rough disputant, he presses upon my + flanks, and pricks me right and left; his imaginations stir up mine; + jealousy, glory, and contention, stimulate and raise me up to something + above myself; and acquiescence is a quality altogether tedious in + discourse. But, as our mind fortifies itself by the communication of + vigorous and regular understandings, ‘tis not to be expressed how + much it loses and degenerates by the continual commerce and familiarity we + have with mean and weak spirits; there is no contagion that spreads like + that; I know sufficiently by experience what ‘tis worth a yard. I + love to discourse and dispute, but it is with but few men, and for myself; + for to do it as a spectacle and entertainment to great persons, and to + make of a man’s wit and words competitive parade is, in my opinion, + very unbecoming a man of honour. + </p> + <p> + Folly is a bad quality; but not to be able to endure it, to fret and vex + at it, as I do, is another sort of disease little less troublesome than + folly itself; and is the thing that I will now accuse in myself. I enter + into conference, and dispute with great liberty and facility, forasmuch as + opinion meets in me with a soil very unfit for penetration, and wherein to + take any deep root; no propositions astonish me, no belief offends me, + though never so contrary to my own; there is no so frivolous and + extravagant fancy that does not seem to me suitable to the production of + human wit. We, who deprive our judgment of the right of determining, look + indifferently upon the diverse opinions, and if we incline not our + judgment to them, yet we easily give them the hearing: Where one scale is + totally empty, I let the other waver under an old wife’s dreams; and + I think myself excusable, if I prefer the odd number; Thursday rather than + Friday; if I had rather be the twelfth or fourteenth than the thirteenth + at table; if I had rather, on a journey, see a hare run by me than cross + my way, and rather give my man my left foot than my right, when he comes + to put on my stockings. All such reveries as are in credit around us, + deserve at least a hearing: for my part, they only with me import inanity, + but they import that. Moreover, vulgar and casual opinions are something + more than nothing in nature; and he who will not suffer himself to proceed + so far, falls, peradventure, into the vice of obstinacy, to avoid that of + superstition. + </p> + <p> + The contradictions of judgments, then, neither offend nor alter, they only + rouse and exercise, me. We evade correction, whereas we ought to offer and + present ourselves to it, especially when it appears in the form of + conference, and not of authority. At every opposition, we do not consider + whether or no it be dust, but, right or wrong, how to disengage ourselves: + instead of extending the arms, we thrust out our claws. I could suffer + myself to be rudely handled by my friend, so much as to tell me that I am + a fool, and talk I know not of what. I love stout expressions amongst + gentle men, and to have them speak as they think; we must fortify and + harden our hearing against this tenderness of the ceremonious sound of + words. I love a strong and manly familiarity and conversation: a + friendship that pleases itself in the sharpness and vigour of its + communication, like love in biting and scratching: it is not vigorous and + generous enough, if it be not quarrelsome, if it be civilised and + artificial, if it treads nicely and fears the shock: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neque enim disputari sine reprehensione potest.” + + [“Neither can a man dispute, but he must contradict.” + (Or:) “Nor can people dispute without reprehension.” + —Cicero, De Finib., i. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + When any one contradicts me, he raises my attention, not my anger: I + advance towards him who controverts, who instructs me; the cause of truth + ought to be the common cause both of the one and the other. What will the + angry man answer? Passion has already confounded his judgment; agitation + has usurped the place of reason. It were not amiss that the decision of + our disputes should pass by wager: that there might be a material mark of + our losses, to the end we might the better remember them; and that my man + might tell me: “Your ignorance and obstinacy cost you last year, at + several times, a hundred crowns.” I hail and caress truth in what + quarter soever I find it, and cheerfully surrender myself, and open my + conquered arms as far off as I can discover it; and, provided it be not + too imperiously, take a pleasure in being reproved, and accommodate myself + to my accusers, very often more by reason of civility than amendment, + loving to gratify and nourish the liberty of admonition by my facility of + submitting to it, and this even at my own expense. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, it is hard to bring the men of my time to it: they have not + the courage to correct, because they have not the courage to suffer + themselves to be corrected; and speak always with dissimulation in the + presence of one another: I take so great a pleasure in being judged and + known, that it is almost indifferent to me in which of the two forms I am + so: my imagination so often contradicts and condemns itself, that ‘tis + all one to me if another do it, especially considering that I give his + reprehension no greater authority than I choose; but I break with him, who + carries himself so high, as I know of one who repents his advice, if not + believed, and takes it for an affront if it be not immediately followed. + That Socrates always received smilingly the contradictions offered to his + arguments, a man may say arose from his strength of reason; and that, the + advantage being certain to fall on his side, he accepted them as a matter + of new victory. But we see, on the contrary, that nothing in argument + renders our sentiment so delicate, as the opinion of pre-eminence, and + disdain of the adversary; and that, in reason, ‘tis rather for the + weaker to take in good part the oppositions that correct him and set him + right. In earnest, I rather choose the company of those who ruffle me than + of those who fear me; ‘tis a dull and hurtful pleasure to have to do + with people who admire us and approve of all we say. Antisthenes commanded + his children never to take it kindly or for a favour, when any man + commended them. I find I am much prouder of the victory I obtain over + myself, when, in the very ardour of dispute, I make myself submit to my + adversary’s force of reason, than I am pleased with the victory I + obtain over him through his weakness. In fine, I receive and admit of all + manner of attacks that are direct, how weak soever; but I am too impatient + of those that are made out of form. I care not what the subject is, the + opinions are to me all one, and I am almost indifferent whether I get the + better or the worse. I can peaceably argue a whole day together, if the + argument be carried on with method; I do not so much require force and + subtlety as order; I mean the order which we every day observe in the + wranglings of shepherds and shop-boys, but never amongst us: if they start + from their subject, ‘tis out of incivility, and so ‘tis with + us; but their tumult and impatience never put them out of their theme; + their argument still continues its course; if they interrupt, and do not + stay for one another, they at least understand one another. Any one + answers too well for me, if he answers what I say: when the dispute is + irregular and disordered, I leave the thing itself, and insist upon the + form with anger and indiscretion; falling into wilful, malicious, and + imperious way of disputation, of which I am afterwards ashamed. ‘Tis + impossible to deal fairly with a fool: my judgment is not only corrupted + under the hand of so impetuous a master, but my conscience also. + </p> + <p> + Our disputes ought to be interdicted and punished as well as other verbal + crimes: what vice do they not raise and heap up, being always governed and + commanded by passion? We first quarrel with their reasons, and then with + the men. We only learn to dispute that we may contradict; and so, every + one contradicting and being contradicted, it falls out that the fruit of + disputation is to lose and annihilate truth. Therefore it is that Plato in + his Republic prohibits this exercise to fools and ill-bred people. To what + end do you go about to inquire of him, who knows nothing to the purpose? A + man does no injury to the subject, when he leaves it to seek how he may + treat it; I do not mean by an artificial and scholastic way, but by a + natural one, with a sound understanding. What will it be in the end? One + flies to the east, the other to the west; they lose the principal, + dispersing it in the crowd of incidents after an hour of tempest, they + know not what they seek: one is low, the other high, and a third wide. One + catches at a word and a simile; another is no longer sensible of what is + said in opposition to him, and thinks only of going on at his own rate, + not of answering you: another, finding himself too weak to make good his + rest, fears all, refuses all, at the very beginning, confounds the + subject; or, in the very height of the dispute, stops short and is silent, + by a peevish ignorance affecting a proud contempt or a foolishly modest + avoidance of further debate: provided this man strikes, he cares not how + much he lays himself open; the other counts his words, and weighs them for + reasons; another only brawls, and uses the advantage of his lungs. Here’s + one who learnedly concludes against himself, and another who deafens you + with prefaces and senseless digressions: an other falls into downright + railing, and seeks a quarrel after the German fashion, to disengage + himself from a wit that presses too hard upon him: and a last man sees + nothing into the reason of the thing, but draws a line of circumvallation + about you of dialectic clauses, and the formulas of his art. + </p> + <p> + Now, who would not enter into distrust of sciences, and doubt whether he + can reap from them any solid fruit for the service of life, considering + the use we put them to? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nihil sanantibus litteris.” + + [“Letters which cure nothing.”—Seneca, Ep., 59.] +</pre> + <p> + Who has got understanding by his logic? Where are all her fair promises? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec ad melius vivendum, nec ad commodius disserendum.” + + [“It neither makes a man live better nor talk better.” + —Cicero, De Fin., i. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + Is there more noise or confusion in the scolding of herring-wives than in + the public disputes of men of this profession? I had rather my son should + learn in a tap-house to speak, than in the schools to prate. Take a master + of arts, and confer with him: why does he not make us sensible of this + artificial excellence? and why does he not captivate women and + ignoramuses, as we are, with admiration at the steadiness of his reasons + and the beauty of his order? why does he not sway and persuade us to what + he will? why does a man, who has so much advantage in matter and + treatment, mix railing, indiscretion, and fury in his disputations? Strip + him of his gown, his hood, and his Latin, let him not batter our ears with + Aristotle, pure and simple, you will take him for one of us, or worse. + Whilst they torment us with this complication and confusion of words, it + fares with them, methinks, as with jugglers; their dexterity imposes upon + our senses, but does not at all work upon our belief this legerdemain + excepted, they perform nothing that is not very ordinary and mean: for + being the more learned, they are none the less fools. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [So Hobbes said that if he had read as much as the academical + pedants he should have known as little.] +</pre> + <p> + I love and honour knowledge as much as they that have it, and in its true + use ‘tis the most noble and the greatest acquisition of men; but in + such as I speak of (and the number of them is infinite), who build their + fundamental sufficiency and value upon it, who appeal from their + understanding to their memory: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sub aliena umbra latentes,” + + [“Sheltering under the shadow of others.”—Seneca, Ep., 33.] +</pre> + <p> + and who can do nothing but by book, I hate it, if I dare to say so, worse + than stupidity. In my country, and in my time, learning improves fortunes + enough, but not minds; if it meet with those that are dull and heavy, it + overcharges and suffocates them, leaving them a crude and undigested mass; + if airy and fine, it purifies, clarifies, and subtilises them, even to + exinanition. ‘Tis a thing of almost indifferent quality; a very + useful accession to a well-born soul, but hurtful and pernicious to + others; or rather a thing of very precious use, that will not suffer + itself to be purchased at an under rate; in the hand of some ‘tis a + sceptre, in that of others a fool’s bauble. + </p> + <p> + But let us proceed. What greater victory do you expect than to make your + enemy see and know that he is not able to encounter you? When you get the + better of your argument; ‘tis truth that wins; when you get the + advantage of form and method, ‘tis then you who win. I am of opinion + that in, Plato and Xenophon Socrates disputes more in favour of the + disputants than in favour of the dispute, and more to instruct Euthydemus + and Protagoras in the, knowledge of their impertinence, than in the + impertinence of their art. He takes hold of the first subject like one who + has a more profitable end than to explain it—namely, to clear the + understandings that he takes upon him to instruct and exercise. To hunt + after truth is properly our business, and we are inexcusable if we carry + on the chase impertinently and ill; to fail of seizing it is another + thing, for we are born to inquire after truth: it belongs to a greater + power to possess it. It is not, as Democritus said, hid in the bottom of + the deeps, but rather elevated to an infinite height in the divine + knowledge. The world is but a school of inquisition: it is not who shall + enter the ring, but who shall run the best courses. He may as well play + the fool who speaks true, as he who speaks false, for we are upon the + manner, not the matter, of speaking. ‘Tis my humour as much to + regard the form as the substance, and the advocate as much as the cause, + as Alcibiades ordered we should: and every day pass away my time in + reading authors without any consideration of their learning; their manner + is what I look after, not their subject: And just so do I hunt after the + conversation of any eminent wit, not that he may teach me, but that I may + know him, and that knowing him, if I think him worthy of imitation, I may + imitate him. Every man may speak truly, but to speak methodically, + prudently, and fully, is a talent that few men have. The falsity that + proceeds from ignorance does not offend me, but the foppery of it. I have + broken off several treaties that would have been of advantage to me, by + reason of the impertinent contestations of those with whom I treated. I am + not moved once in a year at the faults of those over whom I have + authority, but upon the account of the ridiculous obstinacy of their + allegations, denials, excuses, we are every day going together by the + ears; they neither understand what is said, nor why, and answer + accordingly; ‘tis enough to drive a man mad. I never feel any hurt + upon my head but when ‘tis knocked against another, and more easily + forgive the vices of my servants than their boldness, importunity, and + folly; let them do less, provided they understand what they do: you live + in hope to warm their affection to your service, but there is nothing to + be had or to be expected from a stock. + </p> + <p> + But what, if I take things otherwise than they are? Perhaps I do; and + therefore it is that I accuse my own impatience, and hold, in the first + place, that it is equally vicious both in him that is in the right, and in + him that is in the wrong; for ‘tis always a tyrannic sourness not to + endure a form contrary to one’s own: and, besides, there cannot, in + truth, be a greater, more constant, nor more irregular folly than to be + moved and angry at the follies of the world, for it principally makes us + quarrel with ourselves; and the old philosopher never wanted an occasion + for his tears whilst he considered himself. Miso, one of the seven sages, + of a Timonian and Democritic humour, being asked, “what he laughed + at, being alone?”—“That I do laugh alone,” + answered he. How many ridiculous things, in my own opinion, do I say and + answer every day that comes over my head? and then how many more, + according to the opinion of others? If I bite my own lips, what ought + others to do? In fine, we must live amongst the living, and let the river + run under the bridge without our care, or, at least, without our + interference. In truth, why do we meet a man with a hunch-back, or any + other deformity, without being moved, and cannot endure the encounter of a + deformed mind without being angry? this vicious sourness sticks more to + the judge than to the crime. Let us always have this saying of Plato in + our mouths: “Do not I think things unsound, because I am not sound + in myself? Am I not myself in fault? may not my observations reflect upon + myself?”—a wise and divine saying, that lashes the most + universal and common error of mankind. Not only the reproaches that we + throw in the face of one another, but our reasons also, our arguments and + controversies, are reboundable upon us, and we wound ourselves with our + own weapons: of which antiquity has left me enough grave examples. It was + ingeniously and home-said by him, who was the inventor of this sentence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stercus cuique suum bene olet.” + + [“To every man his own excrements smell well.”—Erasmus] +</pre> + <p> + We see nothing behind us; we mock ourselves an hundred times a day; when + we deride our neighbours; and we detest in others the defects which are + more manifest in us, and which we admire with marvellous inadvertency and + impudence. It was but yesterday that I heard a man of understanding and of + good rank, as pleasantly as justly scoffing at the folly of another, who + did nothing but torment everybody with the catalogue of his genealogy and + alliances, above half of them false (for they are most apt to fall into + such ridiculous discourses, whose qualities are most dubious and least + sure), and yet, would he have looked into himself, he would have discerned + himself to be no less intemperate and wearisome in extolling his wife’s + pedigree. O importunate presumption, with which the wife sees herself + armed by the hands of her own husband. Did he understand Latin, we should + say to him: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Age, si hic non insanit satis sua sponte, instiga.” + + [“Come! if of himself he is not mad enough, urge him on.” + —Terence, And., iv. 2, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + I do not say that no man should accuse another, who is not clean himself,—for + then no one would ever accuse,—clean from the same sort of spot; but + I mean that our judgment, falling upon another who is then in question, + should not, at the same time, spare ourselves, but sentence us with an + inward and severe authority. ‘Tis an office of charity, that he who + cannot reclaim himself from a vice, should, nevertheless, endeavour to + remove it from another, in whom, peradventure, it may not have so deep and + so malignant a root; neither do him who reproves me for my fault that he + himself is guilty of the same. What of that? The reproof is, + notwithstanding, true and of very good use. Had we a good nose, our own + ordure would stink worse to us, forasmuch as it is our own: and Socrates + is of opinion that whoever should find himself, his son, and a stranger + guilty of any violence and wrong, ought to begin with himself, present + himself first to the sentence of justice, and implore, to purge himself, + the assistance of the hand of the executioner; in the next place, he + should proceed to his son, and lastly, to the stranger. If this precept + seem too severe, he ought at least to present himself the first, to the + punishment of his own conscience. + </p> + <p> + The senses are our first and proper judges, which perceive not things but + by external accidents; and ‘tis no wonder, if in all the parts of + the service of our society, there is so perpetual and universal a mixture + of ceremonies and superficial appearances; insomuch that the best and most + effectual part of our polities therein consist. ‘Tis still man with + whom we have to do, of whom the condition is wonderfully corporal. Let + those who, of these late years, would erect for us such a contemplative + and immaterial an exercise of religion, not wonder if there be some who + think it had vanished and melted through their fingers had it not more + upheld itself among us as a mark, title, and instrument of division and + faction, than by itself. As in conference, the gravity, robe, and fortune + of him who speaks, ofttimes gives reputation to vain arguments and idle + words, it is not to be presumed but that a man, so attended and feared, + has not in him more than ordinary sufficiency; and that he to whom the + king has given so many offices and commissions and charges, he so + supercilious and proud, has not a great deal more in him, than another who + salutes him at so great a distance, and who has no employment at all. Not + only the words, but the grimaces also of these people, are considered and + put into the account; every one making it his business to give them some + fine and solid interpretation. If they stoop to the common conference, and + that you offer anything but approbation and reverence, they then knock you + down with the authority of their experience: they have heard, they have + seen, they have done so and so: you are crushed with examples. I should + willingly tell them, that the fruit of a surgeon’s experience, is + not the history of his practice and his remembering that he has cured four + people of the plague and three of the gout, unless he knows how thence to + extract something whereon to form his judgment, and to make us sensible + that he has thence become more skillful in his art. As in a concert of + instruments, we do not hear a lute, a harpsichord, or a flute alone, but + one entire harmony, the result of all together. If travel and offices have + improved them, ‘tis a product of their understanding to make it + appear. ‘Tis not enough to reckon experiences, they must weigh, sort + and distil them, to extract the reasons and conclusions they carry along + with them. There were never so many historians: it is, indeed, good and of + use to read them, for they furnish us everywhere with excellent and + laudable instructions from the magazine of their memory, which, doubtless, + is of great concern to the help of life; but ‘tis not that we seek + for now: we examine whether these relaters and collectors of things are + commendable themselves. + </p> + <p> + I hate all sorts of tyranny, both in word and deed. I am very ready to + oppose myself against those vain circumstances that delude our judgments + by the senses; and keeping my eye close upon those extraordinary + greatnesses, I find that at best they are men, as others are: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rarus enim ferme sensus communis in illa + Fortuna.” + + [“For in those high fortunes, common sense is generally rare.” + —Juvenal, viii. 73.] +</pre> + <p> + Peradventure, we esteem and look upon them for less than they are, by + reason they undertake more, and more expose themselves; they do not answer + to the charge they have undertaken. There must be more vigour and strength + in the bearer than in the burden; he who has not lifted as much as he can, + leaves you to guess that he has still a strength beyond that, and that he + has not been tried to the utmost of what he is able to do; he who sinks + under his load, makes a discovery of his best, and the weakness of his + shoulders. This is the reason that we see so many silly souls amongst the + learned, and more than those of the better sort: they would have made good + husbandmen, good merchants, and good artisans: their natural vigour was + cut out to that proportion. Knowledge is a thing of great weight, they + faint under it: their understanding has neither vigour nor dexterity + enough to set forth and distribute, to employ or make use of this rich and + powerful matter; it has no prevailing virtue but in a strong nature; and + such natures are very rare—and the weak ones, says Socrates, corrupt + the dignity of philosophy in the handling, it appears useless and vicious, + when lodged in an ill-contrived mind. They spoil and make fools of + themselves: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Humani qualis simulator simius oris, + Quern puer arridens pretioso stamine serum + Velavit, nudasque nates ac terga reliquit, + Ludibrium mensis.” + + [“Just like an ape, simulator of the human face, whom a wanton boy + has dizened up in rich silks above, but left the lower parts bare, + for a laughing-stock for the tables.” + —Claudian, in Eutrop., i 303.] +</pre> + <p> + Neither is it enough for those who govern and command us, and have all the + world in their hands, to have a common understanding, and to be able to do + the same that we can; they are very much below us, if they be not + infinitely above us: as they promise more, so they are to perform more. + </p> + <p> + And yet silence is to them, not only a countenance of respect and gravity, + but very often of good advantage too: for Megabyzus, going ‘to see + Apelles in his painting-room, stood a great while without speaking a word, + and at last began to talk of his paintings, for which he received this + rude reproof: “Whilst thou wast silent, thou seemedst to be some + great thing, by reason of thy chains and rich habit; but now that we have + heard thee speak, there is not the meanest boy in my workshop that does + not despise thee.” Those princely ornaments, that mighty state, did + not permit him to be ignorant with a common ignorance, and to speak + impertinently of painting; he ought to have kept this external and + presumptive knowledge by silence. To how many foolish fellows of my time + has a sullen and silent mien procured the credit of prudence and capacity! + </p> + <p> + Dignities and offices are of necessity conferred more by fortune than upon + the account of merit; and we are often to blame, to condemn kings when + these are misplaced: on the contrary, ‘tis a wonder they should have + so good luck, where there is so little skill: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Principis est virtus maxima nosse suos;” + + [“‘Tis the chief virtue of a prince to know his people.” + —Martial, viii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + for nature has not given them a sight that can extend to so many people, + to discern which excels the rest, nor to penetrate into our bosoms, where + the knowledge of our wills and best value lies they must choose us by + conjecture and by groping; by the family, wealth, learning, and the voice + of the people, which are all very feeble arguments. Whoever could find out + a way by which they might judge by justice, and choose men by reason, + would, in this one thing, establish a perfect form of government. + </p> + <p> + “Ay, but he brought that great affair to a very good pass.” + This is, indeed, to say something, but not to say enough: for this + sentence is justly received, “That we are not to judge of counsels + by events.” The Carthaginians punished the ill counsels of their + captains, though they were rectified by a successful issue; and the Roman + people often denied a triumph for great and very advantageous victories + because the conduct of their general was not answerable to his good + fortune. We ordinarily see, in the actions of the world, that Fortune, to + shew us her power in all things, and who takes a pride in abating our + presumption, seeing she could not make fools wise, has made them fortunate + in emulation of virtue; and most favours those operations the web of which + is most purely her own; whence it is that the simplest amongst us bring to + pass great business, both public and private; and, as Seiramnes, the + Persian, answered those who wondered that his affairs succeeded so ill, + considering that his deliberations were so wise, “that he was sole + master of his designs, but that success was wholly in the power of fortune”; + these may answer the same, but with a contrary turn. Most worldly affairs + are performed by themselves + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fata viam inveniunt;” + + [“The destinies find the way.”—AEneid, iii. 395] +</pre> + <p> + the event often justifies a very foolish conduct; our interposition is + little more than as it were a running on by rote, and more commonly a + consideration of custom and example, than of reason. Being formerly + astonished at the greatness of some affair, I have been made acquainted + with their motives and address by those who had performed it, and have + found nothing in it but very ordinary counsels; and the most common and + usual are indeed, perhaps, the most sure and convenient for practice, if + not for show. What if the plainest reasons are the best seated? the + meanest, lowest, and most beaten more adapted to affairs? To maintain the + authority of the counsels of kings, it needs not that profane persons + should participate of them, or see further into them than the outmost + barrier; he who will husband its reputation must be reverenced upon credit + and taken altogether. My consultation somewhat rough-hews the matter, and + considers it lightly by the first face it presents: the stress and main of + the business I have been wont to refer to heaven; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Permitte divis caetera.” + + [“Leave the rest to the gods.”—Horace, Od., i. 9, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + Good and ill fortune are, in my opinion, two sovereign powers; ‘tis + folly to think that human prudence can play the part of Fortune; and vain + is his attempt who presumes to comprehend both causes and consequences, + and by the hand to conduct the progress of his design; and most especially + vain in the deliberations of war. There was never greater circumspection + and military prudence than sometimes is seen amongst us: can it be that + men are afraid to lose themselves by the way, that they reserve themselves + to the end of the game? I moreover affirm that our wisdom itself and + consultation, for the most part commit themselves to the conduct of + chance; my will and my reason are sometimes moved by one breath, and + sometimes by another; and many of these movements there are that govern + themselves without me: my reason has uncertain and casual agitations and + impulsions: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vertuntur species animorum, et pectora motus + Nunc alios, alios, dum nubila ventus agebat, + Concipiunt.” + + [“The aspects of their minds change; and they conceive now such + ideas, now such, just so long as the wind agitated the clouds.” + —Virgil, Georg., i. 42.] +</pre> + <p> + Let a man but observe who are of greatest authority in cities, and who + best do their own business; we shall find that they are commonly men of + the least parts: women, children, and madmen have had the fortune to + govern great kingdoms equally well with the wisest princes, and Thucydides + says, that the stupid more ordinarily do it than those of better + understandings; we attribute the effects of their good fortune to their + prudence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut quisque Fortuna utitur, + Ita praecellet; atque exinde sapere illum omnes dicimus;” + + [“He makes his way who knows how to use Fortune, and thereupon we + all call him wise.”—Plautus, Pseudol., ii. 3, 13.] +</pre> + <p> + wherefore I say unreservedly, events are a very poor testimony of our + worth and parts. + </p> + <p> + Now, I was upon this point, that there needs no more but to see a man + promoted to dignity; though we knew him but three days before a man of + little regard, yet an image of grandeur of sufficiency insensibly steals + into our opinion, and we persuade ourselves that, being augmented in + reputation and train, he is also increased in merit; we judge of him, not + according to his worth, but as we do by counters, according to the + prerogative of his place. If it happen so that he fall again, and be mixed + with the common crowd, every one inquires with amazement into the cause of + his having been raised so high. “Is this he,” say they, + “was he no wiser when he was there? Do princes satisfy themselves + with so little? Truly, we were in good hands.” This is a thing that + I have often seen in my time. Nay, even the very disguise of grandeur + represented in our comedies in some sort moves and gulls us. That which I + myself adore in kings is the crowd of their adorers; all reverence and + submission are due to them, except that of the understanding: my reason is + not obliged to bow and bend; my knees are. Melanthius being asked what he + thought of the tragedy of Dionysius, “I could not see it,” + said he, “it was so clouded with language”; so most of those + who judge of the discourses of great men ought to say, “I did not + understand his words, they were so clouded with gravity, grandeur, and + majesty.” Antisthenes one day tried to persuade the Athenians to + give order that their asses might be employed in tilling the ground as + well as the horses were; to which it was answered that that animal was not + destined for such a service: “That’s all one,” replied + he, “you have only to order it: for the most ignorant and incapable + men you employ in the commands of your wars incontinently become worthy + enough, because you employ them”; to which the custom of so many + people, who canonise the king they have chosen out of their own body, and + are not content only to honour, but must adore them, comes very near. + Those of Mexico, after the ceremonies of their king’s coronation are + over, dare no more look him in the face; but, as if they had deified him + by his royalty. Amongst the oaths they make him take to maintain their + religion, their laws, and liberties, to be valiant, just, and mild, he + moreover swears to make the sun run his course in his wonted light, to + drain the clouds at fit seasons, to make rivers run their course, and to + cause the earth to bear all things necessary for his people. + </p> + <p> + I differ from this common fashion, and am more apt to suspect the capacity + when I see it accompanied with that grandeur of fortune and public + applause; we are to consider of what advantage it is to speak when a man + pleases, to choose his subject, to interrupt or change it, with a + magisterial authority; to protect himself from the oppositions of others + by a nod, a smile, or silence, in the presence of an assembly that + trembles with reverence and respect. A man of a prodigious fortune coming + to give his judgment upon some slight dispute that was foolishly set on + foot at his table, began in these words: “It can be no other but a + liar or a fool that will say otherwise than so and so.” Pursue this + philosophical point with a dagger in your hand. + </p> + <p> + There is another observation I have made, from which I draw great + advantage; which is, that in conferences and disputes, every word that + seems to be good, is not immediately to be accepted. Most men are rich in + borrowed sufficiency: a man may say a good thing, give a good answer, cite + a good sentence, without at all seeing the force of either the one or the + other. That a man may not understand all he borrows, may perhaps be + verified in myself. A man must not always presently yield, what truth or + beauty soever may seem to be in the opposite argument; either he must + stoutly meet it, or retire, under colour of not understanding it, to try, + on all parts, how it is lodged in the author. It may happen that we + entangle ourselves, and help to strengthen the point itself. I have + sometimes, in the necessity and heat of the combat, made answers that have + gone through and through, beyond my expectation or hope; I only gave them + in number, they were received in weight. As, when I contend with a + vigorous man, I please myself with anticipating his conclusions, I ease + him of the trouble of explaining himself, I strive to forestall his + imagination whilst it is yet springing and imperfect; the order and + pertinency of his understanding warn and threaten me afar off: I deal + quite contrary with the others; I must understand, and presuppose nothing + but by them. If they determine in general words, “this is good, that + is naught,” and that they happen to be in the right, see if it be + not fortune that hits it off for them: let them a little circumscribe and + limit their judgment; why, or how, it is so. These universal judgments + that I see so common, signify nothing; these are men who salute a whole + people in a crowd together; they, who have a real acquaintance, take + notice of and salute them individually and by name. But ‘tis a + hazardous attempt; and from which I have, more than every day, seen it + fall out, that weak understandings, having a mind to appear ingenious, in + taking notice, as they read a book, of what is best and most to be + admired, fix their admiration upon some thing so very ill chosen, that + instead of making us discern the excellence of the author; they make us + very well see their own ignorance. This exclamation is safe, “That + is fine,” after having heard a whole page of Virgil; by that the + cunning sort save themselves; but to undertake to follow him line by line, + and, with an expert and tried judgment, to observe where a good author + excels himself, weighing the words, phrases, inventions, and his various + excellences, one after another; keep aloof from that: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Videndum est, non modo quid quisque loquatur, sed etiam quid + quisque sentiat, atque etiam qua de causa quisque sentiat.” + + [“A man is not only to examine what every one says, but also what + every one thinks, and from what reason every one thinks.” + —Cicero, De Offic:, i. 41.] +</pre> + <p> + I every day hear fools say things that are not foolish: they say a good + thing; let us examine how far they understand it, whence they have it, and + what they mean by it. We help them to make use of this fine expression, of + this fine sentence, which is none of theirs; they only have it in keeping; + they have bolted it out at a venture; we place it for them in credit and + esteem. You lend them your hand. To what purpose? they do not think + themselves obliged to you for it, and become more inept still. Don’t + help them; let them alone; they will handle the matter like people who are + afraid of burning their fingers; they dare change neither its seat nor + light, nor break into it; shake it never so little, it slips through their + fingers; they give it up, be it never so strong or fair they are fine + weapons, but ill hafted: How many times have I seen the experience of + this? Now, if you come to explain anything to them, and to confirm them, + they catch at it, and presently rob you of the advantage of your + interpretation; “It was what I was about to say; it was just my + idea; if I did not express it so, it was for want of language.” Mere + wind! Malice itself must be employed to correct this arrogant ignorance. + The dogma of Hegesias, “that we are neither to hate nor accuse, but + instruct,” is correct elsewhere; but here ‘tis injustice and + inhumanity to relieve and set him right who stands in no need on’t, + and is the worse for’t. I love to let them step deeper into the + mire; and so deep, that, if it be possible, they may at last discern their + error. + </p> + <p> + Folly and absurdity are not to be cured by bare admonition; and what Cyrus + answered to him, who importuned him to harangue his army, upon the point + of battle, “that men do not become valiant and warlike upon a + sudden, by a fine oration, no more than a man becomes a good musician by + hearing a fine song,” may properly be said of such an admonition as + this. These are apprenticeships that are to be served beforehand, by a + long and continued education. We owe this care and this assiduity of + correction and instruction to our own people; but to go preach to the + first passer-by, and to become tutor to the ignorance and folly of the + first we meet, is a thing that I abhor. I rarely do it, even in private + conversation, and rather give up the whole thing than proceed to these + initiatory and school instructions; my humour is unfit either to speak or + write for beginners; but for things that are said in common discourse, or + amongst other things, I never oppose them either by word or sign, how + false or absurd soever. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, nothing vexes me so much in folly as that it is more + satisfied with itself than any reason can reasonably be. ‘Tis + unfortunate that prudence forbids us to satisfy and trust ourselves, and + always dismisses us timorous and discontented; whereas obstinacy and + temerity fill those who are possessed with them with joy and assurance. + ‘Tis for the most ignorant to look at other men over the shoulder, + always returning from the combat full of joy and triumph. And moreover, + for the most part, this arrogance of speech and gaiety of countenance + gives them the better of it in the opinion of the audience, which is + commonly weak and incapable of well judging and discerning the real + advantage. Obstinacy of opinion and heat in argument are the surest proofs + of folly; is there anything so assured, resolute, disdainful, + contemplative, serious and grave as the ass? + </p> + <p> + May we not include under the title of conference and communication the + quick and sharp repartees which mirth and familiarity introduce amongst + friends, pleasantly and wittily jesting and rallying with one another? + ‘Tis an exercise for which my natural gaiety renders me fit enough, + and which, if it be not so tense and serious as the other I spoke of but + now, is, as Lycurgus thought, no less smart and ingenious, nor of less + utility. For my part, I contribute to it more liberty than wit, and have + therein more of luck than invention; but I am perfect in suffering, for I + endure a retaliation that is not only tart, but indiscreet to boot, + without being moved at all; and whoever attacks me, if I have not a brisk + answer immediately ready, I do not study to pursue the point with a + tedious and impertinent contest, bordering upon obstinacy, but let it + pass, and hanging down cheerfully my ears, defer my revenge to another and + better time: there is no merchant that always gains: Most men change their + countenance and their voice where their wits fail, and by an unseasonable + anger, instead of revenging themselves, accuse at once their own folly and + impatience. In this jollity, we sometimes pinch the secret strings of our + imperfections which, at another and graver time, we cannot touch without + offence, and so profitably give one another a hint of our defects. There + are other jeux de main,—[practical jokes]—rude and indiscreet, + after the French manner, that I mortally hate; my skin is very tender and + sensible: I have in my time seen two princes of the blood buried upon that + very account. ‘Tis unhandsome to fight in play. As to the rest, when + I have a mind to judge of any one, I ask him how far he is contented with + himself; to what degree his speaking or his work pleases him. I will none + of these fine excuses, “I did it only in sport, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ‘Ablatum mediis opus est incudibus istud.’ + + [“That work was taken from the anvil half finished.” + —Ovid, Trist., i. 6, 29.] +</pre> + <p> + I was not an hour about it: I have never looked at it since.” Well, + then, say I, lay these aside, and give me a perfect one, such as you would + be measured by. And then, what do you think is the best thing in your + work? is it this part or that? is it grace or the matter, the invention, + the judgment, or the learning? For I find that men are, commonly, as wide + of the mark in judging of their own works, as of those of others; not only + by reason of the kindness they have for them, but for want of capacity to + know and distinguish them: the work, by its own force and fortune, may + second the workman, and sometimes outstrip him, beyond his invention and + knowledge. For my part, I judge of the value of other men’s works + more obscurely than of my own; and place the Essays, now high, or low, + with great doubt and inconstancy. There are several books that are useful + upon the account of their subjects, from which the author derives no + praise; and good books, as well as good works, that shame the workman. I + may write the manner of our feasts, and the fashion of our clothes, and + may write them ill; I may publish the edicts of my time, and the letters + of princes that pass from hand to hand; I may make an abridgment of a good + book (and every abridgment of a good book is a foolish abridgment), which + book shall come to be lost; and so on: posterity will derive a singular + utility from such compositions: but what honour shall I have unless by + great good fortune? Most part of the famous books are of this condition. + </p> + <p> + When I read Philip de Commines, doubtless a very good author, several + years ago, I there took notice of this for no vulgar saying, “That a + man must have a care not to do his master so great service, that at last + he will not know how to give him his just reward”; but I ought to + commend the invention, not him, because I met with it in Tacitus, not long + since: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Beneficia ea usque lxta sunt, dum videntur exsolvi posse; + ubi multum antevenere, pro gratis odium redditur;” + + [“Benefits are so far acceptable as they appear to be capable of + recompense; where they much exceed that point, hatred is returned + instead of thanks.”—Tacitus, Annal., iv. 18.] +</pre> + <p> + and Seneca vigorously says: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam qui putat esse turpe non reddere, + non vult esse cui reddat:” + + [“For he who thinks it a shame not to requite, does not wish to + have the man live to whom he owes return.”—Seneca, Ep., 81.] +</pre> + <p> + Q. Cicero says with less directness.: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui se non putat satisfacere, + amicus esse nullo modo potest.” + + [“Who thinks himself behind in obligation, can by no + means be a friend.”—Q. Cicero, De Petitione Consul, c. 9.] +</pre> + <p> + The subject, according to what it is, may make a man looked upon as + learned and of good memory; but to judge in him the parts that are most + his own and the most worthy, the vigour and beauty of his soul, one must + first know what is his own and what is not; and in that which is not his + own, how much we are obliged to him for the choice, disposition, ornament, + and language he has there presented us with. What if he has borrowed the + matter and spoiled the form, as it often falls out? We, who are little + read in books, are in this strait, that when we meet with a high fancy in + some new poet, or some strong argument in a preacher, we dare not, + nevertheless, commend it till we have first informed ourselves, through + some learned man, if it be the writer’s wit or borrowed from some + other; until that I always stand upon my guard. + </p> + <p> + I have lately been reading the history of Tacitus quite through, without + interrupting it with anything else (which but seldom happens with me, it + being twenty years since I have kept to any one book an hour together), + and I did it at the instance of a gentleman for whom France has a great + esteem, as well for his own particular worth, as upon the account of a + constant form of capacity and virtue which runs through a great many + brothers of them. I do not know any author in a public narrative who mixes + so much consideration of manners and particular inclinations: and I am of + a quite contrary opinion to him, holding that, having especially to follow + the lives of the emperors of his time, so various and extreme in all sorts + of forms, so many notable actions as their cruelty especially produced in + their subjects, he had a stronger and more attractive matter to treat of + than if he had had to describe battles and universal commotions; so that I + often find him sterile, running over those brave deaths as if he feared to + trouble us with their multitude and length. This form of history is by + much the most useful; public movements depend most upon the conduct of + fortune, private ones upon our own. ‘Tis rather a judgment than a + narration of history; there are in it more precepts than stories: it is + not a book to read, ‘tis a book to study and learn; ‘tis full + of sententious opinions, right or wrong; ‘tis a nursery of ethic and + politic discourses, for the use and ornament of those who have any place + in the government of the world. He always argues by strong and solid + reasons, after a pointed and subtle manner, according to the affected + style of that age, which was so in love with an inflated manner, that + where point and subtlety were wanting in things it supplied these with + lofty and swelling words. ‘Tis not much unlike the style of Seneca: + I look upon Tacitus as more sinewy, and Seneca as more sharp. His pen + seems most proper for a troubled and sick state, as ours at present is; + you would often say that he paints and pinches us. + </p> + <p> + They who doubt his good faith sufficiently accuse themselves of being his + enemy upon some other account. His opinions are sound, and lean to the + right side in the Roman affairs. And yet I am angry at him for judging + more severely of Pompey than consists with the opinion of those worthy men + who lived in the same time, and had dealings with him; and to have reputed + him on a par with Marius and Sylla, excepting that he was more close. + Other writers have not acquitted his intention in the government of + affairs from ambition and revenge; and even his friends were afraid that + victory would have transported him beyond the bounds of reason, but not to + so immeasurable a degree as theirs; nothing in his life threatened such + express cruelty and tyranny. Neither ought we to set suspicion against + evidence; and therefore I do not believe Plutarch in this matter. That his + narrations were genuine and straightforward may, perhaps, be argued from + this very thing, that they do not always apply to the conclusions of his + judgments, which he follows according to the bias he has taken, very often + beyond the matter he presents us withal, which he has not deigned to alter + in the least degree. He needs no excuse for having approved the religion + of his time, according as the laws enjoined, and to have been ignorant of + the true; this was his misfortune, not his fault. + </p> + <p> + I have principally considered his judgment, and am not very well satisfied + therewith throughout; as these words in the letter that Tiberius, old and + sick, sent to the senate. “What shall I write to you, sirs, or how + should I write to you, or what should I not write to you at this time? May + the gods and goddesses lay a worse punishment upon me than I am every day + tormented with, if I know!” I do not see why he should so positively + apply them to a sharp remorse that tormented the conscience of Tiberius; + at least, when I was in the same condition, I perceived no such thing. + </p> + <p> + And this also seemed to me a little mean in him that, having to say that + he had borne an honourable office in Rome, he excuses himself that he does + not say it out of ostentation; this seems, I say, mean for such a soul as + his; for not to speak roundly of a man’s self implies some want of + courage; a man of solid and lofty judgment, who judges soundly and surely, + makes use of his own example upon all occasions, as well as those of + others; and gives evidence as freely of himself as of a third person. We + are to pass by these common rules of civility, in favour of truth and + liberty. I dare not only speak of myself, but to speak only of myself: + when I write of anything else, I miss my way and wander from my subject. I + am not so indiscreetly enamoured of myself, so wholly mixed up with, and + bound to myself, that I cannot distinguish and consider myself apart, as I + do a neighbour or a tree: ‘tis equally a fault not to discern how + far a man’s worth extends, and to say more than a man discovers in + himself. We owe more love to God than to ourselves, and know Him less; and + yet speak of Him as much as we will. + </p> + <p> + If the writings of Tacitus indicate anything true of his qualities, he was + a great personage, upright and bold, not of a superstitious but of a + philosophical and generous virtue. One may think him bold in his + relations; as where he tells us, that a soldier carrying a burden of wood, + his hands were so frozen and so stuck to the load that they there remained + closed and dead, being severed from his arms. I always in such things bow + to the authority of so great witnesses. + </p> + <p> + What also he says, that Vespasian, “by the favour of the god + Serapis, cured a blind woman at Alexandria by anointing her eyes with his + spittle, and I know not what other miracle,” he says by the example + and duty of all his good historians. They record all events of importance; + and amongst public incidents are the popular rumours and opinions. ‘Tis + their part to relate common beliefs, not to regulate them: that part + concerns divines and philosophers, directors of consciences; and therefore + it was that this companion of his, and a great man like himself, very + wisely said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Equidem plura transcribo, quam credo: nam nec affirmare + sustineo, de quibus dubito, nec subducere quae accepi;” + + [“Truly, I set down more things than I believe, for I can neither + affirm things whereof I doubt, nor suppress what I have heard.” + —Quintus Curtius, ix.] +</pre> + <p> + and this other: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Haec neque affirmare neque refellere operae + pretium est; famae rerum standum est.” + + [“‘Tis neither worth the while to affirm or to refute these things; + we must stand to report”—Livy, i., Praef., and viii. 6.] +</pre> + <p> + And writing in an age wherein the belief of prodigies began to decline, he + says he would not, nevertheless, forbear to insert in his Annals, and to + give a relation of things received by so many worthy men, and with so + great reverence of antiquity; ‘tis very well said. Let them deliver + to us history, more as they receive it than as they believe it. I, who am + monarch of the matter whereof I treat, and who am accountable to none, do + not, nevertheless, always believe myself; I often hazard sallies of my own + wit, wherein I very much suspect myself, and certain verbal quibbles, at + which I shake my ears; but I let them go at a venture. I see that others + get reputation by such things: ‘tis not for me alone to judge. I + present myself standing and lying, before and behind, my right side and my + left, and, in all my natural postures. Wits, though equal in force, are + not always equal in taste and application. + </p> + <p> + This is what my memory presents to me in gross, and with uncertainty + enough; all judgments in gross are weak and imperfect. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0102" id="link2HCH0102"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX——OF VANITY + </h2> + <p> + There is, peradventure, no more manifest vanity than to write of it so + vainly. That which divinity has so divinely expressed to us—[“Vanity + of vanities: all is vanity.”—Eccles., i. 2.]—ought to be + carefully and continually meditated by men of understanding. Who does not + see that I have taken a road, in which, incessantly and without labour, I + shall proceed so long as there shall be ink and paper in the world? I can + give no account of my life by my actions; fortune has placed them too low: + I must do it by my fancies. And yet I have seen a gentleman who only + communicated his life by the workings of his belly: you might see on his + premises a show of a row of basins of seven or eight days’ standing; + it was his study, his discourse; all other talk stank in his nostrils. + Here, but not so nauseous, are the excrements of an old mind, sometimes + thick, sometimes thin, and always indigested. And when shall I have done + representing the continual agitation and mutation of my thoughts, as they + come into my head, seeing that Diomedes wrote six thousand books upon the + sole subject of grammar? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [It was not Diomedes, but Didymus the grammarian, who, as Seneca + (Ep., 88) tells us, wrote four not six thousand books on questions + of vain literature, which was the principal study of the ancient + grammarian.—Coste. But the number is probably exaggerated, and for + books we should doubtless read pamphlets or essays.] +</pre> + <p> + What, then, ought prating to produce, since prattling and the first + beginning to speak, stuffed the world with such a horrible load of + volumes? So many words for words only. O Pythagoras, why didst not thou + allay this tempest? They accused one Galba of old for living idly; he made + answer, “That every one ought to give account of his actions, but + not of his home.” He was mistaken, for justice also takes cognisance + of those who glean after the reaper. + </p> + <p> + But there should be some restraint of law against foolish and impertinent + scribblers, as well as against vagabonds and idle persons; which if there + were, both I and a hundred others would be banished from the reach of our + people. I do not speak this in jest: scribbling seems to be a symptom of a + disordered and licentious age. When did we write so much as since our + troubles? when the Romans so much, as upon the point of ruin? Besides + that, the refining of wits does not make people wiser in a government: + this idle employment springs from this, that every one applies himself + negligently to the duty of his vocation, and is easily debauched from it. + The corruption of the age is made up by the particular contribution of + every individual man; some contribute treachery, others injustice, + irreligion, tyranny, avarice, cruelty, according to their power; the + weaker sort contribute folly, vanity, and idleness; of these I am one. It + seems as if it were the season for vain things, when the hurtful oppress + us; in a time when doing ill is common, to do but what signifies nothing + is a kind of commendation. ‘Tis my comfort, that I shall be one of + the last who shall be called in question; and whilst the greater offenders + are being brought to account, I shall have leisure to amend: for it would, + methinks, be against reason to punish little inconveniences, whilst we are + infested with the greater. As the physician Philotimus said to one who + presented him his finger to dress, and who he perceived, both by his + complexion and his breath, had an ulcer in his lungs: “Friend, it is + not now time to play with your nails.” —[Plutarch, How we may + distinguish a Flatterer from a Friend.] + </p> + <p> + And yet I saw, some years ago, a person, whose name and memory I have in + very great esteem, in the very height of our great disorders, when there + was neither law nor justice, nor magistrate who performed his office, no + more than there is now, publish I know not what pitiful reformations about + cloths, cookery, and law chicanery. Those are amusements wherewith to feed + a people that are ill-used, to show that they are not totally forgotten. + Those others do the same, who insist upon prohibiting particular ways of + speaking, dances, and games, to a people totally abandoned to all sorts of + execrable vices. ‘Tis no time to bathe and cleanse one’s self, + when one is seized by a violent fever; it was for the Spartans alone to + fall to combing and curling themselves, when they were just upon the point + of running headlong into some extreme danger of their life. + </p> + <p> + For my part, I have that worse custom, that if my slipper go awry, I let + my shirt and my cloak do so too; I scorn to mend myself by halves. + </p> + <p> + When I am in a bad plight, I fasten upon the mischief; I abandon myself + through despair; I let myself go towards the precipice, and, as they say, + “throw the helve after the hatchet”; I am obstinate in growing + worse, and think myself no longer worth my own care; I am either well or + ill throughout. ‘T is a favour to me, that the desolation of this + kingdom falls out in the desolation of my age: I better suffer that my ill + be multiplied, than if my well had been disturbed.—[That, being ill, + I should grow worse, than that, being well, I should grow ill.]—The + words I utter in mishap are words of anger: my courage sets up its + bristles, instead of letting them down; and, contrary to others, I am more + devout in good than in evil fortune, according to the precept of Xenophon, + if not according to his reason; and am more ready to turn up my eyes to + heaven to return thanks, than to crave. I am more solicitous to improve my + health, when I am well, than to restore it when I am sick; prosperities + are the same discipline and instruction to me that adversities and rods + are to others. As if good fortune were a thing inconsistent with good + conscience, men never grow good but in evil fortune. Good fortune is to me + a singular spur to modesty and moderation: an entreaty wins, a threat + checks me; favour makes me bend, fear stiffens me. + </p> + <p> + Amongst human conditions this is common enough: to be better pleased with + foreign things than with our own, and to love innovation and change: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipsa dies ideo nos grato perluit haustu, + Quod permutatis hora recurrit equis:” + + [“The light of day itself shines more pleasantly upon us because it + changes its horses every hour.” Spoke of a water hour-glass, + adds Cotton.] +</pre> + <p> + I have my share. Those who follow the other extreme, of being quite + satisfied and pleased with and in themselves, of valuing what they have + above all the rest, and of concluding no beauty can be greater than what + they see, if they are not wiser than we, are really more happy; I do not + envy their wisdom, but their good fortune. + </p> + <p> + This greedy humour of new and unknown things helps to nourish in me the + desire of travel; but a great many more circumstances contribute to it; I + am very willing to quit the government of my house. There is, I confess, a + kind of convenience in commanding, though it were but in a barn, and in + being obeyed by one’s people; but ‘tis too uniform and languid + a pleasure, and is, moreover, of necessity mixed with a thousand vexatious + thoughts: one while the poverty and the oppression of your tenants: + another, quarrels amongst neighbours: another, the trespasses they make + upon you afflict you; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aut verberatae grandine vineae, + Fundusque mendax, arbore nunc aquas + Culpante, nunc torrentia agros + Sidera, nunc hyemes iniquas.” + + [“Or hail-smitten vines and the deceptive farm; now trees damaged + by the rains, or years of dearth, now summer’s heat burning up the + petals, now destructive winters.”—Horatius, Od., iii. I, 29.] +</pre> + <p> + and that God scarce in six months sends a season wherein your bailiff can + do his business as he should; but that if it serves the vines, it spoils + the meadows: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Aut nimiis torret fervoribus aetherius sol, + Aut subiti perimunt imbres, gelidoeque pruinae, + Flabraque ventorum violento turbine vexant;” + + [“Either the scorching sun burns up your fields, or sudden rains or + frosts destroy your harvests, or a violent wind carries away all + before it.”—Lucretius, V. 216.] +</pre> + <p> + to which may be added the new and neat-made shoe of the man of old, that + hurts your foot, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Leclerc maliciously suggests that this is a sly hit at Montaigne’s + wife, the man of old being the person mentioned in Plutarch’s Life + of Paulus Emilius, c. 3, who, when his friends reproached him for + repudiating his wife, whose various merits they extolled, pointed to + his shoe, and said, “That looks a nice well-made shoe to you; but I + alone know where it pinches.”] +</pre> + <p> + and that a stranger does not understand how much it costs you, and what + you contribute to maintain that show of order that is seen in your family, + and that peradventure you buy too dear. + </p> + <p> + I came late to the government of a house: they whom nature sent into the + world before me long eased me of that trouble; so that I had already taken + another bent more suitable to my humour. Yet, for so much as I have seen, + ‘tis an employment more troublesome than hard; whoever is capable of + anything else, will easily do this. Had I a mind to be rich, that way + would seem too long; I had served my kings, a more profitable traffic than + any other. Since I pretend to nothing but the reputation of having got + nothing or dissipated nothing, conformably to the rest of my life, + improper either to do good or ill of any moment, and that I only desire to + pass on, I can do it, thanks be to God, without any great endeavour. At + the worst, evermore prevent poverty by lessening your expense; ‘tis + that which I make my great concern, and doubt not but to do it before I + shall be compelled. As to the rest, I have sufficiently settled my + thoughts to live upon less than I have, and live contentedly: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non aestimatione census, verum victu atque cultu, + terminantur pecunix modus.” + + [“‘Tis not by the value of possessions, but by our daily subsistence + and tillage, that our riches are truly estimated.” + —Cicero, Paradox, vi. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + My real need does not so wholly take up all I have, that Fortune has not + whereon to fasten her teeth without biting to the quick. My presence, + heedless and ignorant as it is, does me great service in my domestic + affairs; I employ myself in them, but it goes against the hair, finding + that I have this in my house, that though I burn my candle at one end by + myself, the other is not spared. + </p> + <p> + Journeys do me no harm but only by their expense, which is great, and more + than I am well able to bear, being always wont to travel with not only a + necessary, but a handsome equipage; I must make them so much shorter and + fewer; I spend therein but the froth, and what I have reserved for such + uses, delaying and deferring my motion till that be ready. I will not that + the pleasure of going abroad spoil the pleasure of being retired at home; + on the contrary, I intend they shall nourish and favour one another. + Fortune has assisted me in this, that since my principal profession in + this life was to live at ease, and rather idly than busily, she has + deprived me of the necessity of growing rich to provide for the multitude + of my heirs. If there be not enough for one, of that whereof I had so + plentifully enough, at his peril be it: his imprudence will not deserve + that I should wish him any more. And every one, according to the example + of Phocion, provides sufficiently for his children who so provides for + them as to leave them as much as was left him. I should by no means like + Crates’ way. He left his money in the hands of a banker with this + condition—that if his children were fools, he should then give it to + them; if wise, he should then distribute it to the most foolish of the + people; as if fools, for being less capable of living without riches, were + more capable of using them. + </p> + <p> + At all events, the damage occasioned by my absence seems not to deserve, + so long as I am able to support it, that I should waive the occasions of + diverting myself by that troublesome assistance. + </p> + <p> + There is always something that goes amiss. The affairs, one while of one + house, and then of another, tear you to pieces; you pry into everything + too near; your perspicacity hurts you here, as well as in other things. I + steal away from occasions of vexing myself, and turn from the knowledge of + things that go amiss; and yet I cannot so order it, but that every hour I + jostle against something or other that displeases me; and the tricks that + they most conceal from me, are those that I the soonest come to know; some + there are that, not to make matters worse, a man must himself help to + conceal. Vain vexations; vain sometimes, but always vexations. The + smallest and slightest impediments are the most piercing: and as little + letters most tire the eyes, so do little affairs most disturb us. The rout + of little ills more offend than one, how great soever. By how much + domestic thorns are numerous and slight, by so much they prick deeper and + without warning, easily surprising us when least we suspect them. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Now Homer shews us clearly enough how surprise gives the advantage; + who represents Ulysses weeping at the death of his dog; and not + weeping at the tears of his mother; the first accident, trivial as + it was, got the better of him, coming upon him quite unexpectedly; + he sustained the second, though more potent, because he was prepared + for it. ‘Tis light occasions that humble our lives. ] +</pre> + <p> + I am no philosopher; evils oppress me according to their weight, and they + weigh as much according to the form as the matter, and very often more. If + I have therein more perspicacity than the vulgar, I have also more + patience; in short, they weigh with me, if they do not hurt me. Life is a + tender thing, and easily molested. Since my age has made me grow more + pensive and morose, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nemo enim resistit sibi, cum caeperit impelli,” + + [“For no man resists himself when he has begun to be driven + forward.”—Seneca, Ep., 13.] +</pre> + <p> + for the most trivial cause imaginable, I irritate that humour, which + afterwards nourishes and exasperates itself of its own motion; attracting + and heaping up matter upon matter whereon to feed: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stillicidi casus lapidem cavat:” + + [“The ever falling drop hollows out a stone.”—Lucretius, i. 314.] +</pre> + <p> + these continual tricklings consume and ulcerate me. Ordinary + inconveniences are never light; they are continual and inseparable, + especially when they spring from the members of a family, continual and + inseparable. When I consider my affairs at distance and in gross, I find, + because perhaps my memory is none of the best, that they have gone on + hitherto improving beyond my reason or expectation; my revenue seems + greater than it is; its prosperity betrays me: but when I pry more + narrowly into the business, and see how all things go: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tum vero in curas animum diducimus omnes;” + + [“Indeed we lead the mind into all sorts of cares.” + —AEneid, v. 720.] +</pre> + <p> + I have a thousand things to desire and to fear. To give them quite over, + is very easy for me to do: but to look after them without trouble, is very + hard. ‘Tis a miserable thing to be in a place where everything you + see employs and concerns you; and I fancy that I more cheerfully enjoy the + pleasures of another man’s house, and with greater and a purer + relish, than those of my own. Diogenes answered according to my humour him + who asked him what sort of wine he liked the best: “That of another,” + said he.—[Diogenes Laertius, vi. 54.] + </p> + <p> + My father took a delight in building at Montaigne, where he was born; and + in all the government of domestic affairs I love to follow his example and + rules, and I shall engage those who are to succeed me, as much as in me + lies, to do the same. Could I do better for him, I would; and am proud + that his will is still performing and acting by me. God forbid that in my + hands I should ever suffer any image of life, that I am able to render to + so good a father, to fail. And wherever I have taken in hand to strengthen + some old foundations of walls, and to repair some ruinous buildings, in + earnest I have done it more out of respect to his design, than my own + satisfaction; and am angry at myself that I have not proceeded further to + finish the beginnings he left in his house, and so much the more because I + am very likely to be the last possessor of my race, and to give the last + hand to it. For, as to my own particular application, neither the pleasure + of building, which they say is so bewitching, nor hunting, nor gardens, + nor the other pleasures of a retired life, can much amuse me. And ‘tis + what I am angry at myself for, as I am for all other opinions that are + incommodious to me; which I would not so much care to have vigorous and + learned, as I would have them easy and convenient for life, they are true + and sound enough, if they are useful and pleasing. Such as hear me declare + my ignorance in husbandry, whisper in my ear that it is disdain, and that + I neglect to know its instruments, its seasons, its order, how they dress + my vines, how they graft, and to know the names and forms of herbs and + fruits, and the preparing the meat on which I live, the names and prices + of the stuffs I wear, because, say they; I have set my heart upon some + higher knowledge; they kill me in saying so. It is not disdain; it is + folly, and rather stupidity than glory; I had rather be a good horseman + than a good logician: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quin to aliquid saltem potius, quorum indiget usus, + Viminibus mollique paras detexere junco.” + + [“‘Dost thou not rather do something which is required, and make + osier and reed basket.”—Virgil, Eclog., ii. 71.] +</pre> + <p> + We occupy our thoughts about the general, and about universal causes and + conducts, which will very well carry on themselves without our care; and + leave our own business at random, and Michael much more our concern than + man. Now I am, indeed, for the most part at home; but I would be there + better pleased than anywhere else: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sit meae sedes utinam senectae, + Sit modus lasso maris, et viarum, + Militiaeque.” + + [“Let my old age have a fixed seat; let there be a limit to fatigues + from the sea, journeys, warfare.”—Horace, Od., ii. 6, 6.] +</pre> + <p> + I know not whether or no I shall bring it about. I could wish that, + instead of some other member of his succession, my father had resigned to + me the passionate affection he had in his old age to his household + affairs; he was happy in that he could accommodate his desires to his + fortune, and satisfy himself with what he had; political philosophy may to + much purpose condemn the meanness and sterility of my employment, if I can + once come to relish it, as he did. I am of opinion that the most + honourable calling is to serve the public, and to be useful to many, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fructus enim ingenii et virtutis, omnisque praestantiae, + tum maximus capitur, quum in proximum quemque confertur:” + + [“For the greatest enjoyment of evil and virtue, and of all + excellence, is experienced when they are conferred on some one + nearest.”—Cicero, De Amicil., c.] +</pre> + <p> + for myself, I disclaim it; partly out of conscience (for where I see the + weight that lies upon such employments, I perceive also the little means I + have to supply it; and Plato, a master in all political government + himself, nevertheless took care to abstain from it), and partly out of + cowardice. I content myself with enjoying the world without bustle; + only-to live an excusable life, and such as may neither be a burden to + myself nor to any other. + </p> + <p> + Never did any man more fully and feebly suffer himself to be governed by a + third person than I should do, had I any one to whom to entrust myself. + One of my wishes at this time should be, to have a son-in-law that knew + handsomely how to cherish my old age, and to rock it asleep; into whose + hands I might deposit, in full sovereignty, the management and use of all + my goods, that he might dispose of them as I do, and get by them what I + get, provided that he on his part were truly acknowledging, and a friend. + But we live in a world where loyalty of one’s own children is + unknown. + </p> + <p> + He who has the charge of my purse in his travels, has it purely and + without control; he could cheat me thoroughly, if he came to reckoning; + and, if he is not a devil, I oblige him to deal faithfully with me by so + entire a trust: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Multi fallere do cuerunt, dum timent falli; + et aliis jus peccandi suspicando fecerunt.” + + [“Many have taught others to deceive, while they fear to be + deceived, and, by suspecting them, have given them a title to do + ill.”—Seneca, Epist., 3.] +</pre> + <p> + The most common security I take of my people is ignorance; I never presume + any to be vicious till I have first found them so; and repose the most + confidence in the younger sort, that I think are least spoiled by ill + example. I had rather be told at two months’ end that I have spent + four hundred crowns, than to have my ears battered every night with three, + five, seven: and I have been, in this way, as little robbed as another. It + is true, I am willing enough not to see it; I, in some sort, purposely, + harbour a kind of perplexed, uncertain knowledge of my money: up to a + certain point, I am content to doubt. One must leave a little room for the + infidelity or indiscretion of a servant; if you have left enough, in + gross, to do your business, let the overplus of Fortune’s liberality + run a little more freely at her mercy; ‘tis the gleaner’s + portion. After all, I do not so much value the fidelity of my people as I + contemn their injury. What a mean and ridiculous thing it is for a man to + study his money, to delight in handling and telling it over and over + again! ‘Tis by this avarice makes its approaches. + </p> + <p> + In eighteen years that I have had my estate in my, own hands, I could + never prevail with myself either to read over my deeds or examine my + principal affairs, which ought, of necessity, to pass under my knowledge + and inspection. ‘Tis not a philosophical disdain of worldly and + transitory things; my taste is not purified to that degree, and I value + them at as great a rate, at least, as they are worth; but ‘tis, in + truth, an inexcusable and childish laziness and negligence. What would I + not rather do than read a contract? or than, as a slave to my own + business, tumble over those dusty writings? or, which is worse, those of + another man, as so many do nowadays, to get money? I grudge nothing but + care and trouble, and endeavour nothing so much, as to be careless and at + ease. I had been much fitter, I believe, could it have been without + obligation and servitude, to have lived upon another man’s fortune + than my own: and, indeed, I do not know, when I examine it nearer, + whether, according to my humour, what I have to suffer from my affairs and + servants, has not in it something more abject, troublesome, and tormenting + than there would be in serving a man better born than myself, who would + govern me with a gentle rein, and a little at my own case: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Servitus obedientia est fracti animi et abjecti, + arbitrio carentis suo.” + + [“Servitude is the obedience of a subdued and abject mind, wanting + its own free will.”—Cicero, Paradox, V. I.] +</pre> + <p> + Crates did worse, who threw himself into the liberty of poverty, only to + rid himself of the inconveniences and cares of his house. This is what I + would not do; I hate poverty equally with pain; but I could be content to + change the kind of life I live for another that was humbler and less + chargeable. + </p> + <p> + When absent from home, I divest myself of all these thoughts, and should + be less concerned for the ruin of a tower, than I am, when present, at the + fall of a tile. My mind is easily composed at distance, but suffers as + much as that of the meanest peasant when I am at home; the reins of my + bridle being wrongly put on, or a strap flapping against my leg, will keep + me out of humour a day together. I raise my courage, well enough against + inconveniences: lift up my eyes I cannot: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sensus, o superi, sensus.” + + [“The senses, O ye gods, the senses.”] +</pre> + <p> + I am at home responsible for whatever goes amiss. Few masters (I speak of + those of medium condition such as mine), and if there be any such, they + are more happy, can rely so much upon another, but that the greatest part + of the burden will lie upon their own shoulders. This takes much from my + grace in entertaining visitors, so that I have, peradventure, detained + some rather out of expectation of a good dinner, than by my own behaviour; + and lose much of the pleasure I ought to reap at my own house from the + visitation and assembling of my friends. The most ridiculous carriage of a + gentleman in his own house, is to see him bustling about the business of + the place, whispering one servant, and looking an angry look at another: + it ought insensibly to slide along, and to represent an ordinary current; + and I think it unhandsome to talk much to our guests of their + entertainment, whether by way of bragging or excuse. I love order and + cleanliness— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et cantharus et lanx + Ostendunt mihi me”— + + [“The dishes and the glasses shew me my own reflection.” + —Horace, Ep., i. 5, 23] +</pre> + <p> + more than abundance; and at home have an exact regard to necessity, little + to outward show. If a footman falls to cuffs at another man’s house, + or stumble and throw a dish before him as he is carrying it up, you only + laugh and make a jest on’t; you sleep whilst the master of the house + is arranging a bill of fare with his steward for your morrow’s + entertainment. I speak according as I do myself; quite appreciating, + nevertheless, good husbandry in general, and how pleasant quiet and + prosperous household management, carried regularly on, is to some natures; + and not wishing to fasten my own errors and inconveniences to the thing; + nor to give Plato the lie, who looks upon it as the most pleasant + employment to every one to do his particular affairs without wrong to + another. + </p> + <p> + When I travel I have nothing to care for but myself, and the laying out my + money; which is disposed of by one single precept; too many things are + required to the raking it together; in that I understand nothing; in + spending, I understand a little, and how to give some show to my expense, + which is indeed its principal use; but I rely too ambitiously upon it, + which renders it unequal and difform, and, moreover, immoderate in both + the one and the other aspect; if it makes a show, if it serve the turn, I + indiscreetly let it run; and as indiscreetly tie up my purse-strings, if + it does not shine, and does not please me. Whatever it be, whether art or + nature, that imprints in us the condition of living by reference to + others, it does us much more harm than good; we deprive ourselves of our + own utilities, to accommodate appearances to the common opinion: we care + not so much what our being is, as to us and in reality, as what it is to + the public observation. Even the properties of the mind, and wisdom + itself, seem fruitless to us, if only enjoyed by ourselves, and if it + produce not itself to the view and approbation of others. There is a sort + of men whose gold runs in streams underground imperceptibly; others expose + it all in plates and branches; so that to the one a liard is worth a + crown, and to the others the inverse: the world esteeming its use and + value, according to the show. All over-nice solicitude about riches smells + of avarice: even the very disposing of it, with a too systematic and + artificial liberality, is not worth a painful superintendence and + solicitude: he, that will order his expense to just so much, makes it too + pinched and narrow. The keeping or spending are, of themselves, + indifferent things, and receive no colour of good or ill, but according to + the application of the will. + </p> + <p> + The other cause that tempts me out to these journeys is, inaptitude for + the present manners in our state. I could easily console myself for this + corruption in regard to the public interest: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pejoraque saecula ferri + Temporibus, quorum sceleri non invenit ipsa + Nomen, et a nullo posuit natura metallo;” + + [“And, worse than the iron ages, for whose crimes there is no + similitude in any of Nature’s metals.”—Juvenal, xiii. 28.] +</pre> + <p> + but not to my own. I am, in particular, too much oppressed by them: for, + in my neighbourhood, we are, of late, by the long licence of our civil + wars, grown old in so riotous a form of state, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quippe ubi fas versum atque nefas,” + + [“Where wrong and right have changed places.” + —Virgil, Georg., i. 504.] +</pre> + <p> + that in earnest, ‘tis a wonder how it can subsist: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Armati terram exercent, semperque recentes + Convectare juvat praedas; et vivere rapto.” + + [“Men plough, girt with arms; ever delighting in fresh robberies, + and living by rapine.”—AEneid, vii. 748.] +</pre> + <p> + In fine, I see by our example, that the society of men is maintained and + held together, at what price soever; in what condition soever they are + placed, they still close and stick together, both moving and in heaps; as + ill united bodies, that, shuffled together without order, find of + themselves a means to unite and settle, often better than they could have + been disposed by art. King Philip mustered up a rabble of the most wicked + and incorrigible rascals he could pick out, and put them all together into + a city he had caused to be built for that purpose, which bore their name: + I believe that they, even from vices themselves, erected a government + amongst them, and a commodious and just society. I see, not one action, or + three, or a hundred, but manners, in common and received use, so + ferocious, especially in inhumanity and treachery, which are to me the + worst of all vices, that I have not the heart to think of them without + horror; and almost as much admire as I detest them: the exercise of these + signal villainies carries with it as great signs of vigour and force of + soul, as of error and disorder. Necessity reconciles and brings men + together; and this accidental connection afterwards forms itself into + laws: for there have been such, as savage as any human opinion could + conceive, who, nevertheless, have maintained their body with as much + health and length of life as any Plato or Aristotle could invent. And + certainly, all these descriptions of polities, feigned by art, are found + to be ridiculous and unfit to be put in practice. + </p> + <p> + These great and tedious debates about the best form of society, and the + most commodious rules to bind us, are debates only proper for the exercise + of our wits; as in the arts there are several subjects which have their + being in agitation and controversy, and have no life but there. Such an + idea of government might be of some value in a new world; but we take a + world already made, and formed to certain customs; we do not beget it, as + Pyrrha or Cadmus did. By what means soever we may have the privilege to + redress and reform it anew, we can hardly writhe it from its wonted bent, + but we shall break all. Solon being asked whether he had established the + best laws he could for the Athenians; “Yes,” said he, “of + those they would have received.” Varro excuses himself after the + same manner: “that if he were to begin to write of religion, he + would say what he believed; but seeing it was already received, he would + write rather according to use than nature.” + </p> + <p> + Not according to opinion, but in truth and reality, the best and most + excellent government for every nation is that under which it is + maintained: its form and essential convenience depend upon custom. We are + apt to be displeased at the present condition; but I, nevertheless, + maintain that to desire command in a few—[an oligarchy.]— in a + republic, or another sort of government in monarchy than that already + established, is both vice and folly: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ayme l’estat, tel que to le veois estre + S’il est royal ayme la royaute; + S’il est de peu, ou biers communaute, + Ayme l’aussi; car Dieu t’y a faict naistre.” + + [“Love the government, such as you see it to be. If it be royal, + love royalty; if it is a republic of any sort, still love it; for + God himself created thee therein.”] +</pre> + <p> + So wrote the good Monsieur de Pibrac, whom we have lately lost, a man of + so excellent a wit, such sound opinions, and such gentle manners. This + loss, and that at the same time we have had of Monsieur de Foix, are of so + great importance to the crown, that I do not know whether there is another + couple in France worthy to supply the places of these two Gascons in + sincerity and wisdom in the council of our kings. They were both variously + great men, and certainly, according to the age, rare and great, each of + them in his kind: but what destiny was it that placed them in these times, + men so remote from and so disproportioned to our corruption and intestine + tumults? + </p> + <p> + Nothing presses so hard upon a state as innovation: change only gives form + to injustice and tyranny. When any piece is loosened, it may be proper to + stay it; one may take care that the alteration and corruption natural to + all things do not carry us too far from our beginnings and principles: but + to undertake to found so great a mass anew, and to change the foundations + of so vast a building, is for them to do, who to make clean, efface; who + reform particular defects by an universal confusion, and cure diseases by + death: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non tam commutandarum quam evertendarum rerum cupidi.” + + [“Not so desirous of changing as of overthrowing things.” + —Cicero, De Offic., ii. i.] +</pre> + <p> + The world is unapt to be cured; and so impatient of anything that presses + it, that it thinks of nothing but disengaging itself at what price soever. + We see by a thousand examples, that it ordinarily cures itself to its + cost. The discharge of a present evil is no cure, if there be not a + general amendment of condition. The surgeon’s end is not only to cut + away the dead flesh; that is but the progress of his cure; he has a care, + over and above, to fill up the wound with better and more natural flesh, + and to restore the member to its due state. Whoever only proposes to + himself to remove that which offends him, falls short: for good does not + necessarily succeed evil; another evil may succeed, and a worse, as it + happened to Caesar’s murderers, who brought the republic to such a + pass, that they had reason to repent the meddling with the matter. The + same has since happened to several others, even down to our own times: the + French, my contemporaries, know it well enough. All great mutations shake + and disorder a state. + </p> + <p> + Whoever would look direct at a cure, and well consider of it before he + began, would be very willing to withdraw his hands from meddling in it. + Pacuvius Calavius corrected the vice of this proceeding by a notable + example. His fellow-citizens were in mutiny against their magistrates; he + being a man of great authority in the city of Capua, found means one day + to shut up the Senators in the palace; and calling the people together in + the market-place, there told them that the day was now come wherein at + full liberty they might revenge themselves on the tyrants by whom they had + been so long oppressed, and whom he had now, all alone and unarmed, at his + mercy. He then advised that they should call these out, one by one, by + lot, and should individually determine as to each, causing whatever should + be decreed to be immediately executed; with this proviso, that they + should, at the same time, depute some honest man in the place of him who + was condemned, to the end there might be no vacancy in the Senate. They + had no sooner heard the name of one senator but a great cry of universal + dislike was raised up against him. “I see,” says Pacuvius, + “that we must put him out; he is a wicked fellow; let us look out a + good one in his room.” Immediately there was a profound silence, + every one being at a stand whom to choose. But one, more impudent than the + rest, having named his man, there arose yet a greater consent of voices + against him, an hundred imperfections being laid to his charge, and as + many just reasons why he should not stand. These contradictory humours + growing hot, it fared worse with the second senator and the third, there + being as much disagreement in the election of the new, as consent in the + putting out of the old. In the end, growing weary of this bustle to no + purpose, they began, some one way and some another, to steal out of the + assembly: every one carrying back this resolution in his mind, that the + oldest and best known evil was ever more supportable than one that was, + new and untried. + </p> + <p> + Seeing how miserably we are agitated (for what have we not done!) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Eheu! cicatricum, et sceleris pudet, + Fratrumque: quid nos dura refugimus + AEtas? quid intactum nefasti + Liquimus? Unde manus inventus + Metu Deorum continuit? quibus + Pepercit aris.” + + [“Alas! our crimes and our fratricides are a shame to us! What + crime does this bad age shrink from? What wickedness have we left + undone? What youth is restrained from evil by the fear of the gods? + What altar is spared?”—Horace, Od., i. 33, 35] +</pre> + <p> + I do not presently conclude, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipsa si velit Salus, + Servare prorsus non potest hanc familiam;” + + [“If the goddess Salus herself wish to save this family, she + absolutely cannot”—Terence, Adelph., iv. 7, 43.] +</pre> + <p> + we are not, peradventure, at our last gasp. The conservation of states is + a thing that, in all likelihood, surpasses our understanding;—a + civil government is, as Plato says, a mighty and puissant thing, and hard + to be dissolved; it often continues against mortal and intestine diseases, + against the injury of unjust laws, against tyranny, the corruption and + ignorance of magistrates, the licence and sedition of the people. In all + our fortunes, we compare ourselves to what is above us, and still look + towards those who are better: but let us measure ourselves with what is + below us: there is no condition so miserable wherein a man may not find a + thousand examples that will administer consolation. ‘Tis our vice + that we more unwillingly look upon what is above, than willingly upon what + is below; and Solon was used to say, that “whoever would make a heap + of all the ills together, there is no one who would not rather choose to + bear away the ills he has than to come to an equal division with all other + men from that heap, and take his share.” Our government is, indeed, + very sick, but there have been others more sick without dying. The gods + play at ball with us and bandy us every way: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Enimvero Dii nos homines quasi pilas habent.” + </pre> + <p> + The stars fatally destined the state of Rome for an example of what they + could do in this kind: in it are comprised all the forms and adventures + that concern a state: all that order or disorder, good or evil fortune, + can do. Who, then, can despair of his condition, seeing the shocks and + commotions wherewith Rome was tumbled and tossed, and yet withstood them + all? If the extent of dominion be the health of a state (which I by no + means think it is, and Isocrates pleases me when he instructs Nicocles not + to envy princes who have large dominions, but those who know how to + preserve those which have fallen into their hands), that of Rome was never + so sound, as when it was most sick. The worst of her forms was the most + fortunate; one can hardly discern any image of government under the first + emperors; it is the most horrible and tumultuous confusion that can be + imagined; it endured it, notwithstanding, and therein continued, + preserving not a monarchy limited within its own bounds, but so many + nations so differing, so remote, so disaffected, so confusedly commanded, + and so unjustly conquered: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec gentibus ullis + Commodat in populum, terra pelagique potentem, + Invidiam fortuna suam.” + + [“Fortune never gave it to any nation to satisfy its hatred against + the people, masters of the seas and of the earth.”—Lucan, i. 32.] +</pre> + <p> + Everything that totters does not fall. The contexture of so great a body + holds by more nails than one; it holds even by its antiquity, like old + buildings, from which the foundations are worn away by time, without + rough-cast or mortar, which yet live and support themselves by their own + weight: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec jam validis radicibus haerens, + Pondere tuta suo est.” + </pre> + <p> + Moreover, it is not rightly to go to work, to examine only the flank and + the foss, to judge of the security of a place; we must observe which way + approaches can be made to it, and in what condition the assailant is: few + vessels sink with their own weight, and without some exterior violence. + Now, let us everyway cast our eyes; everything about us totters; in all + the great states, both of Christendom and elsewhere, that are known to us, + if you will but look, you will there see evident menace of alteration and + ruin: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et sua sunt illis incommoda; parque per omnes + Tempestas.” + + [“They all share in the mischief; the tempest rages + everywhere.”—AEneid, ii.] +</pre> + <p> + Astrologers may very well, as they do, warn us of great revolutions and + imminent mutations: their prophecies are present and palpable, they need + not go to heaven to foretell this. There is not only consolation to be + extracted from this universal combination of ills and menaces, but, + moreover, some hopes of the continuation of our state, forasmuch as, + naturally, nothing falls where all falls: universal sickness is particular + health: conformity is antagonistic to dissolution. For my part, I despair + not, and fancy that I discover ways to save us: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Deus haec fortasse benigna + Reducet in sedem vice.” + + [“The deity will perchance by a favourable turn restore us to our + former position.”—Horace, Epod., xiii. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + Who knows but that God will have it happen, as in human bodies that purge + and restore themselves to a better state by long and grievous maladies, + which render them more entire and perfect health than that they took from + them? That which weighs the most with me is, that in reckoning the + symptoms of our ill, I see as many natural ones, and that Heaven sends us, + and properly its own, as of those that our disorder and human imprudence + contribute to it. The very stars seem to declare that we have already + continued long enough, and beyond the ordinary term. This also afflicts + me, that the mischief which nearest threatens us, is not an alteration in + the entire and solid mass, but its dissipation and divulsion, which is the + most extreme of our fears. + </p> + <p> + I, moreover, fear, in these fantasies of mine, the treachery of my memory, + lest, by inadvertence, it should make me write the same thing twice. I + hate to examine myself, and never review, but very unwillingly, what has + once escaped my pen. I here set down nothing new. These are common + thoughts, and having, peradventure, conceived them an hundred times, I am + afraid I have set them down somewhere else already. Repetition is + everywhere troublesome, though it were in Homer; but ‘tis ruinous in + things that have only a superficial and transitory show. I do not love + over-insisting, even in the most profitable things, as in Seneca; and the + usage of his stoical school displeases me, to repeat, upon every subject, + at full length and width the principles and presuppositions that serve in + general, and always to realledge anew common and universal reasons. + </p> + <p> + My memory grows cruelly worse every day: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pocula Lethaeos ut si ducentia somnos, + Arente fauce traxerim;” + + [“As if my dry throat had drunk seducing cups of Lethaean + oblivion.”—Horace, Epod., xiv. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + I must be fain for the time to come (for hitherto, thanks be to God, + nothing has happened much amiss), whereas others seek time and opportunity + to think of what they have to say, to avoid all preparation, for fear of + tying myself to some obligation upon which I must insist. To be tied and + bound to a thing puts me quite out, and to depend upon so weak an + instrument as my memory. I never read this following story that I am not + offended at it with a personal and natural resentment: Lyncestes, accused + of conspiracy against Alexander, the day that he was brought out before + the army, according to the custom, to be heard as to what he could say for + himself, had learned a studied speech, of which, hesitating and + stammering, he pronounced some words. Whilst growing more and more + perplexed, whilst struggling with his memory, and trying to recollect what + he had to say, the soldiers nearest to him charged their pikes against him + and killed him, looking upon him as convict; his confusion and silence + served them for a confession; for having had so much leisure to prepare + himself in prison, they concluded that it was not his memory that failed + him, but that his conscience tied up his tongue and stopped his mouth. + And, truly, well said; the place, the assembly, the expectation, astound a + man, even when he has but the ambition to speak well; what can a man do + when ‘tis an harangue upon which his life depends? + </p> + <p> + For my part, the very being tied to what I am to say is enough to loose me + from it. When I wholly commit and refer myself to my memory, I lay so much + stress upon it that it sinks under me: it grows dismayed with the burden. + So much as I trust to it, so much do I put myself out of my own power, + even to the finding it difficult to keep my own countenance; and have been + sometimes very much put to it to conceal the slavery wherein I was + engaged; whereas my design is to manifest, in speaking, a perfect calmness + both of face and accent, and casual and unpremeditated motions, as rising + from present occasions, choosing rather to say nothing to purpose than to + show that I came prepared to speak well, a thing especially unbecoming a + man of my profession, and of too great obligation on him who cannot retain + much. The preparation begets a great deal more expectation than it will + satisfy. A man often strips himself to his doublet to leap no farther than + he would have done in his gown: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nihil est his, qui placere volunt, turn adversarium, + quam expectatio.” + + [“Nothing is so adverse to those who make it their business to + please as expectation”—Cicero, Acad., ii. 4] +</pre> + <p> + It is recorded of the orator Curio, that when he proposed the division of + his oration into three or four parts, or three or four arguments or + reasons, it often happened either that he forgot some one, or added one or + two more. I have always avoided falling into this inconvenience, having + ever hated these promises and prescriptions, not only out of distrust of + my memory, but also because this method relishes too much of the artist: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Simpliciora militares decent.” + + [“Simplicity becomes warriors.”—Quintilian, Instit. Orat., xi. I.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis enough that I have promised to myself never again to take upon + me to speak in a place of respect, for as to speaking, when a man reads + his speech, besides that it is very absurd, it is a mighty disadvantage to + those who naturally could give it a grace by action; and to rely upon the + mercy of my present invention, I would much less do it; ‘tis heavy + and perplexed, and such as would never furnish me in sudden and important + necessities. + </p> + <p> + Permit, reader, this essay its course also, and this third sitting to + finish the rest of my picture: I add, but I correct not. First, because I + conceive that a man having once parted with his labours to the world, he + has no further right to them; let him do better if he can, in some new + undertaking, but not adulterate what he has already sold. Of such dealers + nothing should be bought till after they are dead. Let them well consider + what they do before they, produce it to the light who hastens them? My + book is always the same, saving that upon every new edition (that the + buyer may not go away quite empty) I take the liberty to add (as ‘tis + but an ill jointed marqueterie) some supernumerary emblem; it is but + overweight, that does not disfigure the primitive form of the essays, but, + by a little artful subtlety, gives a kind of particular value to every one + of those that follow. Thence, however, will easily happen some + transposition of chronology, my stories taking place according to their + opportuneness, not always according to their age. + </p> + <p> + Secondly, because as to what concerns myself, I fear to lose by change: my + understanding does not always go forward, it goes backward too. I do not + much less suspect my fancies for being the second or the third, than for + being the first, or present, or past; we often correct ourselves as + foolishly as we do others. I am grown older by a great many years since my + first publications, which were in the year 1580; but I very much doubt + whether I am grown an inch the wiser. I now, and I anon, are two several + persons; but whether better, I cannot determine. It were a fine thing to + be old, if we only travelled towards improvement; but ‘tis a + drunken, stumbling, reeling, infirm motion: like that of reeds, which the + air casually waves to and fro at pleasure. Antiochus had in his youth + strongly written in favour of the Academy; in his old age he wrote as much + against it; would not, which of these two soever I should follow, be still + Antiochus? After having established the uncertainty, to go about to + establish the certainty of human opinions, was it not to establish doubt, + and not certainty, and to promise, that had he had yet another age to + live, he would be always upon terms of altering his judgment, not so much + for the better, as for something else? + </p> + <p> + The public favour has given me a little more confidence than I expected; + but what I ‘most fear is, lest I should glut the world with my + writings; I had rather, of the two, pique my reader than tire him, as a + learned man of my time has done. Praise is always pleasing, let it come + from whom, or upon what account it will; yet ought a man to understand why + he is commended, that he may know how to keep up the same reputation + still: imperfections themselves may get commendation. The vulgar and + common estimation is seldom happy in hitting; and I am much mistaken if, + amongst the writings of my time, the worst are not those which have most + gained the popular applause. For my part, I return my thanks to those + good-natured men who are pleased to take my weak endeavours in good part; + the faults of the workmanship are nowhere so apparent as in a matter which + of itself has no recommendation. Blame not me, reader, for those that slip + in here by the fancy or inadvertency of others; every hand, every artisan, + contribute their own materials; I neither concern myself with orthography + (and only care to have it after the old way) nor pointing, being very + inexpert both in the one and the other. Where they wholly break the sense, + I am very little concerned, for they at least discharge me; but where they + substitute a false one, as they so often do, and wrest me to their + conception, they ruin me. When the sentence, nevertheless, is not strong + enough for my proportion, a civil person ought to reject it as spurious, + and none of mine. Whoever shall know how lazy I am, and how indulgent to + my own humour, will easily believe that I had rather write as many more + essays, than be tied to revise these over again for so childish a + correction. + </p> + <p> + I said elsewhere, that being planted in the very centre of this new + religion, I am not only deprived of any great familiarity with men of + other kind of manners than my own, and of other opinions, by which they + hold together, as by a tie that supersedes all other obligations; but + moreover I do not live without danger, amongst men to whom all things are + equally lawful, and of whom the most part cannot offend the laws more than + they have already done; from which the extremist degree of licence + proceeds. All the particular being summed up together, I do not find one + man of my country, who pays so dear for the defence of our laws both in + loss and damages (as the lawyers say) as myself; and some there are who + vapour and brag of their zeal and constancy, that if things were justly + weighed, do much less than I. My house, as one that has ever been open and + free to all comers, and civil to all (for I could never persuade myself to + make it a garrison of war, war being a thing that I prefer to see as + remote as may be), has sufficiently merited popular kindness, and so that + it would be a hard matter justly to insult over me upon my own dunghill; + and I look upon it as a wonderful and exemplary thing that it yet + continues a virgin from blood and plunder during so long a storm, and so + many neighbouring revolutions and tumults. For to confess the truth, it + had been possible enough for a man of my complexion to have shaken hands + with any one constant and continued form whatever; but the contrary + invasions and incursions, alternations and vicissitudes of fortune round + about me, have hitherto more exasperated than calmed and mollified the + temper of the country, and involved me, over and over again, with + invincible difficulties and dangers. + </p> + <p> + I escape, ‘tis true, but am troubled that it is more by chance, and + something of my own prudence, than by justice; and am not satisfied to be + out of the protection of the laws, and under any other safeguard than + theirs. As matters stand, I live, above one half, by the favour of others, + which is an untoward obligation. I do not like to owe my safety either to + the generosity or affection of great persons, who allow me my legality and + my liberty, or to the obliging manners of my predecessors, or my own: for + what if I were another kind of man? If my deportment, and the frankness of + my conversation or relationship, oblige my neighbours, ‘tis that + that they should acquit themselves of obligation in only permitting me to + live, and they may say, “We allow him the free liberty of having + divine service read in his own private chapel, when it is interdicted in + all churches round about, and allow him the use of his goods and his life, + as one who protects our wives and cattle in time of need.” For my + house has for many descents shared in the reputation of Lycurgus the + Athenian, who was the general depository and guardian of the purses of his + fellow-citizens. Now I am clearly of opinion that a man should live by + right and by authority, and not either by recompense or favour. How many + gallant men have rather chosen to lose their lives than to be debtors for + them? I hate to subject myself to any sort of obligation, but above all, + to that which binds me by the duty of honour. I think nothing so dear as + what has been given me, and this because my will lies at pawn under the + title of gratitude, and more willingly accept of services that are to be + sold; I feel that for the last I give nothing but money, but for the other + I give myself. + </p> + <p> + The knot that binds me by the laws of courtesy binds me more than that of + civil constraint; I am much more at ease when bound by a scrivener, than + by myself. Is it not reason that my conscience should be much more engaged + when men simply rely upon it? In a bond, my faith owes nothing, because it + has nothing lent it; let them trust to the security they have taken + without me. I had much rather break the wall of a prison and the laws + themselves than my own word. I am nice, even to superstition, in keeping + my promises, and, therefore, upon all occasions have a care to make them + uncertain and conditional. To those of no great moment, I add the jealousy + of my own rule, to make them weight; it wracks and oppresses me with its + own interest. Even in actions wholly my own and free, if I once say a + thing, I conceive that I have bound myself, and that delivering it to the + knowledge of another, I have positively enjoined it my own performance. + Methinks I promise it, if I but say it: and therefore am not apt to say + much of that kind. The sentence that I pass upon myself is more severe + than that of a judge, who only considers the common obligation; but my + conscience looks upon it with a more severe and penetrating eye. I lag in + those duties to which I should be compelled if I did not go: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hoc ipsum ita justum est, quod recte fit, si est voluntarium.” + + [“This itself is so far just, that it is rightly done, if it is + voluntary.”—Cicero, De Offic., i. 9.] +</pre> + <p> + If the action has not some splendour of liberty, it has neither grace nor + honour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quod vos jus cogit, vix voluntate impetrent:” + + [“That which the laws compel us to do, we scarcely do with a will.” + —Terence, Adelph., iii. 3, 44.] +</pre> + <p> + where necessity draws me, I love to let my will take its own course: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quia quicquid imperio cogitur, exigenti magis, + quam praestanti, acceptum refertur.” + + [“For whatever is compelled by power, is more imputed to him that + exacts than to him that performs.”—Valerius Maximus, ii. 2, 6.] +</pre> + <p> + I know some who follow this rule, even to injustice; who will sooner give + than restore, sooner lend than pay, and will do them the least good to + whom they are most obliged. I don’t go so far as that, but I’m + not far off. + </p> + <p> + I so much love to disengage and disobligate myself, that I have sometimes + looked upon ingratitudes, affronts, and indignities which I have received + from those to whom either by nature or accident I was bound in some way of + friendship, as an advantage to me; taking this occasion of their + ill-usage, for an acquaintance and discharge of so much of my debt. And + though I still continue to pay them all the external offices of public + reason, I, notwithstanding, find a great saving in doing that upon the + account of justice which I did upon the score of affection, and am a + little eased of the attention and solicitude of my inward will: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Est prudentis sustinere, ut currum, sic impetum benevolentia;” + + [“‘Tis the part of a wise man to keep a curbing hand upon the + impetus of friendship, as upon that of his horse.” + —Cicero, De Amicit., c. 17.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘tis in me, too urging and pressing where I take; at least, for a + man who loves not to be strained at all. And this husbanding my friendship + serves me for a sort of consolation in the imperfections of those in whom + I am concerned. I am very sorry they are not such as I could wish they + were, but then I also am spared somewhat of my application and engagement + towards them. I approve of a man who is the less fond of his child for + having a scald head, or for being crooked; and not only when he is + ill-conditioned, but also when he is of unhappy disposition, and imperfect + in his limbs (God himself has abated so much from his value and natural + estimation), provided he carry himself in this coldness of affection with + moderation and exact justice: proximity, with me, lessens not defects, but + rather aggravates them. + </p> + <p> + After all, according to what I understand in the science of benefit and + acknowledgment, which is a subtle science, and of great use, I know no + person whatever more free and less indebted than I am at this hour. What I + do owe is simply to foreign obligations and benefits; as to anything else, + no man is more absolutely clear: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec sunt mihi nota potentum + Munera.” + + [“The gifts of great men are unknown to me.”—AEneid, xii. 529.] +</pre> + <p> + Princes give me a great deal if they take nothing from me; and do me good + enough if they do me no harm; that’s all I ask from them. O how am I + obliged to God, that he has been pleased I should immediately receive from + his bounty all I have, and specially reserved all my obligation to + himself. How earnestly do I beg of his holy compassion that I may never + owe essential thanks to any one. O happy liberty wherein I have thus far + lived. May it continue with me to the last. I endeavour to have no express + need of any one: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In me omnis spec est mihi.” + + [“All my hope is in myself.”—Terence, Adelph., iii. 5, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis what every one may do in himself, but more easily they whom God + has placed in a condition exempt from natural and urgent necessities. It + is a wretched and dangerous thing to depend upon others; we ourselves, in + whom is ever the most just and safest dependence, are not sufficiently + sure. + </p> + <p> + I have nothing mine but myself, and yet the possession is, in part, + defective and borrowed. I fortify myself both in courage, which is the + strongest assistant, and also in fortune, therein wherewith to satisfy + myself, though everything else should forsake me. Hippias of Elis not only + furnished himself with knowledge, that he might, at need, cheerfully + retire from all other company to enjoy the Muses: nor only with the + knowledge of philosophy, to teach his soul to be contented with itself, + and bravely to subsist without outward conveniences, when fate would have + it so; he was, moreover, so careful as to learn to cook, to shave himself, + to make his own clothes, his own shoes and drawers, to provide for all his + necessities in himself, and to wean himself from the assistance of others. + A man more freely and cheerfully enjoys borrowed conveniences, when it is + not an enjoyment forced and constrained by need; and when he has, in his + own will and fortune, the means to live without them. I know myself very + well; but ‘tis hard for me to imagine any so pure liberality of any + one towards me, any so frank and free hospitality, that would not appear + to me discreditable, tyrannical, and tainted with reproach, if necessity + had reduced me to it. As giving is an ambitious and authoritative quality, + so is accepting a quality of submission; witness the insulting and + quarrelsome refusal that Bajazet made of the presents that Tamerlane sent + him; and those that were offered on the part of the Emperor Solyman to the + Emperor of Calicut, so angered him, that he not only rudely rejected them, + saying that neither he nor any of his predecessors had ever been wont to + take, and that it was their office to give; but, moreover, caused the + ambassadors sent with the gifts to be put into a dungeon. When Thetis, + says Aristotle, flatters Jupiter, when the Lacedaemonians flatter the + Athenians, they do not put them in mind of the good they have done them, + which is always odious, but of the benefits they have received from them. + Such as I see so frequently employ every one in their affairs, and thrust + themselves into so much obligation, would never do it, did they but relish + as I do the sweetness of a pure liberty, and did they but weigh, as wise: + men should, the burden of obligation: ‘tis sometimes, peradventure, + fully paid, but ‘tis never dissolved. ‘Tis a miserable slavery + to a man who loves to be at full liberty in all reapects. Such as know me, + both above and below me in station, are able to say whether they have ever + known a man less importuning, soliciting, entreating, and pressing upon + others than I. If I am so, and a degree beyond all modern example, ‘tis + no great wonder, so many parts of my manners contributing to it: a little + natural pride, an impatience at being refused, the moderation of my + desires and designs, my incapacity for business, and my most beloved + qualities, idleness and freedom; by all these together I have conceived a + mortal hatred to being obliged to any other, or by any other than myself. + I leave no stone unturned, to do without it, rather than employ the bounty + of another in any light or important occasion or necessity whatever. My + friends strangely trouble me when they ask me to ask a third person; and I + think it costs me little less to disengage him who is indebted to me, by + making use of him, than to engage myself to him who owes me nothing. These + conditions being removed, and provided they require of me nothing if any + great trouble or care (for I have declared mortal war against all care), I + am very ready to do every one the best service I can. I have been very + willing to seek occasion to do people a good turn, and to attach them to + me; and methinks there is no more agreeable employment for our means. But + I have yet more avoided receiving than sought occasions of giving, and + moreover, according to Aristotle, it is more easy., My fortune has allowed + me but little to do others good withal, and the little it can afford, is + put into a pretty close hand. Had I been born a great person, I should + have been ambitious to have made myself beloved, not to make myself feared + or admired: shall I more plainly express it? I should more have + endeavoured to please than to profit others. Cyrus very wisely, and by the + mouth of a great captain, and still greater philosopher, prefers his + bounty and benefits much before his valour and warlike conquests; and the + elder Scipio, wherever he would raise himself in esteem, sets a higher + value upon his affability and humanity, than on his prowess and victories, + and has always this glorious saying in his mouth: “That he has given + his enemies as much occasion to love him as his friends.” I will + then say, that if a man must, of necessity, owe something, it ought to be + by a more legitimate title than that whereof I am speaking, to which the + necessity of this miserable war compels me; and not in so great a debt as + that of my total preservation both of life and fortune: it overwhelms me. + </p> + <p> + I have a thousand times gone to bed in my own house with an apprehension + that I should be betrayed and murdered that very night; compounding with + fortune, that it might be without terror and with quick despatch; and, + after my Paternoster, I have cried out, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Impius haec tam culta novalia miles habebit!” + + [“Shall impious soldiers have these new-ploughed grounds?” + —Virgil, Ecl., i. 71.] +</pre> + <p> + What remedy? ‘tis the place of my birth, and that of most of my + ancestors; they have here fixed their affection and name. We inure + ourselves to whatever we are accustomed to; and in so miserable a + condition as ours is, custom is a great bounty of nature, which benumbs + out senses to the sufferance of many evils. A civil war has this with it + worse than other wars have, to make us stand sentinels in our own houses. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quam miserum, porta vitam muroque tueri, + Vixque suae tutum viribus esse domus!” + + [“‘Tis miserable to protect one’s life by doors and walls, and to be + scarcely safe in one’s own house.”—Ovid, Trist., iv. I, 69.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis a grievous extremity for a man to be jostled even in his own + house and domestic repose. The country where I live is always the first in + arms and the last that lays them down, and where there is never an + absolute peace: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tunc quoque, cum pax est, trepidant formidine belli.... + Quoties Romam fortuna lacessit; + Hac iter est bellis.... Melius, Fortuna, dedisses + Orbe sub Eco sedem, gelidaque sub Arcto, + Errantesque domos.” + + [“Even when there’s peace, there is here still the dear of war when + Fortune troubles peace, this is ever the way by which war passes.” + —Ovid, Trist., iii. 10, 67.] + + [“We might have lived happier in the remote East or in the icy + North, or among the wandering tribes.”—Lucan, i. 255.] +</pre> + <p> + I sometimes extract the means to fortify myself against these + considerations from indifference and indolence, which, in some sort, bring + us on to resolution. It often befalls me to imagine and expect mortal + dangers with a kind of delight: I stupidly plunge myself headlong into + death, without considering or taking a view of it, as into a deep and + obscure abyss which swallows me up at one leap, and involves me in an + instant in a profound sleep, without any sense of pain. And in these short + and violent deaths, the consequence that I foresee administers more + consolation to me than the effect does fear. They say, that as life is not + better for being long, so death is better for being not long. I do not so + much evade being dead, as I enter into confidence with dying. I wrap and + shroud myself into the storm that is to blind and carry me away with the + fury of a sudden and insensible attack. Moreover, if it should fall out + that, as some gardeners say, roses and violets spring more odoriferous + near garlic and onions, by reason that the last suck and imbibe all the + ill odour of the earth; so, if these depraved natures should also attract + all the malignity of my air and climate, and render it so much better and + purer by their vicinity, I should not lose all. That cannot be: but there + may be something in this, that goodness is more beautiful and attractive + when it is rare; and that contrariety and diversity fortify and + consolidate well-doing within itself, and inflame it by the jealousy of + opposition and by glory. Thieves and robbers, of their special favour, + have no particular spite at me; no more have I to them: I should have my + hands too full. Like consciences are lodged under several sorts of robes; + like cruelty, disloyalty, rapine; and so much the worse, and more falsely, + when the more secure and concealed under colour of the laws. I less hate + an open professed injury than one that is treacherous; an enemy in arms, + than an enemy in a gown. Our fever has seized upon a body that is not much + the worse for it; there was fire before, and now ‘tis broken out + into a flame; the noise is greater, not the evil. I ordinarily answer such + as ask me the reason of my travels, “That I know very well what I + fly from, but not what I seek.” If they tell me that there may be as + little soundness amongst foreigners, and that their manners are no better + than ours: I first reply, that it is hard to be believed; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tam multa: scelerum facies!” + + [“There are so many forms of crime.”—Virgil, Georg., i. 506.] +</pre> + <p> + secondly, that it is always gain to change an ill condition for one that + is uncertain; and that the ills of others ought not to afflict us so much + as our own. + </p> + <p> + I will not here omit, that I never mutiny so much against France, that I + am not perfectly friends with Paris; that city has ever had my heart from + my infancy, and it has fallen out, as of excellent things, that the more + beautiful cities I have seen since, the more the beauty of this still wins + upon my affection. I love her for herself, and more in her own native + being, than in all the pomp of foreign and acquired embellishments. I love + her tenderly, even to her warts and blemishes. I am a Frenchman only + through this great city, great in people, great in the felicity of her + situation; but, above all, great and incomparable in variety and diversity + of commodities: the glory of France, and one of the most noble ornaments + of the world. May God drive our divisions far from her. Entire and united, + I think her sufficiently defended from all other violences. I give her + caution that, of all sorts of people, those will be the worst that shall + set her in discord; I have no fear for her, but of herself, and, + certainly, I have as much fear for her as for any other part of the + kingdom. Whilst she shall continue, I shall never want a retreat, where I + may stand at bay, sufficient to make me amends for parting with any other + retreat. + </p> + <p> + Not because Socrates has said so, but because it is in truth my own + humour, and peradventure not without some excess, I look upon all men as + my compatriots, and embrace a Polander as a Frenchman, preferring the + universal and common tie to all national ties whatever. I am not much + taken with the sweetness of a native air: acquaintance wholly new and + wholly my own appear to me full as good as the other common and fortuitous + ones with Four neighbours: friendships that are purely of our own + acquiring ordinarily carry it above those to which the communication of + climate or of blood oblige us. Nature has placed us in the world free and + unbound; we imprison ourselves in certain straits, like the kings of + Persia, who obliged themselves to drink no other water but that of the + river Choaspes, foolishly quitted claim to their right in all other + streams, and, so far as concerned themselves, dried up all the other + rivers of the world. What Socrates did towards his end, to look upon a + sentence of banishment as worse than a sentence of death against him, I + shall, I think, never be either so decrepid or so strictly habituated to + my own country to be of that opinion. These celestial lives have images + enough that I embrace more by esteem than affection; and they have some + also so elevated and extraordinary that I cannot embrace them so much as + by esteem, forasmuch as I cannot conceive them. That fancy was singular in + a man who thought the whole world his city; it is true that he disdained + travel, and had hardly ever set his foot out of the Attic territories. + What say you to his complaint of the money his friends offered to save his + life, and that he refused to come out of prison by the mediation of + others, in order not to disobey the laws in a time when they were + otherwise so corrupt? These examples are of the first kind for me; of the + second, there are others that I could find out in the same person: many of + these rare examples surpass the force of my action, but some of them, + moreover, surpass the force of my judgment. + </p> + <p> + Besides these reasons, travel is in my opinion a very profitable exercise; + the soul is there continually employed in observing new and unknown + things, and I do not know, as I have often said a better school wherein to + model life than by incessantly exposing to it the diversity of so many + other lives, fancies, and usances, and by making it relish a perpetual + variety of forms of human nature. The body is, therein, neither idle nor + overwrought; and that moderate agitation puts it in breath. I can keep on + horseback, tormented with the stone as I am, without alighting or being + weary, eight or ten hours together: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vires ultra sorternque senectae.” + + [“Beyond the strength and lot of age.”—AEneid, vi. 114.] +</pre> + <p> + No season is enemy to me but the parching heat of a scorching sun; for the + umbrellas made use of in Italy, ever since the time of the ancient Romans, + more burden a man’s arm than they relieve his head. I would fain + know how it was that the Persians, so long ago and in the infancy of + luxury, made ventilators where they wanted them, and planted shades, as + Xenophon reports they did. I love rain, and to dabble in the dirt, as well + as ducks do. The change of air and climate never touches me; every sky is + alike; I am only troubled with inward alterations which I breed within + myself, and those are not so frequent in travel. I am hard to be got out, + but being once upon the road, I hold out as well as the best. I take as + much pains in little as in great attempts, and am as solicitous to equip + myself for a short journey, if but to visit a neighbour, as for the + longest voyage. I have learned to travel after the Spanish fashion, and to + make but one stage of a great many miles; and in excessive heats I always + travel by night, from sun set to sunrise. The other method of baiting by + the way, in haste and hurry to gobble up a dinner, is, especially in short + days, very inconvenient. My horses perform the better; never any horse + tired under me that was able to hold out the first day’s journey. I + water them at every brook I meet, and have only a care they have so much + way to go before I come to my inn, as will digest the water in their + bellies. My unwillingness to rise in a morning gives my servants leisure + to dine at their ease before they set out; for my own part, I never eat + too late; my appetite comes to me in eating, and not else; I am never + hungry but at table. + </p> + <p> + Some of my friends blame me for continuing this travelling humour, being + married and old. But they are out in’t; ‘tis the best time to + leave a man’s house, when he has put it into a way of continuing + without him, and settled such order as corresponds with its former + government. ‘Tis much greater imprudence to abandon it to a less + faithful housekeeper, and who will be less solicitous to look after your + affairs. + </p> + <p> + The most useful and honourable knowledge and employment for the mother of + a family is the science of good housewifery. I see some that are covetous + indeed, but very few that are good managers. ‘Tis the supreme + quality of a woman, which a man ought to seek before any other, as the + only dowry that must ruin or preserve our houses. Let men say what they + will, according to the experience I have learned, I require in married + women the economical virtue above all other virtues; I put my wife to’t, + as a concern of her own, leaving her, by my absence, the whole government + of my affairs. I see, and am vexed to see, in several families I know, + Monsieur about noon come home all jaded and ruffled about his affairs, + when Madame is still dressing her hair and tricking up herself, forsooth, + in her closet: this is for queens to do, and that’s a question, too: + ‘tis ridiculous and unjust that the laziness of our wives should be + maintained with our sweat and labour. No man, so far as in me lie, shall + have a clearer, a more quiet and free fruition of his estate than I. If + the husband bring matter, nature herself will that the wife find the form. + </p> + <p> + As to the duties of conjugal friendship, that some think to be impaired by + these absences, I am quite of another opinion. It is, on the contrary, an + intelligence that easily cools by a too frequent and assiduous + companionship. Every strange woman appears charming, and we all find by + experience that being continually together is not so pleasing as to part + for a time and meet again. These interruptions fill me with fresh + affection towards my family, and render my house more pleasant to me. + Change warms my appetite to the one and then to the other. I know that the + arms of friendship are long enough to reach from the one end of the world + to the other, and especially this, where there is a continual + communication of offices that rouse the obligation and remembrance. The + Stoics say that there is so great connection and relation amongst the + sages, that he who dines in France nourishes his companion in Egypt; and + that whoever does but hold out his finger, in what part of the world + soever, all the sages upon the habitable earth feel themselves assisted by + it. Fruition and possession principally appertain to the imagination; it + more fervently and constantly embraces what it is in quest of, than what + we hold in our arms. Cast up your daily amusements; you will find that you + are most absent from your friend when he is present with you; his presence + relaxes your attention, and gives you liberty to absent yourself at every + turn and upon every occasion. When I am away at Rome, I keep and govern my + house, and the conveniences I there left; see my walls rise, my trees + shoot, and my revenue increase or decrease, very near as well as when I am + there: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ante oculos errat domus, errat forma locorum.” + + [“My house and the forms of places float before my eyes” + —Ovid, Trist, iii. 4, 57.] +</pre> + <p> + If we enjoy nothing but what we touch, we may say farewell to the money in + our chests, and to our sons when they are gone a hunting. We will have + them nearer to us: is the garden, or half a day’s journey from home, + far? What is ten leagues: far or near? If near, what is eleven, twelve, or + thirteen, and so by degrees. In earnest, if there be a woman who can tell + her husband what step ends the near and what step begins the remote, I + would advise her to stop between; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Excludat jurgia finis . . . . + Utor permisso; caudaeque pilos ut equinae + Paulatim vello, et demo unum, demo etiam unum + Dum cadat elusus ratione ruentis acervi:” + + [“Let the end shut out all disputes . . . . I use what is + permitted; I pluck out the hairs of the horse’s tail one by one; + while I thus outwit my opponent.”—Horace, Ep., ii, I, 38, 45] +</pre> + <p> + and let them boldly call philosophy to their assistance; in whose teeth it + may be cast that, seeing it neither discerns the one nor the other end of + the joint, betwixt the too much and the little, the long and the short, + the light and the heavy, the near and the remote; that seeing it discovers + neither the beginning nor the end, it must needs judge very uncertainly of + the middle: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Rerum natura nullam nobis dedit cognitionem finium.” + + [“Nature has green to us no knowledge of the end of things.” + —Cicero, Acad., ii. 29.] +</pre> + <p> + Are they not still wives and friends to the dead who are not at the end of + this but in the other world? We embrace not only the absent, but those who + have been, and those who are not yet. We do not promise in marriage to be + continually twisted and linked together, like some little animals that we + see, or, like the bewitched folks of Karenty,—[Karantia, a town in + the isle of Rugen. See Saxo-Grammaticus, Hist. of Denmark, book xiv.]—tied + together like dogs; and a wife ought not to be so greedily enamoured of + her husband’s foreparts, that she cannot endure to see him turn his + back, if occasion be. But may not this saying of that excellent painter of + woman’s humours be here introduced, to show the reason of their + complaints? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Uxor, si cesses, aut to amare cogitat, + Aut tete amari, aut potare, aut animo obsequi; + Et tibi bene esse soli, cum sibi sit male;” + + [“Your wife, if you loiter, thinks that you love or are beloved; or + that you are drinking or following your inclination; and that it is + well for you when it is ill for her (all the pleasure is yours and + hers all the care).” + —Terence, Adelph., act i., sc. I, v. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + or may it not be, that of itself opposition and contradiction entertain + and nourish them, and that they sufficiently accommodate themselves, + provided they incommodate you? + </p> + <p> + In true friendship, wherein I am perfect, I more give myself to my friend, + than I endeavour to attract him to me. I am not only better pleased in + doing him service than if he conferred a benefit upon me, but, moreover, + had rather he should do himself good than me, and he most obliges me when + he does so; and if absence be either more pleasant or convenient for him, + ‘tis also more acceptable to me than his presence; neither is it + properly absence, when we can write to one another: I have sometimes made + good use of our separation from one another: we better filled and further + extended the possession of life in being parted. He—[La Boetie.]—lived, + enjoyed, and saw for me, and I for him, as fully as if he had himself been + there; one part of us remained idle, and we were too much blended in one + another when we were together; the distance of place rendered the + conjunction of our wills more rich. This insatiable desire of personal + presence a little implies weakness in the fruition of souls. + </p> + <p> + As to what concerns age, which is alleged against me, ‘tis quite + contrary; ‘tis for youth to subject itself to common opinions, and + to curb itself to please others; it has wherewithal to please both the + people and itself; we have but too much ado to please ourselves alone. As + natural conveniences fail, let us supply them with those that are + artificial. ‘Tis injustice to excuse youth for pursuing its + pleasures, and to forbid old men to seek them. When young, I concealed my + wanton passions with prudence; now I am old, I chase away melancholy by + debauch. And thus do the platonic laws forbid men to travel till forty or + fifty years old, so that travel might be more useful and instructive in so + mature an age. I should sooner subscribe to the second article of the same + Laws, which forbids it after threescore. + </p> + <p> + “But, at such an age, you will never return from so long a journey.” + What care I for that? I neither undertake it to return, nor to finish it + my business is only to keep myself in motion, whilst motion pleases me; I + only walk for the walk’s sake. They who run after a benefit or a + hare, run not; they only run who run at base, and to exercise their + running. My design is divisible throughout: it is not grounded upon any + great hopes: every day concludes my expectation: and the journey of my + life is carried on after the same manner. And yet I have seen places + enough a great way off, where I could have wished to have stayed. And why + not, if Chrysippus, Cleanthes, Diogenes, Zeno, Antipater, so many sages of + the sourest sect, readily abandoned their country, without occasion of + complaint, and only for the enjoyment of another air. In earnest, that + which most displeases me in all my travels is, that I cannot resolve to + settle my abode where I should best like, but that I must always propose + to myself to return, to accommodate myself to the common humour. + </p> + <p> + If I feared to die in any other place than that of my birth; if I thought + I should die more uneasily remote from my own family, I should hardly go + out of France; I should not, without fear, step out of my parish; I feel + death always pinching me by the throat or by the back. But I am otherwise + constituted; ‘tis in all places alike to me. Yet, might I have my + choice, I think I should rather choose to die on horseback than in bed; + out of my own house, and far from my own people. There is more + heartbreaking than consolation in taking leave of one’s friends; I + am willing to omit that civility, for that, of all the offices of + friendship, is the only one that is unpleasant; and I could, with all my + heart, dispense with that great and eternal farewell. If there be any + convenience in so many standers-by, it brings an hundred inconveniences + along with it. I have seen many dying miserably surrounded with all this + train: ‘tis a crowd that chokes them. ‘Tis against duty, and + is a testimony of little kindness and little care, to permit you to die in + repose; one torments your eyes, another your ears, another your tongue; + you have neither sense nor member that is not worried by them. Your heart + is wounded with compassion to hear the mourning of friends, and, perhaps + with anger, to hear the counterfeit condolings of pretenders. Who ever has + been delicate and sensitive, when well, is much more so when ill. In such + a necessity, a gentle hand is required, accommodated to his sentiment, to + scratch him just in the place where he itches, otherwise scratch him not + at all. If we stand in need of a wise woman—[midwife, Fr. ‘sage + femme’.]—to bring us into the world, we have much more need of + a still wiser man to help us out of it. Such a one, and a friend to boot, + a man ought to purchase at any cost for such an occasion. I am not yet + arrived to that pitch of disdainful vigour that is fortified in itself, + that nothing can assist or disturb; I am of a lower form; I endeavour to + hide myself, and to escape from this passage, not by fear, but by art. I + do not intend in this act of dying to make proof and show of my constancy. + For whom should I do it? all the right and interest I have in reputation + will then cease. I content myself with a death involved within itself, + quiet, solitary, and all my own, suitable to my retired and private life; + quite contrary to the Roman superstition, where a man was looked upon as + unhappy who died without speaking, and who had not his nearest relations + to close his eyes. I have enough to do to comfort myself, without having + to console others; thoughts enough in my head, not to need that + circumstances should possess me with new; and matter enough to occupy me + without borrowing. This affair is out of the part of society; ‘tis + the act of one single person. Let us live and be merry amongst our + friends; let us go repine and die amongst strangers; a man may find those, + for his money, who will shift his pillow and rub his feet, and will + trouble him no more than he would have them; who will present to him an + indifferent countenance, and suffer him to govern himself, and to complain + according to his own method. + </p> + <p> + I wean myself daily by my reason from this childish and inhuman humour, of + desiring by our sufferings to move the compassion and mourning of our + friends: we stretch our own incommodities beyond their just extent when we + extract tears from others; and the constancy which we commend in every one + in supporting his adverse fortune, we accuse and reproach in our friends + when the evil is our own; we are not satisfied that they should be + sensible of our condition only, unless they be, moreover, afflicted. A man + should diffuse joy, but, as much as he can, smother grief. He who makes + himself lamented without reason is a man not to be lamented when there + shall be real cause: to be always complaining is the way never to be + lamented; by making himself always in so pitiful a taking, he is never + commiserated by any. He who makes himself out dead when he is alive, is + subject to be thought living when he is dying. I have seen some who have + taken it ill when they have been told that they looked well, and that + their pulse was good; restrain their smiles, because they betrayed a + recovery, and be angry, at their health because it was not to be lamented: + and, which is a great deal more, these were not women. I describe my + infirmities, such as they really are, at most, and avoid all expressions + of evil prognostic and composed exclamations. If not mirth, at least a + temperate countenance in the standers-by, is proper in the presence of a + wise sick man: he does not quarrel with health, for, seeing himself in a + contrary condition, he is pleased to contemplate it sound and entire in + others, and at least to enjoy it for company: he does not, for feeling + himself melt away, abandon all living thoughts, nor avoid ordinary + discourse. I would study sickness whilst I am well; when it has seized me, + it will make its impression real enough, without the help of my + imagination. We prepare ourselves beforehand for the journeys we + undertake, and resolve upon them; we leave the appointment of the hour + when to take horse to the company, and in their favour defer it. + </p> + <p> + I find this unexpected advantage in the publication of my manners, that it + in some sort serves me for a rule. I have, at times, some consideration of + not betraying the history of my life: this public declaration obliges me + to keep my way, and not to give the lie to the image I have drawn of my + qualities, commonly less deformed and contradictory than consists with the + malignity and infirmity of the judgments of this age. The uniformity and + simplicity of my manners produce a face of easy interpretation; but + because the fashion is a little new and not in use, it gives too great + opportunity to slander. Yet so it is, that whoever would fairly assail me, + I think I so sufficiently assist his purpose in my known and avowed + imperfections, that he may that way satisfy his ill-nature without + fighting with the wind. If I myself, to anticipate accusation and + discovery, confess enough to frustrate his malice, as he conceives, + ‘tis but reason that he make use of his right of amplification, and + to wire-draw my vices as far as he can; attack has its rights beyond + justice; and let him make the roots of those errors I have laid open to + him shoot up into trees: let him make his use, not only of those I am + really affected with, but also of those that only threaten me; injurious + vices, both in quality and number; let him cudgel me that way. I should + willingly follow the example of the philosopher Bion: Antigonus being + about to reproach him with the meanness of his birth, he presently cut him + short with this declaration: “I am,” said he, “the son + of a slave, a butcher, and branded, and of a strumpet my father married in + the lowest of his fortune; both of them were whipped for offences they had + committed. An orator bought me, when a child, and finding me a pretty and + hopeful boy, bred me up, and when he died left me all his estate, which I + have transported into this city of Athens, and here settled myself to the + study of philosophy. Let the historians never trouble themselves with + inquiring about me: I will tell them about it.” A free and generous + confession enervates reproach and disarms slander. So it is that, one + thing with another, I fancy men as often commend as undervalue me beyond + reason; as, methinks also, from my childhood, in rank and degree of + honour, they have given me a place rather above than below my right. I + should find myself more at ease in a country where these degrees were + either regulated or not regarded. Amongst men, when an altercation about + the precedence either of walking or sitting exceeds three replies, ‘tis + reputed uncivil. I never stick at giving or taking place out of rule, to + avoid the trouble of such ceremony; and never any man had a mind to go + before me, but I permitted him to do it. + </p> + <p> + Besides this profit I make of writing of myself, I have also hoped for + this other advantage, that if it should fall out that my humour should + please or jump with those of some honest man before I die, he would then + desire and seek to be acquainted with me. I have given him a great deal of + made-way; for all that he could have, in many years, acquired by close + familiarity, he has seen in three days in this memorial, and more surely + and exactly. A pleasant fancy: many things that I would not confess to any + one in particular, I deliver to the public, and send my best friends to a + bookseller’s shop, there to inform themselves concerning my most + secret thoughts; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Excutienda damus praecordia.” + + [“We give our hearts to be examined.”—Persius, V. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + Did I, by good direction, know where to seek any one proper for my + conversation, I should certainly go a great way to find him out: for the + sweetness of suitable and agreeable company cannot; in my opinion, be + bought too dear. O what a thing is a true friend! how true is that old + saying, that the use of a friend is more pleasing and necessary than the + elements of water and fire! + </p> + <p> + To return to my subject: there is, then, no great harm in dying privately + and far from home; we conceive ourselves obliged to retire for natural + actions less unseemly and less terrible than this. But, moreover, such as + are reduced to spin out a long languishing life, ought not, perhaps, to + wish to trouble a great family with their continual miseries; therefore + the Indians, in a certain province, thought it just to knock a man on the + head when reduced to such a necessity; and in another of their provinces, + they all forsook him to shift for himself as well as he could. To whom do + they not, at last, become tedious and insupportable? the ordinary offices + of fife do not go that length. You teach your best friends to be cruel + perforce; hardening wife and children by long use neither to regard nor to + lament your sufferings. The groans of the stone are grown so familiar to + my people, that nobody takes any notice of them. And though we should + extract some pleasure from their conversation (which does not always + happen, by reason of the disparity of conditions, which easily begets + contempt or envy toward any one whatever), is it not too much to make + abuse of this half a lifetime? The more I should see them constrain + themselves out of affection to be serviceable to me, the more I should be + sorry for their pains. We have liberty to lean, but not to lay our whole + weight upon others, so as to prop ourselves by their ruin; like him who + caused little children’s throats to be cut to make use of their + blood for the cure of a disease he had, or that other, who was continually + supplied with tender young girls to keep his old limbs warm in the night, + and to mix the sweetness of their breath with his, sour and stinking. I + should readily advise Venice as a retreat in this decline of life. + Decrepitude is a solitary quality. I am sociable even to excess, yet I + think it reasonable that I should now withdraw my troubles from the sight + of the world and keep them to myself. Let me shrink and draw up myself in + my own shell, like a tortoise, and learn to see men without hanging upon + them. I should endanger them in so slippery a passage: ‘tis time to + turn my back to company. + </p> + <p> + “But, in these travels, you will be taken ill in some wretched + place, where nothing can be had to relieve you.” I always carry most + things necessary about me; and besides, we cannot evade Fortune if she + once resolves to attack us. I need nothing extraordinary when I am sick. I + will not be beholden to my bolus to do that for me which nature cannot. At + the very beginning of my fevers and sicknesses that cast me down, whilst + still entire, and but little, disordered in health, I reconcile myself to + Almighty God by the last Christian, offices, and find myself by so doing + less oppressed and more easy, and have got, methinks, so much the better + of my disease. And I have yet less need of a notary or counsellor than of + a physician. What I have not settled of my affairs when I was in health, + let no one expect I should do it when I am sick. What I will do for the + service of death is always done; I durst not so much as one day defer it; + and if nothing be done, ‘tis as much as to say either that doubt + hindered my choice (and sometimes ‘tis well chosen not to choose), + or that I was positively resolved not to do anything at all. + </p> + <p> + I write my book for few men and for few years. Had it been matter of + duration, I should have put it into firmer language. According to the + continual variation that ours has been subject to, up to this day, who can + expect that its present form should be in use fifty years hence? It slips + every day through our fingers, and since I was born, it is altered above + one-half. We say that it is now perfect; and every age says the same of + its own. I shall hardly trust to that, so long as it varies and changes as + it does. ‘Tis for good and useful writings to rivet it to them, and + its reputation will go according to the fortune of our state. For which + reason I am not afraid to insert in it several private articles, which + will spend their use amongst the men that are now living, and that concern + the particular knowledge of some who will see further into them than every + common reader. I will not, after all, as I often hear dead men spoken of, + that men should say of me: “He judged, he lived so and so; he would + have done this or that; could he have spoken when he was dying, he would + have said so or so, and have given this thing or t’other; I knew him + better than any.” Now, as much as decency permits, I here discover + my inclinations and affections; but I do more willingly and freely by word + of mouth to any one who desires to be informed. So it is that in these + memoirs, if any one observe, he will find that I have either told or + designed to tell all; what I cannot express, I point out with my finger: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Verum animo satis haec vestigia parva sagaci + Sunt, per quae possis cognoscere caetera tute” + + [“By these footsteps a sagacious mind many easily find all other + matters (are sufficient to enable one to learn the rest well.)” + —Lucretius, i. 403.] +</pre> + <p> + I leave nothing to be desired or to be guessed at concerning me. If people + must be talking of me, I would have it to be justly and truly; I would + come again, with all my heart, from the other world to give any one the + lie who should report me other than I was, though he did it to honour me. + I perceive that people represent, even living men, quite another thing + than what they really are; and had I not stoutly defended a friend whom I + have lost,—[De la Boetie.]—they would have torn him into a + thousand contrary pieces. + </p> + <p> + To conclude the account of my poor humours, I confess that in my travels I + seldom reach my inn but that it comes into my mind to consider whether I + could there be sick and dying at my ease. I desire to be lodged in some + private part of the house, remote from all noise, ill scents, and smoke. I + endeavour to flatter death by these frivolous circumstances; or, to say + better, to discharge myself from all other incumbrances, that I may have + nothing to do, nor be troubled with anything but that which will lie heavy + enough upon me without any other load. I would have my death share in the + ease and conveniences of my life; ‘tis a great part of it, and of + great importance, and I hope it will not in the future contradict the + past. Death has some forms that are more easy than others, and receives + divers qualities, according to every one’s fancy. Amongst the + natural deaths, that which proceeds from weakness and stupor I think the + most favourable; amongst those that are violent, I can worse endure to + think of a precipice than of the fall of a house that will crush me in a + moment, and of a wound with a sword than of a harquebus shot; I should + rather have chosen to poison myself with Socrates, than stab myself with + Cato. And, though it, be all one, yet my imagination makes as great a + difference as betwixt death and life, betwixt throwing myself into a + burning furnace and plunging into the channel of a river: so idly does our + fear more concern itself in the means than the effect. It is but an + instant, ‘tis true, but withal an instant of such weight, that I + would willingly give a great many days of my life to pass it over after my + own fashion. Since every one’s imagination renders it more or less + terrible, and since every one has some choice amongst the several forms of + dying, let us try a little further to find some one that is wholly clear + from all offence. Might not one render it even voluptuous, like the + Commoyientes of Antony and Cleopatra? I set aside the brave and exemplary + efforts produced by philosophy and religion; but, amongst men of little + mark there have been found some, such as Petronius and Tigellinus at Rome, + condemned to despatch themselves, who have, as it were, rocked death + asleep with the delicacy of their preparations; they have made it slip and + steal away in the height of their accustomed diversions amongst girls and + good fellows; not a word of consolation, no mention of making a will, no + ambitious affectation of constancy, no talk of their future condition; + amongst sports, feastings, wit, and mirth, common and indifferent + discourses, music, and amorous verses. Were it not possible for us to + imitate this resolution after a more decent manner? Since there are deaths + that are good for fools, deaths good for the wise, let us find out such as + are fit for those who are betwixt both. My imagination suggests to me one + that is easy, and, since we must die, to be desired. The Roman tyrants + thought they did, in a manner, give a criminal life when they gave him the + choice of his death. But was not Theophrastus, that so delicate, so + modest, and so wise a philosopher, compelled by reason, when he durst say + this verse, translated by Cicero: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vitam regit fortuna, non sapientia?” + + [“Fortune, not wisdom, sways human life.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., V. 31.] +</pre> + <p> + Fortune assists the facility of the bargain of my life, having placed it + in such a condition that for the future it can be neither advantage nor + hindrance to those who are concerned in me; ‘tis a condition that I + would have accepted at any time of my life; but in this occasion of + trussing up my baggage, I am particularly pleased that in dying I shall + neither do them good nor harm. She has so ordered it, by a cunning + compensation, that they who may pretend to any considerable advantage by + my death will, at the same time, sustain a material inconvenience. Death + sometimes is more grievous to us, in that it is grievous to others, and + interests us in their interest as much as in our own, and sometimes more. + </p> + <p> + In this conveniency of lodging that I desire, I mix nothing of pomp and + amplitude—I hate it rather; but a certain plain neatness, which is + oftenest found in places where there is less of art, and that Nature has + adorned with some grace that is all her own: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non ampliter, sea munditer convivium.” + + [“To eat not largely, but cleanly.”—Nepos, Life of Atticus, c. 13] + + “Plus salis quam sumptus.” + + [“Rather enough than costly (More wit than cost)”—Nonius, xi. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + And besides, ‘tis for those whose affairs compel them to travel in + the depth of winter through the Grisons country to be surprised upon the + way with great inconveniences. I, who, for the most part, travel for my + pleasure, do not order my affairs so ill. If the way be foul on my right + hand, I turn on my left; if I find myself unfit to ride, I stay where I + am; and, so doing, in earnest I see nothing that is not as pleasant and + commodious as my own house. ‘Tis true that I always find superfluity + superfluous, and observe a kind of trouble even in abundance itself. Have + I left anything behind me unseen, I go back to see it; ‘tis still on + my way; I trace no certain line, either straight or crooked.—[Rousseau + has translated this passage in his Emile, book v.]—Do I not find in + the place to which I go what was reported to me—as it often falls + out that the judgments of others do not jump with mine, and that I have + found their reports for the most part false—I never complain of + losing my labour: I have, at least, informed myself that what was told me + was not true. + </p> + <p> + I have a constitution of body as free, and a palate as indifferent, as any + man living: the diversity of manners of several nations only affects me in + the pleasure of variety: every usage has its reason. Let the plate and + dishes be pewter, wood, or earth; my meat be boiled or roasted; let them + give me butter or oil, of nuts or olives, hot or cold, ‘tis all one + to me; and so indifferent, that growing old, I accuse this generous + faculty, and would wish that delicacy and choice should correct the + indiscretion of my appetite, and sometimes soothe my stomach. When I have + been abroad out of France and that people, out of courtesy, have asked me + if I would be served after the French manner, I laughed at the question, + and always frequented tables the most filled with foreigners. I am ashamed + to see our countrymen besotted with this foolish humour of quarrelling + with forms contrary to their own; they seem to be out of their element + when out of their own village: wherever they go, they keep to their own + fashions and abominate those of strangers. Do they meet with a compatriot + in Hungary? O the happy chance! They are henceforward inseparable; they + cling together, and their whole discourse is to condemn the barbarous + manners they see about them. Why barbarous, because they are not French? + And those have made the best use of their travels who have observed most + to speak against. Most of them go for no other end but to come back again; + they proceed in their travel with vast gravity and circumspection, with a + silent and incommunicable prudence, preserving themselves from the + contagion of an unknown air. What I am saying of them puts me in mind of + something like it I have at times observed in some of our young courtiers; + they will not mix with any but men of their own sort, and look upon us as + men of another world, with disdain or pity. Put them upon any discourse + but the intrigues of the court, and they are utterly at a loss; as very + owls and novices to us as we are to them. ‘Tis truly said that a + well-bred man is a compound man. I, on the contrary, travel very much + sated with our own fashions; I do not look for Gascons in Sicily; I have + left enough of them at home; I rather seek for Greeks and Persians; they + are the men I endeavour to be acquainted with and the men I study; ‘tis + there that I bestow and employ myself. And which is more, I fancy that I + have met but with few customs that are not as good as our own; I have not, + I confess, travelled very far; scarce out of the sight of the vanes of my + own house. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, most of the accidental company a man falls into upon the + road beget him more trouble than pleasure; I waive them as much as I + civilly can, especially now that age seems in some sort to privilege and + sequester me from the common forms. You suffer for others or others suffer + for you; both of them inconveniences of importance enough, but the latter + appears to me the greater. ‘Tis a rare fortune, but of inestimable + solace; to have a worthy man, one of a sound judgment and of manners + conformable to your own, who takes a delight to bear you company. I have + been at an infinite loss for such upon my travels. But such a companion + should be chosen and acquired from your first setting out. There can be no + pleasure to me without communication: there is not so much as a sprightly + thought comes into my mind, that it does not grieve me to have produced + alone, and that I have no one to communicate it to: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si cum hac exceptione detur sapientia, + ut illam inclusam teneam, nec enuntiem, rejiciam.” + + [“If wisdom be conferred with this reservation, that I must keep it + to myself, and not communicate it to others, I would none of it.” + —Seneca, Ep., 6.] +</pre> + <p> + This other has strained it one note higher: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si contigerit ea vita sapienti, ut ommum rerum afliuentibus copiis, + quamvis omnia, quae cognitione digna sunt, summo otio secum ipse + consideret et contempletur, tamen, si solitudo tanta sit, ut hominem + videre non possit, excedat a vita.” + + [“If such a condition of life should happen to a wise man, that in + the greatest plenty of all conveniences he might, at the most + undisturbed leisure, consider and contemplate all things worth the + knowing, yet if his solitude be such that he must not see a man, let + him depart from life.”—Cicero, De Offic., i. 43.] +</pre> + <p> + Architas pleases me when he says, “that it would be unpleasant, even + in heaven itself, to wander in those great and divine celestial bodies + without a companion. But yet ‘tis much better to be alone than in + foolish and troublesome company. Aristippus loved to live as a stranger in + all places: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Me si fata meis paterentur ducere vitam + Auspiciis,” + + [“If the fates would let me live in my own way.”—AEneid, iv. 340.] +</pre> + <p> + I should choose to pass away the greatest part of my life on horseback: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Visere gestiens, + Qua pane debacchentur ignes, + Qua nebula, pluviique rores.” + + [“Visit the regions where the sun burns, where are the thick + rain-clouds and the frosts.”—Horace, Od., iii. 3, 54.] +</pre> + <p> + “Have you not more easy diversions at home? What do you there want? + Is not your house situated in a sweet and healthful air, sufficiently + furnished, and more than sufficiently large? Has not the royal majesty + been more than once there entertained with all its train? Are there not + more below your family in good ease than there are above it in eminence? + Is there any local, extraordinary, indigestible thought that afflicts you?” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qua to nunc coquat, et vexet sub pectore fixa.” + + [“That may now worry you, and vex, fixed in your breast.” + —Cicero, De Senect, c. 1, Ex Ennio.] +</pre> + <p> + “Where do you think to live without disturbance?” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nunquam simpliciter Fortuna indulget.” + + [“Fortune is never simply complaisant (unmixed).” + —Quintus Curtius, iv. 14] +</pre> + <p> + You see, then, it is only you that trouble yourself; you will everywhere + follow yourself, and everywhere complain; for there is no satisfaction + here below, but either for brutish or for divine souls. He who, on so just + an occasion, has no contentment, where will he think to find it? How many + thousands of men terminate their wishes in such a condition as yours? Do + but reform yourself; for that is wholly in your own power! whereas you + have no other right but patience towards fortune: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nulla placida quies est, nisi quam ratio composuit.” + + [“There is no tranquillity but that which reason has conferred.” + —Seneca, Ep., 56.] +</pre> + <p> + I see the reason of this advice, and see it perfectly well; but he might + sooner have done, and more pertinently, in bidding me in one word be wise; + that resolution is beyond wisdom; ‘tis her precise work and product. + Thus the physician keeps preaching to a poor languishing patient to + “be cheerful”; but he would advise him a little more + discreetly in bidding him “be well.” For my part, I am but a + man of the common sort. ‘Tis a wholesome precept, certain and easy + to be understood, “Be content with what you have,” that is to + say, with reason: and yet to follow this advice is no more in the power of + the wise men of the world than in me. ‘Tis a common saying, but of a + terrible extent: what does it not comprehend? All things fall under + discretion and qualification. I know very well that, to take it by the + letter, this pleasure of travelling is a testimony of uneasiness and + irresolution, and, in sooth, these two are our governing and predominating + qualities. Yes, I confess, I see nothing, not so much as in a dream, in a + wish, whereon I could set up my rest: variety only, and the possession of + diversity, can satisfy me; that is, if anything can. In travelling, it + pleases me that I may stay where I like, without inconvenience, and that I + have a place wherein commodiously to divert myself. I love a private life, + because ‘tis my own choice that I love it, not by any dissenting + from or dislike of public life, which, peradventure, is as much according + to my complexion. I serve my prince more cheerfully because it is by the + free election of my own judgment and reason, without any particular + obligation; and that I am not reduced and constrained so to do for being + rejected or disliked by the other party; and so of all the rest. I hate + the morsels that necessity carves me; any commodity upon which I had only + to depend would have me by the throat; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Alter remus aquas, alter mihi radat arenas;” + + [“Let me have one oar in the water, and with the other rake the + shore.”—Propertius, iii. 3, 23.] +</pre> + <p> + one cord will never hold me fast enough. You will say, there is vanity in + this way of living. But where is there not? All these fine precepts are + vanity, and all wisdom is vanity: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dominus novit cogitationes sapientum, quoniam vanae sunt.” + + [“The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” + —Ps. xciii. II; or I Cor. iii. 20.] +</pre> + <p> + These exquisite subtleties are only fit for sermons; they are discourses + that will send us all saddled into the other world. Life is a material and + corporal motion, an action imperfect and irregular of its own proper + essence; I make it my business to serve it according to itself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quisque suos patimur manes.” + + [“We each of us suffer our own particular demon.”—AEneid, vi. 743.] + + “Sic est faciendum, ut contra naturam universam nihil contendamus; + ea tamen conservata propriam sequamur.” + + [“We must so order it as by no means to contend against universal + nature; but yet, that rule being observed, to follow our own.” + —Cicero, De Offcc., i. 31.] +</pre> + <p> + To what end are these elevated points of philosophy, upon which no human + being can rely? and those rules that exceed both our use and force? + </p> + <p> + I see often that we have theories of life set before us which neither the + proposer nor those who hear him have any hope, nor, which is more, any + inclination to follow. Of the same sheet of paper whereon the judge has + but just written a sentence against an adulterer, he steals a piece + whereon to write a love-letter to his companion’s wife. She whom you + have but just now illicitly embraced will presently, even in your hearing, + more loudly inveigh against the same fault in her companion than a Portia + would do;—[The chaste daughter of Cato of Utica.]—and men + there are who will condemn others to death for crimes that they themselves + do not repute so much as faults. I have, in my youth, seen a man of good + rank with one hand present to the people verses that excelled both in wit + and debauchery, and with the other, at the same time, the most ripe and + pugnacious theological reformation that the world has been treated withal + these many years. And so men proceed; we let the laws and precepts follow + their way; ourselves keep another course, not only from debauchery of + manners, but ofttimes by judgment and contrary opinion. Do but hear a + philosophical lecture; the invention, eloquence, pertinency immediately + strike upon your mind and move you; there is nothing that touches or + stings your conscience; ‘tis not to this they address themselves. Is + not this true? It made Aristo say, that neither a bath nor a lecture did + aught unless it scoured and made men clean. One may stop at the skin; but + it is after the marrow is picked out as, after we have swallowed good wine + out of a fine cup, we examine the designs and workmanship. In all the + courts of ancient philosophy, this is to be found, that the same teacher + publishes rules of temperance and at the same time lessons in love and + wantonness; Xenophon, in the very bosom of Clinias, wrote against the + Aristippic virtue. ‘Tis not that there is any miraculous conversion + in it that makes them thus wavering; ‘tis that Solon represents + himself, sometimes in his own person, and sometimes in that of a + legislator; one while he speaks for the crowd, and another for himself; + taking the free and natural rules for his own share, feeling assured of a + firm and entire health: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Curentur dubii medicis majoribus aegri.” + + [“Desperate maladies require the best doctors.” + —Juvenal, xiii. 124.] +</pre> + <p> + Antisthenes allows a sage to love, and to do whatever he thinks + convenient, without regard to the laws, forasmuch as he is better advised + than they, and has a greater knowledge of virtue. His disciple Diogenes + said, that “men to perturbations were to oppose reason: to fortune, + courage: to the laws, nature.” For tender stomachs, constrained and + artificial recipes must be prescribed: good and strong stomachs serve + themselves simply with the prescriptions of their own natural appetite; + after this manner do our physicians proceed, who eat melons and drink iced + wines, whilst they confine their patients to syrups and sops. “I + know not,” said the courtezan Lais, “what they may talk of + books, wisdom, and philosophy; but these men knock as often at my door as + any others.” At the same rate that our licence carries us beyond + what is lawful and allowed, men have, often beyond universal reason, + stretched the precepts and rules of our life: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nemo satis credit tantum delinquere, quantum + Permittas.” + + [“No one thinks he has done ill to the full extent of what he may.” + —Juvenal, xiv. 233.] +</pre> + <p> + It were to be wished that there was more proportion betwixt the command + and the obedience; and the mark seems to be unjust to which one cannot + attain. There is no so good man, who so squares all his thoughts and + actions to the laws, that he is not faulty enough to deserve hanging ten + times in his life; and he may well be such a one, as it were great + injustice and great harm to punish and ruin: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ole, quid ad te + De cute quid faciat ille vel ille sua?” + + [“Olus, what is it to thee what he or she does with their skin?” + —Martial, vii. 9, I.] +</pre> + <p> + and such an one there may be, who has no way offended the laws, who, + nevertheless, would not deserve the character of a virtuous man, and whom + philosophy would justly condemn to be whipped; so unequal and perplexed is + this relation. We are so far from being good men, according to the laws of + God, that we cannot be so according to our own human wisdom never yet + arrived at the duties it had itself prescribed; and could it arrive there, + it would still prescribe to itself others beyond, to which it would ever + aspire and pretend; so great an enemy to consistency is our human + condition. Man enjoins himself to be necessarily in fault: he is not very + discreet to cut out his own duty by the measure of another being than his + own. To whom does he prescribe that which he does not expect any one + should perform? is he unjust in not doing what it is impossible for him to + do? The laws which condemn us not to be able, condemn us for not being + able. + </p> + <p> + At the worst, this difform liberty of presenting ourselves two several + ways, the actions after one manner and the reasoning after another, may be + allowed to those who only speak of things; but it cannot be allowed to + those who speak of themselves, as I do: I must march my pen as I do my + feet. Common life ought to have relation to the other lives: the virtue of + Cato was vigorous beyond the reason of the age he lived in; and for a man + who made it his business to govern others, a man dedicated to the public + service, it might be called a justice, if not unjust, at least vain and + out of season. Even my own manners, which differ not above an inch from + those current amongst us, render me, nevertheless, a little rough and + unsociable at my age. I know not whether it be without reason that I am + disgusted with the world I frequent; but I know very well that it would be + without reason, should I complain of its being disgusted with me, seeing I + am so with it. The virtue that is assigned to the affairs of the world is + a virtue of many wavings, corners, and elbows, to join and adapt itself to + human frailty, mixed and artificial, not straight, clear, constant, nor + purely innocent. Our annals to this very day reproach one of our kings for + suffering himself too simply to be carried away by the conscientious + persuasions of his confessor: affairs of state have bolder precepts; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Exeat aula, + Qui vult esse pius.” + + [“Let him who will be pious retire from the court.” + —Lucan, viii. 493] +</pre> + <p> + I formerly tried to employ in the service of public affairs opinions and + rules of living, as rough, new, unpolished or unpolluted, as they were + either born with me, or brought away from my education, and wherewith I + serve my own turn, if not so commodiously, at least securely, in my own + particular concerns: a scholastic and novice virtue; but I have found them + unapt and dangerous. He who goes into a crowd must now go one way and then + another, keep his elbows close, retire or advance, and quit the straight + way, according to what he encounters; and must live not so much according + to his own method as to that of others; not according to what he proposes + to himself, but according to what is proposed to him, according to the + time, according to the men, according to the occasions. Plato says, that + whoever escapes from the world’s handling with clean breeches, + escapes by miracle: and says withal, that when he appoints his philosopher + the head of a government, he does not mean a corrupt one like that of + Athens, and much less such a one as this of ours, wherein wisdom itself + would be to seek. A good herb, transplanted into a soil contrary to its + own nature, much sooner conforms itself to the soil than it reforms the + soil to it. I found that if I had wholly to apply myself to such + employments, it would require a great deal of change and new modelling in + me before I could be any way fit for it: And though I could so far prevail + upon myself (and why might I not with time and diligence work such a + feat), I would not do it. The little trial I have had of public employment + has been so much disgust to me; I feel at times temptations toward + ambition rising in my soul, but I obstinately oppose them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “At tu, Catulle, obstinatus obdura.” + + [“But thou, Catullus, be obstinately firm.”—Catullus, viii. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + I am seldom called to it, and as seldom offer myself uncalled; liberty and + laziness, the qualities most predominant in me, are qualities + diametrically contrary to that trade. We cannot well distinguish the + faculties of men; they have divisions and limits hard and delicate to + choose; to conclude from the discreet conduct of a private life a capacity + for the management of public affairs is to conclude ill; a man may govern + himself well who cannot govern others so, and compose Essays who could not + work effects: men there may be who can order a siege well, who would ill + marshal a battle; who can speak well in private, who would ill harangue a + people or a prince; nay, ‘tis peradventure rather a testimony in him + who can do the one that he cannot do the other, than otherwise. I find + that elevated souls are not much more proper for mean things than mean + souls are for high ones. Could it be imagined that Socrates should have + administered occasion of laughter, at the expense of his own reputation, + to the Athenians for: having never been able to sum up the votes of his + tribe, to deliver it to the council? Truly, the veneration I have for the + perfections of this great man deserves that his fortune should furnish, + for the excuse of my principal imperfections, so magnificent an example. + Our sufficiency is cut out into small parcels; mine has no latitude, and + is also very contemptible in number. Saturninus, to those who had + conferred upon him the command in chief: “Companions,” said + he, “you have lost a good captain, to make of him a bad general.” + </p> + <p> + Whoever boasts, in so sick a time as this, to employ a true and sincere + virtue in the world’s service, either knows not what it is, opinions + growing corrupt with manners (and, in truth, to hear them describe it, to + hear the most of them glorify themselves in their deportments, and lay + down their rules; instead of painting virtue, they paint pure vice and + injustice, and so represent it false in the education of princes); or if + he does know it, boasts unjustly and let him say what he will, does a + thousand things of which his own conscience must necessarily accuse him. I + should willingly take Seneca’s word on the experience he made upon + the like occasion, provided he would deal sincerely with me. The most + honourable mark of goodness in such a necessity is freely to confess both + one’s own faults and those of others; with the power of its virtue + to stay one’s inclination towards evil; unwillingly to follow this + propension; to hope better, to desire better. I perceive that in these + divisions wherein we are involved in France, every one labours to defend + his cause; but even the very best of them with dissimulation and disguise: + he who would write roundly of the true state of the quarrel, would write + rashly and wrongly. The most just party is at best but a member of a + decayed and worm-eaten body; but of such a body, the member that is least + affected calls itself sound, and with good reason, forasmuch as our + qualities have no title but in comparison; civil innocence is measured + according to times and places. Imagine this in Xenophon, related as a fine + commendation of Agesilaus: that, being entreated by a neighbouring prince + with whom he had formerly had war, to permit him to pass through his + country, he granted his request, giving him free passage through + Peloponnesus; and not only did not imprison or poison him, being at his + mercy, but courteously received him according to the obligation of his + promise, without doing him the least injury or offence. To such ideas as + theirs this were an act of no especial note; elsewhere and in another age, + the frankness and unanimity of such an action would be thought wonderful; + our monkeyish capets + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Capets, so called from their short capes, were the students of + Montaigne College at Paris, and were held in great contempt.] +</pre> + <p> + would have laughed at it, so little does the Spartan innocence resemble + that of France. We are not without virtuous men, but ‘tis according + to our notions of virtue. Whoever has his manners established in + regularity above the standard of the age he lives in, let him either wrest + or blunt his rules, or, which I would rather advise him to, let him + retire, and not meddle with us at all. What will he get by it? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Egregium sanctumque virum si cerno, bimembri + Hoc monstrum puero, et miranti jam sub aratro + Piscibus inventis, et foetae comparo mulae.” + + [“If I see an exemplary and good man, I liken it to a two-headed + boy, or a fish turned up by the plough, or a teeming mule.” + —Juvenal, xiii. 64.] +</pre> + <p> + One may regret better times, but cannot fly from the present; we may wish + for other magistrates, but we must, notwithstanding, obey those we have; + and, peradventure, ‘tis more laudable to obey the bad than the good. + So long as the image of the ancient and received laws of this monarchy + shall shine in any corner of the kingdom, there will I be. If they + unfortunately happen to thwart and contradict one another, so as to + produce two parts, of doubtful and difficult choice, I will willingly + choose to withdraw and escape the tempest; in the meantime nature or the + hazards of war may lend me a helping hand. Betwixt Caesar and Pompey, I + should frankly have declared myself; but, as amongst the three robbers who + came after,—[Octavius, Mark Antony, and Lepidus.]—a man must + have been necessitated either to hide himself, or have gone along with the + current of the time, which I think one may fairly do when reason no longer + guides: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quo diversus abis?” + + [“Whither dost thou run wandering?”—AEneid, v. 166.] +</pre> + <p> + This medley is a little from my theme; I go out of my way; but ‘tis + rather by licence than oversight; my fancies follow one another, but + sometimes at a great distance, and look towards one another, but ‘tis + with an oblique glance. I have read a dialogue of Plato,—[The + Phaedrus.]—of the like motley and fantastic composition, the + beginning about love, and all the rest to the end about rhetoric; they + fear not these variations, and have a marvellous grace in letting + themselves be carried away at the pleasure of the wind, or at least to + seem as if they were. The titles of my chapters do not always comprehend + the whole matter; they often denote it by some mark only, as these others, + Andria, Eunuchus; or these, Sylla, Cicero, Toyquatus. I love a poetic + progress, by leaps and skips; ‘tis an art, as Plato says, light, + nimble, demoniac. There are pieces in Plutarch where he forgets his theme; + where the proposition of his argument is only found by incidence, stuffed + and half stifled in foreign matter. Observe his footsteps in the Daemon of + Socrates. O God! how beautiful are these frolicsome sallies, those + variations and digressions, and all the more when they seem most + fortuitous and careless. ‘Tis the indiligent reader who loses my + subject, and not I; there will always be found some word or other in a + corner that is to the purpose, though it lie very close. I ramble + indiscreetly and tumultuously; my style and my wit wander at the same + rate. He must fool it a little who would not be deemed wholly a fool, say + both the precepts, and, still more, the examples of our masters. A + thousand poets flag and languish after a prosaic manner; but the best old + prose (and I strew it here up and down indifferently for verse) shines + throughout with the lustre, vigour, and boldness of poetry, and not + without some air of its fury. And certainly prose ought to have the + pre-eminence in speaking. The poet, says Plato, seated upon the muses + tripod, pours out with fury whatever comes into his mouth, like the pipe + of a fountain, without considering and weighing it; and things escape him + of various colours, of contrary substance, and with an irregular torrent. + Plato himself is throughout poetical; and the old theology, as the learned + tell us, is all poetry; and the first philosophy is the original language + of the gods. I would have my matter distinguish itself; it sufficiently + shows where it changes, where it concludes, where it begins, and where it + rejoins, without interlacing it with words of connection introduced for + the relief of weak or negligent ears, and without explaining myself. Who + is he that had not rather not be read at all than after a drowsy or + cursory manner? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nihil est tam utile, quod intransitu prosit.” + + [“Nothing is so useful as that which is cursorily so.” + —Seneca, Ep., 2.] +</pre> + <p> + If to take books in hand were to learn them: to look upon them were to + consider them: and to run these slightly over were to grasp them, I were + then to blame to make myself out so ignorant as I say I am. Seeing I + cannot fix the attention of my reader by the weight of what I write, + ‘manco male’, if I should chance to do it by my intricacies. + “Nay, but he will afterwards repent that he ever perplexed himself + about it.” ‘Tis very true, but he will yet be there perplexed. + And, besides, there are some humours in which comprehension produces + disdain; who will think better of me for not understanding what I say, and + will conclude the depth of my sense by its obscurity; which, to speak in + good sooth, I mortally hate, and would avoid it if I could. Aristotle + boasts somewhere in his writings that he affected it: a vicious + affectation. The frequent breaks into chapters that I made my method in + the beginning of my book, having since seemed to me to dissolve the + attention before it was raised, as making it disdain to settle itself to + so little, I, upon that account, have made them longer, such as require + proposition and assigned leisure. In such an employment, to whom you will + not give an hour you give nothing; and you do nothing for him for whom you + only do it whilst you are doing something else. To which may be added that + I have, peradventure, some particular obligation to speak only by halves, + to speak confusedly and discordantly. I am therefore angry at this + trouble-feast reason, and its extravagant projects that worry one’s + life, and its opinions, so fine and subtle, though they be all true, I + think too dear bought and too inconvenient. On the contrary, I make it my + business to bring vanity itself in repute, and folly too, if it produce me + any pleasure; and let myself follow my own natural inclinations, without + carrying too strict a hand upon them. + </p> + <p> + I have seen elsewhere houses in ruins, and statues both of gods and men: + these are men still. ‘Tis all true; and yet, for all that, I cannot + so often revisit the tomb of that so great and so puissant city,—[Rome]— + that I do not admire and reverence it. The care of the dead is recommended + to us; now, I have been bred up from my infancy with these dead; I had + knowledge of the affairs of Rome long before I had any of those of my own + house; I knew the Capitol and its plan before I knew the Louvre, and the + Tiber before I knew the Seine. The qualities and fortunes of Lucullus, + Metellus, and Scipio have ever run more in my head than those of any of my + own country; they are all dead; so is my father as absolutely dead as + they, and is removed as far from me and life in eighteen years as they are + in sixteen hundred: whose memory, nevertheless, friendship and society, I + do not cease to embrace and utilise with a perfect and lively union. Nay, + of my own inclination, I pay more service to the dead; they can no longer + help themselves, and therefore, methinks, the more require my assistance: + ‘tis there that gratitude appears in its full lustre. The benefit is + not so generously bestowed, where there is retrogradation and reflection. + Arcesilaus, going to visit Ctesibius, who was sick, and finding him in a + very poor condition, very finely conveyed some money under his pillow, + and, by concealing it from him, acquitted him, moreover, from the + acknowledgment due to such a benefit. Such as have merited from me + friendship and gratitude have never lost these by being no more; I have + better and more carefully paid them when gone and ignorant of what I did; + I speak most affectionately of my friends when they can no longer know it. + I have had a hundred quarrels in defending Pompey and for the cause of + Brutus; this acquaintance yet continues betwixt us; we have no other hold + even on present things but by fancy. Finding myself of no use to this age, + I throw myself back upon that other, and am so enamoured of it, that the + free, just, and flourishing state of that ancient Rome (for I neither love + it in its birth nor its old age) interests and impassionates me; and + therefore I cannot so often revisit the sites of their streets and houses, + and those ruins profound even to the Antipodes, that I am not interested + in them. Is it by nature, or through error of fancy, that the sight of + places which we know to have been frequented and inhabited by persons + whose memories are recommended in story, moves us in some sort more than + to hear a recital of their—acts or to read their writings? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tanta vis admonitionis inest in locis....Et id quidem in hac urbe + infinitum; quacumque enim ingredimur, in aliquam historiam vestigium + ponimus.” + + [“So great a power of reminiscence resides in places; and that truly + in this city infinite, for which way soever we go, we find the + traces of some story.”—Cicero, De Fin., v. I, 2.] +</pre> + <p> + It pleases me to consider their face, bearing, and vestments: I pronounce + those great names betwixt my teeth, and make them ring in my ears: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ego illos veneror, et tantis nominibus semper assurgo.” + + [“I reverence them, and always rise to so great names.” + —Seneca, Ep., 64.] +</pre> + <p> + Of things that are in some part great and admirable, I admire even the + common parts: I could wish to see them in familiar relations, walk, and + sup. It were ingratitude to contemn the relics and images of so many + worthy and valiant men as I have seen live and die, and who, by their + example, give us so many good instructions, knew we how to follow them. + </p> + <p> + And, moreover, this very Rome that we now see, deserves to be beloved, so + long and by so many titles allied to our crown; the only common and + universal city; the sovereign magistrate that commands there is equally + acknowledged elsewhere ‘tis the metropolitan city of all the + Christian nations the Spaniard and Frenchman is there at home: to be a + prince of that state, there needs no more but to be of Christendom + wheresoever. There is no place upon earth that heaven has embraced with + such an influence and constancy of favour; her very ruins are grand and + glorious, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Laudandis pretiosior ruinis.” + + [“More precious from her glorious ruins.” + —Sidonius Apollinaris, Carm., xxiii.; Narba, v. 62.] +</pre> + <p> + she yet in her very tomb retains the marks and images of empire: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut palam sit, uno in loco gaudentis opus esse naturx.” + + [“That it may be manifest that there is in one place the work of + rejoicing nature.”—Pliny, Nat. Hist., iii. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + Some would blame and be angry at themselves to perceive themselves tickled + with so vain a pleasure our humours are never too vain that are pleasant + let them be what they may, if they constantly content a man of common + understanding, I could not have the heart to blame him. + </p> + <p> + I am very much obliged to Fortune, in that, to this very hour, she has + offered me no outrage beyond what I was well able to bear. Is it not her + custom to let those live in quiet by whom she is not importuned? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quanto quisque sibi plum negaverit, + A diis plum feret: nil cupientium + Nudus castra peto . . . . + Multa petentibus + Desunt multa.” + + [“The more each man denies himself, the more the gods give him. + Poor as I am, I seek the company of those who ask nothing; they who + desire much will be deficient in much.” + —Horace, Od., iii. 16,21,42.] +</pre> + <p> + If she continue her favour, she will dismiss me very well satisfied: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nihil supra + Deos lacesso.” + + [“I trouble the gods no farther.”—Horace, Od., ii. 18, 11.] +</pre> + <p> + But beware a shock: there are a thousand who perish in the port. I easily + comfort myself for what shall here happen when I shall be gone, present + things trouble me enough: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fortunae caetera mando.” + + [“I leave the rest to fortune.”—Ovid, Metam., ii. 140.] +</pre> + <p> + Besides, I have not that strong obligation that they say ties men to the + future, by the issue that succeeds to their name and honour; and + peradventure, ought less to covet them, if they are to be so much desired. + I am but too much tied to the world, and to this life, of myself: I am + content to be in Fortune’s power by circumstances properly necessary + to my being, without otherwise enlarging her jurisdiction over me; and + have never thought that to be without children was a defect that ought to + render life less complete or less contented: a sterile vocation has its + conveniences too. Children are of the number of things that are not so + much to be desired, especially now that it would be so hard to make them + good: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Bona jam nec nasci licet, ita corrupta Bunt semina;” + + [“Nothing good can be born now, the seed is so corrupt.” + —Tertullian, De Pudicita.] +</pre> + <p> + and yet they are justly to be lamented by such as lose them when they have + them. + </p> + <p> + He who left me my house in charge, foretold that I was like to ruin it, + considering my humour so little inclined to look after household affairs. + But he was mistaken; for I am in the same condition now as when I first + entered into it, or rather somewhat better; and yet without office or any + place of profit. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, if Fortune has never done me any violent or extraordinary + injury, neither has she done me any particular favour; whatever we derive + from her bounty, was there above a hundred years before my time: I have, + as to my own particular, no essential and solid good, that I stand + indebted for to her liberality. She has, indeed, done me some airy + favours, honorary and titular favours, without substance, and those in + truth she has not granted, but offered me, who, God knows, am all + material, and who take nothing but what is real, and indeed massive too, + for current pay: and who, if I durst confess so much, should not think + avarice much less excusable than ambition: nor pain less to be avoided + than shame; nor health less to be coveted than learning, or riches than + nobility. + </p> + <p> + Amongst those empty favours of hers, there is none that so much pleases + vain humour natural to my country, as an authentic bull of a Roman + burgess-ship, that was granted me when I was last there, glorious in seals + and gilded letters, and granted with all gracious liberality. And because + ‘tis couched in a mixt style, more or less favourable, and that I + could have been glad to have seen a copy of it before it had passed the + seal. + </p> + <p> + Being before burgess of no city at all, I am glad to be created one of the + most noble that ever was or ever shall be. If other men would consider + themselves at the rate I do, they would, as I do, discover themselves to + be full of inanity and foppery; to rid myself of it, I cannot, without + making myself away. We are all steeped in it, as well one as another; but + they who are not aware on’t, have somewhat the better bargain; and + yet I know not whether they have or no. + </p> + <p> + This opinion and common usage to observe others more than ourselves has + very much relieved us that way: ‘tis a very displeasing object: we + can there see nothing but misery and vanity: nature, that we may not be + dejected with the sight of our own deformities, has wisely thrust the + action of seeing outward. We go forward with the current, but to turn back + towards ourselves is a painful motion; so is the sea moved and troubled + when the waves rush against one another. Observe, says every one, the + motions of the heavens, of public affairs; observe the quarrel of such a + person, take notice of such a one’s pulse, of such another’s + last will and testament; in sum, be always looking high or low, on one + side, before or behind you. It was a paradoxical command anciently given + us by that god of Delphos: “Look into yourself; discover yourself; + keep close to yourself; call back your mind and will, that elsewhere + consume themselves into yourself; you run out, you spill yourself; carry a + more steady hand: men betray you, men spill you, men steal you from + yourself. Dost thou not see that this world we live in keeps all its sight + confined within, and its eyes open to contemplate itself? ‘Tis + always vanity for thee, both within and without; but ‘tis less + vanity when less extended. Excepting thee, O man, said that god, + everything studies itself first, and has bounds to its labours and + desires, according to its need. There is nothing so empty and necessitous + as thou, who embracest the universe; thou art the investigator without + knowledge, the magistrate without jurisdiction, and, after all, the fool + of the farce.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0103" id="link2HCH0103"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X——OF MANAGING THE WILL + </h2> + <p> + Few things, in comparison of what commonly affect other men, move, or, to + say better, possess me: for ‘tis but reason they should concern a + man, provided they do not possess him. I am very solicitous, both by study + and argument, to enlarge this privilege of insensibility, which is in me + naturally raised to a pretty degree, so that consequently I espouse and am + very much moved with very few things. I have a clear sight enough, but I + fix it upon very few objects; I have a sense delicate and tender enough; + but an apprehension and application hard and negligent. I am very + unwilling to engage myself; as much as in me lies, I employ myself wholly + on myself, and even in that subject should rather choose to curb and + restrain my affection from plunging itself over head and ears into it, it + being a subject that I possess at the mercy of others, and over which + fortune has more right than I; so that even as to health, which I so much + value, ‘tis all the more necessary for me not so passionately to + covet and heed it, than to find diseases so insupportable. A man ought to + moderate himself betwixt the hatred of pain and the love of pleasure: and + Plato sets down a middle path of life betwixt the two. But against such + affections as wholly carry me away from myself and fix me elsewhere, + against those, I say, I oppose myself with my utmost power. ‘Tis my + opinion that a man should lend himself to others, and only give himself to + himself. Were my will easy to lend itself out and to be swayed, I should + not stick there; I am too tender both by nature and use: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fugax rerum, securaque in otia natus.” + + [“Avoiding affairs and born to secure ease.” + —Ovid, De Trist., iii. 2, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + Hot and obstinate disputes, wherein my adversary would at last have the + better, the issue that would render my heat and obstinacy disgraceful + would peradventure vex me to the last degree. Should I set myself to it at + the rate that others do, my soul would never have the force to bear the + emotion and alarms of those who grasp at so much; it would immediately be + disordered by this inward agitation. If, sometimes, I have been put upon + the management of other men’s affairs, I have promised to take them + in hand, but not into my lungs and liver; to take them upon me, not to + incorporate them; to take pains, yes: to be impassioned about it, by no + means; I have a care of them, but I will not sit upon them. I have enough + to do to order and govern the domestic throng of those that I have in my + own veins and bowels, without introducing a crowd of other men’s + affairs; and am sufficiently concerned about my own proper and natural + business, without meddling with the concerns of others. Such as know how + much they owe to themselves, and how many offices they are bound to of + their own, find that nature has cut them out work enough of their own to + keep them from being idle. “Thou hast business enough at home: look + to that.” + </p> + <p> + Men let themselves out to hire; their faculties are not for themselves, + but for those to whom they have enslaved themselves; ‘tis their + tenants occupy them, not themselves. This common humour pleases not me. We + must be thrifty of the liberty of our souls, and never let it out but upon + just occasions, which are very few, if we judge aright. Do but observe + such as have accustomed themselves to be at every one’s call: they + do it indifferently upon all, as well little as great, occasions; in that + which nothing concerns them; as much as in what imports them most. They + thrust themselves in indifferently wherever there is work to do and + obligation, and are without life when not in tumultuous bustle: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In negotiis sunt, negotii cause,” + + [“They are in business for business’ sake.”—Seneca, Ep., 22.] +</pre> + <p> + It is not so much that they will go, as it is that they cannot stand + still: like a rolling stone that cannot stop till it can go no further. + Occupation, with a certain sort of men, is a mark of understanding and + dignity: their souls seek repose in agitation, as children do by being + rocked in a cradle; they may pronounce themselves as serviceable to their + friends, as they are troublesome to themselves. No one distributes his + money to others, but every one distributes his time and his life: there is + nothing of which we are so prodigal as of these two things, of which to be + thrifty would be both commendable and useful. I am of a quite contrary + humour; I look to myself, and commonly covet with no great ardour what I + do desire, and desire little; and I employ and busy myself at the same + rate, rarely and temperately. Whatever they take in hand, they do it with + their utmost will and vehemence. There are so many dangerous steps, that, + for the more safety, we must a little lightly and superficially glide over + the world, and not rush through it. Pleasure itself is painful in + profundity: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Incedis per ignes, + Suppositos cineri doloso.” + + [“You tread on fire, hidden under deceitful ashes.” + —Horace, Od., ii. i, 7.] +</pre> + <p> + The Parliament of Bordeaux chose me mayor of their city at a time when I + was at a distance from France,—[At Bagno Della Villa, near Lucca, + September 1581]—and still more remote from any such thought. I + entreated to be excused, but I was told by my friends that I had committed + an error in so doing, and the greater because the king had, moreover, + interposed his command in that affair. ‘Tis an office that ought to + be looked upon so much more honourable, as it has no other salary nor + advantage than the bare honour of its execution. It continues two years, + but may be extended by a second election, which very rarely happens; it + was to me, and had never been so but twice before: some years ago to + Monsieur de Lansac, and lately to Monsieur de Biron, Marshal of France, in + whose place I succeeded; and, I left mine to Monsieur de Matignon, Marshal + of France also: proud of so noble a fraternity— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Uterque bonus pacis bellique minister.” + + [“Either one a good minister in peace and war.” + —AEneid, xi. 658.] +</pre> + <p> + Fortune would have a hand in my promotion, by this particular circumstance + which she put in of her own, not altogether vain; for Alexander disdained + the ambassadors of Corinth, who came to offer him a burgess-ship of their + city; but when they proceeded to lay before him that Bacchus and Hercules + were also in the register, he graciously thanked them. + </p> + <p> + At my arrival, I faithfully and conscientiously represented myself to them + for such as I find myself to be—a man without memory, without + vigilance, without experience, and without vigour; but withal, without + hatred, without ambition, without avarice, and without violence; that they + might be informed of my qualities, and know what they were to expect from + my service. And whereas the knowledge they had had of my late father, and + the honour they had for his memory, had alone incited them to confer this + favour upon me, I plainly told them that I should be very sorry anything + should make so great an impression upon me as their affairs and the + concerns of their city had made upon him, whilst he held the government to + which they had preferred me. I remembered, when a boy, to have seen him in + his old age cruelly tormented with these public affairs, neglecting the + soft repose of his own house, to which the declension of his age had + reduced him for several years before, the management of his own affairs, + and his health; and certainly despising his own life, which was in great + danger of being lost, by being engaged in long and painful journeys on + their behalf. Such was he; and this humour of his proceeded from a + marvellous good nature; never was there a more charitable and popular + soul. Yet this proceeding which I commend in others, I do not love to + follow myself, and am not without excuse. + </p> + <p> + He had learned that a man must forget himself for his neighbour, and that + the particular was of no manner of consideration in comparison with the + general. Most of the rules and precepts of the world run this way; to + drive us out of ourselves into the street for the benefit of public + society; they thought to do a great feat to divert and remove us from + ourselves, assuming we were but too much fixed there, and by a too natural + inclination; and have said all they could to that purpose: for ‘tis + no new thing for the sages to preach things as they serve, not as they + are. Truth has its obstructions, inconveniences, and incompatibilities + with us; we must often deceive that we may not deceive ourselves; and shut + our eyes and our understandings to redress and amend them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Imperiti enim judicant, et qui frequenter + in hoc ipsum fallendi sunt, ne errent.” + + [“For the ignorant judge, and therefore are oft to be deceived, + less they should err.”—Quintil., Inst. Orat., xi. 17.] +</pre> + <p> + When they order us to love three, four, or fifty degrees of things above + ourselves, they do like archers, who, to hit the white, take their aim a + great deal higher than the butt; to make a crooked stick straight, we bend + it the contrary way. + </p> + <p> + I believe that in the Temple of Pallas, as we see in all other religions, + there were apparent mysteries to be exposed to the people; and others, + more secret and high, that were only to be shown to such as were + professed; ‘tis likely that in these the true point of friendship + that every one owes to himself is to be found; not a false friendship, + that makes us embrace glory, knowledge, riches, and the like, with a + principal and immoderate affection, as members of our being; nor an + indiscreet and effeminate friendship, wherein it happens, as with ivy, + that it decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but a sound and regular + friendship, equally useful and pleasant. He who knows the duties of this + friendship and practises them is truly of the cabinet of the Muses, and + has attained to the height of human wisdom and of our happiness, such an + one, exactly knowing what he owes to himself, will on his part find that + he ought to apply to himself the use of the world and of other men; and to + do this, to contribute to public society the duties and offices + appertaining to him. He who does not in some sort live for others, does + not live much for himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui sibi amicus est, scito hunc amicum omnibus esse.” + + [“He who is his own friend, is a friend to everybody else.” + —Seneca, Ep., 6.] +</pre> + <p> + The principal charge we have is, to every one his own conduct; and ‘tis + for this only that we here are. As he who should forget to live a virtuous + and holy life, and should think he acquitted himself of his duty in + instructing and training others up to it, would be a fool; even so he who + abandons his own particular healthful and pleasant living to serve others + therewith, takes, in my opinion, a wrong and unnatural course. + </p> + <p> + I would not that men should refuse, in the employments they take upon + them, their attention, pains, eloquence, sweat, and blood if need be: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non ipse pro caris amicis + Aut patria, timidus perire:” + + [“Himself not afraid to die for beloved friends, or for his + country.”—Horace, Od., iv. 9, 51.] +</pre> + <p> + but ‘tis only borrowed, and accidentally; his mind being always in + repose and in health; not without action, but without vexation, without + passion. To be simply acting costs him so little, that he acts even + sleeping; but it must be set on going with discretion; for the body + receives the offices imposed upon it just according to what they are; the + mind often extends and makes them heavier at its own expense, giving them + what measure it pleases. Men perform like things with several sorts of + endeavour, and different contention of will; the one does well enough + without the other; for how many people hazard themselves every day in war + without any concern which way it goes; and thrust themselves into the + dangers of battles, the loss of which will not break their next night’s + sleep? and such a man may be at home, out of the danger which he durst not + have looked upon, who is more passionately concerned for the issue of this + war, and whose soul is more anxious about events than the soldier who + therein stakes his blood and his life. I could have engaged myself in + public employments without quitting my own matters a nail’s breadth, + and have given myself to others without abandoning myself. This sharpness + and violence of desires more hinder than they advance the execution of + what we undertake; fill us with impatience against slow or contrary + events, and with heat and suspicion against those with whom we have to do. + We never carry on that thing well by which we are prepossessed and led: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Male cuncta ministrat + Impetus.” + + [“Impulse manages all things ill.”—Statius, Thebaid, x. 704.] +</pre> + <p> + He who therein employs only his judgment and address proceeds more + cheerfully: he counterfeits, he gives way, he defers quite at his ease, + according to the necessities of occasions; he fails in his attempt without + trouble and affliction, ready and entire for a new enterprise; he always + marches with the bridle in his hand. In him who is intoxicated with this + violent and tyrannical intention, we discover, of necessity, much + imprudence and injustice; the impetuosity of his desire carries him away; + these are rash motions, and, if fortune do not very much assist, of very + little fruit. Philosophy directs that, in the revenge of injuries + received, we should strip ourselves of choler; not that the chastisement + should be less, but, on the contrary, that the revenge may be the better + and more heavily laid on, which, it conceives, will be by this impetuosity + hindered. For anger not only disturbs, but, of itself, also wearies the + arms of those who chastise; this fire benumbs and wastes their force; as + in precipitation, “festinatio tarda est,”—haste trips up + its own heels, fetters, and stops itself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipsa se velocitas implicat.”—Seneca, Ep. 44 +</pre> + <p> + For example, according to what I commonly see, avarice has no greater + impediment than itself; the more bent and vigorous it is, the less it + rakes together, and commonly sooner grows rich when disguised in a visor + of liberality. + </p> + <p> + A very excellent gentleman, and a friend of mine, ran a risk of impairing + his faculties by a too passionate attention and affection to the affairs + of a certain prince his master;—[Probably the King of Navarre, + afterward Henry IV.]—which master has thus portrayed himself to me; + “that he foresees the weight of accidents as well as another, but + that in those for which there is no remedy, he presently resolves upon + suffering; in others, having taken all the necessary precautions which by + the vivacity of his understanding he can presently do, he quietly awaits + what may follow.” And, in truth, I have accordingly seen him + maintain a great indifferency and liberty of actions and serenity of + countenance in very great and difficult affairs: I find him much greater, + and of greater capacity in adverse than in prosperous fortune; his defeats + are to him more glorious than his victories, and his mourning than his + triumph. + </p> + <p> + Consider, that even in vain and frivolous actions, as at chess, tennis, + and the like, this eager and ardent engaging with an impetuous desire, + immediately throws the mind and members into indiscretion and disorder: a + man astounds and hinders himself; he who carries himself more moderately, + both towards gain and loss, has always his wits about him; the less + peevish and passionate he is at play, he plays much more advantageously + and surely. + </p> + <p> + As to the rest, we hinder the mind’s grasp and hold, in giving it so + many things to seize upon; some things we should only offer to it; tie it + to others, and with others incorporate it. It can feel and discern all + things, but ought to feed upon nothing but itself; and should be + instructed in what properly concerns itself, and that is properly of its + own having and substance. The laws of nature teach us what justly we need. + After the sages have told us that no one is indigent according to nature, + and that every one is so according to opinion, they very subtly + distinguish betwixt the desires that proceed from her, and those that + proceed from the disorder of our own fancy: those of which we can see the + end are hers; those that fly before us, and of which we can see no end, + are our own: the poverty of goods is easily cured; the poverty of the soul + is irreparable: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nam si, quod satis est homini, id satis esse potesset + Hoc sat erat: nunc, quum hoc non est, qui credimus porro + Divitias ullas animum mi explere potesse?” + + [“For if what is for man enough, could be enough, it were enough; + but since it is not so, how can I believe that any wealth can give + my mind content.”—Lucilius aped Nonium Marcellinum, V. sec. 98.] +</pre> + <p> + Socrates, seeing a great quantity of riches, jewels, and furniture carried + in pomp through his city: “How many things,” said he, “I + do not desire!”—[Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., V. 32.]—Metrodorus + lived on twelve ounces a day, Epicurus upon less; Metrocles slept in + winter abroad amongst sheep, in summer in the cloisters of churches: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sufficit ad id natura, quod poscit.” + + [“Nature suffices for what he requires.”—Seneca, Ep., 90.] +</pre> + <p> + Cleanthes lived by the labour of his own hands, and boasted that + Cleanthes, if he would, could yet maintain another Cleanthes. + </p> + <p> + If that which nature exactly and originally requires of us for the + conservation of our being be too little (as in truth what it is, and how + good cheap life may be maintained, cannot be better expressed than by this + consideration, that it is so little that by its littleness it escapes the + gripe and shock of fortune), let us allow ourselves a little more; let us + call every one of our habits and conditions nature; let us rate and treat + ourselves by this measure; let us stretch our appurtenances and accounts + so far; for so far, I fancy, we have some excuse. Custom is a second + nature, and no less powerful. What is wanting to my custom, I reckon is + wanting to me; and I should be almost as well content that they took away + my life as cut me short in the way wherein I have so long lived. I am no + longer in condition for any great change, nor to put myself into a new and + unwonted course, not even to augmentation. ‘Tis past the time for me + to become other than what I am; and as I should complain of any great good + hap that should now befall me, that it came not in time to be enjoyed: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quo mihi fortunas, si non conceditur uti?” + + [“What is the good fortune to me, if it is not granted to me + to use it.”—Horace, Ep., i. 5, 12.] +</pre> + <p> + so should I complain of any inward acquisition. It were almost better + never, than so late, to become an honest man, and well fit to live, when + one has no longer to live. I, who am about to make my exit out of the + world, would easily resign to any newcomer, who should desire it, all the + prudence I am now acquiring in the world’s commerce; after meat, + mustard. I have no need of goods of which I can make no use; of what use + is knowledge to him who has lost his head? ‘Tis an injury and + unkindness in fortune to tender us presents that will only inspire us with + a just despite that we had them not in their due season. Guide me no more; + I can no longer go. Of so many parts as make up a sufficiency, patience is + the most sufficient. Give the capacity of an excellent treble to the + chorister who has rotten lungs, and eloquence to a hermit exiled into the + deserts of Arabia. There needs no art to help a fall; the end finds itself + of itself at the conclusion of every affair. My world is at an end, my + form expired; I am totally of the past, and am bound to authorise it, and + to conform my outgoing to it. I will here declare, by way of example, that + the Pope’s late ten days’ diminution + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Gregory XIII., in 1582, reformed the Calendar, and, in consequence, + in France they all at once passed from the 9th to the 20th + December.] +</pre> + <p> + has taken me so aback that I cannot well reconcile myself to it; I belong + to the years wherein we kept another kind of account. So ancient and so + long a custom challenges my adherence to it, so that I am constrained to + be somewhat heretical on that point incapable of any, though corrective, + innovation. My imagination, in spite of my teeth, always pushes me ten + days forward or backward, and is ever murmuring in my ears: “This + rule concerns those who are to begin to be.” If health itself, sweet + as it is, returns to me by fits, ‘tis rather to give me cause of + regret than possession of it; I have no place left to keep it in. Time + leaves me; without which nothing can be possessed. Oh, what little account + should I make of those great elective dignities that I see in such esteem + in the world, that are never conferred but upon men who are taking leave + of it; wherein they do not so much regard how well the man will discharge + his trust, as how short his administration will be: from the very entry + they look at the exit. In short, I am about finishing this man, and not + rebuilding another. By long use, this form is in me turned into substance, + and fortune into nature. + </p> + <p> + I say, therefore, that every one of us feeble creatures is excusable in + thinking that to be his own which is comprised under this measure; but + withal, beyond these limits, ‘tis nothing but confusion; ‘tis + the largest extent we can grant to our own claims. The more we amplify our + need and our possession, so much the more do we expose ourselves to the + blows of Fortune and adversities. The career of our desires ought to be + circumscribed and restrained to a short limit of the nearest and most + contiguous commodities; and their course ought, moreover, to be performed + not in a right line, that ends elsewhere, but in a circle, of which the + two points, by a short wheel, meet and terminate in ourselves. Actions + that are carried on without this reflection—a near and essential + reflection, I mean—such as those of ambitious and avaricious men, + and so many more as run point-blank, and to whose career always carries + them before themselves, such actions, I say; are erroneous and sickly. + </p> + <p> + Most of our business is farce: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mundus universus exercet histrioniam.” + —[Petronius Arbiter, iii. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + We must play our part properly, but withal as a part of a borrowed + personage; we must not make real essence of a mask and outward appearance; + nor of a strange person, our own; we cannot distinguish the skin from the + shirt: ‘tis enough to meal the face, without mealing the breast. I + see some who transform and transubstantiate themselves into as many new + shapes and new beings as they undertake new employments; and who strut and + fume even to the heart and liver, and carry their state along with them + even to the close-stool: I cannot make them distinguish the salutations + made to themselves from those made to their commission, their train, or + their mule: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tantum se fortunx permittunt, etiam ut naturam dediscant.” + + [“They so much give themselves up to fortune, as even to unlearn + nature.”—Quintus Curtius, iii. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + They swell and puff up their souls, and their natural way of speaking, + according to the height of their magisterial place. The Mayor of Bordeaux + and Montaigne have ever been two by very manifest separation. Because one + is an advocate or a financier, he must not ignore the knavery there is in + such callings; an honest man is not accountable for the vice or absurdity + of his employment, and ought not on that account refuse to take the + calling upon him: ‘tis the usage of his country, and there is money + to be got by it; a man must live by the world; and make his best of it, + such as it is. But the judgment of an emperor ought to be above his + empire, and see and consider it as a foreign accident; and he ought to + know how to enjoy himself apart from it, and to communicate himself as + James and Peter, to himself, at all events. + </p> + <p> + I cannot engage myself so deep and so entire; when my will gives me to + anything, ‘tis not with so violent an obligation that my judgment is + infected with it. In the present broils of this kingdom, my own interest + has not made me blind to the laudable qualities of our adversaries, nor to + those that are reproachable in those men of our party. Others adore all of + their own side; for my part, I do not so much as excuse most things in + those of mine: a good work has never the worst grace with me for being + made against me. The knot of the controversy excepted, I have always kept + myself in equanimity and pure indifference: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neque extra necessitates belli praecipuum odium gero;” + + [“Nor bear particular hatred beyond the necessities of war.”] +</pre> + <p> + for which I am pleased with myself; and the more because I see others + commonly fail in the contrary direction. Such as extend their anger and + hatred beyond the dispute in question, as most men do, show that they + spring from some other occasion and private cause; like one who, being + cured of an ulcer, has yet a fever remaining, by which it appears that the + ulcer had another more concealed beginning. The reason is that they are + not concerned in the common cause, because it is wounding to the state and + general interest; but are only nettled by reason of their particular + concern. This is why they are so especially animated, and to a degree so + far beyond justice and public reason: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non tam omnia universi, quam ea, quae ad quemque pertinent, + singuli carpebant.” + + [“Every one was not so much angry against things in general, as + against those that particularly concern himself.” + —Livy, xxxiv. 36.] +</pre> + <p> + I would have the advantage on our side; but if it be not, I shall not run + mad. I am heartily for the right party; but I do not want to be taken + notice of as an especial enemy to others, and beyond the general quarrel. + I marvellously challenge this vicious form of opinion: “He is of the + League because he admires the graciousness of Monsieur de Guise; he is + astonished at the King of Navarre’s energy, therefore he is a + Huguenot; he finds this to say of the manners of the king, he is therefore + seditious in his heart.” And I did not grant to the magistrate + himself that he did well in condemning a book because it had placed a + heretic —[Theodore de Beza.]—amongst the best poets of the + time. Shall we not dare to say of a thief that he has a handsome leg? If a + woman be a strumpet, must it needs follow that she has a foul smell? Did + they in the wisest ages revoke the proud title of Capitolinus they had + before conferred on Marcus Manlius as conservator of religion and the + public liberty, and stifle the memory of his liberality, his feats of + arms, and military recompenses granted to his valour, because he, + afterwards aspired to the sovereignty, to the prejudice of the laws of his + country? If we take a hatred against an advocate, he will not be allowed + the next day to be eloquent. I have elsewhere spoken of the zeal that + pushed on worthy men to the like faults. For my part, I can say, “Such + an one does this thing ill, and another thing virtuously and well.” + So in the prognostication or sinister events of affairs they would have + every one in his party blind or a blockhead, and that our persuasion and + judgment should subserve not truth, but to the project of our desires. I + should rather incline towards the other extreme; so much I fear being + suborned by my desire; to which may be added that I am a little tenderly + distrustful of things that I wish. + </p> + <p> + I have in my time seen wonders in the indiscreet and prodigious facility + of people in suffering their hopes and belief to be led and governed, + which way best pleased and served their leaders, despite a hundred + mistakes one upon another, despite mere dreams and phantasms. I no more + wonder at those who have been blinded and seduced by the fooleries of + Apollonius and Mahomet. Their sense and understanding are absolutely taken + away by their passion; their discretion has no more any other choice than + that which smiles upon them and encourages their cause. I had principally + observed this in the beginning of our intestine distempers; that other, + which has sprung up since, in imitating, has surpassed it; by which I am + satisfied that it is a quality inseparable from popular errors; after the + first, that rolls, opinions drive on one another like waves with the wind: + a man is not a member of the body, if it be in his power to forsake it, + and if he do not roll the common way. But, doubtless, they wrong the just + side when they go about to assist it with fraud; I have ever been against + that practice: ‘tis only fit to work upon weak heads; for the sound, + there are surer and more honest ways to keep up their courage and to + excuse adverse accidents. + </p> + <p> + Heaven never saw a greater animosity than that betwixt Caesar and Pompey, + nor ever shall; and yet I observe, methinks, in those brave souls, a great + moderation towards one another: it was a jealousy of honour and command, + which did not transport them to a furious and indiscreet hatred, and was + without malignity and detraction: in their hottest exploits upon one + another, I discover some remains of respect and good-will: and am + therefore of opinion that, had, it been possible, each of them would + rather have done his business without the ruin of the other than with it. + Take notice how much otherwise matters went with Marius and Sylla. + </p> + <p> + We must not precipitate ourselves so headlong after our affections and + interests. As, when I was young, I opposed myself to the progress of love + which I perceived to advance too fast upon me, and had a care lest it + should at last become so pleasing as to force, captivate, and wholly + reduce me to its mercy: so I do the same upon all other occasions where my + will is running on with too warm an appetite. I lean opposite to the side + it inclines to; as I find it going to plunge and make itself drunk with + its own wine; I evade nourishing its pleasure so far, that I cannot + recover it without infinite loss. Souls that, through their own stupidity, + only discern things by halves, have this happiness, that they smart less + with hurtful things: ‘tis a spiritual leprosy that has some show of + health, and such a health as philosophy does not altogether contemn; but + yet we have no reason to call it wisdom, as we often do. And after this + manner some one anciently mocked Diogeries, who, in the depth of winter + and quite naked, went embracing an image of snow for a trial of his + endurance: the other seeing him in this position, “Art thou now very + cold?” said he. “Not at all,” replied Diogenes. “Why, + then,” pursued the other, “what difficult and exemplary thing + dost thou think thou doest in embracing that snow?” To take a true + measure of constancy, one must necessarily know what the suffering is. + </p> + <p> + But souls that are to meet with adverse events and the injuries of + fortune, in their depth and sharpness, that are to weigh and taste them + according to their natural weight and bitterness, let such show their + skill in avoiding the causes and diverting the blow. What did King Cotys + do? He paid liberally for the rich and beautiful vessel that had been + presented to him, but, seeing it was exceedingly brittle, he immediately + broke it betimes, to prevent so easy a matter of displeasure against his + servants. In like manner, I have willingly avoided all confusion in my + affairs, and never coveted to have my estate contiguous to those of my + relations, and such with whom I coveted a strict friendship; for thence + matter of unkindness and falling out often proceeds. I formerly loved + hazardous games of cards and dice; but have long since left them off, only + for this reason that, with whatever good air I carried my losses, I could + not help feeling vexed within. A man of honour, who ought to be touchily + sensible of the lie or of an insult, and who is not to take a scurvy + excuse for satisfaction, should avoid occasions of dispute. I shun + melancholy, crabbed men, as I would the plague; and in matters I cannot + talk of without emotion and concern I never meddle, if not compelled by my + duty: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Melius non incipient, quam desinent.” + + [“They had better never to begin than to have to desist.” + —Seneca, Ep., 72.] +</pre> + <p> + The surest way, therefore, is to prepare one’s self beforehand for + occasions. + </p> + <p> + I know very well that some wise men have taken another way, and have not + feared to grapple and engage to the utmost upon several subjects these are + confident of their own strength, under which they protect themselves in + all ill successes, making their patience wrestle and contend with + disaster: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Velut rupes, vastum quae prodit in aequor, + Obvia ventorum furiis, expostaque ponto, + Vim cunctam atque minas perfert coelique marisque; + Ipsa immota manens.” + + [“As a rock, which projects into the vast ocean, exposed to the + furious winds and the raging sea, defies the force and menaces of + sky and sea, itself unshaken.”—Virgil, AEneid, x. 693.] +</pre> + <p> + Let us not attempt these examples; we shall never come up to them. They + set themselves resolutely, and without agitation, to behold the ruin of + their country, which possessed and commanded all their will: this is too + much, and too hard a task for our commoner souls. Cato gave up the noblest + life that ever was upon this account; we meaner spirits must fly from the + storm as far as we can; we must provide for sentiment, and not for + patience, and evade the blows we cannot meet. Zeno, seeing Chremonides, a + young man whom he loved, draw near to sit down by him, suddenly started + up; and Cleanthes demanding of him the reason why he did so, “I + hear,” said he, “that physicians especially order repose, and + forbid emotion in all tumours.” Socrates does not say: “Do not + surrender to the charms of beauty; stand your ground, and do your utmost + to oppose it.” “Fly it,” says he; “shun the fight + and encounter of it, as of a powerful poison that darts and wounds at a + distance.” And his good disciple, feigning or reciting, but, in my + opinion, rather reciting than feigning, the rare perfections of the great + Cyrus, makes him distrustful of his own strength to resist the charms of + the divine beauty of that illustrous Panthea, his captive, and committing + the visiting and keeping her to another, who could not have so much + liberty as himself. And the Holy Ghost in like manner: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ne nos inducas in tentationem.” + + [“Lead us not into temptation.”—St. Matthew, vi. 13.] +</pre> + <p> + We do not pray that our reason may not be combated and overcome by + concupiscence, but that it should not be so much as tried by it; that we + should not be brought into a state wherein we are so much as to suffer the + approaches, solicitations, and temptations of sin: and we beg of Almighty + God to keep our consciences quiet, fully and perfectly delivered from all + commerce of evil. + </p> + <p> + Such as say that they have reason for their revenging passion, or any + other sort of troublesome agitation of mind, often say true, as things now + are, but not as they were: they speak to us when the causes of their error + are by themselves nourished and advanced; but look backward—recall + these causes to their beginning—and there you will put them to a + nonplus. Will they have their faults less, for being of longer + continuance; and that of an unjust beginning, the sequel can be just? + Whoever shall desire the good of his country, as I do, without fretting or + pining himself, will be troubled, but will not swoon to see it threatening + either its own ruin, or a no less ruinous continuance; poor vessel, that + the waves, the winds, and the pilot toss and steer to so contrary designs! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “In tam diversa magister + Ventus et unda trahunt.” + </pre> + <p> + He who does not gape after the favour of princes, as after a thing he + cannot live without, does not much concern himself at the coldness of + their reception and countenance, nor at the inconstancy of their wills. He + who does not brood over his children or his honours with a slavish + propension, ceases not to live commodiously enough after their loss. He + who does good principally for his own satisfaction will not be much + troubled to see men judge of his actions contrary to his merit. A quarter + of an ounce of patience will provide sufficiently against such + inconveniences. I find ease in this receipt, redeeming myself in the + beginning as good cheap as I can; and find that by this means I have + escaped much trouble and many difficulties. With very little ado I stop + the first sally of my emotions, and leave the subject that begins to be + troublesome before it transports me. He who stops not the start will never + be able to stop the course; he who cannot keep them out will never, get + them out when they are once got in; and he who cannot arrive at the + beginning will never arrive at the end of all. Nor will he bear the fall + who cannot sustain the shock: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Etenim ipsae se impellunt, ubi semel a ratione discessum est; + ipsaque sibi imbecillitas indulget, in altumque provehitur + imprudens, nec reperit locum consistendi.” + + [“For they throw themselves headlong when once they lose their + reason; and infirmity so far indulges itself, and from want of + prudence is carried out into deep water, nor finds a place to + shelter it.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 18.] +</pre> + <p> + I am betimes sensible of the little breezes that begin to sing and whistle + within, forerunners of the storm: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ceu flamina prima + Cum deprensa fremunt sylvis et caeca volutant + Murmura, venturos nautis prodentia ventos.” + + [“As the breezes, pent in the woods, first send out dull murmurs, + announcing the approach of winds to mariners.”—AEneid, x. 97.] +</pre> + <p> + How often have I done myself a manifest injustice to avoid the hazard of + having yet a worse done me by the judges, after an age of vexations, dirty + and vile practices, more enemies to my nature than fire or the rack? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Convenit a litibus, quantum licet, et nescio an paulo plus etiam + quam licet, abhorrentem esse: est enim non modo liberale, paululum + nonnunquam de suo jure decedere, sed interdum etiam fructuosum.” + + [“A man should abhor lawsuits as much as he may, and I know not + whether not something more; for ‘tis not only liberal, but sometimes + also advantageous, too, a little to recede from one’s right. + —“Cicero, De Offic., ii. 18.] +</pre> + <p> + Were we wise, we ought to rejoice and boast, as I one day heard a young + gentleman of a good family very innocently do, that his mother had lost + her cause, as if it had been a cough, a fever, or something very + troublesome to keep. Even the favours that fortune might have given me + through relationship or acquaintance with those who have sovereign + authority in those affairs, I have very conscientiously and very carefully + avoided employing them to the prejudice of others, and of advancing my + pretensions above their true right. In fine, I have so much prevailed by + my endeavours (and happily I may say it) that I am to this day a virgin + from all suits in law; though I have had very fair offers made me, and + with very just title, would I have hearkened to them, and a virgin from + quarrels too. I have almost passed over a long life without any offence of + moment, either active or passive, or without ever hearing a worse word + than my own name: a rare favour of Heaven. + </p> + <p> + Our greatest agitations have ridiculous springs and causes: what ruin did + our last Duke of Burgundy run into about a cartload of sheepskins! And was + not the graving of a seal the first and principal cause of the greatest + commotion that this machine of the world ever underwent? —[The civil + war between Marius and Sylla; see Plutarch’s Life of Marius, c. 3.]—for + Pompey and Caesar were but the offsets and continuation of the two others: + and I have in my time seen the wisest heads in this kingdom assembled with + great ceremony, and at the public expense, about treaties and agreements, + of which the true decision, in the meantime, absolutely depended upon the + ladies’ cabinet council, and the inclination of some bit of a woman. + </p> + <p> + The poets very well understood this when they put all Greece and Asia to + fire and sword about an apple. Look why that man hazards his life and + honour upon the fortune of his rapier and dagger; let him acquaint you + with the occasion of the quarrel; he cannot do it without blushing: the + occasion is so idle and frivolous. + </p> + <p> + A little thing will engage you in it; but being once embarked, all the + cords draw; great provisions are then required, more hard and more + important. How much easier is it not to enter in than it is to get out? + Now we should proceed contrary to the reed, which, at its first springing, + produces a long and straight shoot, but afterwards, as if tired and out of + breath, it runs into thick and frequent joints and knots, as so many + pauses which demonstrate that it has no more its first vigour and + firmness; ‘twere better to begin gently and coldly, and to keep one’s + breath and vigorous efforts for the height and stress of the business. We + guide affairs in their beginnings, and have them in our own power; but + afterwards, when they are once at work, ‘tis they that guide and + govern us, and we are to follow them. + </p> + <p> + Yet do I not mean to say that this counsel has discharged me of all + difficulty, and that I have not often had enough to do to curb and + restrain my passions; they are not always to be governed according to the + measure of occasions, and often have their entries very sharp and violent. + But still good fruit and profit may thence be reaped; except for those who + in well-doing are not satisfied with any benefit, if reputation be + wanting; for, in truth, such an effect is not valued but by every one to + himself; you are better contented, but not more esteemed, seeing you + reformed yourself before you got into the whirl of the dance, or that the + provocative matter was in sight. Yet not in this only, but in all other + duties of life also, the way of those who aim at honour is very different + from that they proceed by, who propose to themselves order and reason. I + find some who rashly and furiously rush into the lists and cool in the + course. As Plutarch says, that those who, through false shame, are soft + and facile to grant whatever is desired of them, are afterwards as facile + to break their word and to recant; so he who enters lightly into a quarrel + is apt to go as lightly out of it. The same difficulty that keeps me from + entering into it, would, when once hot and engaged in quarrel, incite me + to maintain it with great obstinacy and resolution. ‘Tis the tyranny + of custom; when a man is once engaged; he must go through with it, or die. + “Undertake coolly,” said Bias, “but pursue with ardour.” + For want of prudence, men fall into want of courage, which is still more + intolerable. + </p> + <p> + Most accommodations of the quarrels of these days of ours are shameful and + false; we only seek to save appearances, and in the meantime betray and + disavow our true intentions; we salve over the fact. We know very well how + we said the thing, and in what sense we spoke it, and the company know it, + and our friends whom we have wished to make sensible of our advantage, + understand it well enough too: ‘tis at the expense of our frankness + and of the honour of our courage, that we disown our thoughts, and seek + refuge in falsities, to make matters up. We give ourselves the lie, to + excuse the lie we have given to another. You are not to consider if your + word or action may admit of another interpretation; ‘tis your own + true and sincere interpretation, your real meaning in what you said or + did, that you are thenceforward to maintain, whatever it cost you. Men + speak to your virtue and conscience, which are not things to be put under + a mask; let us leave these pitiful ways and expedients to the jugglers of + the law. The excuses and reparations that I see every day made and given + to repair indiscretion, seem to me more scandalous than the indiscretion + itself. It were better to affront your adversary a second time than to + offend yourself by giving him so unmanly a satisfaction. You have braved + him in your heat and anger, and you would flatter and appease him in your + cooler and better sense; and by that means lay yourself lower and at his + feet, whom before you pretended to overtop. I do not find anything a + gentleman can say so vicious in him as unsaying what he has said is + infamous, when to unsay it is authoritatively extracted from him; + forasmuch as obstinacy is more excusable in a man of honour than + pusillanimity. Passions are as easy for me to evade, as they are hard for + me to moderate: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Exscinduntur facilius ammo, quam temperantur.” + + [“They are more easily to be eradicated than governed.”] +</pre> + <p> + He who cannot attain the noble Stoical impassibility, let him secure + himself in the bosom of this popular stolidity of mine; what they + performed by virtue, I inure myself to do by temperament. The middle + region harbours storms and tempests; the two extremes, of philosophers and + peasants, concur in tranquillity and happiness: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas, + Atque metus omnes et inexorabile fatum + Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari! + Fortunatus et ille, Deos qui novit agrestes, + Panaque, Sylvanumque senem, Nymphasque sorores!” + + [“Happy is he who could discover the causes of things, and place + under his feet all fears and inexorable fate, and the sound of + rapacious Acheron: he is blest who knows the country gods, and Pan, + and old Sylvanus, and the sister nymphs.”—Virgil, Georg., ii. 490.] +</pre> + <p> + The births of all things are weak and tender; and therefore we should have + our eyes intent on beginnings; for as when, in its infancy, the danger is + not perceived, so when it is grown up, the remedy is as little to be + found. I had every day encountered a million of crosses, harder to digest + in the progress of ambition, than it has been hard for me to curb the + natural propension that inclined me to it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jure perhorrui + Lath conspicuum tollere verticem.” + + [“I ever justly feared to raise my head too high.” + —Horace, Od.,iii. 16, 18.] +</pre> + <p> + All public actions are subject to uncertain and various interpretations; + for too many heads judge of them. Some say of this civic employment of + mine (and I am willing to say a word or two about it, not that it is worth + so much, but to give an account of my manners in such things), that I have + behaved myself in it as a man who is too supine and of a languid + temperament; and they have some colour for what they say. I endeavoured to + keep my mind and my thoughts in repose; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cum semper natura, tum etiam aetate jam quietus;” + + [“As being always quiet by nature, so also now by age.” + —Cicero, De Petit. Consul., c. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + and if they sometimes lash out upon some rude and sensible impression, + ‘tis in truth without my advice. Yet from this natural heaviness of + mine, men ought not to conclude a total inability in me (for want of care + and want of sense are two very different things), and much less any + unkindness or ingratitude towards that corporation who employed the utmost + means they had in their power to oblige me, both before they knew me and + after; and they did much more for me in choosing me anew than in + conferring that honour upon me at first. I wish them all imaginable good; + and assuredly had occasion been, there is nothing I would have spared for + their service; I did for them as I would have done for myself. ‘Tis + a good, warlike, and generous people, but capable of obedience and + discipline, and of whom the best use may be made, if well guided. They say + also that my administration passed over without leaving any mark or trace. + Good! They moreover accuse my cessation in a time when everybody almost + was convicted of doing too much. I am impatient to be doing where my will + spurs me on; but this itself is an enemy to perseverance. Let him who will + make use of me according to my own way, employ me in affairs where vigour + and liberty are required, where a direct, short, and, moreover, a + hazardous conduct are necessary; I may do something; but if it must be + long, subtle, laborious, artificial and intricate, he had better call in + somebody else. All important offices are not necessarily difficult: I came + prepared to do somewhat rougher work, had there been great occasion; for + it is in my power to do something more than I do, or than I love to do. I + did not, to my knowledge, omit anything that my duty really required. I + easily forgot those offices that ambition mixes with duty and palliates + with its title; these are they that, for the most part, fill the eyes and + ears, and give men the most satisfaction; not the thing but the appearance + contents them; if they hear no noise, they think men sleep. My humour is + no friend to tumult; I could appease a commotion without commotion, and + chastise a disorder without being myself disorderly; if I stand in need of + anger and inflammation, I borrow it, and put it on. My manners are + languid, rather faint than sharp. I do not condemn a magistrate who + sleeps, provided the people under his charge sleep as well as he: the laws + in that case sleep too. For my part, I commend a gliding, staid, and + silent life: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neque submissam et abjectam, neque se efferentem;” + + [“Neither subject and abject, nor obtrusive.” + —Cicero, De Offic., i. 34] +</pre> + <p> + my fortune will have it so. I am descended from a family that has lived + without lustre or tumult, and, time out of mind, particularly ambitious of + a character for probity. + </p> + <p> + Our people nowadays are so bred up to bustle and ostentation, that good + nature, moderation, equability, constancy, and such like quiet and obscure + qualities, are no more thought on or regarded. Rough bodies make + themselves felt; the smooth are imperceptibly handled: sickness is felt, + health little or not at all; no more than the oils that foment us, in + comparison of the pains for which we are fomented. ‘Tis acting for + one’s particular reputation and profit, not for the public good, to + refer that to be done in the public squares which one may do in the + council chamber; and to noon day what might have been done the night + before; and to be jealous to do that himself which his colleague can do as + well as he; so were some surgeons of Greece wont to perform their + operations upon scaffolds in the sight of the people, to draw more + practice and profit. They think that good rules cannot be understood but + by the sound of trumpet. Ambition is not a vice of little people, nor of + such modest means as ours. One said to Alexander: “Your father will + leave you a great dominion, easy and pacific”; this youth was + emulous of his father’s victories and of the justice of his + government; he would not have enjoyed the empire of the world in ease and + peace. Alcibiades, in Plato, had rather die young, beautiful, rich, noble, + and learned, and all this in full excellence, than to stop short of such + condition; this disease is, peradventure, excusable in so strong and so + full a soul. When wretched and dwarfish little souls cajole and deceive + themselves, and think to spread their fame for having given right judgment + in an affair, or maintained the discipline of the guard of a gate of their + city, the more they think to exalt their heads the more they show their + tails. This little well-doing has neither body nor life; it vanishes in + the first mouth, and goes no further than from one street to another. Talk + of it by all means to your son or your servant, like that old fellow who, + having no other auditor of his praises nor approver of his valour, boasted + to his chambermaid, crying, “O Perrete, what a brave, clever man + hast thou for thy master!” At the worst, talk of it to yourself, + like a councillor of my acquaintance, who, having disgorged a whole + cartful of law jargon with great heat and as great folly, coming out of + the council chamber to make water, was heard very complacently to mutter + betwixt his teeth: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non nobis, domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.” + + [“Not unto us, O Lord, not to us: but unto Thy name be the glory.” + —Psalm cxiii. I.] +</pre> + <p> + He who gets it of nobody else, let him pay himself out of his own purse. + </p> + <p> + Fame is not prostituted at so cheap a rate: rare and exemplary actions, to + which it is due, would not endure the company of this prodigious crowd of + petty daily performances. Marble may exalt your titles, as much as you + please, for having repaired a rod of wall or cleansed a public sewer; but + not men of sense. Renown does not follow all good deeds, if novelty and + difficulty be not conjoined; nay, so much as mere esteem, according to the + Stoics, is not due to every action that proceeds from virtue; nor will + they allow him bare thanks who, out of temperance, abstains from an old + blear-eyed crone. Those who have known the admirable qualities of Scipio + Africanus, deny him the glory that Panaetius attributes to him, of being + abstinent from gifts, as a glory not so much his as that of his age. We + have pleasures suitable to our lot; let us not usurp those of grandeur: + our own are more natural, and by so much more solid and sure, as they are + lower. If not for that of conscience, yet at least for ambition’s + sake, let us reject ambition; let us disdain that thirst of honour and + renown, so low and mendicant, that it makes us beg it of all sorts of + people: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae est ista laus quae: possit e macello peti?” + + [“What praise is that which is to be got in the market-place (meat + market)?” Cicero, De Fin., ii. 15.] +</pre> + <p> + by abject means, and at what cheap rate soever: ‘tis dishonour to be + so honoured. Let us learn to be no more greedy, than we are capable, of + glory. To be puffed up with every action that is innocent or of use, is + only for those with whom such things are extraordinary and rare: they will + value it as it costs them. The more a good effect makes a noise, the more + do I abate of its goodness as I suspect that it was more performed for the + noise, than upon account of the goodness: exposed upon the stall, ‘tis + half sold. Those actions have much more grace and lustre, that slip from + the hand of him that does them, negligently and without noise, and that + some honest man thereafter finds out and raises from the shade, to produce + it to the light upon its own account, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mihi quidem laudabiliora videntur omnia, quae sine + venditatione, et sine populo teste fiunt,” + + [“All things truly seem more laudable to me that are performed + without ostentation, and without the testimony of the people.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 26.] +</pre> + <p> + says the most ostentatious man that ever lived. + </p> + <p> + I had but to conserve and to continue, which are silent and insensible + effects: innovation is of great lustre; but ‘tis interdicted in this + age, when we are pressed upon and have nothing to defend ourselves from + but novelties. To forbear doing is often as generous as to do; but ‘tis + less in the light, and the little good I have in me is of this kind. In + fine, occasions in this employment of mine have been confederate with my + humour, and I heartily thank them for it. Is there any who desires to be + sick, that he may see his physician at work? and would not the physician + deserve to be whipped who should wish the plague amongst us, that he might + put his art in practice? I have never been of that wicked humour, and + common enough, to desire that troubles and disorders in this city should + elevate and honour my government; I have ever heartily contributed all I + could to their tranquillity and ease. + </p> + <p> + He who will not thank me for the order, the sweet and silent calm that has + accompanied my administration, cannot, however, deprive me of the share + that belongs to me by title of my good fortune. And I am of such a + composition, that I would as willingly be lucky as wise, and had rather + owe my successes purely to the favour of Almighty God, than to any + operation of my own. I had sufficiently published to the world my + unfitness for such public offices; but I have something in me yet worse + than incapacity itself; which is, that I am not much displeased at it, and + that I do not much go about to cure it, considering the course of life + that I have proposed to myself. + </p> + <p> + Neither have I satisfied myself in this employment; but I have very near + arrived at what I expected from my own performance, and have much + surpassed what I promised them with whom I had to do: for I am apt to + promise something less than what I am able to do, and than what I hope to + make good. I assure myself that I have left no offence or hatred behind + me; to leave regret or desire for me amongst them, I at least know very + well that I never much aimed at it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mene huic confidere monstro! + Mene salis placidi vultum, fluctusque quietos + Ignorare?” + + [“Should I place confidence in this monster? Should I be ignorant + of the dangers of that seeming placid sea, those now quiet waves?” + —Virgil, Aeneid, V. 849.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0104" id="link2HCH0104"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI——OF CRIPPLES + </h2> + <p> + ‘Tis now two or three years ago that they made the year ten days + shorter in France.—[By the adoption of the Gregorian calendar.]—How + many changes may we expect should follow this reformation! it was really + moving heaven and earth at once. Yet nothing for all that stirs from its + place my neighbours still find their seasons of sowing and reaping, the + opportunities of doing their business, the hurtful and propitious days, + dust at the same time where they had, time out of mind, assigned them; + there was no more error perceived in our old use, than there is amendment + found in the alteration; so great an uncertainty there is throughout; so + gross, obscure, and obtuse is our perception. ‘Tis said that this + regulation might have been carried on with less inconvenience, by + subtracting for some years, according to the example of Augustus, the + Bissextile, which is in some sort a day of impediment and trouble, till we + had exactly satisfied this debt, the which itself is not done by this + correction, and we yet remain some days in arrear: and yet, by this means, + such order might be taken for the future, arranging that after the + revolution of such or such a number of years, the supernumerary day might + be always thrown out, so that we could not, henceforward, err above + four-and-twenty hours in our computation. We have no other account of time + but years; the world has for many ages made use of that only; and yet it + is a measure that to this day we are not agreed upon, and one that we + still doubt what form other nations have variously given to it, and what + was the true use of it. What does this saying of some mean, that the + heavens in growing old bow themselves down nearer towards us, and put us + into an uncertainty even of hours and days? and that which Plutarch says + of the months, that astrology had not in his time determined as to the + motion of the moon; what a fine condition are we in to keep records of + things past. + </p> + <p> + I was just now ruminating, as I often do, what a free and roving thing + human reason is. I ordinarily see that men, in things propounded to them, + more willingly study to find out reasons than to ascertain truth: they + slip over presuppositions, but are curious in examination of consequences; + they leave the things, and fly to the causes. Pleasant talkers! The + knowledge of causes only concerns him who has the conduct of things; not + us, who are merely to undergo them, and who have perfectly full and + accomplished use of them, according to our need, without penetrating into + the original and essence; wine is none the more pleasant to him who knows + its first faculties. On the contrary, both the body and the soul interrupt + and weaken the right they have of the use of the world and of themselves, + by mixing with it the opinion of learning; effects concern us, but the + means not at all. To determine and to distribute appertain to superiority + and command; as it does to subjection to accept. Let me reprehend our + custom. They commonly begin thus: “How is such a thing done?” + Whereas they should say, “Is such a thing done?” Our reason is + able to create a hundred other worlds, and to find out the beginnings and + contexture; it needs neither matter nor foundation: let it but run on, it + builds as well in the air as on the earth, and with inanity as well as + with matter: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dare pondus idonea fumo.” + + [“Able to give weight to smoke.”—Persius, v. 20.] +</pre> + <p> + I find that almost throughout we should say, “there is no such + thing,” and should myself often make use of this answer, but I dare + not: for they cry that it is an evasion produced from ignorance and + weakness of understanding; and I am fain, for the most part, to juggle for + company, and prate of frivolous subjects and tales that I believe not a + word of; besides that, in truth, ‘tis a little rude and quarrelsome + flatly to deny a stated fact; and few people but will affirm, especially + in things hard to be believed, that they have seen them, or at least will + name witnesses whose authority will stop our mouths from contradiction. In + this way, we know the foundations and means of things that never were; and + the world scuffles about a thousand questions, of which both the Pro and + the Con are false. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ita finitima sunt falsa veris, ut in praecipitem + locum non debeat se sapiens committere.” + + [“False things are so near the true, that a wise man should not + trust himself in a precipitous place”—Cicero, Acad., ii. 21.] +</pre> + <p> + Truth and lies are faced alike; their port, taste, and proceedings are the + same, and we look upon them with the same eye. I find that we are not only + remiss in defending ourselves from deceit, but that we seek and offer + ourselves to be gulled; we love to entangle ourselves in vanity, as a + thing conformable to our being. + </p> + <p> + I have seen the birth of many miracles in my time; which, although they + were abortive, yet have we not failed to foresee what they would have come + to, had they lived their full age. ‘Tis but finding the end of the + clew, and a man may wind off as much as he will; and there is a greater + distance betwixt nothing and the least thing in the world than there is + betwixt this and the greatest. Now the first that are imbued with this + beginning of novelty, when they set out with their tale, find, by the + oppositions they meet with, where the difficulty of persuasion lies, and + so caulk up that place with some false piece; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Voltaire says of this passage, “He who would learn to doubt should + read this whole chapter of Montaigne, the least methodical of all + philosophers, but the wisest and most amiable.” + —Melanges Historiques, xvii. 694, ed. of Lefevre.] +</pre> + <p> + besides that: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Insita hominibus libido alendi de industria rumores,” + + [“Men having a natural desire to nourish reports.” + —Livy, xxviii. 24.] +</pre> + <p> + we naturally make a conscience of restoring what has been lent us, without + some usury and accession of our own. The particular error first makes the + public error, and afterwards, in turn, the public error makes the + particular one; and thus all this vast fabric goes forming and piling + itself up from hand to hand, so that the remotest witness knows more about + it than those who were nearest, and the last informed is better persuaded + than the first. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis a natural progress; for whoever believes anything, thinks it a + work of charity to persuade another into the same opinion; which the + better to do, he will make no difficulty of adding as much of his own + invention as he conceives necessary to his tale to encounter the + resistance or want of conception he meets with in others. I myself, who + make a great conscience of lying, and am not very solicitous of giving + credit and authority to what I say, yet find that in the arguments I have + in hand, being heated with the opposition of another, or by the proper + warmth of my own narration, I swell and puff up my subject by voice, + motion, vigour, and force of words, and moreover, by extension and + amplification, not without some prejudice to the naked truth; but I do it + conditionally withal, that to the first who brings me to myself, and who + asks me the plain and bare truth, I presently surrender my passion, and + deliver the matter to him without exaggeration, without emphasis, or any + painting of my own. A quick and earnest way of speaking, as mine is, is + apt to run into hyperbole. There is nothing to which men commonly are more + inclined than to make way for their own opinions; where the ordinary means + fail us, we add command, force, fire, and sword. ‘Tis a misfortune + to be at such a pass, that the best test of truth is the multitude of + believers in a crowd, where the number of fools so much exceeds the wise: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quasi vero quidquam sit tam valde, quam nil sapere, vulgare.” + + [“As if anything were so common as ignorance.” + —Cicero, De Divin., ii.] + + “Sanitatis patrocinium est, insanientium turba.” + + [“The multitude of fools is a protection to the wise.” + —St. Augustine, De Civit. Dei, vi. 10.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis hard to resolve a man’s judgment against the common + opinions: the first persuasion, taken from the very subject itself, + possesses the simple, and from them diffuses itself to the wise, under the + authority of the number and antiquity of the witnesses. For my part, what + I should not believe from one, I should not believe from a hundred and + one: and I do not judge opinions by years. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis not long since one of our princes, in whom the gout had spoiled + an excellent nature and sprightly disposition, suffered himself to be so + far persuaded with the report made to him of the marvellous operations of + a certain priest who by words and gestures cured all sorts of diseases, as + to go a long journey to seek him out, and by the force of his mere + imagination, for some hours so persuaded and laid his legs asleep, as to + obtain that service from them they had long time forgotten. Had fortune + heaped up five or six such-like incidents, it had been enough to have + brought this miracle into nature. There was afterwards discovered so much + simplicity and so little art in the author of these performances, that he + was thought too contemptible to be punished, as would be thought of most + such things, were they well examined: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Miramur ex intervallo fallentia.” + + [“We admire after an interval (or at a distance) things that + deceive.”—Seneca, Ep., 118, 2.] +</pre> + <p> + So does our sight often represent to us strange images at a distance that + vanish on approaching near: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nunquam ad liquidum fama perducitur.” + + [“Report is never fully substantiated.” + —Quintus Curtius, ix. 2.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis wonderful from how many idle beginnings and frivolous causes + such famous impressions commonly, proceed. This it is that obstructs + information; for whilst we seek out causes and solid and weighty ends, + worthy of so great a name, we lose the true ones; they escape our sight by + their littleness. And, in truth, a very prudent, diligent, and subtle + inquisition is required in such searches, indifferent, and not + prepossessed. To this very hour, all these miracles and strange events + have concealed themselves from me: I have never seen greater monster or + miracle in the world than myself: one grows familiar with all strange + things by time and custom, but the more I frequent and the better I know + myself, the more does my own deformity astonish me, the less I understand + myself. + </p> + <p> + The principal right of advancing and producing such accidents is reserved + to fortune. Passing the day before yesterday through a village two leagues + from my house, I found the place yet warm with a miracle that had lately + failed of success there, where with first the neighbourhood had been + several months amused; then the neighbouring provinces began to take it + up, and to run thither in great companies of all sorts of people. A young + fellow of the place had one night in sport counterfeited the voice of a + spirit in his own house, without any other design at present, but only for + sport; but this having succeeded with him better than he expected, to + extend his farce with more actors he associated with him a stupid silly + country girl, and at last there were three of them of the same age and + understanding, who from domestic, proceeded to public, preachings, hiding + themselves under the altar of the church, never speaking but by night, and + forbidding any light to be brought. From words which tended to the + conversion of the world, and threats of the day of judgment (for these are + subjects under the authority and reverence of which imposture most + securely lurks), they proceeded to visions and gesticulations so simple + and ridiculous that—nothing could hardly be so gross in the sports + of little children. Yet had fortune never so little favoured the design, + who knows to what height this juggling might have at last arrived? These + poor devils are at present in prison, and are like shortly to pay for the + common folly; and I know not whether some judge will not also make them + smart for his. We see clearly into this, which is discovered; but in many + things of the like nature that exceed our knowledge, I am of opinion that + we ought to suspend our judgment, whether as to rejection or as to + reception. + </p> + <p> + Great abuses in the world are begotten, or, to speak more boldly, all the + abuses of the world are begotten, by our being taught to be afraid of + professing our ignorance, and that we are bound to accept all things we + are not able to refute: we speak of all things by precepts and decisions. + The style at Rome was that even that which a witness deposed to having + seen with his own eyes, and what a judge determined with his most certain + knowledge, was couched in this form of speaking: “it seems to me.” + They make me hate things that are likely, when they would impose them upon + me as infallible. I love these words which mollify and moderate the + temerity of our propositions: “peradventure; in some sort; some; + ‘tis said, I think,” and the like: and had I been set to train + up children I had put this way of answering into their mouths, inquiring + and not resolving: “What does this mean? I understand it not; it may + be: is it true?” so that they should rather have retained the form + of pupils at threescore years old than to go out doctors, as they do, at + ten. Whoever will be cured of ignorance must confess it. + </p> + <p> + Iris is the daughter of Thaumas; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“That is, of Admiration. She (Iris, the rainbow) is beautiful, and + for that reason, because she has a face to be admired, she is said + to have been the daughter of Thamus.” + —Cicero, De Nat. Deor., iii. 20.] +</pre> + <p> + admiration is the foundation of all philosophy, inquisition the progress, + ignorance the end. But there is a sort of ignorance, strong and generous, + that yields nothing in honour and courage to knowledge; an ignorance which + to conceive requires no less knowledge than to conceive knowledge itself. + I read in my younger years a trial that Corras, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [A celebrated Calvinist lawyer, born at Toulouse; 1513, and + assassinated there, 4th October 1572.] +</pre> + <p> + a councillor of Toulouse, printed, of a strange incident, of two men who + presented themselves the one for the other. I remember (and I hardly + remember anything else) that he seemed to have rendered the imposture of + him whom he judged to be guilty, so wonderful and so far exceeding both + our knowledge and his own, who was the judge, that I thought it a very + bold sentence that condemned him to be hanged. Let us have some form of + decree that says, “The court understands nothing of the matter” + more freely and ingenuously than the Areopagites did, who, finding + themselves perplexed with a cause they could not unravel, ordered the + parties to appear again after a hundred years. + </p> + <p> + The witches of my neighbourhood run the hazard of their lives upon the + report of every new author who seeks to give body to their dreams. To + accommodate the examples that Holy Writ gives us of such things, most + certain and irrefragable examples, and to tie them to our modern events, + seeing that we neither see the causes nor the means, will require another + sort-of wit than ours. It, peradventure, only appertains to that sole + all-potent testimony to tell us. “This is, and that is, and not that + other.” God ought to be believed; and certainly with very good + reason; but not one amongst us for all that who is astonished at his own + narration (and he must of necessity be astonished if he be not out of his + wits), whether he employ it about other men’s affairs or against + himself. + </p> + <p> + I am plain and heavy, and stick to the solid and the probable, avoiding + those ancient reproaches: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Majorem fidem homines adhibent iis, quae non intelligunt; + —Cupidine humani ingenii libentius obscura creduntur.” + + [“Men are most apt to believe what they least understand: and from + the acquisitiveness of the human intellect, obscure things are more + easily credited.” The second sentence is from Tacitus, Hist. 1. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + I see very well that men get angry, and that I am forbidden to doubt upon + pain of execrable injuries; a new way of persuading! Thank God, I am not + to be cuffed into belief. Let them be angry with those who accuse their + opinion of falsity; I only accuse it of difficulty and boldness, and + condemn the opposite affirmation equally, if not so imperiously, with + them. He who will establish this proposition by authority and huffing + discovers his reason to be very weak. For a verbal and scholastic + altercation let them have as much appearance as their contradictors; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Videantur sane, non affirmentur modo;” + + [“They may indeed appear to be; let them not be affirmed (Let them + state the probabilities, but not affirm.)” + —Cicero, Acad., n. 27.] +</pre> + <p> + but in the real consequence they draw from it these have much the + advantage. To kill men, a clear and strong light is required, and our life + is too real and essential to warrant these supernatural and fantastic + accidents. + </p> + <p> + As to drugs and poisons, I throw them out of my count, as being the worst + sort of homicides: yet even in this, ‘tis said, that men are not + always to rely upon the personal confessions of these people; for they + have sometimes been known to accuse themselves of the murder of persons + who have afterwards been found living and well. In these other extravagant + accusations, I should be apt to say, that it is sufficient a man, what + recommendation soever he may have, be believed as to human things; but of + what is beyond his conception, and of supernatural effect, he ought then + only to be believed when authorised by a supernatural approbation. The + privilege it has pleased Almighty God to give to some of our witnesses, + ought not to be lightly communicated and made cheap. I have my ears + battered with a thousand such tales as these: “Three persons saw him + such a day in the east three, the next day in the west: at such an hour, + in such a place, and in such habit”; assuredly I should not believe + it myself. How much more natural and likely do I find it that two men + should lie than that one man in twelve hours’ time should fly with + the wind from east to west? How much more natural that our understanding + should be carried from its place by the volubility of our disordered + minds, than that one of us should be carried by a strange spirit upon a + broomstaff, flesh and bones as we are, up the shaft of a chimney? Let not + us seek illusions from without and unknown, we who are perpetually + agitated with illusions domestic and our own. Methinks one is pardonable + in disbelieving a miracle, at least, at all events where one can elude its + verification as such, by means not miraculous; and I am of St. Augustine’s + opinion, that, “‘tis better to lean towards doubt than + assurance, in things hard to prove and dangerous to believe.” + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis now some years ago that I travelled through the territories of + a sovereign prince, who, in my favour, and to abate my incredulity, did me + the honour to let me see, in his own presence, and in a private place, ten + or twelve prisoners of this kind, and amongst others, an old woman, a real + witch in foulness and deformity, who long had been famous in that + profession. I saw both proofs and free confessions, and I know not what + insensible mark upon the miserable creature: I examined and talked with + her and the rest as much and as long as I would, and gave the best and + soundest attention I could, and I am not a man to suffer my judgment to be + made captive by prepossession. In the end, and in all conscience, I should + rather have prescribed them hellebore than hemlock; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Captisque res magis mentibus, quam consceleratis similis visa;” + + [“The thing was rather to be attributed to madness, than malice.” + (“The thing seemed to resemble minds possessed rather than guilty.”) + —Livy, viii, 18.] +</pre> + <p> + justice has its corrections proper for such maladies. As to the + oppositions and arguments that worthy men have made to me, both there, and + often in other places, I have met with none that have convinced me, and + that have not admitted a more likely solution than their conclusions. It + is true, indeed, that the proofs and reasons that are founded upon + experience and fact, I do not go about to untie, neither have they any + end; I often cut them, as Alexander did the Gordian knot. After all, + ‘tis setting a man’s conjectures at a very high price upon + them to cause a man to be roasted alive. + </p> + <p> + We are told by several examples, as Praestantius of his father, that being + more profoundly, asleep than men usually are, he fancied himself to be a + mare, and that he served the soldiers for a sumpter; and what he fancied + himself to be, he really proved. If sorcerers dream so materially; if + dreams can sometimes so incorporate themselves with effects, still I + cannot believe that therefore our will should be accountable to justice; + which I say as one who am neither judge nor privy councillor, and who + think myself by many degrees unworthy so to be, but a man of the common + sort, born and avowed to the obedience of the public reason, both in its + words and acts. He who should record my idle talk as being to the + prejudice of the pettiest law, opinion, or custom of his parish, would do + himself a great deal of wrong, and me much more; for, in what I say, I + warrant no other certainty, but that ‘tis what I had then in my + thought, a tumultuous and wavering thought. All I say is by way of + discourse, and nothing by way of advice: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec me pudet, ut istos fateri nescire, quod nesciam;” + + [“Neither am I ashamed, as they are, to confess my ignorance of what + I do not know.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., i. 25.] +</pre> + <p> + I should not speak so boldly, if it were my due to be believed; and so I + told a great man, who complained of the tartness and contentiousness of my + exhortations. Perceiving you to be ready and prepared on one part, I + propose to you the other, with all the diligence and care I can, to clear + your judgment, not to compel it. God has your hearts in His hands, and + will furnish you with the means of choice. I am not so presumptuous even + as to desire that my opinions should bias you—in a thing of so great + importance: my fortune has not trained them up to so potent and elevated + conclusions. Truly, I have not only a great many humours, but also a great + many opinions, that I would endeavour to make my son dislike, if I had + one. What, if the truest are not always the most commodious to man, being + of so wild a composition? + </p> + <p> + Whether it be to the purpose or not, tis no great matter: ‘tis a + common proverb in Italy, that he knows not Venus in her perfect sweetness + who has never lain with a lame mistress. Fortune, or some particular + incident, long ago put this saying into the mouths of the people; and the + same is said of men as well as of women; for the queen of the Amazons + answered the Scythian who courted her to love, “Lame men perform + best.” In this feminine republic, to evade the dominion of the + males, they lamed them in their infancy—arms, legs, and other + members that gave them advantage over them, and only made use of them in + that wherein we, in these parts of the world, make use of them. I should + have been apt to think; that the shuffling pace of the lame mistress added + some new pleasure to the work, and some extraordinary titillation to those + who were at the sport; but I have lately learnt that ancient philosophy + has itself determined it, which says that the legs and thighs of lame + women, not receiving, by reason of their imperfection, their due aliment, + it falls out that the genital parts above are fuller and better supplied + and much more vigorous; or else that this defect, hindering exercise, they + who are troubled with it less dissipate their strength, and come more + entire to the sports of Venus; which also is the reason why the Greeks + decried the women-weavers as being more hot than other women by reason of + their sedentary trade, which they carry on without any great exercise of + the body. What is it we may not reason of at this rate? I might also say + of these, that the jaggling about whilst so sitting at work, rouses and + provokes their desire, as the swinging and jolting of coaches does that of + our ladies. + </p> + <p> + Do not these examples serve to make good what I said at first: that our + reasons often anticipate the effect, and have so infinite an extent of + jurisdiction that they judge and exercise themselves even on inanity + itself and non-existency? Besides the flexibility of our invention to + forge reasons of all sorts of dreams, our imagination is equally facile to + receive impressions of falsity by very frivolous appearances; for, by the + sole authority of the ancient and common use of this proverb, I have + formerly made myself believe that I have had more pleasure in a woman by + reason she was not straight, and accordingly reckoned that deformity + amongst her graces. + </p> + <p> + Torquato Tasso, in the comparison he makes betwixt France and Italy, says + that he has observed that our legs are generally smaller than those of the + Italian gentlemen, and attributes the cause of it to our being continually + on horseback; which is the very same cause from which Suetonius draws a + quite opposite conclusion; for he says, on the contrary, that Germanicus + had made his legs bigger by the continuation of the same exercise. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is so supple and erratic as our understanding; it is the shoe of + Theramenes, fit for all feet. It is double and diverse, and the matters + are double and diverse too. “Give me a drachm of silver,” said + a Cynic philosopher to Antigonus. “That is not a present befitting a + king,” replied he. “Give me then a talent,” said the + other. “That is not a present befitting a Cynic.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Seu plures calor ille vias et caeca relaxat + Spiramenta, novas veniat qua succus in herbas + Seu durat magis, et venas astringit hiantes; + Ne tenues pluviae, rapidive potentia colic + Acrior, aut Boreae penetrabile frigus adurat.” + + [“Whether the heat opens more passages and secret pores through + which the sap may be derived into the new-born herbs; or whether it + rather hardens and binds the gaping veins that the small showers and + keen influence of the violent sun or penetrating cold of Boreas may + not hurt them.”—Virg., Georg., i. 89.] + + “Ogni medaglia ha il suo rovescio.” + + [“Every medal has its reverse.”—Italian Proverb.] +</pre> + <p> + This is the reason why Clitomachus said of old that Carneades had outdone + the labours of Hercules, in having eradicated consent from men, that is to + say, opinion and the courage of judging. This so vigorous fancy of + Carneades sprang, in my opinion, anciently from the impudence of those who + made profession of knowledge and their immeasurable self-conceit. AEsop + was set to sale with two other slaves; the buyer asked the first of these + what he could do; he, to enhance his own value, promised mountains and + marvels, saying he could do this and that, and I know not what; the second + said as much of himself or more: when it came to AEsop’s turn, and + that he was also asked what he could do; “Nothing,” said he, + “for these two have taken up all before me; they know everything.” + So has it happened in the school of philosophy: the pride of those who + attributed the capacity of all things to the human mind created in others, + out of despite and emulation, this opinion, that it is capable of nothing: + the one maintain the same extreme in ignorance that the others do in + knowledge; to make it undeniably manifest that man is immoderate + throughout, and can never stop but of necessity and the want of ability to + proceed further. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0105" id="link2HCH0105"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII——OF PHYSIOGNOMY + </h2> + <p> + Almost all the opinions we have are taken on authority and trust; and + ‘tis not amiss; we could not choose worse than by ourselves in so + weak an age. That image of Socrates’ discourses, which his friends + have transmitted to us, we approve upon no other account than a reverence + to public sanction: ‘tis not according to our own knowledge; they + are not after our way; if anything of the kind should spring up now, few + men would value them. We discern no graces that are not pointed and puffed + out and inflated by art; such as glide on in their own purity and + simplicity easily escape so gross a sight as ours; they have a delicate + and concealed beauty, such as requires a clear and purified sight to + discover its secret light. Is not simplicity, as we take it, cousin-german + to folly and a quality of reproach? Socrates makes his soul move a natural + and common motion: a peasant said this; a woman said that; he has never + anybody in his mouth but carters, joiners, cobblers, and masons; his are + inductions and similitudes drawn from the most common and known actions of + men; every one understands him. We should never have recognised the + nobility and splendour of his admirable conceptions under so mean a form; + we, who think all things low and flat that are not elevated, by learned + doctrine, and who discern no riches but in pomp and show. This world of + ours is only formed for ostentation: men are only puffed up with wind, and + are bandied to and fro like tennis-balls. He proposed to himself no vain + and idle fancies; his design was to furnish us with precepts and things + that more really and fitly serve to the use of life; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Servare modum, finemque tenere, + Naturamque sequi.” + + [“To keep a just mean, to observe a just limit, + and to follow Nature.”—Lucan, ii. 381.] +</pre> + <p> + He was also always one and the same, and raised himself, not by starts but + by complexion, to the highest pitch of vigour; or, to say better, mounted + not at all, but rather brought down, reduced, and subjected all asperities + and difficulties to his original and natural condition; for in Cato + ‘tis most manifest that ‘tis a procedure extended far beyond + the common ways of men: in the brave exploits of his life, and in his + death, we find him always mounted upon the great horse; whereas the other + ever creeps upon the ground, and with a gentle and ordinary pace, treats + of the most useful matters, and bears himself, both at his death and in + the rudest difficulties that could present themselves, in the ordinary way + of human life. + </p> + <p> + It has fallen out well that the man most worthy to be known and to be + presented to the world for example should be he of whom we have the most + certain knowledge; he has been pried into by the most clear-sighted men + that ever were; the testimonies we have of him are admirable both in + fidelity and fulness. ‘Tis a great thing that he was able so to + order the pure imaginations of a child, that, without altering or wresting + them, he thereby produced the most beautiful effects of our soul: he + presents it neither elevated nor rich; he only represents it sound, but + assuredly with a brisk and full health. By these common and natural + springs, by these ordinary and popular fancies, without being moved or put + out, he set up not only the most regular, but the most high and vigorous + beliefs, actions, and manners that ever were. ‘Tis he who brought + again from heaven, where she lost her time, human wisdom, to restore her + to man with whom her most just and greatest business lies. See him plead + before his judges; observe by what reasons he rouses his courage to the + hazards of war; with what arguments he fortifies his patience against + calumny, tyranny, death, and the perverseness of his wife: you will find + nothing in all this borrowed from arts and sciences: the simplest may + there discover their own means and strength; ‘tis not possible more + to retire or to creep more low. He has done human nature a great kindness + in showing it how much it can do of itself. + </p> + <p> + We are all of us richer than we think we are; but we are taught to borrow + and to beg, and brought up more to make use of what is another’s + than of our own. Man can in nothing fix himself to his actual necessity: + of pleasure, wealth, and power, he grasps at more than he can hold; his + greediness is incapable of moderation. And I find that in curiosity of + knowing he is the same; he cuts himself out more work than he can do, and + more than he needs to do: extending the utility of knowledge to the full + of its matter: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut omnium rerum, sic litterarum quoque, intemperantia laboramus.” + + [“We carry intemperance into the study of literature, as well as + into everything else.”—Seneca, Ep., 106.] +</pre> + <p> + And Tacitus had reason to commend the mother of Agricola for having + restrained her son in his too violent appetite for learning. + </p> + <p> + Tis a good, if duly considered, which has in it, as the other goods of men + have, a great deal of vanity and weakness, proper and natural to itself, + and that costs very dear. Its acquisition is far more hazardous than that + of all other meat or drink; for, as to other things, what we have bought + we carry home in some vessel, and there have full leisure to examine our + purchase, how much we shall eat or drink of it, and when: but sciences we + can, at the very first, stow into no other vessel than the soul; we + swallow them in buying, and return from the market, either already + infected or amended: there are some that only burden and overcharge the + stomach, instead of nourishing; and, moreover, some that, under colour of + curing, poison us. I have been pleased, in places where I have been, to + see men in devotion vow ignorance as well as chastity, poverty, and + penitence: ‘tis also a gelding of our unruly appetites, to blunt + this cupidity that spurs us on to the study of books, and to deprive the + soul of this voluptuous complacency that tickles us with the opinion of + knowledge: and ‘tis plenarily to accomplish the vow of poverty, to + add unto it that of the mind. We need little doctrine to live at our ease; + and Socrates teaches us that this is in us, and the way how to find it, + and the manner how to use it: All our sufficiency which exceeds the + natural is well-nigh superfluous and vain: ‘tis much if it does not + rather burden and cumber us than do us good: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Paucis opus est literis ad mentem bonam:” + + [“Little learning is needed to form a sound mind.” + —Seneca, Ep., 106.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘tis a feverish excess of the mind; a tempestuous and unquiet + instrument. Do but recollect yourself, and you will find in yourself + natural arguments against death, true, and the fittest to serve you in + time of necessity: ‘tis they that make a peasant, and whole nations, + die with as much firmness as a philosopher. Should I have died less + cheerfully before I had read Cicero’s Tusculan Quastiones? I believe + not; and when I find myself at the best, I perceive that my tongue is + enriched indeed, but my courage little or nothing elevated by them; that + is just as nature framed it at first, and defends itself against the + conflict only after a natural and ordinary way. Books have not so much + served me for instruction as exercise. What if knowledge, trying to arm us + with new defences against natural inconveniences, has more imprinted in + our fancies their weight and greatness, than her reasons and subtleties to + secure us from them? They are subtleties, indeed, with which she often + alarms us to little purpose. Do but observe how many slight and frivolous, + and, if nearly examined, incorporeal arguments, the closest and wisest + authors scatter about one good one: they are but verbal quirks and + fallacies to amuse and gull us: but forasmuch as it may be with some + profit, I will sift them no further; many of that sort are here and there + dispersed up and down this book, either borrowed or by imitation. + Therefore one ought to take a little heed not to call that force which is + only a pretty knack of writing, and that solid which is only sharp, or + that good which is only fine: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae magis gustata quam potata, delectant,” + + [“Which more delight in the tasting than in being drunk.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., v. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + everything that pleases does not nourish: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ubi non ingenii, sed animi negotium agitur.” + + [“Where the question is not about the wit, but about the soul.” + —Seneca, Ep., 75.] +</pre> + <p> + To see the trouble that Seneca gives himself to fortify himself against + death; to see him so sweat and pant to harden and encourage himself, and + bustle so long upon this perch, would have lessened his reputation with + me, had he not very bravely held himself at the last. His so ardent and + frequent agitations discover that he was in himself impetuous and + passionate, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Magnus animus remissius loquitur, et securius . . . + non est alius ingenio, alius ammo color;” + + [“A great courage speaks more calmly and more securely. There is + not one complexion for the wit and another for the mind.” + —Seneca, Ep. 114, 115] +</pre> + <p> + he must be convinced at his own expense; and he in some sort discovers + that he was hard pressed by his enemy. Plutarch’s way, by how much + it is more disdainful and farther stretched, is, in my opinion, so much + more manly and persuasive: and I am apt to believe that his soul had more + assured and more regular motions. The one more sharp, pricks and makes us + start, and more touches the soul; the other more constantly solid, forms, + establishes, and supports us, and more touches the understanding. That + ravishes the judgment, this wins it. I have likewise seen other writings, + yet more reverenced than these, that in the representation of the conflict + they maintain against the temptations of the flesh, paint them, so sharp, + so powerful and invincible, that we ourselves, who are of the common herd, + are as much to wonder at the strangeness and unknown force of their + temptation, as at the resisting it. + </p> + <p> + To what end do we so arm ourselves with this harness of science? Let us + look down upon the poor people that we see scattered upon the face of the + earth, prone and intent upon their business, that neither know Aristotle + nor Cato, example nor precept; from these nature every day extracts + effects of constancy and patience, more pure and manly than those we so + inquisitively study in the schools: how many do I ordinarily see who + slight poverty? how many who desire to die, or who die without alarm or + regret? He who is now digging in my garden, has this morning buried his + father or his son. The very names by which they call diseases sweeten and + mollify the sharpness of them: the phthisic is with them no more than a + cough, dysentery but a looseness, the pleurisy but a stitch; and, as they + gently name them, so they patiently endure them; they are very great and + grievous indeed when they hinder their ordinary labour; they never keep + their beds but to die: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Simplex illa et aperta virtus in obscuram et solertem + scientiam versa est.” + + [“That overt and simple virtue is converted into an obscure and + subtle science.”—Seneca, Ep., 95.] +</pre> + <p> + I was writing this about the time when a great load of our intestine + troubles for several months lay with all its weight upon me; I had the + enemy at my door on one side, and the freebooters, worse enemies, on the + other, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non armis, sed vitiis, certatur;” + + [“The fight is not with arms, but with vices.”—Seneca, Ep. 95.] +</pre> + <p> + and underwent all sorts of military injuries at once: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hostis adest dextra laevaque a parte timendus. + Vicinoque malo terret utrumque latus.” + + [“Right and left a formidable enemy is to be feared, and threatens + me on both sides with impending danger.”—Ovid, De Ponto, i. 3, 57.] +</pre> + <p> + A monstrous war! Other wars are bent against strangers, this against + itself, destroying itself with its own poison. It is of so malignant and + ruinous a nature, that it ruins itself with the rest; and with its own + rage mangles and tears itself to pieces. We more often see it dissolve of + itself than through scarcity of any necessary thing or by force of the + enemy. All discipline evades it; it comes to compose sedition, and is + itself full of it; would chastise disobedience, and itself is the example; + and, employed for the defence of the laws, rebels against its own. What a + condition are we in! Our physic makes us sick! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nostre mal s’empoisonne + Du secours qu’on luy donne.” + + “Exuperat magis, aegrescitque medendo.” + + [“Our disease is poisoned with its very remedies”—AEnead, xii. 46.] + + “Omnia fanda, nefanda, malo permista furore, + Justificam nobis mentem avertere deorum.” + + [“Right and wrong, all shuffled together in this wicked fury, have + deprived us of the gods’ protection.” + —Catullus, De Nuptiis Pelei et Thetidos, V. 405.] +</pre> + <p> + In the beginning of these popular maladies, one may distinguish the sound + from the sick; but when they come to continue, as ours have done, the + whole body is then infected from head to foot; no part is free from + corruption, for there is no air that men so greedily draw in that diffuses + itself so soon and that penetrates so deep as that of licence. Our armies + only subsist and are kept together by the cement of foreigners; for of + Frenchmen there is now no constant and regular army to be made. What a + shame it is! there is no longer any discipline but what we see in the + mercenary soldiers. As to ourselves, our conduct is at discretion, and + that not of the chief, but every one at his own. The general has a harder + game to play within than he has without; he it is who has to follow, to + court the soldiers, to give way to them; he alone has to obey: all the + rest if disolution and free licence. It pleases me to observe how much + pusillanimity and cowardice there is in ambition; by how abject and + servile ways it must arrive at its end; but it displeases me to see good + and generous natures, and that are capable of justice, every day corrupted + in the management and command of this confusion. Long toleration begets + habit; habit, consent and imitation. We had ill-formed souls enough, + without spoiling those that were generous and good; so that, if we hold + on, there will scarcely remain any with whom to intrust the health of this + State of ours, in case fortune chance to restore it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Hunc saltem everso juvenem succurrere seclo, + Ne prohibete.” + + [“Forbid not, at least, that this young man repair this ruined age.” + —Virgil, Georg., i. 500. Montaigne probably refers to Henry, king + of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV.] +</pre> + <p> + What has become of the old precept, “That soldiers ought more to + fear their chief than the enemy”?—[Valerius Maximus, Ext. 2.]—and + of that wonderful example, that an orchard being enclosed within the + precincts of a camp of the Roman army, was seen at their dislodgment the + next day in the same condition, not an apple, though ripe and delicious, + being pulled off, but all left to the possessor? I could wish that our + youth, instead of the time they spend in less fruitful travels and less + honourable employments, would bestow one half of that time in being an + eye-witness of naval exploits, under some good captain of Rhodes, and the + other half in observing the discipline of the Turkish armies; for they + have many differences and advantages over ours; one of these is, that our + soldiers become more licentious in expeditions, theirs more temperate and + circumspect; for the thefts and insolencies committed upon the common + people, which are only punished with a cudgel in peace, are capital in + war; for an egg taken by a Turkish soldier without paying for it, fifty + blows with a stick is the fixed rate; for anything else, of what sort or + how trivial soever, not necessary to nourishment, they are presently + impaled or beheaded without mercy. I am astonished, in the history of + Selim, the most cruel conqueror that ever was, to see that when he subdued + Egypt, the beautiful gardens about Damascus being all open, and in a + conquered land, and his army encamped upon the very place, should be left + untouched by the hands of the soldiers, by reason they had not received + the signal of pillage. + </p> + <p> + But is there any disease in a government that it is worth while to physic + with such a mortal drug?—[i.e. as civil war.]—No, said + Favonius, not even the tyrannical usurpation of a Commonwealth. Plato, + likewise, will not consent that a man should violate the peace of his + country in order to cure it, and by no means approves of a reformation + that disturbs and hazards all, and that is to be purchased at the price of + the citizens’ blood and ruin; determining it to be the duty of a + good patriot in such a case to let it alone, and only to pray to God for + his extraordinary assistance: and he seems to be angry with his great + friend Dion, for having proceeded somewhat after another manner. I was a + Platonist in this point before I knew there had ever been such a man as + Plato in the world. And if this person ought absolutely to be rejected + from our society (he who by the sincerity of his conscience merited from + the divine favour to penetrate so far into the Christian light, through + the universal darkness wherein the world was involved in his time), I do + not think it becomes us to suffer ourselves to be instructed by a heathen, + how great an impiety it is not to expect from God any relief simply his + own and without our co-operation. I often doubt, whether amongst so many + men as meddle in such affairs, there is not to be found some one of so + weak understanding as to have been really persuaded that he went towards + reformation by the worst of deformations; and advanced towards salvation + by the most express causes that we have of most assured damnation; that by + overthrowing government, the magistracy, and the laws, in whose protection + God has placed him, by dismembering his good mother, and giving her limbs + to be mangled by her old enemies, filling fraternal hearts with parricidal + hatreds, calling devils and furies to his aid, he can assist the most holy + sweetness and justice of the divine law. Ambition, avarice, cruelty, and + revenge have not sufficient natural impetuosity of their own; let us bait + them with the glorious titles of justice and devotion. There cannot a + worse state of things be imagined than where wickedness comes to be + legitimate, and assumes, with the magistrates’ permission, the cloak + of virtue: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nihil in speciem fallacius, quam prava religio, + ubi deorum numen prxtenditur sceleribus.” + + [“Nothing has a more deceiving face than false religion, where the + divinity of the gods is obscured by crimes.”—Livy, xxxix. 16.] +</pre> + <p> + The extremest sort of injustice, according to Plato, is where that which + is unjust should be reputed for just. + </p> + <p> + The common people then suffered very much, and not present damage only: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Undique totis + Usque adeo turbatur agris,” + + [“Such great disorders overtake our fields on every side.” + —Virgil, Eclog., i. II.] +</pre> + <p> + but future too; the living were to suffer, and so were they who were yet + unborn; they stript them, and consequently myself, even of hope, taking + from them all they had laid up in store to live on for many years: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae nequeunt secum ferre aut abducere, perdunt; + Et cremat insontes turba scelesta casas . . . + Muris nulla fides, squalent populatibus agri.” + + [“What they cannot bear away, they spoil; and the wicked mob burn + harmless houses; walls cannot secure their masters, and the fields + are squalid with devastation.” + —Ovid, Trist., iii. 10, 35; Claudianus, In Eutyop., i. 244.] +</pre> + <p> + Besides this shock, I suffered others: I underwent the inconveniences that + moderation brings along with it in such a disease: I was robbed on all + hands; to the Ghibelline I was a Guelph, and to the Guelph a Ghibelline; + one of my poets expresses this very well, but I know not where it is. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“So Tories called me Whig, and Whigs a Tory.”—Pope, after Horace.] +</pre> + <p> + The situation of my house, and my friendliness with my neighbours, + presented me with one face; my life and my actions with another. They did + not lay formal accusations to my charge, for they had no foundation for so + doing; I never hide my head from the laws, and whoever would have + questioned me, would have done himself a greater prejudice than me; they + were only mute suspicions that were whispered about, which never want + appearance in so confused a mixture, no more than envious or idle heads. I + commonly myself lend a hand to injurious presumptions that fortune + scatters abroad against me, by a way I have ever had of evading to + justify, excuse, or explain myself; conceiving that it were to compromise + my conscience to plead in its behalf: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Perspicuitas enim argumentatione elevatur;” + + [“For perspicuity is lessened by argument.” + (“The clearness of a cause is clouded by argumentation.”) + —Cicero, De Nat. Deor., iii. 4.] +</pre> + <p> + and, as if every one saw as clearly into me as I do myself, instead of + retiring from an accusation, I step up to meet it, and rather give it some + kind of colour by an ironical and scoffing confession, if I do not sit + totally mute, as of a thing not worth my answer. But such as look upon + this kind of behaviour of mine as too haughty a confidence, have as little + kindness for me as they who interpret the weakness of an indefensible + cause; namely, the great folks, towards whom want of submission is the + great fault, harsh towards all justice that knows and feels itself, and is + not submissive humble, and suppliant; I have often knocked my head against + this pillar. So it is that at what then befell me, an ambitious man would + have hanged himself, and a covetous man would have done the same. I have + no manner of care of getting; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si mihi, quod nunc est, etiam minus; et mihi vivam + Quod superest aevi, si quid superesse volent dii:” + + [“If I may have what I now own, or even less, and may live for + myself what of life remains, if the gods grant me remaining years.” + —Horace, Ep., i. 18, 107.] +</pre> + <p> + but the losses that befall me by the injury of others, whether by theft or + violence, go almost as near my heart as they would to that of the most + avaricious man. The offence troubles me, without comparison, more than the + loss. A thousand several sorts of mischiefs fell upon me in the neck of + one another; I could more cheerfully have borne them all at once. + </p> + <p> + I was already considering to whom, amongst my friends, I might commit a + necessitous and discredited old age; and having turned my eyes quite + round, I found myself bare. To let one’s self fall plump down, and + from so great a height, it ought to be in the arms of a solid, vigorous, + and fortunate friendship: these are very rare, if there be any. At last, I + saw that it was safest for me to trust to myself in my necessity; and if + it should so fall out, that I should be but upon cold terms in Fortune’s + favour, I should so much the more pressingly recommend me to my own, and + attach myself and look to myself all the more closely. Men on all + occasions throw themselves upon foreign assistance to spare their own, + which is alone certain and sufficient to him who knows how therewith to + arm himself. Every one runs elsewhere, and to the future, forasmuch as no + one is arrived at himself. And I was satisfied that they were profitable + inconveniences; forasmuch as, first, ill scholars are to be admonished + with the rod, when reason will not do, as a crooked piece of wood is by + fire and straining reduced to straightness. I have a great while preached + to myself to stick close to my own concerns, and separate myself from the + affairs of others; yet I am still turning my eyes aside. A bow, a + favourable word, a kind look from a great person tempts me; of which God + knows if there is scarcity in these days, and what they signify. I, + moreover, without wrinkling my forehead, hearken to the persuasions + offered me, to draw me into the marketplace, and so gently refuse, as if I + were half willing to be overcome. Now for so indocile a spirit blows are + required; this vessel which thus chops and cleaves, and is ready to fall + one piece from another, must have the hoops forced down with good sound + strokes of a mallet. Secondly, that this accident served me for exercise + to prepare me for worse, if I, who both by the benefit of fortune, and by + the condition of my manners, hoped to be among the last, should happen to + be one of the first assailed by this storm; instructing myself betimes to + constrain my life, and fit it for a new state. The true liberty is to be + able to do what a man will with himself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Potentissimus est, qui se habet in potestate.” + + [“He is most potent who is master of himself.”—Seneca, Ep., 94.] +</pre> + <p> + In an ordinary and quiet time, a man prepares himself for moderate and + common accidents; but in the confusion wherein we have been for these + thirty years, every Frenchman, whether personal or in general, sees + himself every hour upon the point of the total ruin and overthrow of his + fortune: by so much the more ought he to have his courage supplied with + the strongest and most vigorous provisions. Let us thank fortune, that has + not made us live in an effeminate, idle, and languishing age; some who + could never have been so by other means will be made famous by their + misfortunes. As I seldom read in histories the confusions of other states + without regret that I was not present, the better to consider them, so + does my curiosity make me in some sort please myself in seeing with my own + eyes this notable spectacle of our public death, its form and symptoms; + and since I cannot hinder it, I am content to have been destined to be + present therein, and thereby to instruct myself. So do we eagerly covet to + see, though but in shadow and the fables of theatres, the pomp of tragic + representations of human fortune; ‘tis not without compassion at + what we hear, but we please ourselves in rousing our displeasure, by the + rarity of these pitiable events. Nothing tickles that does not pinch. And + good historians skip over, as stagnant water and dead sea, calm + narrations, to return to seditions, to wars, to which they know that we + invite them. + </p> + <p> + I question whether I can decently confess with how small a sacrifice of + its repose and tranquillity I have passed over above the one half of my + life amid the ruin of my country. I lend myself my patience somewhat too + cheap, in accidents that do not privately assail me; and do not so much + regard what they take from me, as what remains safe, both within and + without. There is comfort in evading, one while this, another while that, + of the evils that are levelled at ourselves too, at last, but at present + hurt others only about us; as also, that in matters of public interest, + the more universally my affection is dispersed, the weaker it is: to which + may be added, that it is half true: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tantum ex publicis malis sentimus, + quantum ad privatas res pertinet;” + + [“We are only so far sensible of public evils as they respect our + private affairs.”—Livy, xxx. 44.] +</pre> + <p> + and that the health from which we fell was so ill, that itself relieves + the regret we should have for it. It was health, but only in comparison + with the sickness that has succeeded it: we are not fallen from any great + height; the corruption and brigandage which are in dignity and office seem + to me the least supportable: we are less injuriously rifled in a wood than + in a place of security. It was an universal juncture of particular + members, each corrupted by emulation of the others, and most of them with + old ulcers, that neither received nor required any cure. This convulsion, + therefore, really more animated than pressed me, by the assistance of my + conscience, which was not only at peace within itself, but elevated, and I + did not find any reason to complain of myself. Also, as God never sends + evils, any more than goods, absolutely pure to men, my health continued at + that time more than usually good; and, as I can do nothing without it, + there are few things that I cannot do with it. It afforded me means to + rouse up all my faculties, and to lay my hand before the wound that would + else, peradventure, have gone farther; and I experienced, in my patience, + that I had some stand against fortune, and that it must be a great shock + could throw me out of the saddle. I do not say this to provoke her to give + me a more vigorous charge: I am her humble servant, and submit to her + pleasure: let her be content, in God’s name. Am I sensible of her + assaults? Yes, I am. But, as those who are possessed and oppressed with + sorrow sometimes suffer themselves, nevertheless, by intervals to taste a + little pleasure, and are sometimes surprised with a smile, so have I so + much power over myself, as to make my ordinary condition quiet and free + from disturbing thoughts; yet I suffer myself, withal, by fits to be + surprised with the stings of those unpleasing imaginations that assault + me, whilst I am arming myself to drive them away, or at least to wrestle + with them. + </p> + <p> + But behold another aggravation of the evil which befell me in the tail of + the rest: both without doors and within I was assailed with a most violent + plague, violent in comparison of all others; for as sound bodies are + subject to more grievous maladies, forasmuch as they, are not to be forced + but by such, so my very healthful air, where no contagion, however near, + in the memory of man, ever took footing, coming to be corrupted, produced + strange effects: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Mista senum et juvenum densentur funera; nullum + Saeva caput Proserpina fugit;” + + [“Old and young die in mixed heaps. Cruel Proserpine forbears + none.”—Horace, Od., i. 28, 19.] +</pre> + <p> + I had to suffer this pleasant condition, that the sight of my house, was + frightful to me; whatever I had there was without guard, and left to the + mercy of any one who wished to take it. I myself, who am so hospitable, + was in very great distress for a retreat for my family; a distracted + family, frightful both to its friends and itself, and filling every place + with horror where it attempted to settle, having to shift its abode so + soon as any one’s finger began but to ache; all diseases are then + concluded to be the plague, and people do not stay to examine whether they + are so or no. And the mischief on’t is that, according to the rules + of art, in every danger that a man comes near, he must undergo a + quarantine in fear of the evil, your imagination all the while tormenting + you at pleasure, and turning even your health itself into a fever. Yet all + this would have much less affected me had I not withal been compelled to + be sensible of the sufferings of others, and miserably to serve six months + together for a guide to this caravan; for I carry my own antidotes within + myself, which are resolution and patience. Apprehension, which is + particularly feared in this disease, does not much trouble me; and, if + being alone, I should have been taken, it had been a less cheerless and + more remote departure; ‘tis a kind of death that I do not think of + the worst sort; ‘tis commonly short, stupid, without pain, and + consoled by the public condition; without ceremony, without mourning, + without a crowd. But as to the people about us, the hundredth part of them + could not be saved: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Videas desertaque regna + Pastorum, et longe saltus lateque vacantes.” + + [“You would see shepherds’ haunts deserted, and far and wide empty + pastures.”—Virgil, Georg., iii. 476.] +</pre> + <p> + In this place my largest revenue is manual: what an hundred men ploughed + for me, lay a long time fallow. + </p> + <p> + But then, what example of resolution did we not see in the simplicity of + all this people? Generally, every one renounced all care of life; the + grapes, the principal wealth of the country, remained untouched upon the + vines; every man indifferently prepared for and expected death, either + to-night or to-morrow, with a countenance and voice so far from fear, as + if they had come to terms with this necessity, and that it was an + universal and inevitable sentence. ‘Tis always such; but how slender + hold has the resolution of dying? The distance and difference of a few + hours, the sole consideration of company, renders its apprehension various + to us. Observe these people; by reason that they die in the same month, + children, young people, and old, they are no longer astonished at it; they + no longer lament. I saw some who were afraid of staying behind, as in a + dreadful solitude; and I did not commonly observe any other solicitude + amongst them than that of sepulture; they were troubled to see the dead + bodies scattered about the fields, at the mercy of the wild beasts that + presently flocked thither. How differing are the fancies of men; the + Neorites, a nation subjected by Alexander, threw the bodies of their dead + into the deepest and less frequented part of their woods, on purpose to + have them there eaten; the only sepulture reputed happy amongst them. + Some, who were yet in health, dug their own graves; others laid themselves + down in them whilst alive; and a labourer of mine, in dying, with his + hands and feet pulled the earth upon him. Was not this to nestle and + settle himself to sleep at greater ease? A bravery in some sort like that + of the Roman soldiers who, after the battle of Cannae, were found with + their heads thrust into holes in the earth, which they had made, and in + suffocating themselves, with their own hands pulled the earth about their + ears. In short, a whole province was, by the common usage, at once brought + to a course nothing inferior in undauntedness to the most studied and + premeditated resolution. + </p> + <p> + Most of the instructions of science to encourage us herein have in them + more of show than of force, and more of ornament than of effect. We have + abandoned Nature, and will teach her what to do; teach her who so happily + and so securely conducted us; and in the meantime, from the footsteps of + her instruction, and that little which, by the benefit of ignorance, + remains of her image imprinted in the life of this rustic rout of + unpolished men, science is constrained every day to borrow patterns for + her disciples of constancy, tranquillity, and innocence. It is pretty to + see that these persons, full of so much fine knowledge, have to imitate + this foolish simplicity, and this in the primary actions of virtue; and + that our wisdom must learn even from beasts the most profitable + instructions in the greatest and most necessary concerns of our life; as, + how we are to live and die, manage our property, love and bring up our + children, maintain justice: a singular testimony of human infirmity; and + that this reason we so handle at our pleasure, finding evermore some + diversity and novelty, leaves in us no apparent trace of nature. Men have + done with nature as perfumers with oils; they have sophisticated her with + so many argumentations and far-fetched discourses, that she is become + variable and particular to each, and has lost her proper, constant, and + universal face; so that we must seek testimony from beasts, not subject to + favour, corruption, or diversity of opinions. It is, indeed, true that + even these themselves do not always go exactly in the path of nature, but + wherein they swerve, it is so little that you may always see the track; as + horses that are led make many bounds and curvets, but ‘tis always at + the length of the halter, and still follow him that leads them; and as a + young hawk takes its flight, but still under the restraint of its tether: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Exsilia, torments, bells, morbos, naufragia meditare . . . + ut nullo sis malo tiro.” + + [“To meditate upon banishments, tortures, wars, diseases, and + shipwrecks, that thou mayest not be a novice in any disaster.” + —Seneca, Ep., 91, 107.] +</pre> + <p> + What good will this curiosity do us, to anticipate all the inconveniences + of human nature, and to prepare ourselves with so much trouble against + things which, peradventure, will never befall us? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Parem passis tristitiam facit, pati posse;” + + [“It troubles men as much that they may possibly suffer, + as if they really did suffer.”—Idem, ibid., 74.] +</pre> + <p> + not only the blow, but the wind of the blow strikes us: or, like phrenetic + people—for certainly it is a phrensy—to go immediately and + whip yourself, because it may so fall out that Fortune may one day make + you undergo it; and to put on your furred gown at Midsummer, because you + will stand in need of it at Christmas! Throw yourselves, say they, into + the experience of all the evils, the most extreme evils that can possibly + befall you, and so be assured of them. On the contrary, the most easy and + most natural way would be to banish even the thoughts of them; they will + not come soon enough; their true being will not continue with us long + enough; our mind must lengthen and extend them; we must incorporate them + in us beforehand, and there entertain them, as if they would not otherwise + sufficiently press upon our senses. “We shall find them heavy enough + when they come,” says one of our masters, of none of the tender + sects, but of the most severe; “in the meantime, favour thyself; + believe what pleases thee best; what good will it do thee to anticipate + thy ill fortune, to lose the present for fear of the future: and to make + thyself miserable now, because thou art to be so in time?” These are + his words. Science, indeed, does us one good office in instructing us + exactly as to the dimensions of evils, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Curis acuens mortalia corda!” + + [“Probing mortal hearts with cares.”—Virgil, Georg., i. 23.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Twere pity that any part of their greatness should escape our sense + and knowledge. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis certain that for the most part the preparation for death has + administered more torment than the thing itself. It was of old truly said, + and by a very judicious author: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Minus afficit sensus fatigatio, quam cogitatio.” + + [“Suffering itself less afflicts the senses than the apprehension + of suffering.”—Quintilian, Inst. Orat., i. 12.] +</pre> + <p> + The sentiment of present death sometimes, of itself, animates us with a + prompt resolution not to avoid a thing that is utterly inevitable: many + gladiators have been seen in the olden time, who, after having fought + timorously and ill, have courageously entertained death, offering their + throats to the enemies’ sword and bidding them despatch. The sight + of future death requires a courage that is slow, and consequently hard to + be got. If you know not how to die, never trouble yourself; nature will, + at the time, fully and sufficiently instruct you: she will exactly do that + business for you; take you no care— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Incertam frustra, mortales, funeris horam, + Quaeritis et qua sit mors aditura via.... + Poena minor certam subito perferre ruinam; + Quod timeas, gravius sustinuisse diu.” + + [“Mortals, in vain you seek to know the uncertain hour of death, + and by what channel it will come upon you.”—Propertius, ii. 27, 1. + “‘Tis less painful to undergo sudden destruction; ‘tis hard to bear + that which you long fear.”—Incert. Auct.] +</pre> + <p> + We trouble life by the care of death, and death by the care of life: the + one torments, the other frights us. It is not against death that we + prepare, that is too momentary a thing; a quarter of an hour’s + suffering, without consequence and without damage, does not deserve + especial precepts: to say the truth, we prepare ourselves against the + preparations of death. Philosophy ordains that we should always have death + before our eyes, to see and consider it before the time, and then gives us + rules and precautions to provide that this foresight and thought do us no + harm; just so do physicians, who throw us into diseases, to the end they + may have whereon to employ their drugs and their art. If we have not known + how to live, ‘tis injustice to teach us how to die, and make the end + difform from all the rest; if we have known how to live firmly and + quietly, we shall know how to die so too. They may boast as much as they + please: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tota philosophorum vita commentatio mortis est;” + + [“The whole life of philosophers is the meditation of death.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., ii. 30.] +</pre> + <p> + but I fancy that, though it be the end, it is not the aim of life; ‘tis + its end, its extremity, but not, nevertheless, its object; it ought itself + to be its own aim and design; its true study is to order, govern, and + suffer itself. In the number of several other offices, that the general + and principal chapter of Knowing how to live comprehends, is this article + of Knowing how to die; and, did not our fears give it weight, one of the + lightest too. + </p> + <p> + To judge of them by utility and by the naked truth, the lessons of + simplicity are not much inferior to those which learning teaches us: nay, + quite the contrary. Men differ in sentiment and force; we must lead them + to their own good according to their capacities and by various ways: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quo me comque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.” + + [“Wherever the season takes me,(where the tempest drives me) + there I am carried as a guest.”—Horace, Ep., i. i, 15.] +</pre> + <p> + I never saw any peasant among my neighbours cogitate with what countenance + and assurance he should pass over his last hour; nature teaches him not to + think of death till he is dying; and then he does it with a better grace + than Aristotle, upon whom death presses with a double weight, both of + itself and from so long a premeditation; and, therefore, it was the + opinion of Caesar, that the least premeditated death was the easiest and + the most happy: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Plus dolet quam necesse est, qui ante dolet, quam necesse est.” + + [“He grieves more than is necessary, who grieves before it is + necessary.”—Seneca, Ep., 98.] +</pre> + <p> + The sharpness of this imagination springs from our curiosity: ‘tis + thus we ever impede ourselves, desiring to anticipate and regulate natural + prescripts. It is only for the doctors to dine worse for it, when in the + best health, and to frown at the image of death; the common sort stand in + need of no remedy or consolation, but just in the shock, and when the blow + comes; and consider on’t no more than just what they endure. Is it + not then, as we say, that the stolidity and want of apprehension in the + vulgar give them that patience m present evils, and that profound + carelessness of future sinister accidents? That their souls, in being more + gross and dull, are less penetrable and not so easily moved? If it be so, + let us henceforth, in God’s name, teach nothing but ignorance; + ‘tis the utmost fruit the sciences promise us, to which this + stolidity so gently leads its disciples. + </p> + <p> + We have no want of good masters, interpreters of natural simplicity. + Socrates shall be one; for, as I remember, he speaks something to this + purpose to the judges who sat upon his life and death. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [That which follows is taken from the Apology of Socrates in Plato, + chap. 17, &c.] +</pre> + <p> + “I am afraid, my masters, that if I entreat you not to put me to + death, I shall confirm the charge of my accusers, which is, that I pretend + to be wiser than others, as having some more secret knowledge of things + that are above and below us. I have neither frequented nor known death, + nor have ever seen any person that has tried its qualities, from whom to + inform myself. Such as fear it, presuppose they know it; as for my part, I + neither know what it is, nor what they do in the other world. Death is, + peradventure, an indifferent thing; peradventure, a thing to be desired. + ‘Tis nevertheless to be believed, if it be a transmigration from one + place to another, that it is a bettering of one’s condition to go + and live with so many great persons deceased, and to be exempt from having + any more to do with unjust and corrupt judges; if it be an annihilation of + our being, ‘tis yet a bettering of one’s condition to enter + into a long and peaceable night; we find nothing more sweet in life than + quiet repose and a profound sleep without dreams. The things that I know + to be evil, as to injure one’s neighbour and to disobey one’s + superior, whether it be God or man, I carefully avoid; such as I do not + know whether they be good or evil, I cannot fear them. If I am to die and + leave you alive, the gods alone only know whether it will go better with + you or with me. Wherefore, as to what concerns me, you may do as you shall + think fit. But according to my method of advising just and profitable + things, I say that you will do your consciences more right to set me at + liberty, unless you see further into my cause than I do; and, judging + according to my past actions, both public and private, according to my + intentions, and according to the profit that so many of our citizens, both + young and old, daily extract from my conversation, and the fruit that you + all reap from me, you cannot more duly acquit yourselves towards my merit + than in ordering that, my poverty considered, I should be maintained at + the Prytanaeum, at the public expense, a thing that I have often known + you, with less reason, grant to others. Do not impute it to obstinacy or + disdain that I do not, according to the custom, supplicate and go about to + move you to commiseration. I have both friends and kindred, not being, as + Homer says, begotten of wood or of stone, no more than others, who might + well present themselves before you with tears and mourning, and I have + three desolate children with whom to move you to compassion; but I should + do a shame to our city at the age I am, and in the reputation of wisdom + which is now charged against me, to appear in such an abject form. What + would men say of the other Athenians? I have always admonished those who + have frequented my lectures, not to redeem their lives by an unbecoming + action; and in the wars of my country, at Amphipolis, Potidea, Delia, and + other expeditions where I have been, I have effectually manifested how far + I was from securing my safety by my shame. I should, moreover, compromise + your duty, and should invite you to unbecoming things; for ‘tis not + for my prayers to persuade you, but for the pure and solid reasons of + justice. You have sworn to the gods to keep yourselves upright; and it + would seem as if I suspected you, or would recriminate upon you that I do + not believe that you are so; and I should testify against myself, not to + believe them as I ought, mistrusting their conduct, and not purely + committing my affair into their hands. I wholly rely upon them; and hold + myself assured they will do in this what shall be most fit both for you + and for me: good men, whether living or dead, have no reason to fear the + gods.” + </p> + <p> + Is not this an innocent child’s pleading of an unimaginable + loftiness, true, frank, and just, unexampled?—and in what a + necessity employed! Truly, he had very good reason to prefer it before + that which the great orator Lysias had penned for him: admirably couched, + indeed, in the judiciary style, but unworthy of so noble a criminal. Had a + suppliant voice been heard out of the mouth of Socrates, that lofty virtue + had struck sail in the height of its glory; and ought his rich and + powerful nature to have committed her defence to art, and, in her highest + proof, have renounced truth and simplicity, the ornaments of his speaking, + to adorn and deck herself with the embellishments of figures and the + flourishes of a premeditated speech? He did very wisely, and like himself, + not to corrupt the tenor of an incorrupt life, and so sacred an image of + the human form, to spin out his decrepitude another year, and to betray + the immortal memory of that glorious end. He owed his life not to himself, + but to the example of the world; had it not been a public damage, that he + should have concluded it after a lazy and obscure manner? Assuredly, that + careless and indifferent consideration of his death deserved that + posterity should consider it so much the more, as indeed they did; and + there is nothing so just in justice than that which fortune ordained for + his recommendation; for the Athenians abominated all those who had been + causers of his death to such a degree, that they avoided them as + excommunicated persons, and looked upon everything as polluted that had + been touched by them; no one would wash with them in the public baths, + none would salute or own acquaintance with them: so that, at last, unable + longer to support this public hatred, they hanged themselves. + </p> + <p> + If any one shall think that, amongst so many other examples that I had to + choose out of in the sayings of Socrates for my present purpose, I have + made an ill choice of this, and shall judge this discourse of his elevated + above common conceptions, I must tell them that I have properly selected + it; for I am of another opinion, and hold it to be a discourse, in rank + and simplicity, much below and behind common conceptions. He represents, + in an inartificial boldness and infantine security, the pure and first + impression and ignorance of nature; for it is to be believed that we have + naturally a fear of pain, but not of death, by reason of itself; ‘tis + a part of our being, and no less essential than living. + </p> + <p> + To what end should nature have begotten in us a hatred to it and a horror + of it, considering that it is of so great utility to her in maintaining + the succession and vicissitude of her works? and that in this universal + republic, it conduces more to birth and augmentation than to loss or ruin? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sic rerum summa novatur.” + + “Mille animas una necata dedit.” + </pre> + <p> + “The failing of one life is the passage to a thousand other lives.” + </p> + <p> + Nature has imprinted in beasts the care of themselves and of their + conservation; they proceed so far as hitting or hurting to be timorous of + being worse, of themselves, of our haltering and beating them, accidents + subject to their sense and experience; but that we should kill them, they + cannot fear, nor have they the faculty to imagine and conclude such a + thing as death; it is said, indeed, that we see them not only cheerfully + undergo it, horses for the most part neighing and swans singing when they + die, but, moreover, seek it at need, of which elephants have given many + examples. + </p> + <p> + Besides, the method of arguing, of which Socrates here makes use, is it + not equally admirable both in simplicity and vehemence? Truly it is much + more easy to speak like Aristotle and to live like Caesar than to speak + and live as Socrates did; there lies the extreme degree of perfection and + difficulty; art cannot reach it. Now, our faculties are not so trained up; + we do not try, we do not know them; we invest ourselves with those of + others, and let our own lie idle; as some one may say of me, that I have + here only made a nosegay of foreign flowers, having furnished nothing of + my own but the thread to tie them. + </p> + <p> + Certainly I have so far yielded to public opinion, that those borrowed + ornaments accompany me; but I do not mean that they shall cover me and + hide me; that is quite contrary to my design, who desire to make a show of + nothing but what is my own, and what is my own by nature; and had I taken + my own advice, I had at all hazards spoken purely alone, I more and more + load myself every day, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [In fact, the first edition of the Essays (Bordeaux, 1580) has very + few quotations. These became more numerous in the edition of 1588; + but the multitude of classical texts which at times encumber + Montaigne’s text, only dates from the posthumous edition of 1595, he + had made these collections in the four last years of his life, as an + amusement of his “idleness.”—Le Clerc. They grow, however, more + sparing in the Third Book.] +</pre> + <p> + beyond my purpose and first method, upon the account of idleness and the + humour of the age. If it misbecome me, as I believe it does, ‘tis no + matter; it may be of use to some others. Such there are who quote Plato + and Homer, who never saw either of them; and I also have taken things out + of places far enough distant from their source. Without pains and without + learning, having a thousand volumes about me in the place where I write, I + can presently borrow, if I please, from a dozen such scrap-gatherers, + people about whom I do not much trouble myself, wherewith to trick up this + treatise of Physiognomy; there needs no more but a preliminary epistle of + a German to stuff me with quotations. And so it is we go in quest of a + tickling story to cheat the foolish world. These lumber pies of + commonplaces, wherewith so many furnish their studies, are of little use + but to common subjects, and serve but to show us, and not to direct us: a + ridiculous fruit of learning, that Socrates so pleasantly discusses + against Euthydemus. I have seen books made of things that were never + either studied or understood; the author committing to several of his + learned friends the examination of this and t’other matter to + compile it, contenting himself, for his share, with having projected the + design, and by his industry to have tied together this faggot of unknown + provisions; the ink and paper, at least, are his. This is to buy or borrow + a book, and not to make one; ‘tis to show men not that he can make a + book, but that, whereof they may be in doubt, he cannot make one. A + president, where I was, boasted that he had amassed together two hundred + and odd commonplaces in one of his judgments; in telling which, he + deprived himself of the glory he had got by it: in my opinion, a + pusillanimous and absurd vanity for such a subject and such a person. I do + the contrary; and amongst so many borrowed things, am glad if I can steal + one, disguising and altering it for some new service; at the hazard of + having it said that ‘tis for want of understanding its natural use; + I give it some particular touch of my own hand, to the end it may not be + so absolutely foreign. These set their thefts in show and value themselves + upon them, and so have more credit with the laws than I have: we + naturalists I think that there is a great and incomparable preference in + the honour of invention over that of allegation. + </p> + <p> + If I would have spoken by learning, I had spoken sooner; I had written of + the time nearer to my studies, when I had more wit and better memory, and + should sooner have trusted to the vigour of that age than of this, would I + have made a business of writing. And what if this gracious favour —[His + acquaintance with Mademoiselle de Gournay.]—which Fortune has lately + offered me upon the account of this work, had befallen me in that time of + my life, instead of this, wherein ‘tis equally desirable to possess, + soon to be lost! Two of my acquaintance, great men in this faculty, have, + in my opinion, lost half, in refusing to publish at forty years old, that + they might stay till threescore. Maturity has its defects as well as green + years, and worse; and old age is as unfit for this kind of business as any + other. He who commits his decrepitude to the press plays the fool if he + think to squeeze anything out thence that does not relish of dreaming, + dotage, and drivelling; the mind grows costive and thick in growing old. I + deliver my ignorance in pomp and state, and my learning meagrely and + poorly; this accidentally and accessorily, that principally and expressly; + and write specifically of nothing but nothing, nor of any science but of + that inscience. I have chosen a time when my life, which I am to give an + account of, lies wholly before me; what remains has more to do with death; + and of my death itself, should I find it a prating death, as others do, I + would willingly give an account at my departure. + </p> + <p> + Socrates was a perfect exemplar in all great qualities, and I am vexed + that he had so deformed a face and body as is said, and so unsuitable to + the beauty of his soul, himself being so amorous and such an admirer of + beauty: Nature did him wrong. There is nothing more probable than the + conformity and relation of the body to the soul: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ipsi animi magni refert, quali in corpore locati sint: multo enim a + corpore existunt, qux acuant mentem: multa qua obtundant;” + + [“It is of great consequence in what bodies minds are placed, for + many things spring from the body that may sharpen the mind, and many + that may blunt it.”—Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., i. 33.] +</pre> + <p> + this refers to an unnatural ugliness and deformity of limbs; but we call + ugliness also an unseemliness at first sight, which is principally lodged + in the face, and disgusts us on very slight grounds: by the complexion, a + spot, a rugged countenance, for some reasons often wholly inexplicable, in + members nevertheless of good symmetry and perfect. The deformity, that + clothed a very beautiful soul in La Boetie, was of this predicament: that + superficial ugliness, which nevertheless is always the most imperious, is + of least prejudice to the state of the mind, and of little certainty in + the opinion of men. The other, which is never properly called deformity, + being more substantial, strikes deeper in. Not every shoe of smooth + shining leather, but every shoe well-made, shews the shape of the foot + within. As Socrates said of his, it betrayed equal ugliness in his soul, + had he not corrected it by education; but in saying so, I hold he was in + jest, as his custom was; never so excellent a soul formed itself. + </p> + <p> + I cannot often enough repeat how great an esteem I have for beauty, that + potent and advantageous quality; he (La Boetie) called it “a short + tyranny,” and Plato, “the privilege of nature.” We have + nothing that excels it in reputation; it has the first place in the + commerce of men; it presents itself in the front; seduces and prepossesses + our judgments with great authority and wonderful impression. Phryne had + lost her cause in the hands of an excellent advocate, if, opening her + robe, she had not corrupted her judges by the lustre of her beauty. And I + find that Cyrus, Alexander, and Caesar, the three masters of the world, + never neglected beauty in their greatest affairs; no more did the first + Scipio. The same word in Greek signifies both fair and good; and the Holy + Word often says good when it means fair: I should willingly maintain the + priority in good things, according to the song that Plato calls an idle + thing, taken out of some ancient poet: “health, beauty, riches.” + Aristotle says that the right of command appertains to the beautiful; and + that, when there is a person whose beauty comes near the images of the + gods, veneration is equally due to him. To him who asked why people + oftener and longer frequent the company of handsome persons: “That + question,” said he, “is only to be asked by the blind.” + Most of the philosophers, and the greatest, paid for their schooling, and + acquired wisdom by the favour and mediation of their beauty. Not only in + the men that serve me, but also in the beasts, I consider it within two + fingers’ breadth of goodness. + </p> + <p> + And yet I fancy that those features and moulds of face, and those + lineaments, by which men guess at our internal complexions and our + fortunes to come, is a thing that does not very directly and simply lie + under the chapter of beauty and deformity, no more than every good odour + and serenity of air promises health, nor all fog and stink infection in a + time of pestilence. Such as accuse ladies of contradicting their beauty by + their manners, do not always hit right; for, in a face which is none of + the best, there may dwell some air of probity and trust; as, on the + contrary, I have read, betwixt two beautiful eyes, menaces of a dangerous + and malignant nature. There are favourable physiognomies, so that in a + crowd of victorious enemies, you shall presently choose, amongst men you + never saw before, one rather than another to whom to surrender, and with + whom to intrust your life; and yet not properly upon the consideration of + beauty. + </p> + <p> + A person’s look is but a feeble warranty; and yet it is something + considerable too; and if I had to lash them, I would most severely scourge + the wicked ones who belie and betray the promises that nature has planted + in their foreheads; I should with greater severity punish malice under a + mild and gentle aspect. It seems as if there were some lucky and some + unlucky faces; and I believe there is some art in distinguishing affable + from merely simple faces, severe from rugged, malicious from pensive, + scornful from melancholic, and such other bordering qualities. There are + beauties which are not only haughty, but sour, and others that are not + only gentle, but more than that, insipid; to prognosticate from them + future events is a matter that I shall leave undecided. + </p> + <p> + I have, as I have said elsewhere as to my own concern, simply and + implicitly embraced this ancient rule, “That we cannot fail in + following Nature,” and that the sovereign precept is to conform + ourselves to her. I have not, as Socrates did, corrected my natural + composition by the force of reason, and have not in the least disturbed my + inclination by art; I have let myself go as I came: I contend not; my two + principal parts live, of their own accord, in peace and good intelligence, + but my nurse’s milk, thank God, was tolerably wholesome and good. + Shall I say this by the way, that I see in greater esteem than ‘tis + worth, and in use solely among ourselves, a certain image of scholastic + probity, a slave to precepts, and fettered with hope and fear? I would + have it such as that laws and religions should not make, but perfect and + authorise it; that finds it has wherewithal to support itself without + help, born and rooted in us from the seed of universal reason, imprinted + in every man by nature. That reason which strengthens Socrates from his + vicious bend renders him obedient to the gods and men of authority in his + city: courageous in death, not because his soul is immortal, but because + he is mortal. ‘Tis a doctrine ruinous to all government, and much + more hurtful than ingenious and subtle, which persuades the people that a + religious belief is alone sufficient, and without conduct, to satisfy the + divine justice. Use demonstrates to us a vast distinction betwixt devotion + and conscience. + </p> + <p> + I have a favourable aspect, both in form and in interpretation: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quid dixi, habere me? imo habui, Chreme.” + + [“What did I say? that I have? no, Chremes, I had.” + —Terence, Heaut., act i., sec. 2, v. 42.] + + “Heu! tantum attriti corporis ossa vides;” + + [“Alas! of a worn body thou seest only the bones”] +</pre> + <p> + and that makes a quite contrary show to that of Socrates. It has often + befallen me, that upon the mere credit of my presence and air, persons who + had no manner of knowledge of me have put a very great confidence in me, + whether in their own affairs or mine; and I have in foreign parts thence + obtained singular and rare favours. But the two following examples are, + peradventure, worth particular relation. A certain person planned to + surprise my house and me in it; his scheme was to come to my gates alone, + and to be importunate to be let in. I knew him by name, and had fair + reason to repose confidence in him, as being my neighbour and something + related to me. I caused the gates to be opened to him, as I do to every + one. There I found him, with every appearance of alarm, his horse panting + and very tired. He entertained me with this story: “That, about half + a league off, he had met with a certain enemy of his, whom I also knew, + and had heard of their quarrel; that his enemy had given him a very brisk + chase, and that having been surprised in disorder, and his party being too + weak, he had fled to my gates for refuge; and that he was in great trouble + for his followers, whom (he said) he concluded to be all either dead or + taken.” I innocently did my best to comfort, assure, and refresh + him. Shortly after came four or five of his soldiers, who presented + themselves in the same countenance and affright, to get in too; and after + them more, and still more, very well mounted and armed, to the number of + five-and-twenty or thirty, pretending that they had the enemy at their + heels. This mystery began a little to awaken my suspicion; I was not + ignorant what an age I lived in, how much my house might be envied, and I + had several examples of others of my acquaintance to whom a mishap of this + sort had happened. But thinking there was nothing to be got by having + begun to do a courtesy, unless I went through with it, and that I could + not disengage myself from them without spoiling all, I let myself go the + most natural and simple way, as I always do, and invited them all to come + in. And in truth I am naturally very little inclined to suspicion and + distrust; I willingly incline towards excuse and the gentlest + interpretation; I take men according to the common order, and do not more + believe in those perverse and unnatural inclinations, unless convinced by + manifest evidence, than I do in monsters and miracles; and I am, moreover, + a man who willingly commit myself to Fortune, and throw myself headlong + into her arms; and I have hitherto found more reason to applaud than to + blame myself for so doing, having ever found her more discreet about, and + a greater friend to, my affairs than I am myself. There are some actions + in my life whereof the conduct may justly be called difficult, or, if you + please, prudent; of these, supposing the third part to have been my own, + doubtless the other two-thirds were absolutely hers. We make, methinks, a + mistake in that we do not enough trust Heaven with our affairs, and + pretend to more from our own conduct than appertains to us; and therefore + it is that our designs so often miscarry. Heaven is jealous of the extent + that we attribute to the right of human prudence above its own, and cuts + it all the shorter by how much the more we amplify it. The last comers + remained on horseback in my courtyard, whilst their leader, who was with + me in the parlour, would not have his horse put up in the stable, saying + he should immediately retire, so soon as he had news of his men. He saw + himself master of his enterprise, and nothing now remained but its + execution. He has since several times said (for he was not ashamed to tell + the story himself) that my countenance and frankness had snatched the + treachery out of his hands. He again mounted his horse; his followers, who + had their eyes intent upon him, to see when he would give the signal, + being very much astonished to find him come away and leave his prey behind + him. + </p> + <p> + Another time, relying upon some truce just published in the army, I took a + journey through a very ticklish country. I had not ridden far, but I was + discovered, and two or three parties of horse, from various places, were + sent out to seize me; one of them overtook me on the third day, and I was + attacked by fifteen or twenty gentlemen in vizors, followed at a distance + by a band of foot-soldiers. I was taken, withdrawn into the thick of a + neighbouring forest, dismounted, robbed, my trunks rifled, my money-box + taken, and my horses and equipage divided amongst new masters. We had, in + this copse, a very long contest about my ransom, which they set so high, + that it was manifest that I was not known to them. They were, moreover, in + a very great debate about my life; and, in truth, there were various + circumstances that clearly showed the danger I was in: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tunc animis opus, AEnea, tunc pectore firmo.” + + [“Then, AEneas, there is need of courage, of a firm heart.” + —AEneid, vi. 261.] +</pre> + <p> + I still insisted upon the truce, too willing they should have the gain of + what they had already taken from me, which was not to be despised, without + promise of any other ransom. After two or three hours that we had been in + this place, and that they had mounted me upon a horse that was not likely + to run from them, and committed me to the guard of fifteen or twenty + harquebusiers, and dispersed my servants to others, having given order + that they should carry us away prisoners several ways, and I being already + got some two or three musket-shots from the place, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Jam prece Pollucis, jam Castoris, implorata,” + + [“By a prayer addressed now to Pollux, now to Castor.” + —Catullus, lxvi. 65.] +</pre> + <p> + behold a sudden and unexpected alteration; I saw the chief return to me + with gentler language, making search amongst the troopers for my scattered + property, and causing as much as could be recovered to be restored to me, + even to my money-box; but the best present they made was my liberty, for + the rest did not much concern me at that time. The true cause of so sudden + a change, and of this reconsideration, without any apparent impulse, and + of so miraculous a repentance, in such a time, in a planned and deliberate + enterprise, and become just by usage (for, at the first dash, I plainly + confessed to them of what party I was, and whither I was going), truly, I + do not yet rightly understand. The most prominent amongst them, who pulled + off his vizor and told me his name, repeatedly told me at the time, over + and over again, that I owed my deliverance to my countenance, and the + liberty and boldness of my speech, that rendered me unworthy of such a + misadventure, and should secure me from its repetition. ‘Tis + possible that the Divine goodness willed to make use of this vain + instrument for my preservation; and it, moreover, defended me the next day + from other and worse ambushes, of which these my assailants had given me + warning. The last of these two gentlemen is yet living himself to tell the + story; the first was killed not long ago. + </p> + <p> + If my face did not answer for me, if men did not read in my eyes and in my + voice the innocence of intention, I had not lived so long without quarrels + and without giving offence, seeing the indiscreet whatever comes into my + head, and to judge so rashly of things. This way may, with reason, appear + uncivil, and ill adapted to our way of conversation; but I have never met + with any who judged it outrageous or malicious, or that took offence at my + liberty, if he had it from my own mouth; words repeated have another kind + of sound and sense. Nor do I hate any person; and I am so slow to offend, + that I cannot do it, even upon the account of reason itself; and when + occasion has required me to sentence criminals, I have rather chosen to + fail in point of justice than to do it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut magis peccari nolim, quam satis animi + ad vindicanda peccata habeam.” + + [“So that I had rather men should not commit faults than that I + should have sufficient courage to condemn them.”—-Livy, xxxix. 21.] +</pre> + <p> + Aristotle, ‘tis said, was reproached for having been too merciful to + a wicked man: “I was indeed,” said he, “merciful to the + man, but not to his wickedness.” Ordinary judgments exasperate + themselves to punishment by the horror of the fact: but it cools mine; the + horror of the first murder makes me fear a second; and the deformity of + the first cruelty makes me abhor all imitation of it.’ That may be + applied to me, who am but a Squire of Clubs, which was said of Charillus, + king of Sparta: “He cannot be good, seeing he is not evil even to + the wicked.” Or thus—for Plutarch delivers it both these ways, + as he does a thousand other things, variously and contradictorily—“He + must needs be good, because he is so even to the wicked.” Even as in + lawful actions I dislike to employ myself when for such as are displeased + at it; so, to say the truth, in unlawful things I do not make conscience + enough of employing myself when it is for such as are willing. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0106" id="link2HCH0106"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII——OF EXPERIENCE + </h2> + <p> + There is no desire more natural than that of knowledge. We try all ways + that can lead us to it; where reason is wanting, we therein employ + experience, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Per varios usus artem experientia fecit, + Exemplo monstrante viam,” + + [“By various trials experience created art, example shewing the + way.”—Manilius, i. 59.] +</pre> + <p> + which is a means much more weak and cheap; but truth is so great a thing + that we ought not to disdain any mediation that will guide us to it. + Reason has so many forms that we know not to which to take; experience has + no fewer; the consequence we would draw from the comparison of events is + unsure, by reason they are always unlike. There is no quality so universal + in this image of things as diversity and variety. Both the Greeks and the + Latins and we, for the most express example of similitude, employ that of + eggs; and yet there have been men, particularly one at Delphos, who could + distinguish marks of difference amongst eggs so well that he never mistook + one for another, and having many hens, could tell which had laid it. + </p> + <p> + Dissimilitude intrudes itself of itself in our works; no art can arrive at + perfect similitude: neither Perrozet nor any other can so carefully polish + and blanch the backs of his cards that some gamesters will not distinguish + them by seeing them only shuffled by another. Resemblance does not so much + make one as difference makes another. Nature has obliged herself to make + nothing other that was not unlike. + </p> + <p> + And yet I am not much pleased with his opinion, who thought by the + multitude of laws to curb the authority of judges in cutting out for them + their several parcels; he was not aware that there is as much liberty and + latitude in the interpretation of laws as in their form; and they but fool + themselves, who think to lessen and stop our disputes by recalling us to + the express words of the Bible: forasmuch as our mind does not find the + field less spacious wherein to controvert the sense of another than to + deliver his own; and as if there were less animosity and tartness in + commentary than in invention. We see how much he was mistaken, for we have + more laws in France than all the rest of the world put together, and more + than would be necessary for the government of all the worlds of Epicurus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ut olim flagitiis, sic nunc legibus, laboramus.” + + [“As we were formerly by crimes, so we are now overburdened by + laws.”—Tacitus, Annal., iii. 25.] +</pre> + <p> + and yet we have left so much to the opinions and decisions of our judges + that there never was so full a liberty or so full a license. What have our + legislators gained by culling out a hundred thousand particular cases, and + by applying to these a hundred thousand laws? This number holds no manner + of proportion with the infinite diversity of human actions; the + multiplication of our inventions will never arrive at the variety of + examples; add to these a hundred times as many more, it will still not + happen that, of events to come, there shall one be found that, in this + vast number of millions of events so chosen and recorded, shall so tally + with any other one, and be so exactly coupled and matched with it that + there will not remain some circumstance and diversity which will require a + diverse judgment. There is little relation betwixt our actions, which are + in perpetual mutation, and fixed and immutable laws; the most to be + desired are those that are the most rare, the most simple and general; and + I am even of opinion that we had better have none at all than to have them + in so prodigious a number as we have. + </p> + <p> + Nature always gives them better and happier than those we make ourselves; + witness the picture of the Golden Age of the Poets and the state wherein + we see nations live who have no other. Some there are, who for their only + judge take the first passer-by that travels along their mountains, to + determine their cause; and others who, on their market day, choose out + some one amongst them upon the spot to decide their controversies. What + danger would there be that the wisest amongst us should so determine ours, + according to occurrences and at sight, without obligation of example and + consequence? For every foot its own shoe. King Ferdinand, sending colonies + to the Indies, wisely provided that they should not carry along with them + any students of jurisprudence, for fear lest suits should get footing in + that new world, as being a science in its own nature, breeder of + altercation and division; judging with Plato, “that lawyers and + physicians are bad institutions of a country.” + </p> + <p> + Whence does it come to pass that our common language, so easy for all + other uses, becomes obscure and unintelligible in wills and contracts? and + that he who so clearly expresses himself in whatever else he speaks or + writes, cannot find in these any way of declaring himself that does not + fall into doubt and contradiction? if it be not that the princes of that + art, applying themselves with a peculiar attention to cull out portentous + words and to contrive artificial sentences, have so weighed every + syllable, and so thoroughly sifted every sort of quirking connection that + they are now confounded and entangled in the infinity of figures and + minute divisions, and can no more fall within any rule or prescription, + nor any certain intelligence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Confusum est, quidquid usque in pulverem sectum est.” + + [“Whatever is beaten into powder is undistinguishable (confused).” + —Seneca, Ep., 89.] +</pre> + <p> + As you see children trying to bring a mass of quicksilver to a certain + number of parts, the more they press and work it and endeavour to reduce + it to their own will, the more they irritate the liberty of this generous + metal; it evades their endeavour and sprinkles itself into so many + separate bodies as frustrate all reckoning; so is it here, for in + subdividing these subtilties we teach men to increase their doubts; they + put us into a way of extending and diversifying difficulties, and lengthen + and disperse them. In sowing and retailing questions they make the world + fructify and increase in uncertainties and disputes, as the earth is made + fertile by being crumbled and dug deep. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Difficultatem facit doctrina.” + + [“Learning (Doctrine) begets difficulty.” + —Quintilian, Insat. Orat., x. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + We doubted of Ulpian, and are still now more perplexed with Bartolus and + Baldus. We should efface the trace of this innumerable diversity of + opinions; not adorn ourselves with it, and fill posterity with crotchets. + I know not what to say to it; but experience makes it manifest, that so + many interpretations dissipate truth and break it. Aristotle wrote to be + understood; if he could not do this, much less will another that is not so + good at it; and a third than he, who expressed his own thoughts. We open + the matter, and spill it in pouring out: of one subject we make a + thousand, and in multiplying and subdividing them, fall again into the + infinity of atoms of Epicurus. Never did two men make the same judgment of + the same thing; and ‘tis impossible to find two opinions exactly + alike, not only in several men, but in the same man, at diverse hours. I + often find matter of doubt in things of which the commentary has disdained + to take notice; I am most apt to stumble in an even country, like some + horses that I have known, that make most trips in the smoothest way. + </p> + <p> + Who will not say that glosses augment doubts and ignorance, since there’s + no book to be found, either human or divine, which the world busies itself + about, whereof the difficulties are cleared by interpretation. The + hundredth commentator passes it on to the next, still more knotty and + perplexed than he found it. When were we ever agreed amongst ourselves: + “This book has enough; there is now no more to be said about it”? + This is most apparent in the law; we give the authority of law to infinite + doctors, infinite decrees, and as many interpretations; yet do we find any + end of the need of interpretating? is there, for all that, any progress or + advancement towards peace, or do we stand in need of any fewer advocates + and judges than when this great mass of law was yet in its first infancy? + On the contrary, we darken and bury intelligence; we can no longer + discover it, but at the mercy of so many fences and barriers. Men do not + know the natural disease of the mind; it does nothing but ferret and + inquire, and is eternally wheeling, juggling, and perplexing itself like + silkworms, and then suffocates itself in its work; “Mus in pice.”—[“A + mouse in a pitch barrel.”]—It thinks it discovers at a great + distance, I know not what glimpses of light and imaginary truth: but + whilst running to it, so many difficulties, hindrances, and new + inquisitions cross it, that it loses its way, and is made drunk with the + motion: not much unlike AEsop’s dogs, that seeing something like a + dead body floating in the sea, and not being able to approach it, set to + work to drink the water and lay the passage dry, and so choked themselves. + To which what one Crates’ said of the writings of Heraclitus falls + pat enough, “that they required a reader who could swim well,” + so that the depth and weight of his learning might not overwhelm and + stifle him. ‘Tis nothing but particular weakness that makes us + content with what others or ourselves have found out in this chase after + knowledge: one of better understanding will not rest so content; there is + always room for one to follow, nay, even for ourselves; and another road; + there is no end of our inquisitions; our end is in the other world. + ‘Tis a sign either that the mind has grown shortsighted when it is + satisfied, or that it has got weary. No generous mind can stop in itself; + it will still tend further and beyond its power; it has sallies beyond its + effects; if it do not advance and press forward, and retire, and rush and + wheel about, ‘tis but half alive; its pursuits are without bound or + method; its aliment is admiration, the chase, ambiguity, which Apollo + sufficiently declared in always speaking to us in a double, obscure, and + oblique sense: not feeding, but amusing and puzzling us. ‘Tis an + irregular and perpetual motion, without model and without aim; its + inventions heat, pursue, and interproduce one another: + </p> + <p> + Estienne de la Boetie; thus translated by Cotton: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “So in a running stream one wave we see + After another roll incessantly, + And as they glide, each does successively + Pursue the other, each the other fly + By this that’s evermore pushed on, and this + By that continually preceded is: + The water still does into water swill, + Still the same brook, but different water still.” + </pre> + <p> + There is more ado to interpret interpretations than to interpret things, + and more books upon books than upon any other subject; we do nothing but + comment upon one another. Every place swarms with commentaries; of authors + there is great scarcity. Is it not the principal and most reputed + knowledge of our later ages to understand the learned? Is it not the + common and final end of all studies? Our opinions are grafted upon one + another; the first serves as a stock to the second, the second to the + third, and so forth; thus step by step we climb the ladder; whence it + comes to pass that he who is mounted highest has often more honour than + merit, for he is got up but an inch upon the shoulders of the last, but + one. + </p> + <p> + How often, and, peradventure, how foolishly, have I extended my book to + make it speak of itself; foolishly, if for no other reason but this, that + it should remind me of what I say of others who do the same: that the + frequent amorous glances they cast upon their work witness that their + hearts pant with self-love, and that even the disdainful severity + wherewith they scourge them are but the dandlings and caressings of + maternal love; as Aristotle, whose valuing and undervaluing himself often + spring from the same air of arrogance. My own excuse is, that I ought in + this to have more liberty than others, forasmuch as I write specifically + of myself and of my writings, as I do of my other actions; that my theme + turns upon itself; but I know not whether others will accept this excuse. + </p> + <p> + I observed in Germany that Luther has left as many divisions and disputes + about the doubt of his opinions, and more, than he himself raised upon the + Holy Scriptures. Our contest is verbal: I ask what nature is, what + pleasure, circle, and substitution are? the question is about words, and + is answered accordingly. A stone is a body; but if a man should further + urge: “And what is a body?”—“Substance”; + “And what is substance?” and so on, he would drive the + respondent to the end of his Calepin. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Calepin (Ambrogio da Calepio), a famous lexicographer of the + fifteenth century. His Polyglot Dictionary became so famous, that + Calepin became a common appellation for a lexicon] +</pre> + <p> + We exchange one word for another, and often for one less understood. I + better know what man is than I know what Animal is, or Mortal, or + Rational. To satisfy one doubt, they give me three; ‘tis the Hydra’s + head. Socrates asked Menon, “What virtue was.” “There + is,” says Menon, “the virtue of a man and of a woman, of a + magistrate and of a private person, of an old man and of a child.” + “Very fine,” cried Socrates, “we were in quest of one + virtue, and thou hast brought us a whole swarm.” We put one + question, and they return us a whole hive. As no event, no face, entirely + resembles another, so do they not entirely differ: an ingenious mixture of + nature. If our faces were not alike, we could not distinguish man from + beast; if they were not unlike, we could not distinguish one man from + another; all things hold by some similitude; every example halts, and the + relation which is drawn from experience is always faulty and imperfect. + Comparisons are ever-coupled at one end or other: so do the laws serve, + and are fitted to every one of our affairs, by some wrested, biassed, and + forced interpretation. + </p> + <p> + Since the ethic laws, that concern the particular duty of every one in + himself, are so hard to be framed, as we see they are, ‘tis no + wonder if those which govern so many particulars are much more so. Do but + consider the form of this justice that governs us; ‘tis a true + testimony of human weakness, so full is it of error and contradiction. + What we find to be favour and severity in justice—and we find so + much of them both, that I know not whether the medium is as often met with + are sickly and unjust members of the very body and essence of justice. + Some country people have just brought me news in great haste, that they + presently left in a forest of mine a man with a hundred wounds upon him, + who was yet breathing, and begged of them water for pity’s sake, and + help to carry him to some place of relief; they tell me they durst not go + near him, but have run away, lest the officers of justice should catch + them there; and as happens to those who are found near a murdered person, + they should be called in question about this accident, to their utter + ruin, having neither money nor friends to defend their innocence. What + could I have said to these people? ‘Tis certain that this office of + humanity would have brought them into trouble. + </p> + <p> + How many innocent people have we known that have been punished, and this + without the judge’s fault; and how many that have not arrived at our + knowledge? This happened in my time: certain men were condemned to die for + a murder committed; their sentence, if not pronounced, at least determined + and concluded on. The judges, just in the nick, are informed by the + officers of an inferior court hard by, that they have some men in custody, + who have directly confessed the murder, and made an indubitable discovery + of all the particulars of the fact. Yet it was gravely deliberated whether + or not they ought to suspend the execution of the sentence already passed + upon the first accused: they considered the novelty of the example + judicially, and the consequence of reversing judgments; that the sentence + was passed, and the judges deprived of repentance; and in the result, + these poor devils were sacrificed by the forms of justice. Philip, or some + other, provided against a like inconvenience after this manner. He had + condemned a man in a great fine towards another by an absolute judgment. + The truth some time after being discovered, he found that he had passed an + unjust sentence. On one side was the reason of the cause; on the other + side, the reason of the judicial forms: he in some sort satisfied both, + leaving the sentence in the state it was, and out of his own purse + recompensing the condemned party. But he had to do with a reparable + affair; my men were irreparably hanged. How many condemnations have I seen + more criminal than the crimes themselves? + </p> + <p> + All which makes me remember the ancient opinions, “That ‘tis + of necessity a man must do wrong by retail who will do right in gross; and + injustice in little things, who would come to do justice in great: that + human justice is formed after the model of physic, according to which, all + that is useful is also just and honest: and of what is held by the Stoics, + that Nature herself proceeds contrary to justice in most of her works: and + of what is received by the Cyrenaics, that there is nothing just of + itself, but that customs and laws make justice: and what the Theodorians + held that theft, sacrilege, and all sorts of uncleanness, are just in a + sage, if he knows them to be profitable to him.” There is no remedy: + I am in the same case that Alcibiades was, that I will never, if I can + help it, put myself into the hands of a man who may determine as to my + head, where my life and honour shall more depend upon the skill and + diligence of my attorney than on my own innocence. I would venture myself + with such justice as would take notice of my good deeds, as well as my + ill; where I had as much to hope as to fear: indemnity is not sufficient + pay to a man who does better than not to do amiss. Our justice presents to + us but one hand, and that the left hand, too; let him be who he may, he + shall be sure to come off with loss. + </p> + <p> + In China, of which kingdom the government and arts, without commerce with + or knowledge of ours, surpass our examples in several excellent features, + and of which the history teaches me how much greater and more various the + world is than either the ancients or we have been able to penetrate, the + officers deputed by the prince to visit the state of his provinces, as + they punish those who behave themselves ill in their charge, so do they + liberally reward those who have conducted themselves better than the + common sort, and beyond the necessity of their duty; these there present + themselves, not only to be approved but to get; not simply to be paid, but + to have a present made to them. + </p> + <p> + No judge, thank God, has ever yet spoken to me in the quality of a judge, + upon any account whatever, whether my own or that of a third party, + whether criminal or civil; nor no prison has ever received me, not even to + walk there. Imagination renders the very outside of a jail displeasing to + me; I am so enamoured of liberty, that should I be interdicted the access + to some corner of the Indies, I should live a little less at my ease; and + whilst I can find earth or air open elsewhere, I shall never lurk in any + place where I must hide myself. My God! how ill should I endure the + condition wherein I see so many people, nailed to a corner of the kingdom, + deprived of the right to enter the principal cities and courts, and the + liberty of the public roads, for having quarrelled with our laws. If those + under which I live should shake a finger at me by way of menace, I would + immediately go seek out others, let them be where they would. All my + little prudence in the civil wars wherein we are now engaged is employed + that they may not hinder my liberty of going and coming. + </p> + <p> + Now, the laws keep up their credit, not for being just, but because they + are laws; ‘tis the mystic foundation of their authority; they have + no other, and it well answers their purpose. They are often made by fools, + still oftener by men who, out of hatred to equality, fail in equity, but + always by men, vain and irresolute authors. There is nothing so much, nor + so grossly, nor so ordinarily faulty, as the laws. Whoever obeys them + because they are just, does not justly obey them as he ought. Our French + laws, by their irregularity and deformity, lend, in some sort, a helping + hand to the disorder and corruption that all manifest in their + dispensation and execution: the command is so perplexed and inconstant, + that it in some sort excuses alike disobedience and defect in the + interpretation, the administration and the observation of it. What fruit + then soever we may extract from experience, that will little advantage our + institution, which we draw from foreign examples, if we make so little + profit of that we have of our own, which is more familiar to us, and, + doubtless, sufficient to instruct us in that whereof we have need. I study + myself more than any other subject; ‘tis my metaphysic, my physic: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis deus hanc mundi temperet arte domum: + Qua venit exoriens, qua deficit: unde coactis + Cornibus in plenum menstrua luna redit + Unde salo superant venti, quid flamine captet + Eurus, et in nubes unde perennis aqua; + Sit ventura dies mundi quae subruat arces....” + </pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“What god may govern with skill this dwelling of the world? whence + rises the monthly moon, whither wanes she? how is it that her horns + are contracted and reopen? whence do winds prevail on the main? + what does the east wind court with its blasts? and whence are the + clouds perpetually supplied with water? is a day to come which may + undermine the world?”—Propertius, iii. 5, 26.] + + “Quaerite, quos agitat mundi labor.” + + [“Ask whom the cares of the world trouble”—Lucan, i. 417.] +</pre> + <p> + In this universality, I suffer myself to be ignorantly and negligently led + by the general law of the world: I shall know it well enough when I feel + it; my learning cannot make it alter its course; it will not change itself + for me; ‘tis folly to hope it, and a greater folly to concern one’s + self about it, seeing it is necessarily alike public and common. The + goodness and capacity of the governor ought absolutely to discharge us of + all care of the government: philosophical inquisitions and contemplations + serve for no other use but to increase our curiosity. The philosophers; + with great reason, send us back to the rules of nature; but they have + nothing to do with so sublime a knowledge; they falsify them, and present + us her face painted with too high and too adulterate a complexion, whence + spring so many different pictures of so uniform a subject. As she has + given us feet to walk with, so has she given us prudence to guide us in + life: not so ingenious, robust, and pompous a prudence as that of their + invention; but yet one that is easy, quiet, and salutary, and that very + well performs what the other promises, in him who has the good luck to + know how to employ it sincerely and regularly, that is to say, according + to nature. The most simply to commit one’s self to nature is to do + it most wisely. Oh, what a soft, easy, and wholesome pillow is ignorance + and incuriosity, whereon to repose a well-ordered head! + </p> + <p> + I had rather understand myself well in myself, than in Cicero. Of the + experience I have of myself, I find enough to make me wise, if I were but + a good scholar: whoever will call to mind the excess of his past anger, + and to what a degree that fever transported him, will see the deformity of + this passion better than in Aristotle, and conceive a more just hatred + against it; whoever will remember the ills he has undergone, those that + have threatened him, and the light occasions that have removed him from + one state to another, will by that prepare himself for future changes, and + the knowledge of his condition. The life of Caesar has no greater example + for us than our own: though popular and of command, ‘tis still a + life subject to all human accidents. Let us but listen to it; we apply to + ourselves all whereof we have principal need; whoever shall call to memory + how many and many times he has been mistaken in his own judgment, is he + not a great fool if he does not ever after suspect it? When I find myself + convinced, by the reason of another, of a false opinion, I do not so much + learn what he has said to me that is new and the particular ignorance—that + would be no great acquisition—as, in general, I learn my own + debility and the treachery of my understanding, whence I extract the + reformation of the whole mass. In all my other errors I do the same, and + find from this rule great utility to life; I regard not the species and + individual as a stone that I have stumbled at; I learn to suspect my steps + throughout, and am careful to place them right. To learn that a man has + said or done a foolish thing is nothing: a man must learn that he is + nothing but a fool, a much more ample, and important instruction. The + false steps that my memory has so often made, even then when it was most + secure and confident of itself, are not idly thrown away; it vainly swears + and assures me I shake my ears; the first opposition that is made to its + testimony puts me into suspense, and I durst not rely upon it in anything + of moment, nor warrant it in another person’s concerns: and were it + not that what I do for want of memory, others do more often for want of + good faith, I should always, in matter of fact, rather choose to take the + truth from another’s mouth than from my own. If every one would pry + into the effects and circumstances of the passions that sway him, as I + have done into those which I am most subject to, he would see them coming, + and would a little break their impetuosity and career; they do not always + seize us on a sudden; there is threatening and degrees + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fluctus uti primo coepit cum albescere vento, + Paulatim sese tollit mare, et altius undas + Erigit, inde imo consurgit ad aethera fundo.” + + [“As with the first wind the sea begins to foam, and swells, thence + higher swells, and higher raises the waves, till the ocean rises + from its depths to the sky.”—AEneid, vii. 528.] +</pre> + <p> + Judgment holds in me a magisterial seat; at least it carefully endeavours + to make it so: it leaves my appetites to take their own course, hatred and + friendship, nay, even that I bear to myself, without change or corruption; + if it cannot reform the other parts according to its own model, at least + it suffers not itself to be corrupted by them, but plays its game apart. + </p> + <p> + The advice to every one, “to know themselves,” should be of + important effect, since that god of wisdom and light’ caused it to + be written on the front of his temple,—[At Delphi]—as + comprehending all he had to advise us. Plato says also, that prudence is + no other thing than the execution of this ordinance; and Socrates minutely + verifies it in Xenophon. The difficulties and obscurity are not discerned + in any science but by those who are got into it; for a certain degree of + intelligence is required to be able to know that a man knows not, and we + must push against a door to know whether it be bolted against us or no: + whence this Platonic subtlety springs, that “neither they who know + are to enquire, forasmuch as they know; nor they who do not know, + forasmuch as to inquire they must know what they inquire of.” So in + this, “of knowing a man’s self,” that every man is seen + so resolved and satisfied with himself, that every man thinks himself + sufficiently intelligent, signifies that every one knows nothing about the + matter; as Socrates gives Euthydemus to understand. I, who profess nothing + else, therein find so infinite a depth and variety, that all the fruit I + have reaped from my learning serves only to make me sensible how much I + have to learn. To my weakness, so often confessed, I owe the propension I + have to modesty, to the obedience of belief prescribed me, to a constant + coldness and moderation of opinions, and a hatred of that troublesome and + wrangling arrogance, wholly believing and trusting in itself, the capital + enemy of discipline and truth. Do but hear them domineer; the first + fopperies they utter, ‘tis in the style wherewith men establish + religions and laws: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nihil est turpius, quam cognitioni et perceptions + assertionem approbationemque praecurrere.” + + [“Nothing is worse than that assertion and decision should precede + knowledge and perception.”—Cicero, Acad., i. 13.] +</pre> + <p> + Aristarchus said that anciently there were scarce seven sages to be found + in the world, and in his time scarce so many fools: have not we more + reason than he to say so in this age of ours? Affirmation and obstinacy + are express signs of want of wit. This fellow may have knocked his nose + against the ground a hundred times in a day, yet he will be at his Ergo’s + as resolute and sturdy as before. You would say he had had some new soul + and vigour of understanding infused into him since, and that it happened + to him, as to that ancient son of the earth, who took fresh courage and + vigour by his fall; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cui cum tetigere parentem, + jam defecta vigent renovata robore membra:” + + [“Whose broken limbs, when they touched his mother earth, + immediately new force acquired.”—Lucan, iv. 599.] +</pre> + <p> + does not this incorrigible coxcomb think that he assumes a new + understanding by undertaking a new dispute? ‘Tis by my own + experience that I accuse human ignorance, which is, in my opinion, the + surest part of the world’s school. Such as will not conclude it in + themselves, by so vain an example as mine, or their own, let them believe + it from Socrates, the master of masters; for the philosopher Antisthenes + said to his disciples, “Let us go and hear Socrates; there I will be + a pupil with you”; and, maintaining this doctrine of the Stoic sect, + “that virtue was sufficient to make a life completely happy, having + no need of any other thing whatever”; except of the force of + Socrates, added he. + </p> + <p> + That long attention that I employ in considering myself, also fits rile to + judge tolerably enough of others; and there are few things whereof I speak + better and with better excuse. I happen very often more exactly to see and + distinguish the qualities of my friends than they do themselves: I have + astonished some with the pertinence of my description, and have given them + warning of themselves. By having from my infancy been accustomed to + contemplate my own life in those of others, I have acquired a complexion + studious in that particular; and when I am once interit upon it, I let few + things about me, whether countenances, humours, or discourses, that serve + to that purpose, escape me. I study all, both what I am to avoid and what + I am to follow. Also in my friends, I discover by their productions their + inward inclinations; not by arranging this infinite variety of so diverse + and unconnected actions into certain species and chapters, and distinctly + distributing my parcels and divisions under known heads and classes; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sed neque quam multae species, nec nomina quae sint, + Est numerus.” + + [“But neither can we enumerate how many kinds there what are their + names.”—Virgil, Georg., ii. 103.] +</pre> + <p> + The wise speak and deliver their fancies more specifically, and piece by + piece; I, who see no further into things than as use informs me, present + mine generally without rule and experimentally: I pronounce my opinion by + disjointed articles, as a thing that cannot be spoken at once and in + gross; relation and conformity are not to be found in such low and common + souls as ours. Wisdom is a solid and entire building, of which every piece + keeps its place and bears its mark: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sola sapientia in se tota conversa est.” + + [“Wisdom only is wholly within itself”—Cicero, De Fin., iii. 7.] +</pre> + <p> + I leave it to artists, and I know not whether or no they will be able to + bring it about, in so perplexed, minute, and fortuitous a thing, to + marshal into distinct bodies this infinite diversity of faces, to settle + our inconstancy, and set it in order. I do not only find it hard to piece + our actions to one another, but I moreover find it hard properly to design + each by itself by any principal quality, so ambiguous and variform they + are with diverse lights. That which is remarked for rare in Perseus, king + of Macedon, “that his mind, fixing itself to no one condition, + wandered in all sorts of living, and represented manners so wild and + erratic that it was neither known to himself or any other what kind of man + he was,” seems almost to fit all the world; and, especially, I have + seen another of his make, to whom I think this conclusion might more + properly be applied; no moderate settledness, still running headlong from + one extreme to another, upon occasions not to be guessed at; no line of + path without traverse and wonderful contrariety: no one quality simple and + unmixed; so that the best guess men can one day make will be, that he + affected and studied to make himself known by being not to be known. A man + had need have sound ears to hear himself frankly criticised; and as there + are few who can endure to hear it without being nettled, those who hazard + the undertaking it to us manifest a singular effect of friendship; for + ‘tis to love sincerely indeed, to venture to wound and offend us, + for our own good. I think it harsh to judge a man whose ill qualities are + more than his good ones: Plato requires three things in him who will + examine the soul of another: knowledge, benevolence, boldness. + </p> + <p> + I was sometimes asked, what I should have thought myself fit for, had any + one designed to make use of me, while I was of suitable years: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dum melior vires sanguis dabat, aemula necdum + Temporibus geminis canebat sparsa senectus:” + + [“Whilst better blood gave me vigour, and before envious old age + whitened and thinned my temples.”—AEneid, V. 415.] +</pre> + <p> + “for nothing,” said I; and I willingly excuse myself from + knowing anything which enslaves me to others. But I had told the truth to + my master,—[Was this Henri VI.? D.W.]—and had regulated his + manners, if he had so pleased, not in gross, by scholastic lessons, which + I understand not, and from which I see no true reformation spring in those + that do; but by observing them by leisure, at all opportunities, and + simply and naturally judging them as an eye-witness, distinctly one by + one; giving him to understand upon what terms he was in the common + opinion, in opposition to his flatterers. There is none of us who would + not be worse than kings, if so continually corrupted as they are with that + sort of canaille. How, if Alexander, that great king and philosopher, + cannot defend himself from them! + </p> + <p> + I should have had fidelity, judgment, and freedom enough for that purpose. + It would be a nameless office, otherwise it would lose its grace and its + effect; and ‘tis a part that is not indifferently fit for all men; + for truth itself has not the privilege to be spoken at all times and + indiscriminately; its use, noble as it is, has its circumspections and + limits. It often falls out, as the world goes, that a man lets it slip + into the ear of a prince, not only to no purpose, but moreover injuriously + and unjustly; and no man shall make me believe that a virtuous + remonstrance may not be viciously applied, and that the interest of the + substance is not often to give way to that of the form. + </p> + <p> + For such a purpose, I would have a man who is content with his own + fortune: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quod sit, esse velit, nihilque malit,” + + [“Who is pleased with what he is and desires nothing further.” + —Martial, x. ii, 18.] +</pre> + <p> + and of moderate station; forasmuch as, on the one hand, he would not be + afraid to touch his master’s heart to the quick, for fear by that + means of losing his preferment: and, on the other hand, being of no high + quality, he would have more easy communication with all sorts of people. I + would have this office limited to only one person; for to allow the + privilege of his liberty and privacy to many, would beget an inconvenient + irreverence; and of that one, I would above all things require the + fidelity of silence. + </p> + <p> + A king is not to be believed when he brags of his constancy in standing + the shock of the enemy for his glory, if for his profit and amendment he + cannot stand the liberty of a friend’s advice, which has no other + power but to pinch his ear, the remainder of its effect being still in his + own hands. Now, there is no condition of men whatever who stand in so + great need of true and free advice and warning, as they do: they sustain a + public life, and have to satisfy the opinion of so many spectators, that, + as those about them conceal from them whatever should divert them from + their own way, they insensibly find themselves involved in the hatred and + detestation of their people, often upon occasions which they might have + avoided without any prejudice even of their pleasures themselves, had they + been advised and set right in time. Their favourites commonly have more + regard to themselves than to their master; and indeed it answers with + them, forasmuch as, in truth, most offices of real friendship, when + applied to the sovereign, are under a rude and dangerous hazard, so that + therein there is great need, not only of very great affection and freedom, + but of courage too. + </p> + <p> + In fine, all this hodge-podge which I scribble here, is nothing but a + register of the essays of my own life, which, for the internal soundness, + is exemplary enough to take instruction against the grain; but as to + bodily health, no man can furnish out more profitable experience than I, + who present it pure, and no way corrupted and changed by art or opinion. + Experience is properly upon its own dunghill in the subject of physic, + where reason wholly gives it place: Tiberius said that whoever had lived + twenty years ought to be responsible to himself for all things that were + hurtful or wholesome to him, and know how to order himself without physic; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [All that Suetonius says in his Life of Tiberius is that this + emperor, after he was thirty years old, governed his health without + the aid of physicians; and what Plutarch tells us, in his essay on + the Rules and Precepts of Health, is that Tiberius said that the man + who, having attained sixty years, held out his pulse to a physician + was a fool.] +</pre> + <p> + and he might have learned it of Socrates, who, advising his disciples to + be solicitous of their health as a chief study, added that it was hard if + a man of sense, having a care to his exercise and diet, did not better + know than any physician what was good or ill for him. And physic itself + professes always to have experience for the test of its operations: so + Plato had reason to say that, to be a right physician, it would be + necessary that he who would become such, should first himself have passed + through all the diseases he pretends to cure, and through all the + accidents and circumstances whereof he is to judge. ‘Tis but reason + they should get the pox, if they will know how to cure it; for my part, I + should put myself into such hands; the others but guide us, like him who + paints seas and rocks and ports sitting at table, and there makes the + model of a ship sailing in all security; but put him to the work itself, + he knows not at which end to begin. They make such a description of our + maladies as a town crier does of a lost horse or dog—such a color, + such a height, such an ear—but bring it to him and he knows it not, + for all that. If physic should one day give me some good and visible + relief, then truly I will cry out in good earnest: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Tandem effcaci do manus scientiae.” + + [“Show me and efficacious science, and I will take it by the hand.” + —Horace, xvii. I.] +</pre> + <p> + The arts that promise to keep our bodies and souls in health promise a + great deal; but, withal, there are none that less keep their promise. And, + in our time, those who make profession of these arts amongst us, less + manifest the effects than any other sort of men; one may say of them, at + the most, that they sell medicinal drugs; but that they are physicians, a + man cannot say. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The edition of 1588 adds: “Judging by themselves, and those + who are ruled by them.”] +</pre> + <p> + I have lived long enough to be able to give an account of the custom that + has carried me so far; for him who has a mind to try it, as his taster, I + have made the experiment. Here are some of the articles, as my memory + shall supply me with them; I have no custom that has not varied according + to circumstances; but I only record those that I have been best acquainted + with, and that hitherto have had the greatest possession of me. + </p> + <p> + My form of life is the same in sickness as in health; the same bed, the + same hours, the same meat, and even the same drink, serve me in both + conditions alike; I add nothing to them but the moderation of more or + less, according to my strength and appetite. My health is to maintain my + wonted state without disturbance. I see that sickness puts me off it on + one side, and if I will be ruled by the physicians, they will put me off + on the other; so that by fortune and by art I am out of my way. I believe + nothing more certainly than this, that I cannot be hurt by the use of + things to which I have been so long accustomed. ‘Tis for custom to + give a form to a man’s life, such as it pleases him; she is all in + all in that: ‘tis the potion of Circe, that varies our nature as she + best pleases. How many nations, and but three steps from us, think the + fear of the night-dew, that so manifestly is hurtful to us, a ridiculous + fancy; and our own watermen and peasants laugh at it. You make a German + sick if you lay him upon a mattress, as you do an Italian if you lay him + on a feather-bed, and a Frenchman, if without curtains or fire. A Spanish + stomach cannot hold out to eat as we can, nor ours to drink like the + Swiss. A German made me very merry at Augsburg, by finding fault with our + hearths, by the same arguments which we commonly make use of in decrying + their stoves: for, to say the truth, the smothered heat, and then the + smell of that heated matter of which the fire is composed, very much + offend such as are not used to them; not me; and, indeed, the heat being + always equal, constant, and universal, without flame, without smoke, and + without the wind that comes down our chimneys, they may many ways sustain + comparison with ours. Why do we not imitate the Roman architecture? for + they say that anciently fires were not made in the houses, but on the + outside, and at the foot of them, whence the heat was conveyed to the + whole fabric by pipes contrived in the wall, which were drawn twining + about the rooms that were to be warmed: which I have seen plainly + described somewhere in Seneca. This German hearing me commend the + conveniences and beauties of his city, which truly deserves it, began to + compassionate me that I had to leave it; and the first inconvenience he + alleged to me was, the heaviness of head that the chimneys elsewhere would + bring upon me. He had heard some one make this complaint, and fixed it + upon us, being by custom deprived of the means of perceiving it at home. + All heat that comes from the fire weakens and dulls me. Evenus said that + fire was the best condiment of life: I rather choose any other way of + making myself warm. + </p> + <p> + We are afraid to drink our wines, when toward the bottom of the cask; in + Portugal those fumes are reputed delicious, and it is the beverage of + princes. In short, every nation has many customs and usages that are not + only unknown to other nations, but savage and miraculous in their sight. + What should we do with those people who admit of no evidence that is not + in print, who believe not men if they are not in a book, nor truth if it + be not of competent age? we dignify our fopperies when we commit them to + the press: ‘tis of a great deal more weight to say, “I have + read such a thing,” than if you only say, “I have heard such a + thing.” But I, who no more disbelieve a man’s mouth than his + pen, and who know that men write as indiscreetly as they speak, and who + look upon this age as one that is past, as soon quote a friend as Aulus + Gelliusor Macrobius; and what I have seen, as what they have written. And, + as ‘tis held of virtue, that it is not greater for having continued + longer, so do I hold of truth, that for being older it is none the wiser. + I often say, that it is mere folly that makes us run after foreign and + scholastic examples; their fertility is the same now that it was in the + time of Homer and Plato. But is it not that we seek more honour from the + quotation, than from the truth of the matter in hand? As if it were more + to the purpose to borrow our proofs from the shops of Vascosan or Plantin, + than from what is to be seen in our own village; or else, indeed, that we + have not the wit to cull out and make useful what we see before us, and to + judge of it clearly enough to draw it into example: for if we say that we + want authority to give faith to our testimony, we speak from the purpose; + forasmuch as, in my opinion, of the most ordinary, common, and known + things, could we but find out their light, the greatest miracles of nature + might be formed, and the most wonderful examples, especially upon the + subject of human actions. + </p> + <p> + Now, upon this subject, setting aside the examples I have gathered from + books, and what Aristotle says of Andron the Argian, that he travelled + over the arid sands of Lybia without drinking: a gentleman, who has very + well behaved himself in several employments, said, in a place where I was, + that he had ridden from Madrid to Lisbon, in the heat of summer, without + any drink at all. He is very healthful and vigorous for his age, and has + nothing extraordinary in the use of his life, but this, to live sometimes + two or three months, nay, a whole year, as he has told me, without + drinking. He is sometimes thirsty, but he lets it pass over, and he holds + that it is an appetite which easily goes off of itself; and he drinks more + out of caprice than either for need or pleasure. + </p> + <p> + Here is another example: ‘tis not long ago that I found one of the + learnedest men in France, among those of not inconsiderable fortune, + studying in a corner of a hall that they had separated for him with + tapestry, and about him a rabble of his servants full of licence. He told + me, and Seneca almost says the same of himself, he made an advantage of + this hubbub; that, beaten with this noise, he so much the more collected + and retired himself into himself for contemplation, and that this tempest + of voices drove back his thoughts within himself. Being a student at + Padua, he had his study so long situated amid the rattle of coaches and + the tumult of the square, that he not only formed himself to the contempt, + but even to the use of noise, for the service of his studies. Socrates + answered Alcibiades, who was astonished how he could endure the perpetual + scolding of his wife, “Why,” said he, “as those do who + are accustomed to the ordinary noise of wheels drawing water.” I am + quite otherwise; I have a tender head and easily discomposed; when ‘tis + bent upon anything, the least buzzing of a fly murders it. + </p> + <p> + Seneca in his youth having warmly espoused the example of Sextius, of + eating nothing that had died, for a whole year dispensed with such food, + and, as he said, with pleasure, and discontinued it that he might not be + suspected of taking up this rule from some new religion by which it was + prescribed: he adopted, in like manner, from the precepts of Attalus a + custom not to lie upon any sort of bedding that gave way under his weight, + and, even to his old age, made use of such as would not yield to any + pressure. What the usage of his time made him account roughness, that of + ours makes us look upon as effeminacy. + </p> + <p> + Do but observe the difference betwixt the way of living of my labourers + and my own; the Scythians and Indians have nothing more remote both from + my capacity and my form. I have picked up charity boys to serve me: who + soon after have quitted both my kitchen and livery, only that they might + return to their former course of life; and I found one afterwards, picking + mussels out of the sewer for his dinner, whom I could neither by + entreaties nor threats reclaim from the sweetness he found in indigence. + Beggars have their magnificences and delights, as well as the rich, and, + ‘tis said, their dignities and polities. These are the effects of + custom; she can mould us, not only into what form she pleases (the sages + say we ought to apply ourselves to the best, which she will soon make easy + to us), but also to change and variation, which is the most noble and most + useful instruction of all she teaches us. The best of my bodily conditions + is that I am flexible and not very obstinate: I have inclinations more my + own and ordinary, and more agreeable than others; but I am diverted from + them with very little ado, and easily slip into a contrary course. A young + man ought to cross his own rules, to awaken his vigour and to keep it from + growing faint and rusty; and there is no course of life so weak and + sottish as that which is carried on by rule and discipline; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ad primum lapidem vectari quum placet, hora + Sumitur ex libro; si prurit frictus ocelli + Angulus, inspecta genesi, collyria quaerit;” + + [“When he is pleased to have himself carried to the first milestone, + the hour is chosen from the almanac; if he but rub the corner of his + eye, his horoscope having been examined, he seeks the aid of + salves.”—-Juvenal, vi. 576.] +</pre> + <p> + he shall often throw himself even into excesses, if he will take my + advice; otherwise the least debauch will destroy him, and render him + troublesome and disagreeable in company. The worst quality in a well-bred + man is over-fastidiousness, and an obligation to a certain particular way; + and it is particular, if not pliable and supple. It is a kind of reproach, + not to be able, or not to dare, to do what we see those about us do; let + such as these stop at home. It is in every man unbecoming, but in a + soldier vicious and intolerable: who, as Philopcemen said, ought to + accustom himself to every variety and inequality of life. + </p> + <p> + Though I have been brought up, as much as was possible, to liberty and + independence, yet so it is that, growing old, and having by indifference + more settled upon certain forms (my age is now past instruction, and has + henceforward nothing to do but to keep itself up as well as it can), + custom has already, ere I was aware, so imprinted its character in me in + certain things, that I look upon it as a kind of excess to leave them off; + and, without a force upon myself, cannot sleep in the daytime, nor eat + between meals, nor breakfast, nor go to bed, without a great interval + betwixt eating and sleeping,—[Gastroesophogeal Reflux. D.W.]—as + of three hours after supper; nor get children but before I sleep, nor get + them standing; nor endure my own sweat; nor quench my thirst either with + pure water or pure wine; nor keep my head long bare, nor cut my hair after + dinner; and I should be as uneasy without my gloves as without my shirt, + or without washing when I rise from table or out of my bed; and I could + not lie without a canopy and curtains, as if they were essential things. I + could dine without a tablecloth, but without a clean napkin, after the + German fashion, very incommodiously; I foul them more than the Germans or + Italians do, and make but little use either of spoon or fork. I complain + that they did not keep up the fashion, begun after the example of kings, + to change our napkin at every service, as they do our plate. We are told + of that laborious soldier Marius that, growing old, he became nice in his + drink, and never drank but out of a particular cup of his own I, in like + manner, have suffered myself to fancy a certain form of glasses, and not + willingly to drink in common glasses, no more than from a strange common + hand: all metal offends me in comparison of a clear and transparent + matter: let my eyes taste, too, according to their capacity. I owe several + other such niceties to custom. Nature has also, on the other side, helped + me to some of hers: as not to be able to endure more than two full meals + in one day, without overcharging my stomach, nor a total abstinence from + one of those meals without filling myself with wind, drying up my mouth, + and dulling my appetite; the finding great inconvenience from overmuch + evening air; for of late years, in night marches, which often happen to be + all night long, after five or six hours my stomach begins to be queasy, + with a violent pain in my head, so that I always vomit before the day can + break. When the others go to breakfast, I go to sleep; and when I rise, I + am as brisk and gay as before. I had always been told that the night dew + never rises but in the beginning of the night; but for some years past, + long and familiar intercourse with a lord, possessed with the opinion that + the night dew is more sharp and dangerous about the declining of the sun, + an hour or two before it sets, which he carefully avoids, and despises + that of the night, he almost impressed upon me, not so much his reasoning + as his experiences. What, shall mere doubt and inquiry strike our + imagination, so as to change us? Such as absolutely and on a sudden give + way to these propensions, draw total destruction upon themselves. I am + sorry for several gentlemen who, through the folly of their physicians, + have in their youth and health wholly shut themselves up: it were better + to endure a cough, than, by disuse, for ever to lose the commerce of + common life in things of so great utility. Malignant science, to interdict + us the most pleasant hours of the day! Let us keep our possession to the + last; for the most part, a man hardens himself by being obstinate, and + corrects his constitution, as Caesar did the falling sickness, by dint of + contempt. A man should addict himself to the best rules, but not enslave + himself to them, except to such, if there be any such, where obligation + and servitude are of profit. + </p> + <p> + Both kings and philosophers go to stool, and ladies too; public lives are + bound to ceremony; mine, that is obscure and private, enjoys all natural + dispensation; soldier and Gascon are also qualities a little subject to + indiscretion; wherefore I shall say of this act of relieving nature, that + it is desirable to refer it to certain prescribed and nocturnal hours, and + compel one’s self to this by custom, as I have done; but not to + subject one’s self, as I have done in my declining years, to a + particular convenience of place and seat for that purpose, and make it + troublesome by long sitting; and yet, in the fouler offices, is it not in + some measure excusable to require more care and cleanliness? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Naturt homo mundum et elegans animal est.” + + [“Man is by nature a clean and delicate creature.”—Seneca, Ep., 92.] +</pre> + <p> + Of all the actions of nature, I am the most impatient of being interrupted + in that. I have seen many soldiers troubled with the unruliness of their + bellies; whereas mine and I never fail of our punctual assignation, which + is at leaping out of bed, if some indispensable business or sickness does + not molest us. + </p> + <p> + I think then, as I said before, that sick men cannot better place + themselves anywhere in more safety, than in sitting still in that course + of life wherein they have been bred and trained up; change, be it what it + will, distempers and puts one out. Do you believe that chestnuts can hurt + a Perigordin or a Lucchese, or milk and cheese the mountain people? We + enjoin them not only a new, but a contrary, method of life; a change that + the healthful cannot endure. Prescribe water to a Breton of threescore and + ten; shut a seaman up in a stove; forbid a Basque footman to walk: you + will deprive them of motion, and in the end of air and light: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “An vivere tanti est? + Cogimur a suetis animum suspendere rebus, + Atque, ut vivamus, vivere desinimus. . + Hos superesse reor, quibus et spirabilis aer + Et lux, qua regimur, redditur ipsa gravis.” + + [“Is life worth so much? We are compelled to withhold the mind + from things to which we are accustomed; and, that we may live, we + cease to live . . . . Do I conceive that they still live, to + whom the respirable air, and the light itself, by which we are + governed, is rendered oppressive?” + —Pseudo-Gallus, Eclog., i. 155, 247.] +</pre> + <p> + If they do no other good, they do this at least, that they prepare + patients betimes for death, by little and little undermining and cutting + off the use of life. + </p> + <p> + Both well and sick, I have ever willingly suffered myself to obey the + appetites that pressed upon me. I give great rein to my desires and + propensities; I do not love to cure one disease by another; I hate + remedies that are more troublesome than the disease itself. To be subject + to the colic and subject to abstain from eating oysters are two evils + instead of one; the disease torments us on the one side, and the remedy on + the other. Since we are ever in danger of mistaking, let us rather run the + hazard of a mistake, after we have had the pleasure. The world proceeds + quite the other way, and thinks nothing profitable that is not painful; it + has great suspicion of facility. My appetite, in various things, has of + its own accord happily enough accommodated itself to the health of my + stomach. Relish and pungency in sauces were pleasant to me when young; my + stomach disliking them since, my taste incontinently followed. Wine is + hurtful to sick people, and ‘tis the first thing that my mouth then + finds distasteful, and with an invincible dislike. Whatever I take against + my liking does me harm; and nothing hurts me that I eat with appetite and + delight. I never received harm by any action that was very pleasant to me; + and accordingly have made all medicinal conclusions largely give way to my + pleasure; and I have, when I was young, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quem circumcursans huc atque huc saepe Cupido + Fulgebat crocink splendidus in tunic.” + + [“When Cupid, fluttering round me here and there, shone in his rich + purple mantle.”—Catullus, lxvi. 133.] +</pre> + <p> + given myself the rein as licentiously and inconsiderately to the desire + that was predominant in me, as any other whomsoever: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Et militavi non sine gloria;” + + [“And I have played the soldier not ingloriously.” + —Horace, Od., iii. 26, 2.] +</pre> + <p> + yet more in continuation and holding out, than in sally: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sex me vix memini sustinuisse vices.” + + [“I can scarcely remember six bouts in one night” + —Ovid, Amor., iii. 7, 26.] +</pre> + <p> + ‘Tis certainly a misfortune and a miracle at once to confess at what + a tender age I first came under the subjection of love: it was, indeed, by + chance; for it was long before the years of choice or knowledge; I do not + remember myself so far back; and my fortune may well be coupled with that + of Quartilla, who could not remember when she was a maid: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Inde tragus, celeresque pili, mirandaque matri + Barba meae.” + + [“Thence the odour of the arm-pits, the precocious hair, and the + beard which astonished my mother.”—Martial, xi. 22, 7.] +</pre> + <p> + Physicians modify their rules according to the violent longings that + happen to sick persons, ordinarily with good success; this great desire + cannot be imagined so strange and vicious, but that nature must have a + hand in it. And then how easy a thing is it to satisfy the fancy? In my + opinion; this part wholly carries it, at least, above all the rest. The + most grievous and ordinary evils are those that fancy loads us with; this + Spanish saying pleases me in several aspects: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Defenda me Dios de me.” + + [“God defend me from myself.”] +</pre> + <p> + I am sorry when I am sick, that I have not some longing that might give me + the pleasure of satisfying it; all the rules of physic would hardly be + able to divert me from it. I do the same when I am well; I can see very + little more to be hoped or wished for. ‘Twere pity a man should be + so weak and languishing, as not to have even wishing left to him. + </p> + <p> + The art of physic is not so fixed, that we need be without authority for + whatever we do; it changes according to climates and moons, according to + Fernel and to Scaliger.—[Physicians to Henry II.]—If your + physician does not think it good for you to sleep, to drink wine, or to + eat such and such meats, never trouble yourself; I will find you another + that shall not be of his opinion; the diversity of medical arguments and + opinions embraces all sorts and forms. I saw a miserable sick person + panting and burning for thirst, that he might be cured, who was afterwards + laughed at for his pains by another physician, who condemned that advice + as prejudicial to him: had he not tormented himself to good purpose? There + lately died of the stone a man of that profession, who had made use of + extreme abstinence to contend with his disease: his fellow-physicians say + that, on the contrary, this abstinence had dried him up and baked the + gravel in his kidneys. + </p> + <p> + I have observed, that both in wounds and sicknesses, speaking discomposes + and hurts me, as much as any irregularity I can commit. My voice pains and + tires me, for ‘tis loud and forced; so that when I have gone to a + whisper some great persons about affairs of consequence, they have often + desired me to moderate my voice. + </p> + <p> + This story is worth a diversion. Some one in a certain Greek school + speaking loud as I do, the master of the ceremonies sent to him to speak + softly: “Tell him, then, he must send me,” replied the other, + “the tone he would have me speak in.” To which the other + replied, “That he should take the tone from the ears of him to whom + he spake.” It was well said, if it is to be understood: “Speak + according to the affair you are speaking about to your auditor,” for + if it mean, “‘tis sufficient that he hear you, or govern + yourself by him,” I do not find it to be reason. The tone and motion + of my voice carries with it a great deal of the expression and + signification of my meaning, and ‘tis I who am to govern it, to make + myself understood: there is a voice to instruct, a voice to flatter, and a + voice to reprehend. I will not only that my voice reach him, but, + peradventure, that it strike and pierce him. When I rate my valet with + sharp and bitter language, it would be very pretty for him to say; “Pray, + master, speak lower; I hear you very well”: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Est quaedam vox ad auditum accommodata, + non magnitudine, sed proprietate.” + + [“There is a certain voice accommodated to the hearing, not by its + loudness, but by its propriety.”—Quintilian, xi. 3.] +</pre> + <p> + Speaking is half his who speaks, and half his who hears; the latter ought + to prepare himself to receive it, according to its bias; as with + tennis-players, he who receives the ball, shifts and prepares, according + as he sees him move who strikes the stroke, and according to the stroke + itself. + </p> + <p> + Experience has, moreover, taught me this, that we ruin ourselves by + impatience. Evils have their life and limits, their diseases and their + recovery. + </p> + <p> + The constitution of maladies is formed by the pattern of the constitution + of animals; they have their fortune and their days limited from their + birth; he who attempts imperiously to cut them short by force in the + middle of their course, lengthens and multiplies them, and incenses + instead of appeasing them. I am of Crantor’s opinion, that we are + neither obstinately and deafly to oppose evils, nor succumb to them from + want of courage; but that we are naturally to give way to them, according + to their condition and our own. We ought to grant free passage to + diseases; I find they stay less with me, who let them alone; and I have + lost some, reputed the most tenacious and obstinate, by their own decay, + without help and without art, and contrary to its rules. Let us a little + permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs + than we. But such an one died of it; and so shall you: if not of that + disease, of another. And how many have not escaped dying, who have had + three physicians at their tails? Example is a vague and universal mirror, + and of various reflections. If it be a delicious medicine, take it: + ‘tis always so much present good. I will never stick at the name nor + the colour, if it be pleasant and grateful to the palate: pleasure is one + of the chiefest kinds of profit. I have suffered colds, gouty defluxions, + relaxations, palpitations of the heart, megrims, and other accidents, to + grow old and die in time a natural death. I have so lost them when I was + half fit to keep them: they are sooner prevailed upon by courtesy than + huffing. We must patiently suffer the laws of our condition; we are born + to grow old, to grow weak, and to be sick, in despite of all medicine. + ‘Tis the first lesson the Mexicans teach their children; so soon as + ever they are born they thus salute them: “Thou art come into the + world, child, to endure: endure, suffer, and say nothing.” ‘Tis + injustice to lament that which has befallen any one which may befall every + one: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Indignare, si quid in to inique proprio constitutum est.” + + [“Then be angry, when there is anything unjustly decreed against + thee alone.”—Seneca, Ep., 91.] +</pre> + <p> + See an old man who begs of God that he will maintain his health vigorous + and entire; that is to say, that he restore him to youth: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stulte, quid haec frustra votis puerilibus optas?” + + [“Fool! why do you vainly form these puerile wishes?” + —Ovid., Trist., 111. 8, II.] +</pre> + <p> + is it not folly? his condition is not capable of it. The gout, the stone, + and indigestion are symptoms of long years; as heat, rains, and winds are + of long journeys. Plato does not believe that AEsculapius troubled himself + to provide by regimen to prolong life in a weak and wasted body, useless + to his country and to his profession, or to beget healthful and robust + children; and does not think this care suitable to the Divine justice and + prudence, which is to direct all things to utility. My good friend, your + business is done; nobody can restore you; they can, at the most, but patch + you up, and prop you a little, and by that means prolong your misery an + hour or two: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non secus instantem cupiens fulcire ruinam, + Diversis contra nititur obiicibus; + Donec certa dies, omni compage soluta, + Ipsum cum rebus subruat auxilium.” + + [“Like one who, desiring to stay an impending ruin, places various + props against it, till, in a short time, the house, the props, and + all, giving way, fall together.”—Pseudo-Gallus, i. 171.] +</pre> + <p> + We must learn to suffer what we cannot evade; our life, like the harmony + of the world, is composed of contrary things—of diverse tones, sweet + and harsh, sharp and flat, sprightly and solemn: the musician who should + only affect some of these, what would he be able to do? he must know how + to make use of them all, and to mix them; and so we should mingle the + goods and evils which are consubstantial with our life; our being cannot + subsist without this mixture, and the one part is no less necessary to it + than the other. To attempt to combat natural necessity, is to represent + the folly of Ctesiphon, who undertook to kick with his mule.—[Plutarch, + How to restrain Anger, c. 8.] + </p> + <p> + I consult little about the alterations I feel: for these doctors take + advantage; when they have you at their mercy, they surfeit your ears with + their prognostics; and formerly surprising me, weakened with sickness, + injuriously handled me with their dogmas and magisterial fopperies—one + while menacing me with great pains, and another with approaching death. + Hereby I was indeed moved and shaken, but not subdued nor jostled from my + place; and though my judgment was neither altered nor distracted, yet it + was at least disturbed: ‘tis always agitation and combat. + </p> + <p> + Now, I use my imagination as gently as I can, and would discharge it, if I + could, of all trouble and contest; a man must assist, flatter, and deceive + it, if he can; my mind is fit for that office; it needs no appearances + throughout: could it persuade as it preaches, it would successfully + relieve me. Will you have an example? It tells me: “that ‘tis + for my good to have the stone: that the structure of my age must naturally + suffer some decay, and it is now time it should begin to disjoin and to + confess a breach; ‘tis a common necessity, and there is nothing in + it either miraculous or new; I therein pay what is due to old age, and I + cannot expect a better bargain; that society ought to comfort me, being + fallen into the most common infirmity of my age; I see everywhere men + tormented with the same disease, and am honoured by the fellowship, + forasmuch as men of the best quality are most frequently afflicted with + it: ‘tis a noble and dignified disease: that of such as are struck + with it, few have it to a less degree of pain; that these are put to the + trouble of a strict diet and the daily taking of nauseous potions, whereas + I owe my better state purely to my good fortune; for some ordinary broths + of eringo or burst-wort that I have twice or thrice taken to oblige the + ladies, who, with greater kindness than my pain was sharp, would needs + present me half of theirs, seemed to me equally easy to take and fruitless + in operation, the others have to pay a thousand vows to AEsculapius, and + as many crowns to their physicians, for the voiding a little gravel, which + I often do by the aid of nature: even the decorum of my countenance is not + disturbed in company; and I can hold my water ten hours, and as long as + any man in health. The fear of this disease,” says my mind, “formerly + affrighted thee, when it was unknown to thee; the cries and despairing + groans of those who make it worse by their impatience, begot a horror in + thee. ‘Tis an infirmity that punishes the members by which thou hast + most offended. Thou art a conscientious fellow;” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quae venit indigne poena, dolenda venit:” + + [“We are entitled to complain of a punishment that we have not + deserved.”—Ovid, Heroid., v. 8.] +</pre> + <p> + “consider this chastisement: ‘tis very easy in comparison of + others, and inflicted with a paternal tenderness: do but observe how late + it comes; it only seizes on and incommodes that part of thy life which is, + one way and another, sterile and lost; having, as it were by composition, + given time for the licence and pleasures of thy youth. The fear and the + compassion that the people have of this disease serve thee for matter of + glory; a quality whereof if thou bast thy judgment purified, and that thy + reason has somewhat cured it, thy friends notwithstanding, discern some + tincture in thy complexion. ‘Tis a pleasure to hear it said of + oneself what strength of mind, what patience! Thou art seen to sweat with + pain, to turn pale and red, to tremble, to vomit blood, to suffer strange + contractions and convulsions, at times to let great tears drop from thine + eyes, to urine thick, black, and dreadful water, or to have it suppressed + by some sharp and craggy stone, that cruelly pricks and tears the neck of + the bladder, whilst all the while thou entertainest the company with an + ordinary countenance; droning by fits with thy people; making one in a + continuous discourse, now and then making excuse for thy pain, and + representing thy suffering less than it is. Dost thou call to mind the men + of past times, who so greedily sought diseases to keep their virtue in + breath and exercise? Put the case that nature sets thee on and impels thee + to this glorious school, into which thou wouldst never have entered of thy + own free will. If thou tellest me that it is a dangerous and mortal + disease, what others are not so? for ‘tis a physical cheat to expect + any that they say do not go direct to death: what matters if they go + thither by accident, or if they easily slide and slip into the path that + leads us to it? But thou dost not die because thou art sick; thou diest + because thou art living: death kills thee without the help of sickness: + and sickness has deferred death in some, who have lived longer by reason + that they thought themselves always dying; to which may be added, that as + in wounds, so in diseases, some are medicinal and wholesome. The stone is + often no less long-lived than you; we see men with whom it has continued + from their infancy even to their extreme old age; and if they had not + broken company, it would have been with them longer still; you more often + kill it than it kills you. And though it should present to you the image + of approaching death, were it not a good office to a man of such an age, + to put him in mind of his end? And, which is worse, thou hast no longer + anything that should make thee desire to be cured. Whether or no, common + necessity will soon call thee away. Do but consider how skilfully and + gently she puts thee out of concern with life, and weans thee from the + world; not forcing thee with a tyrannical subjection, like so many other + infirmities which thou seest old men afflicted withal, that hold them in + continual torment, and keep them in perpetual and unintermitted weakness + and pains, but by warnings and instructions at intervals, intermixing long + pauses of repose, as it were to give thee opportunity to meditate and + ruminate upon thy lesson, at thy own ease and leisure. To give thee means + to judge aright, and to assume the resolution of a man of courage, it + presents to thee the state of thy entire condition, both in good and evil; + and one while a very cheerful and another an insupportable life, in one + and the same day. If thou embracest not death, at least thou shakest hands + with it once a month; whence thou hast more cause to hope that it will one + day surprise thee without menace; and that being so often conducted to the + water-side, but still thinking thyself to be upon the accustomed terms, + thou and thy confidence will at one time or another be unexpectedly wafted + over. A man cannot reasonably complain of diseases that fairly divide the + time with health.” + </p> + <p> + I am obliged to Fortune for having so often assaulted me with the same + sort of weapons: she forms and fashions me by use, hardens and habituates + me, so that I can know within a little for how much I shall be quit. For + want of natural memory, I make one of paper; and as any new symptom + happens in my disease, I set it down, whence it falls out that, having now + almost passed through all sorts of examples, if anything striking + threatens me, turning over these little loose notes, as the Sybilline + leaves, I never fail of finding matter of consolation from some favourable + prognostic in my past experience. Custom also makes me hope better for the + time to come; for, the conduct of this clearing out having so long + continued, ‘tis to be believed that nature will not alter her + course, and that no other worse accident will happen than what I already + feel. And besides, the condition of this disease is not unsuitable to my + prompt and sudden complexion: when it assaults me gently, I am afraid, for + ‘tis then for a great while; but it has, naturally, brisk and + vigorous excesses; it claws me to purpose for a day or two. My kidneys + held out an age without alteration; and I have almost now lived another, + since they changed their state; evils have their periods, as well as + benefits: peradventure, the infirmity draws towards an end. Age weakens + the heat of my stomach, and, its digestion being less perfect, sends this + crude matter to my kidneys; why, at a certain revolution, may not the heat + of my kidneys be also abated, so that they can no more petrify my phlegm, + and nature find out some other way of purgation. Years have evidently + helped me to drain certain rheums; and why not these excrements which + furnish matter for gravel? But is there anything delightful in comparison + of this sudden change, when from an excessive pain, I come, by the voiding + of a stone, to recover, as by a flash of lightning, the beautiful light of + health, so free and full, as it happens in our sudden and sharpest colics? + Is there anything in the pain suffered, that one can counterpoise to the + pleasure of so sudden an amendment? Oh, how much does health seem the more + pleasant to me, after a sickness so near and so contiguous, that I can + distinguish them in the presence of one another, in their greatest show; + when they appear in emulation, as if to make head against and dispute it + with one another! As the Stoics say that vices are profitably introduced + to give value to and to set off virtue, we can, with better reason and + less temerity of conjecture, say that nature has given us pain for the + honour and service of pleasure and indolence. When Socrates, after his + fetters were knocked off, felt the pleasure of that itching which the + weight of them had caused in his legs, he rejoiced to consider the strict + alliance betwixt pain and pleasure; how they are linked together by a + necessary connection, so that by turns they follow and mutually beget one + another; and cried out to good AEsop, that he ought out of this + consideration to have taken matter for a fine fable. + </p> + <p> + The worst that I see in other diseases is, that they are not so grievous + in their effect as they are in their issue: a man is a whole year in + recovering, and all the while full of weakness and fear. There is so much + hazard, and so many steps to arrive at safety, that there is no end on’t + before they have unmuffled you of a kerchief, and then of a cap, before + they allow you to walk abroad and take the air, to drink wine, to lie with + your wife, to eat melons, ‘tis odds you relapse into some new + distemper. The stone has this privilege, that it carries itself clean off: + whereas the other maladies always leave behind them some impression and + alteration that render the body subject to a new disease, and lend a hand + to one another. Those are excusable that content themselves with + possessing us, without extending farther and introducing their followers; + but courteous and kind are those whose passage brings us any profitable + issue. Since I have been troubled with the stone, I find myself freed from + all other accidents, much more, methinks, than I was before, and have + never had any fever since; I argue that the extreme and frequent vomitings + that I am subject to purge me: and, on the other hand, my distastes for + this and that, and the strange fasts I am forced to keep, digest my + peccant humours, and nature, with those stones, voids whatever there is in + me superfluous and hurtful. Let them never tell me that it is a medicine + too dear bought: for what avail so many stinking draughts, so many + caustics, incisions, sweats, setons, diets, and so many other methods of + cure, which often, by reason we are not able to undergo their violence and + importunity, bring us to our graves? So that when I have the stone, I look + upon it as physic; when free from it, as an absolute deliverance. + </p> + <p> + And here is another particular benefit of my disease; which is, that it + almost plays its game by itself, and lets ‘me play mine, if I have + only courage to do it; for, in its greatest fury, I have endured it ten + hours together on horseback. Do but endure only; you need no other regimen + play, run, dine, do this and t’other, if you can; your debauch will + do you more good than harm; say as much to one that has the pox, the gout, + or hernia! The other diseases have more universal obligations; rack our + actions after another kind of manner, disturb our whole order, and to + their consideration engage the whole state of life: this only pinches the + skin; it leaves the understanding and the will wholly at our own disposal, + and the tongue, the hands, and the feet; it rather awakens than stupefies + you. The soul is struck with the ardour of a fever, overwhelmed with an + epilepsy, and displaced by a sharp megrim, and, in short, astounded by all + the diseases that hurt the whole mass and the most noble parts; this never + meddles with the soul; if anything goes amiss with her, ‘tis her own + fault; she betrays, dismounts, and abandons herself. There are none but + fools who suffer themselves to be persuaded that this hard and massive + body which is baked in our kidneys is to be dissolved by drinks; + wherefore, when it is once stirred, there is nothing to be done but to + give it passage; and, for that matter, it will itself make one. + </p> + <p> + I moreover observe this particular convenience in it, that it is a disease + wherein we have little to guess at: we are dispensed from the trouble into + which other diseases throw us by the uncertainty of their causes, + conditions, and progress; a trouble that is infinitely painful: we have no + need of consultations and doctoral interpretations; the senses well enough + inform us both what it is and where it is. + </p> + <p> + By suchlike arguments, weak and strong, as Cicero with the disease of his + old age, I try to rock asleep and amuse my imagination, and to dress its + wounds. If I find them worse tomorrow, I will provide new stratagems. That + this is true: I am come to that pass of late, that the least motion forces + pure blood out of my kidneys: what of that? I move about, nevertheless, as + before, and ride after my hounds with a juvenile and insolent ardour; and + hold that I have very good satisfaction for an accident of that + importance, when it costs me no more but a dull heaviness and uneasiness + in that part; ‘tis some great stone that wastes and consumes the + substance of my kidneys and my life, which I by little and little + evacuate, not without some natural pleasure, as an excrement henceforward + superfluous and troublesome. Now if I feel anything stirring, do not fancy + that I trouble myself to consult my pulse or my urine, thereby to put + myself upon some annoying prevention; I shall soon enough feel the pain, + without making it more and longer by the disease of fear. He who fears he + shall suffer, already suffers what he fears. To which may be added that + the doubts and ignorance of those who take upon them to expound the + designs of nature and her internal progressions, and the many false + prognostics of their art, ought to give us to understand that her ways are + inscrutable and utterly unknown; there is great uncertainty, variety, and + obscurity in what she either promises or threatens. Old age excepted, + which is an indubitable sign of the approach of death, in all other + accidents I see few signs of the future, whereon we may ground our + divination. I only judge of myself by actual sensation, not by reasoning: + to what end, since I am resolved to bring nothing to it but expectation + and patience? Will you know how much I get by this? observe those who do + otherwise, and who rely upon so many diverse persuasions and counsels; how + often the imagination presses upon them without any bodily pain. I have + many times amused myself, being well and in safety, and quite free from + these dangerous attacks in communicating them to the physicians as then + beginning to discover themselves in me; I underwent the decree of their + dreadful conclusions, being all the while quite at my ease, and so much + the more obliged to the favour of God and better satisfied of the vanity + of this art. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing that ought so much to be recommended to youth as activity + and vigilance our life is nothing but movement. I bestir myself with great + difficulty, and am slow in everything, whether in rising, going to bed, or + eating: seven of the clock in the morning is early for me, and where I + rule, I never dine before eleven, nor sup till after six. I formerly + attributed the cause of the fevers and other diseases I fell into to the + heaviness that long sleeping had brought upon me, and have ever repented + going to sleep again in the morning. Plato is more angry at excess of + sleeping than at excess of drinking. I love to lie hard and alone, even + without my wife, as kings do; pretty well covered with clothes. They never + warm my bed, but since I have grown old they give me at need cloths to lay + to my feet and stomach. They found fault with the great Scipio that he was + a great sleeper; not, in my opinion, for any other reason than that men + were displeased that he alone should have nothing in him to be found fault + with. If I am anything fastidious in my way of living ‘tis rather in + my lying than anything else; but generally I give way and accommodate + myself as well as any one to necessity. Sleeping has taken up a great part + of my life, and I yet continue, at the age I now am, to sleep eight or + nine hours at one breath. I wean myself with utility from this proneness + to sloth, and am evidently the better for so doing. I find the change a + little hard indeed, but in three days ‘tis over; and I see but few + who live with less sleep, when need requires, and who more constantly + exercise themselves, or to whom long journeys are less troublesome. My + body is capable of a firm, but not of a violent or sudden agitation. I + escape of late from violent exercises, and such as make me sweat: my limbs + grow weary before they are warm. I can stand a whole day together, and am + never weary of walking; but from my youth I have ever preferred to ride + upon paved roads; on foot, I get up to the haunches in dirt, and little + fellows as I am are subject in the streets to be elbowed and jostled for + want of presence; I have ever loved to repose myself, whether sitting or + lying, with my heels as high or higher than my seat. + </p> + <p> + There is no profession as pleasant as the military, a profession both + noble in its execution (for valour is the stoutest, proudest, and most + generous of all virtues), and noble in its cause: there is no utility + either more universal or more just than the protection of the peace and + greatness of one’s country. The company of so many noble, young, and + active men delights you; the ordinary sight of so many tragic spectacles; + the freedom of the conversation, without art; a masculine and + unceremonious way of living, please you; the variety of a thousand several + actions; the encouraging harmony of martial music that ravishes and + inflames both your ears and souls; the honour of this occupation, nay, + even its hardships and difficulties, which Plato holds so light that in + his Republic he makes women and children share in them, are delightful to + you. You put yourself voluntarily upon particular exploits and hazards, + according as you judge of their lustre and importance; and, a volunteer, + find even life itself excusably employed: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Pulchrumque mori succurrit in armis.” + + [“‘Tis fine to die sword in hand.” (“And he remembers that it + is honourable to die in arms.”)—AEneid, ii. 317.] +</pre> + <p> + To fear common dangers that concern so great a multitude of men; not to + dare to do what so many sorts of souls, what a whole people dare, is for a + heart that is poor and mean beyond all measure: company encourages even + children. If others excel you in knowledge, in gracefulness, in strength, + or fortune, you have alternative resources at your disposal; but to give + place to them in stability of mind, you can blame no one for that but + yourself. Death is more abject, more languishing and troublesome, in bed + than in a fight: fevers and catarrhs as painful and mortal as a + musket-shot. Whoever has fortified himself valiantly to bear the accidents + of common life need not raise his courage to be a soldier: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vivere, mi Lucili, militare est.” + + [“To live, my Lucilius, is (to make war) to be a soldier.” + —Seneca, Ep., 96.] +</pre> + <p> + I do not remember that I ever had the itch, and yet scratching is one of + nature’s sweetest gratifications, and so much at hand; but + repentance follows too near. I use it most in my ears, which are at + intervals apt to itch. + </p> + <p> + I came into the world with all my senses entire, even to perfection. My + stomach is commodiously good, as also is my head and my breath; and, for + the most part, uphold themselves so in the height of fevers. I have passed + the age to which some nations, not without reason, have prescribed so just + a term of life that they would not suffer men to exceed it; and yet I have + some intermissions, though short and inconstant, so clean and sound as to + be little inferior to the health and pleasantness of my youth. I do not + speak of vigour and sprightliness; ‘tis not reason they should + follow me beyond their limits: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Non hoc amplius est liminis, aut aquae + Coelestis, patiens latus.” + + [“I am no longer able to stand waiting at a door in the rain.” + —Horace, Od., iii. 10, 9.] +</pre> + <p> + My face and eyes presently discover my condition; all my alterations begin + there, and appear somewhat worse than they really are; my friends often + pity me before I feel the cause in myself. My looking-glass does not + frighten me; for even in my youth it has befallen me more than once to + have a scurvy complexion and of ill augury, without any great consequence, + so that the physicians, not finding any cause within answerable to that + outward alteration, attributed it to the mind and to some secret passion + that tormented me within; but they were deceived. If my body would govern + itself as well, according to my rule, as my mind does, we should move a + little more at our ease. My mind was then not only free from trouble, but, + moreover, full of joy and satisfaction, as it commonly is, half by its + complexion, half by its design: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nec vitiant artus aegrae contagia mentis.” + + [“Nor do the troubles of the body ever affect my mind.” + —Ovid, Trist., iii. 8, 25.] +</pre> + <p> + I am of the opinion that this temperature of my soul has often raised my + body from its lapses; this is often depressed; if the other be not brisk + and gay, ‘tis at least tranquil and at rest. I had a quartan ague + four or five months, that made me look miserably ill; my mind was always, + if not calm, yet pleasant. If the pain be without me, the weakness and + languor do not much afflict me; I see various corporal faintings, that + beget a horror in me but to name, which yet I should less fear than a + thousand passions and agitations of the mind that I see about me. I make + up my mind no more to run; ‘tis enough that I can crawl along; nor + do I more complain of the natural decadence that I feel in myself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis tumidum guttur miratur in Alpibus?” + + [“Who is surprised to see a swollen goitre in the Alps?” + —Juvenal, xiii. 162.] +</pre> + <p> + than I regret that my duration shall not be as long and entire as that of + an oak. + </p> + <p> + I have no reason to complain of my imagination; I have had few thoughts in + my life that have so much as broken my sleep, except those of desire, + which have awakened without afflicting me. I dream but seldom, and then of + chimaeras and fantastic things, commonly produced from pleasant thoughts, + and rather ridiculous than sad; and I believe it to be true that dreams + are faithful interpreters of our inclinations; but there is art required + to sort and understand them + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Res, quae in vita usurpant homines, cogitant, curant, vident, + Quaeque agunt vigilantes, agitantque, ea si cui in somno accidunt, + Minus mirandum est.” + + [“‘Tis less wonder, what men practise, think, care for, see, and do + when waking, (should also run in their heads and disturb them when + they are asleep) and which affect their feelings, if they happen to + any in sleep.”—Attius, cited in Cicero, De Divin., i. 22.] +</pre> + <p> + Plato, moreover, says, that ‘tis the office of prudence to draw + instructions of divination of future things from dreams: I don’t + know about this, but there are wonderful instances of it that Socrates, + Xenophon, and Aristotle, men of irreproachable authority, relate. + Historians say that the Atlantes never dream; who also never eat any + animal food, which I add, forasmuch as it is, peradventure, the reason why + they never dream, for Pythagoras ordered a certain preparation of diet to + beget appropriate dreams. Mine are very gentle, without any agitation of + body or expression of voice. I have seen several of my time wonderfully + disturbed by them. Theon the philosopher walked in his sleep, and so did + Pericles servant, and that upon the tiles and top of the house. + </p> + <p> + I hardly ever choose my dish at table, but take the next at hand, and + unwillingly change it for another. A confusion of meats and a clatter of + dishes displease me as much as any other confusion: I am easily satisfied + with few dishes: and am an enemy to the opinion of Favorinus, that in a + feast they should snatch from you the meat you like, and set a plate of + another sort before you; and that ‘tis a pitiful supper, if you do + not sate your guests with the rumps of various fowls, the beccafico only + deserving to be all eaten. I usually eat salt meats, yet I prefer bread + that has no salt in it; and my baker never sends up other to my table, + contrary to the custom of the country. In my infancy, what they had most + to correct in me was the refusal of things that children commonly best + love, as sugar, sweetmeats, and march-panes. My tutor contended with this + aversion to delicate things, as a kind of over-nicety; and indeed ‘tis + nothing else but a difficulty of taste, in anything it applies itself to. + Whoever cures a child of an obstinate liking for brown bread, bacon, or + garlic, cures him also of pampering his palate. There are some who affect + temperance and plainness by wishing for beef and ham amongst the + partridges; ‘tis all very fine; this is the delicacy of the + delicate; ‘tis the taste of an effeminate fortune that disrelishes + ordinary and accustomed things. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Per qux luxuria divitiarum taedio ludit.” + + [“By which the luxury of wealth causes tedium.”—Seneca, Ep., 18.] +</pre> + <p> + Not to make good cheer with what another is enjoying, and to be curious in + what a man eats, is the essence of this vice: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Si modica coenare times olus omne patella.” + + [“If you can’t be content with herbs in a small dish for supper.” + —Horace, Ep., i. 5, 2.] +</pre> + <p> + There is indeed this difference, that ‘tis better to oblige one’s + appetite to things that are most easy to be had; but ‘tis always + vice to oblige one’s self. I formerly said a kinsman of mine was + overnice, who, by being in our galleys, had unlearned the use of beds and + to undress when he went to sleep. + </p> + <p> + If I had any sons, I should willingly wish them my fortune. The good + father that God gave me (who has nothing of me but the acknowledgment of + his goodness, but truly ‘tis a very hearty one) sent me from my + cradle to be brought up in a poor village of his, and there continued me + all the while I was at nurse, and still longer, bringing me up to the + meanest and most common way of living: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Magna pars libertatis est bene moratus venter.” + + [“A well-governed stomach is a great part of liberty.” + —Seneca,Ep., 123.] +</pre> + <p> + Never take upon yourselves, and much less give up to your wives, the care + of their nurture; leave the formation to fortune, under popular and + natural laws; leave it to custom to train them up to frugality and + hardship, that they may rather descend from rigour than mount up to it. + This humour of his yet aimed at another end, to make me familiar with the + people and the condition of men who most need our assistance; considering + that I should rather regard them who extend their arms to me, than those + who turn their backs upon me; and for this reason it was that he provided + to hold me at the font persons of the meanest fortune, to oblige and + attach me to them. + </p> + <p> + Nor has his design succeeded altogether ill; for, whether upon the account + of the more honour in such a condescension, or out of a natural compassion + that has a very great power over me, I have an inclination towards the + meaner sort of people. The faction which I should condemn in our wars, I + should more sharply condemn, flourishing and successful; it will somewhat + reconcile me to it, when I shall see it miserable and overwhelmed. How + willingly do I admire the fine humour of Cheilonis, daughter and wife to + kings of Sparta. Whilst her husband Cleombrotus, in the commotion of her + city, had the advantage over Leonidas her father, she, like a good + daughter, stuck close to her father in all his misery and exile, in + opposition to the conqueror. But so soon as the chance of war turned, she + changed her will with the change of fortune, and bravely turned to her + husband’s side, whom she accompanied throughout, where his ruin + carried him: admitting, as it appears to me, no other choice than to + cleave to the side that stood most in need of her, and where she could + best manifest her compassion. I am naturally more apt to follow the + example of Flaminius, who rather gave his assistance to those who had most + need of him than to those who had power to do him good, than I do to that + of Pyrrhus, who was of an humour to truckle under the great and to + domineer over the poor. + </p> + <p> + Long sittings at table both trouble me and do me harm; for, be it that I + was so accustomed when a child, I eat all the while I sit. Therefore it is + that at my own house, though the meals there are of the shortest, I + usually sit down a little while after the rest, after the manner of + Augustus, but I do not imitate him in rising also before the rest; on the + contrary, I love to sit still a long time after, and to hear them talk, + provided I am none of the talkers: for I tire and hurt myself with + speaking upon a full stomach, as much as I find it very wholesome and + pleasant to argue and to strain my voice before dinner. + </p> + <p> + The ancient Greeks and Romans had more reason than we in setting apart for + eating, which is a principal action of life, if they were not prevented by + other extraordinary business, many hours and the greatest part of the + night; eating and drinking more deliberately than we do, who perform all + our actions post-haste; and in extending this natural pleasure to more + leisure and better use, intermixing with profitable conversation. + </p> + <p> + They whose concern it is to have a care of me, may very easily hinder me + from eating anything they think will do me harm; for in such matters I + never covet nor miss anything I do not see; but withal, if it once comes + in my sight, ‘tis in vain to persuade me to forbear; so that when I + design to fast I must be kept apart from the suppers, and must have only + so much given me as is required for a prescribed collation; for if to + table, I forget my resolution. When I order my cook to alter the manner of + dressing any dish, all my family know what it means, that my stomach is + out of order, and that I shall not touch it. + </p> + <p> + I love to have all meats, that will endure it, very little boiled or + roasted, and prefer them very high, and even, as to several, quite gone. + Nothing but hardness generally offends me (of any other quality I am as + patient and indifferent as any man I have known); so that, contrary to the + common humour, even in fish it often happens that I find them both too + fresh and too firm; not for want of teeth, which I ever had good, even to + excellence, and which age does not now begin to threaten; I have always + been used every morning to rub them with a napkin, and before and after + dinner. God is favourable to those whom He makes to die by degrees; + ‘tis the only benefit of old age; the last death will be so much the + less painful; it will kill but a half or a quarter of a man. There is one + tooth lately fallen out without drawing and without pain; it was the + natural term of its duration; in that part of my being and several others, + are already dead, others half dead, of those that were most active and in + the first rank during my vigorous years; ‘tis so I melt and steal + away from myself. What a folly it would be in my understanding to + apprehend the height of this fall, already so much advanced, as if it were + from the very top! I hope I shall not. I, in truth, receive a principal + consolation in meditating my death, that it will be just and natural, and + that henceforward I cannot herein either require or hope from Destiny any + other but unlawful favour. Men make themselves believe that we formerly + had longer lives as well as greater stature. But they deceive themselves; + and Solon, who was of those elder times, limits the duration of life to + threescore and ten years. I, who have so much and so universally adored + that “The mean is best,” of the passed time, and who have + concluded the most moderate measures to be the most perfect, shall I + pretend to an immeasurable and prodigious old age? Whatever happens + contrary to the course of nature may be troublesome; but what comes + according to her should always be pleasant: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnia, quae secundum naturam fiunt, sunt habenda in bonis.” + + [“All things that are done according to nature + are to be accounted good.”—Cicero, De Senect., c. 19.] +</pre> + <p> + And so, says Plato, the death which is occasioned by wounds and diseases + is violent; but that which comes upon us, old age conducting us to it, is + of all others the most easy, and in some sort delicious: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Vitam adolescentibus vis aufert, senibus maturitas.” + + [“Young men are taken away by violence, old men by maturity.” + —Cicero, ubi sup.] +</pre> + <p> + Death mixes and confounds itself throughout with life; decay anticipates + its hour, and shoulders itself even into the course of our advance. I have + portraits of myself taken at five-and-twenty and five-and-thirty years of + age. I compare them with that lately drawn: how many times is it no longer + me; how much more is my present image unlike the former, than unlike my + dying one? It is too much to abuse nature, to make her trot so far that + she must be forced to leave us, and abandon our conduct, our eyes, teeth, + legs, and all the rest to the mercy of a foreign and haggard countenance, + and to resign us into the hands of art, being weary of following us + herself. + </p> + <p> + I am not excessively fond either of salads or fruits, except melons. My + father hated all sorts of sauces; I love them all. Eating too much hurts + me; but, as to the quality of what I eat, I do not yet certainly know that + any sort of meat disagrees with me; neither have I observed that either + full moon or decrease, autumn or spring, have any influence upon me. We + have in us motions that are inconstant and unknown; for example, I found + radishes first grateful to my stomach, since that nauseous, and now again + grateful. In several other things, I find my stomach and appetite vary + after the same manner; I have changed again and again from white wine to + claret, from claret to white wine. + </p> + <p> + I am a great lover of fish, and consequently make my fasts feasts and + feasts fasts; and I believe what some people say, that it is more easy of + digestion than flesh. As I make a conscience of eating flesh upon + fish-days, so does my taste make a conscience of mixing fish and flesh; + the difference betwixt them seems to me too remote. + </p> + <p> + From my youth, I have sometimes kept out of the way at meals; either to + sharpen my appetite against the next morning (for, as Epicurus fasted and + made lean meals to accustom his pleasure to make shift without abundance, + I, on the contrary, do it to prepare my pleasure to make better and more + cheerful use of abundance); or else I fasted to preserve my vigour for the + service of some action of body or mind: for both the one and the other of + these is cruelly dulled in me by repletion; and, above all things, I hate + that foolish coupling of so healthful and sprightly a goddess with that + little belching god, bloated with the fumes of his liquor—[ + Montaigne did not approve of coupling Bacchus with Venus.]— or to + cure my sick stomach, or for want of fit company; for I say, as the same + Epicurus did, that one is not so much to regard what he eats, as with + whom; and I commend Chilo, that he would not engage himself to be at + Periander’s feast till he was first informed who were to be the + other guests; no dish is so acceptable to me, nor no sauce so appetising, + as that which is extracted from society. I think it more wholesome to eat + more leisurely and less, and to eat oftener; but I would have appetite and + hunger attended to; I should take no pleasure to be fed with three or four + pitiful and stinted repasts a day, after a medicinal manner: who will + assure me that, if I have a good appetite in the morning, I shall have the + same at supper? But we old fellows especially, let us take the first + opportune time of eating, and leave to almanac-makers hopes and + prognostics. The utmost fruit of my health is pleasure; let us take hold + of the present and known. I avoid the invariable in these laws of fasting; + he who would have one form serve him, let him avoid the continuing it; we + harden ourselves in it; our strength is there stupefied and laid asleep; + six months after, you shall find your stomach so inured to it, that all + you have got is the loss of your liberty of doing otherwise but to your + prejudice. + </p> + <p> + I never keep my legs and thighs warmer in winter than in summer; one + simple pair of silk stockings is all. I have suffered myself, for the + relief of my colds, to keep my head warmer, and my belly upon the account + of my colic: my diseases in a few days habituate themselves thereto, and + disdained my ordinary provisions: we soon get from a coif to a kerchief + over it, from a simple cap to a quilted hat; the trimmings of the doublet + must not merely serve for ornament: there must be added a hare’s + skin or a vulture’s skin, and a cap under the hat: follow this + gradation, and you will go a very fine way to work. I will do nothing of + the sort, and would willingly leave off what I have begun. If you fall + into any new inconvenience, all this is labour lost; you are accustomed to + it; seek out some other. Thus do they destroy themselves who submit to be + pestered with these enforced and superstitious rules; they must add + something more, and something more after that; there is no end on’t. + </p> + <p> + For what concerns our affairs and pleasures, it is much more commodious, + as the ancients did, to lose one’s dinner, and defer making good + cheer till the hour of retirement and repose, without breaking up a day; + and so was I formerly used to do. As to health, I since by experience + find, on the contrary, that it is better to dine, and that the digestion + is better while awake. I am not very used to be thirsty, either well or + sick; my mouth is, indeed, apt to be dry, but without thirst; and commonly + I never drink but with thirst that is created by eating, and far on in the + meal; I drink pretty well for a man of my pitch: in summer, and at a + relishing meal, I do not only exceed the limits of Augustus, who drank but + thrice precisely; but not to offend Democritus rule, who forbade that men + should stop at four times as an unlucky number, I proceed at need to the + fifth glass, about three half-pints; for the little glasses are my + favourites, and I like to drink them off, which other people avoid as an + unbecoming thing. I mix my wine sometimes with half, sometimes with the + third part water; and when I am at home, by an ancient custom that my + father’s physician prescribed both to him and himself, they mix that + which is designed for me in the buttery, two or three hours before ‘tis + brought in. ‘Tis said that Cranabs, king of Attica, was the inventor + of this custom of diluting wine; whether useful or no, I have heard + disputed. I think it more decent and wholesome for children to drink no + wine till after sixteen or eighteen years of age. The most usual and + common method of living is the most becoming; all particularity, in my + opinion, is to be avoided; and I should as much hate a German who mixed + water with his wine, as I should a Frenchman who drank it pure. Public + usage gives the law in these things. + </p> + <p> + I fear a mist, and fly from smoke as from the plague: the first repairs I + fell upon in my own house were the chimneys and houses of office, the + common and insupportable defects of all old buildings; and amongst the + difficulties of war I reckon the choking dust they made us ride in a whole + day together. I have a free and easy respiration, and my colds for the + most part go off without offence to the lungs and without a cough. + </p> + <p> + The heat of summer is more an enemy to me than the cold of winter; for, + besides the incommodity of heat, less remediable than cold, and besides + the force of the sunbeams that strike upon the head, all glittering light + offends my eyes, so that I could not now sit at dinner over against a + flaming fire. + </p> + <p> + To dull the whiteness of paper, in those times when I was more wont to + read, I laid a piece of glass upon my book, and found my eyes much + relieved by it. I am to this hour—to the age of fifty-four—Ignorant + of the use of spectacles; and I can see as far as ever I did, or any + other. ‘Tis true that in the evening I begin to find a little + disturbance and weakness in my sight if I read, an exercise I have always + found troublesome, especially by night. Here is one step back, and a very + manifest one; I shall retire another: from the second to the third, and so + to the fourth, so gently, that I shall be stark blind before I shall be + sensible of the age and decay of my sight: so artificially do the Fatal + Sisters untwist our lives. And so I doubt whether my hearing begins to + grow thick; and you will see I shall have half lost it, when I shall still + lay the fault on the voices of those who speak to me. A man must screw up + his soul to a high pitch to make it sensible how it ebbs away. + </p> + <p> + My walking is quick and firm; and I know not which of the two, my mind or + my body, I have most to do to keep in the same state. That preacher is + very much my friend who can fix my attention a whole sermon through: in + places of ceremony, where every one’s countenance is so starched, + where I have seen the ladies keep even their eyes so fixed, I could never + order it so, that some part or other of me did not lash out; so that + though I was seated, I was never settled; and as to gesticulation, I am + never without a switch in my hand, walking or riding. As the philosopher + Chrysippus’ maid said of her master, that he was only drunk in his + legs, for it was his custom to be always kicking them about in what place + soever he sat; and she said it when, the wine having made all his + companions drunk, he found no alteration in himself at all; it may have + been said of me from my infancy, that I had either folly or quicksilver in + my feet, so much stirring and unsettledness there is in them, wherever + they are placed. + </p> + <p> + ‘Tis indecent, besides the hurt it does to one’s health, and + even to the pleasure of eating, to eat greedily as I do; I often bite my + tongue, and sometimes my fingers, in my haste. Diogenes, meeting a boy + eating after that manner, gave his tutor a box on the ear! There were men + at Rome that taught people to chew, as well as to walk, with a good grace. + I lose thereby the leisure of speaking, which gives great relish to the + table, provided the discourse be suitable, that is, pleasant and short. + </p> + <p> + There is jealousy and envy amongst our pleasures; they cross and hinder + one another. Alcibiades, a man who well understood how to make good cheer, + banished even music from the table, that it might not disturb the + entertainment of discourse, for the reason, as Plato tells us, “that + it is the custom of ordinary people to call fiddlers and singing men to + feasts, for want of good discourse and pleasant talk, with which men of + understanding know how to entertain one another.” Varro requires all + this in entertainments: “Persons of graceful presence and agreeable + conversation, who are neither silent nor garrulous; neatness and delicacy, + both of meat and place; and fair weather.” The art of dining well is + no slight art, the pleasure not a slight pleasure; neither the greatest + captains nor the greatest philosophers have disdained the use or science + of eating well. My imagination has delivered three repasts to the custody + of my memory, which fortune rendered sovereignly sweet to me, upon several + occasions in my more flourishing age; my present state excludes me; for + every one, according to the good temper of body and mind wherein he then + finds himself, furnishes for his own share a particular grace and savour. + I, who but crawl upon the earth, hate this inhuman wisdom, that will have + us despise and hate all culture of the body; I look upon it as an equal + injustice to loath natural pleasures as to be too much in love with them. + Xerxes was a blockhead, who, environed with all human delights, proposed a + reward to him who could find out others; but he is not much less so who + cuts off any of those pleasures that nature has provided for him. A man + should neither pursue nor avoid them, but receive them. I receive them, I + confess, a little too warmly and kindly, and easily suffer myself to + follow my natural propensions. We have no need to exaggerate their + inanity; they themselves will make us sufficiently sensible of it, thanks + to our sick wet-blanket mind, that puts us out of taste with them as with + itself; it treats both itself and all it receives, one while better, and + another worse, according to its insatiable, vagabond, and versatile + essence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sincerum est nisi vas, quodcunque infundis, acescit.” + + [“Unless the vessel be clean, it will sour whatever + you put into it.”—Horace, Ep., i. 2, 54.] +</pre> + <p> + I, who boast that I so curiously and particularly embrace the conveniences + of life, find them, when I most nearly consider them, very little more + than wind. But what? We are all wind throughout; and, moreover, the wind + itself, more discreet than we, loves to bluster and shift from corner to + corner, and contents itself with its proper offices without desiring + stability and solidity-qualities not its own. + </p> + <p> + The pure pleasures, as well as the pure displeasures, of the imagination, + say some, are the greatest, as was expressed by the balance of Critolaiis. + ‘Tis no wonder; it makes them to its own liking, and cuts them out + of the whole cloth; of this I every day see notable examples, and, + peradventure, to be desired. But I, who am of a mixed and heavy condition, + cannot snap so soon at this one simple object, but that I negligently + suffer myself to be carried away with the present pleasures of the, + general human law, intellectually sensible, and sensibly intellectual. The + Cyrenaic philosophers will have it that as corporal pains, so corporal + pleasures are more powerful, both as double and as more just. There are + some, as Aristotle says, who out of a savage kind of stupidity dislike + them; and I know others who out of ambition do the same. Why do they not, + moreover, forswear breathing? why do they not live of their own? why not + refuse light, because it is gratuitous, and costs them neither invention + nor exertion? Let Mars, Pallas, or Mercury afford them their light by + which to see, instead of Venus, Ceres, and Bacchus. These boastful humours + may counterfeit some content, for what will not fancy do? But as to + wisdom, there is no touch of it. Will they not seek the quadrature of the + circle, even when on their wives? I hate that we should be enjoined to + have our minds in the clouds, when our bodies are at table; I would not + have the mind nailed there, nor wallow there; I would have it take place + there and sit, but not lie down. Aristippus maintained nothing but the + body, as if we had no soul; Zeno comprehended only the soul, as if we had + no body: both of them faultily. Pythagoras, they say, followed a + philosophy that was all contemplation, Socrates one that was all conduct + and action; Plato found a mean betwixt the two; but they only say this for + the sake of talking. The true temperament is found in Socrates; and, Plato + is much more Socratic than Pythagoric, and it becomes him better. When I + dance, I dance; when I sleep, I sleep. Nay, when I walk alone in a + beautiful orchard, if my thoughts are some part of the time taken up with + external occurrences, I some part of the time call them back again to my + walk, to the orchard, to the sweetness of that solitude, and to myself. + </p> + <p> + Nature has mother-like observed this, that the actions she has enjoined us + for our necessity should be also pleasurable to us; and she invites us to + them, not only by reason, but also by appetite, and ‘tis injustice + to infringe her laws. When I see alike Caesar and Alexander, in the midst + of his greatest business, so fully enjoy human and corporal pleasures, I + do not say that he relaxed his mind: I say that he strengthened it, by + vigour of courage subjecting those violent employments and laborious + thoughts to the ordinary usage of life: wise, had he believed the last was + his ordinary, the first his extraordinary, vocation. We are great fools. + “He has passed his life in idleness,” say we: “I have + done nothing to-day.” What? have you not lived? that is not only the + fundamental, but the most illustrious, of your occupations. “Had I + been put to the management of great affairs, I should have made it seen + what I could do.” “Have you known how to meditate and manage + your life? you have performed the greatest work of all.” In order to + shew and develop herself, nature needs only fortune; she equally manifests + herself in all stages, and behind a curtain as well as without one. Have + you known how to regulate your conduct, you have done a great deal more + than he who has composed books. Have you known how to take repose, you + have done more than he who has taken empires and cities. + </p> + <p> + The glorious masterpiece of man is to live to purpose; all other things: + to reign, to lay up treasure, to build, are but little appendices and + props. I take pleasure in seeing a general of an army, at the foot of a + breach he is presently to assault, give himself up entire and free at + dinner, to talk and be merry with his friends. And Brutus, when heaven and + earth were conspired against him and the Roman liberty, stealing some hour + of the night from his rounds to read and scan Polybius in all security. + ‘Tis for little souls, buried under the weight of affairs, not from + them to know how clearly to disengage themselves, not to know how to lay + them aside and take them up again: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O fortes, pejoraque passi + Mecum saepe viri! nunc vino pellite curas + Cras ingens iterabimus aequor.” + + [“O brave spirits, who have often suffered sorrow with me, drink + cares away; tomorrow we will embark once more on the vast sea.” + —Horace, Od., i. 7, 30.] +</pre> + <p> + Whether it be in jest or earnest, that the theological and Sorbonnical + wine, and their feasts, are turned into a proverb, I find it reasonable + they should dine so much more commodiously and pleasantly, as they have + profitably and seriously employed the morning in the exercise of their + schools. The conscience of having well spent the other hours, is the just + and savoury sauce of the dinner-table. The sages lived after that manner; + and that inimitable emulation to virtue, which astonishes us both in the + one and the other Cato, that humour of theirs, so severe as even to be + importunate, gently submits itself and yields to the laws of the human + condition, of Venus and Bacchus; according to the precepts of their sect, + that require the perfect sage to be as expert and intelligent in the use + of natural pleasures as in all other duties of life: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Cui cor sapiat, ei et sapiat palatus.” + </pre> + <p> + Relaxation and facility, methinks, wonderfully honour and best become a + strong and generous soul. Epaminondas did not think that to take part, and + that heartily, in songs and sports and dances with the young men of his + city, were things that in any way derogated from the honour of his + glorious victories and the perfect purity of manners that was in him. And + amongst so many admirable actions of Scipio the grandfather, a person + worthy to be reputed of a heavenly extraction, there is nothing that gives + him a greater grace than to see him carelessly and childishly trifling at + gathering and selecting cockle shells, and playing at quoits, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [This game, as the “Dictionnaire de Trevoux” describes it, is one + wherein two persons contend which of them shall soonest pick up some + object.] +</pre> + <p> + amusing and tickling himself in representing by writing in comedies the + meanest and most popular actions of men. And his head full of that + wonderful enterprise of Hannibal and Africa, visiting the schools in + Sicily, and attending philosophical lectures, to the extent of arming the + blind envy of his enemies at Rome. Nor is there anything more remarkable + in Socrates than that, old as he was, he found time to make himself taught + dancing and playing upon instruments, and thought it time well spent. This + same man was seen in an ecstasy, standing upon his feet a whole day and a + night together, in the presence of all the Grecian army, surprised and + absorbed by some profound thought. He was the first, amongst so many + valiant men of the army, to run to the relief of Alcibiades, oppressed + with the enemy, to shield him with his own body, and disengage him from + the crowd by absolute force of arms. It was he who, in the Delian battle, + raised and saved Xenophon when fallen from his horse; and who, amongst all + the people of Athens, enraged as he was at so unworthy a spectacle, first + presented himself to rescue Theramenes, whom the thirty tyrants were + leading to execution by their satellites, and desisted not from his bold + enterprise but at the remonstrance of Theramenes himself, though he was + only followed by two more in all. He was seen, when courted by a beauty + with whom he was in love, to maintain at need a severe abstinence. He was + seen ever to go to the wars, and walk upon ice, with bare feet; to wear + the same robe, winter and summer; to surpass all his companions in + patience of bearing hardships, and to eat no more at a feast than at his + own private dinner. He was seen, for seven-and-twenty years together, to + endure hunger, poverty, the indocility of his children, and the nails of + his wife, with the same countenance. And, in the end, calumny, tyranny, + imprisonment, fetters, and poison. But was this man obliged to drink full + bumpers by any rule of civility? he was also the man of the whole army + with whom the advantage in drinking, remained. And he never refused to + play at noisettes, nor to ride the hobby-horse with children, and it + became him well; for all actions, says philosophy, equally become and + equally honour a wise man. We have enough wherewithal to do it, and we + ought never to be weary of presenting the image of this great man in all + the patterns and forms of perfection. There are very few examples of life, + full and pure; and we wrong our teaching every day, to propose to + ourselves those that are weak and imperfect, scarce good for any one + service, and rather pull us back; corrupters rather than correctors of + manners. The people deceive themselves; a man goes much more easily indeed + by the ends, where the extremity serves for a bound, a stop, and guide, + than by the middle way, large and open; and according to art, more than + according to nature: but withal much less nobly and commendably. + </p> + <p> + Greatness of soul consists not so much in mounting and in pressing + forward, as in knowing how to govern and circumscribe itself; it takes + everything for great, that is enough, and demonstrates itself in + preferring moderate to eminent things. There is nothing so fine and + legitimate as well and duly to play the man; nor science so arduous as + well and naturally to know how to live this life; and of all the + infirmities we have, ‘tis the most barbarous to despise our being. + </p> + <p> + Whoever has a mind to isolate his spirit, when the body is ill at ease, to + preserve it from the contagion, let him by all means do it if he can: but + otherwise let him on the contrary favour and assist it, and not refuse to + participate of its natural pleasures with a conjugal complacency, bringing + to it, if it be the wiser, moderation, lest by indiscretion they should + get confounded with displeasure. Intemperance is the pest of pleasure; and + temperance is not its scourge, but rather its seasoning. Euxodus, who + therein established the sovereign good, and his companions, who set so + high a value upon it, tasted it in its most charming sweetness, by the + means of temperance, which in them was singular and exemplary. + </p> + <p> + I enjoin my soul to look upon pain and pleasure with an eye equally + regulated: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Eodem enim vitio est effusio animi in laetitia + quo in dolore contractio,” + + [“For from the same imperfection arises the expansion of the + mind in pleasure and its contraction in sorrow.” + —Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 31.] +</pre> + <p> + and equally firm; but the one gaily and the other severely, and so far as + it is able, to be careful to extinguish the one as to extend the other. + The judging rightly of good brings along with it the judging soundly of + evil: pain has something of the inevitable in its tender beginnings, and + pleasure something of the evitable in its excessive end. Plato couples + them together, and wills that it should be equally the office of fortitude + to fight against pain, and against the immoderate and charming + blandishments of pleasure: they are two fountains, from which whoever + draws, when and as much as he needs, whether city, man, or beast, is very + fortunate. The first is to be taken medicinally and upon necessity, and + more scantily; the other for thirst, but not to, drunkenness. Pain, + pleasure, love and hatred are the first things that a child is sensible + of: if, when reason comes, they apply it to themselves, that is virtue. + </p> + <p> + I have a special vocabulary of my own; I “pass away time,” + when it is ill and uneasy, but when ‘tis good I do not pass it away: + “I taste it over again and adhere to it”; one must run over + the ill and settle upon the good. This ordinary phrase of pastime, and + passing away the time, represents the usage of those wise sort of people + who think they cannot do better with their lives than to let them run out + and slide away, pass them over, and baulk them, and, as much as they can, + ignore them and shun them as a thing of troublesome and contemptible + quality: but I know it to be another kind of thing, and find it both + valuable and commodious, even in its latest decay, wherein I now enjoy it; + and nature has delivered it into our hands in such and so favourable + circumstances that we have only ourselves to blame if it be troublesome to + us, or escapes us unprofitably: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stulti vita ingrata est, trepida est, tota in futurum fertur.” + + [“The life of a fool is thankless, timorous, and wholly bent upon + the future.”—Seneca, Ep:, 15.] +</pre> + <p> + Nevertheless I compose myself to lose mine without regret; but withal as a + thing that is perishable by its condition, not that it molests or annoys + me. Nor does it properly well become any not to be displeased when they + die, excepting such as are pleased to live. There is good husbandry in + enjoying it: I enjoy it double to what others do; for the measure of its + fruition depends upon our more or less application to it. Chiefly that I + perceive mine to be so short in time, I desire to extend it in weight; I + will stop the promptitude of its flight by the promptitude of my grasp; + and by the vigour of using it compensate the speed of its running away. In + proportion as the possession of life is more short, I must make it so much + deeper and fuller. + </p> + <p> + Others feel the pleasure of content and prosperity; I feel it too, as well + as they, but not as it passes and slips by; one should study, taste, and + ruminate upon it to render condign thanks to Him who grants it to us. They + enjoy the other pleasures as they do that of sleep, without knowing it. To + the end that even sleep itself should not so stupidly escape from me, I + have formerly caused myself to be disturbed in my sleep, so that I might + the better and more sensibly relish and taste it. I ponder with myself of + content; I do not skim over, but sound it; and I bend my reason, now grown + perverse and peevish, to entertain it. Do I find myself in any calm + composedness? is there any pleasure that tickles me? I do not suffer it to + dally with my senses only; I associate my soul to it too: not there to + engage itself, but therein to take delight; not there to lose itself, but + to be present there; and I employ it, on its part, to view itself in this + prosperous state, to weigh and appreciate its happiness and to amplify it. + It reckons how much it stands indebted to God that its conscience and the + intestine passions are in repose; that it has the body in its natural + disposition, orderly and competently enjoying the soft and soothing + functions by which He, of His grace is pleased to compensate the + sufferings wherewith His justice at His good pleasure chastises us. It + reflects how great a benefit it is to be so protected, that which way + soever it turns its eye the heavens are calm around it. No desire, no + fear, no doubt, troubles the air; no difficulty, past, present, or to, + come, that its imagination may not pass over without offence. This + consideration takes great lustre from the comparison of different + conditions. So it is that I present to my thought, in a thousand aspects, + those whom fortune or their own error carries away and torments. And, + again, those who, more like to me, so negligently and incuriously receive + their good fortune. Those are folks who spend their time indeed; they pass + over the present and that which they possess, to wait on hope, and for + shadows and vain images which fancy puts before them: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Morte obita quales fama est volitare figuras, + Aut quae sopitos deludunt somnia sensus:” + + [“Such forms as those which after death are reputed to hover about, + or dreams which delude the senses in sleep.”—AEneid, x. 641.] +</pre> + <p> + which hasten and prolong their flight, according as they are pursued. The + fruit and end of their pursuit is to pursue; as Alexander said, that the + end of his labour was to labour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nil actum credens, cum quid superesset agendum.” + + [“Thinking nothing done, if anything remained to be done. + —“Lucan, ii. 657.] +</pre> + <p> + For my part then, I love life and cultivate it, such as it has pleased God + to bestow it upon us. I do not desire it should be without the necessity + of eating and drinking; and I should think it a not less excusable failing + to wish it had been twice as long; + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Sapiens divitiarum naturalium quaesitor acerrimus:” + + [“A wise man is the keenest seeker for natural riches.” + —Seneca, Ep., 119.] +</pre> + <p> + nor that we should support ourselves by putting only a little of that drug + into our mouths, by which Epimenides took away his appetite and kept + himself alive; nor that we should stupidly beget children with our fingers + or heels, but rather; with reverence be it spoken, that we might + voluptuously beget them with our fingers and heels; nor that the body + should be without desire and without titillation. These are ungrateful and + wicked complaints. I accept kindly, and with gratitude, what nature has + done for me; am well pleased with it, and proud of it. A man does wrong to + that great and omnipotent giver to refuse, annul, or disfigure his gift: + all goodness himself, he has made everything good: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Omnia quae secundum naturam sunt, aestimatione digna sunt.” + + [“All things that are according to nature are worthy of esteem.” + —Cicero, De Fin., iii. 6.] +</pre> + <p> + Of philosophical opinions, I preferably embrace those that are most solid, + that is to say, the most human and most our own: my discourse is, suitable + to my manners, low and humble: philosophy plays the child, to my thinking, + when it puts itself upon its Ergos to preach to us that ‘tis a + barbarous alliance to marry the divine with the earthly, the reasonable + with the unreasonable, the severe with the indulgent, the honest with the + dishonest. That pleasure is a brutish quality, unworthy to be tasted by a + wise man; that the sole pleasure he extracts from the enjoyment of a fair + young wife is a pleasure of his conscience to perform an action according + to order, as to put on his boots for a profitable journey. Oh, that its + followers had no more right, nor nerves, nor vigour in getting their wives’ + maidenheads than in its lesson. + </p> + <p> + This is not what Socrates says, who is its master and ours: he values, as + he ought, bodily pleasure; but he prefers that of the mind as having more + force, constancy, facility, variety, and dignity. This, according to him, + goes by no means alone—he is not so fantastic—but only it goes + first; temperance with him is the moderatrix, not the adversary of + pleasure. Nature is a gentle guide, but not more sweet and gentle than + prudent and just. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Intrandum est in rerum naturam, et penitus, + quid ea postulet, pervidendum.” + + [“A man must search into the nature of things, and fully examine + what she requires.”—Cicero, De Fin., V. 16.] +</pre> + <p> + I hunt after her foot throughout: we have confounded it with artificial + traces; and that academic and peripatetic good, which is “to live + according to it,” becomes on this account hard to limit and explain; + and that of the Stoics, neighbour to it, which is “to consent to + nature.” Is it not an error to esteem any actions less worthy, + because they are necessary? And yet they will not take it out of my head, + that it is not a very convenient marriage of pleasure with necessity, with + which, says an ancient, the gods always conspire. To what end do we + dismember by divorce a building united by so close and brotherly a + correspondence? Let us, on the contrary, confirm it by mutual offices; let + the mind rouse and quicken the heaviness of the body, and the body stay + and fix the levity of the soul: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Qui, velut summum bonum, laudat animac naturam, et, tanquam malum, + naturam carnis accusat, profectd et animam carnatiter appetit, et + carnem carnaliter fugit; quoniam id vanitate sentit humans, non + veritate divina.” + + [“He who commends the nature of the soul as the supreme good, and + condemns the nature of the flesh as evil, at once both carnally + desires the soul, and carnally flies the flesh, because he feels + thus from human vanity, not from divine truth.” + —St. Augustin, De Civit. Dei, xiv. 5.] +</pre> + <p> + In this present that God has made us, there is nothing unworthy our care; + we stand accountable for it even to a hair; and is it not a commission to + man, to conduct man according to his condition; ‘tis express, plain, + and the very principal one, and the Creator has seriously and strictly + prescribed it to us. Authority has power only to work in regard to matters + of common judgment, and is of more weight in a foreign language; therefore + let us again charge at it in this place: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stultitiae proprium quis non dixerit, ignave et contumaciter + facere, quae facienda sunt; et alio corpus impellere, alio animum; + distrahique inter diversissimos motus?” + + [“Who will not say, that it is the property of folly, slothfully and + contumaciously to perform what is to be done, and to bend the body + one way and the mind another, and to be distracted betwixt wholly + different motions?”—Seneca, Ep., 74.] +</pre> + <p> + To make this apparent, ask any one, some day, to tell you what whimsies + and imaginations he put into his pate, upon the account of which he + diverted his thoughts from a good meal, and regrets the time he spends in + eating; you will find there is nothing so insipid in all the dishes at + your table as this wise meditation of his (for the most part we had better + sleep than wake to the purpose we wake); and that his discourses and + notions are not worth the worst mess there. Though they were the ecstasies + of Archimedes himself, what then? I do not here speak of, nor mix with the + rabble of us ordinary men, and the vanity of the thoughts and desires that + divert us, those venerable souls, elevated by the ardour of devotion and + religion, to a constant and conscientious meditation of divine things, + who, by the energy of vivid and vehement hope, prepossessing the use of + the eternal nourishment, the final aim and last step of Christian desires, + the sole constant, and incorruptible pleasure, disdain to apply themselves + to our necessitous, fluid, and ambiguous conveniences, and easily resign + to the body the care and use of sensual and temporal pasture; ‘tis a + privileged study. Between ourselves, I have ever observed supercelestial + opinions and subterranean manners to be of singular accord. + </p> + <p> + AEsop, that great man, saw his master piss as he walked: “What then,” + said he, “must we drop as we run?” Let us manage our time; + there yet remains a great deal idle and ill employed. The mind has not + willingly other hours enough wherein to do its business, without + disassociating itself from the body, in that little space it must have for + its necessity. They would put themselves out of themselves, and escape + from being men. It is folly; instead of transforming themselves into + angels, they transform themselves into beasts; instead of elevating, they + lay themselves lower. These transcendental humours affright me, like high + and inaccessible places; and nothing is hard for me to digest in the life + of Socrates but his ecstasies and communication with demons; nothing so + human in Plato as that for which they say he was called divine; and of our + sciences, those seem to be the most terrestrial and low that are highest + mounted; and I find nothing so humble and mortal in the life of Alexander + as his fancies about his immortalisation. Philotas pleasantly quipped him + in his answer; he congratulated him by letter concerning the oracle of + Jupiter Ammon, which had placed him amongst the gods: “Upon thy + account I am glad of it, but the men are to be pitied who are to live with + a man, and to obey him, who exceeds and is not contented with the measure + of a man:” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Diis to minorem quod geris, imperas.” + + [“Because thou carriest thyself lower than the gods, thou rulest.” + —Horace, Od., iii. 6, 5.] +</pre> + <p> + The pretty inscription wherewith the Athenians honoured the entry of + Pompey into their city is conformable to my sense: “By so much thou + art a god, as thou confessest thee a man.” ‘Tis an absolute + and, as it were, a divine perfection, for a man to know how loyally to + enjoy his being. We seek other conditions, by reason we do not understand + the use of our own; and go out of ourselves, because we know not how there + to reside. ‘Tis to much purpose to go upon stilts, for, when upon + stilts, we must yet walk with our legs; and when seated upon the most + elevated throne in the world, we are but seated upon our breech. The + fairest lives, in my opinion, are those which regularly accommodate + themselves to the common and human model without miracle, without + extravagance. Old age stands a little in need of a more gentle treatment. + Let us recommend that to God, the protector of health and wisdom, but let + it be gay and sociable: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Frui paratis et valido mihi + Latoe, dones, et precor, integra + Cum mente; nec turpem senectam + Degere, nec Cithara carentem.” + + [“Grant it to me, Apollo, that I may enjoy my possessions in good + health; let me be sound in mind; let me not lead a dishonourable + old age, nor want the cittern.”—Horace, Od., i. 31, 17.] +</pre> + <p> + Or: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [“Grant it to me, Apollo, that I may enjoy what I have in good + health; let me be sound in body and mind; let me live in honour when + old, nor let music be wanting.”] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0128" id="link2H_4_0128"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APOLOGY: + </h2> + <p> + [In fact, the first edition of the Essays (Bordeaux, 1580) has very few + quotations. These became more numerous in the edition of 1588; but the + multitude of classical texts which at times encumber Montaigne’s + text, only dates from the posthumous edition of 1595] he had made these + collections in the four last years of his life, as an amusement of his + “idleness.”—Le Clerc. They grow, however, more sparing + in the Third Book. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0129" id="link2H_4_0129"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PROJECT GUTENBERG EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS: + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + A child should not be brought up in his mother’s lap + A gallant man does not give over his pursuit for being refused + A generous heart ought not to belie its own thoughts + A hundred more escape us than ever come to our knowledge + A lady could not boast of her chastity who was never tempted + A little cheese when a mind to make a feast + A little thing will turn and divert us + A man may always study, but he must not always go to school + A man may govern himself well who cannot govern others so + A man may play the fool in everything else, but not in poetry + A man must either imitate the vicious or hate them + A man must have courage to fear + A man never speaks of himself without loss + A man should abhor lawsuits as much as he may + A man should diffuse joy, but, as much as he can, smother grief + A man’s accusations of himself are always believed + A parrot would say as much as that + A person’s look is but a feeble warranty + A well-bred man is a compound man + A well-governed stomach is a great part of liberty + A word ill taken obliterates ten years’ merit + Abhorrence of the patient are necessary circumstances + Abominate that incidental repentance which old age brings + Accept all things we are not able to refute + Accommodated my subject to my strength + Accursed be thou, as he that arms himself for fear of death + Accusing all others of ignorance and imposition + Acquiesce and submit to truth + Acquire by his writings an immortal life + Addict thyself to the study of letters + Addresses his voyage to no certain, port + Admiration is the foundation of all philosophy + Advantageous, too, a little to recede from one’s right + Advise to choose weapons of the shortest sort + Affect words that are not of current use + Affection towards their husbands, (not) until they have lost them + Affirmation and obstinacy are express signs of want of wit + Affright people with the very mention of death + Against my trifles you could say no more than I myself have said + Age imprints more wrinkles in the mind than it does on the face + Agesilaus, what he thought most proper for boys to learn? + Agitated betwixt hope and fear + Agitation has usurped the place of reason + Alexander said, that the end of his labour was to labour + All actions equally become and equally honour a wise man + All apprentices when we come to it (death) + All defence shows a face of war + All I aim at is, to pass my time at my ease + All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice + All judgments in gross are weak and imperfect + All over-nice solicitude about riches smells of avarice + All things have their seasons, even good ones + All think he has yet twenty good years to come + All those who have authority to be angry in my family + Almanacs + Always be parading their pedantic science + Always complaining is the way never to be lamented + Always the perfect religion + Am as jealous of my repose as of my authority + An advantage in judgment we yield to none + “An emperor,” said he, “must die standing” + An ignorance that knowledge creates and begets + Ancient Romans kept their youth always standing at school + And hate him so as you were one day to love him + And we suffer the ills of a long peace + Anger and hatred are beyond the duty of justice + Any argument if it be carried on with method + Any old government better than change and alteration + Any one may deprive us of life; no one can deprive us of death + Anything appears greatest to him that never knew a greater + Anything becomes foul when commended by the multitude + Anything of value in him, let him make it appear in his conduct + Appetite comes to me in eating + Appetite is more sharp than one already half-glutted by the eyes + Appetite runs after that it has not + Appetite to read more, than glutted with that we have + Applaud his judgment than commend his knowledge + Apprenticeship and a resemblance of death + Apprenticeships that are to be served beforehand + Apt to promise something less than what I am able to do + Archer that shoots over, misses as much as he that falls short + Armed parties (the true school of treason, inhumanity, robbery) + Arrogant ignorance + Art that could come to the knowledge of but few persons + “Art thou not ashamed,” said he to him, “to sing so well?” + Arts of persuasion, to insinuate it into our minds + As great a benefit to be without (children) + As if anything were so common as ignorance + As if impatience were of itself a better remedy than patience + As we were formerly by crimes, so we are now overburdened by law + Ashamed to lay out as much thought and study upon it + Assurance they give us of the certainty of their drugs + At least, if they do no good, they will do no harm + At the most, but patch you up, and prop you a little + Attribute facility of belief to simplicity and ignorance + Attribute to itself; all the happy successes that happen + Authority of the number and antiquity of the witnesses + Authority to be dissected by the vain fancies of men + Authority which a graceful presence and a majestic mien beget + Avoid all magnificences that will in a short time be forgotten + Away with that eloquence that enchants us with itself + Away with this violence! away with this compulsion! + Bashfulness is an ornament to youth, but a reproach to old age + Be not angry to no purpose + Be on which side you will, you have as fair a game to play + Bears well a changed fortune, acting both parts equally well + Beast of company, as the ancient said, but not of the herd + Beauty of stature is the only beauty of men + Because the people know so well how to obey + Become a fool by too much wisdom + Being as impatient of commanding as of being commanded + Being dead they were then by one day happier than he + Being over-studious, we impair our health and spoil our humour + Belief compared to the impression of a seal upon the soul + Believing Heaven concerned at our ordinary actions + Best part of a captain to know how to make use of occasions + Best test of truth is the multitude of believers in a crowd + Best virtue I have has in it some tincture of vice + Better at speaking than writing—Motion and action animate word + better have none at all than to have them in so prodigious a num + Better to be alone than in foolish and troublesome company + Blemishes of the great naturally appear greater + Books go side by side with me in my whole course + Books have many charming qualities to such as know how to choose + Books have not so much served me for instruction as exercise + Books I read over again, still smile upon me with fresh novelty + Books of things that were never either studied or understood + Both himself and his posterity declared ignoble, taxable + Both kings and philosophers go to stool + Burnt and roasted for opinions taken upon trust from others + Business to-morrow + But ill proves the honour and beauty of an action by its utility + But it is not enough that our education does not spoil us + By resenting the lie we acquit ourselves of the fault + By suspecting them, have given them a title to do ill + “By the gods,” said he, “if I was not angry, I would execute you” + By the misery of this life, aiming at bliss in another + Caesar: he would be thought an excellent engineer to boot + Caesar’s choice of death: “the shortest” + Can neither keep nor enjoy anything with a good grace + Cannot stand the liberty of a friend’s advice + Carnal appetites only supported by use and exercise + Cato said: So many servants, so many enemies + Ceremony forbids us to express by words things that are lawful + Certain other things that people hide only to show them + Change is to be feared + Change of fashions + Change only gives form to injustice and tyranny + Cherish themselves most where they are most wrong + Chess: this idle and childish game + Chiefly knew himself to be mortal by this act + Childish ignorance of many very ordinary things + Children are amused with toys and men with words + Cicero: on fame + Civil innocence is measured according to times and places + Cleave to the side that stood most in need of her + cloak on one shoulder, my cap on one side, a stocking disordered + College: a real house of correction of imprisoned youth + Coming out of the same hole + Commit themselves to the common fortune + Common consolation, discourages and softens me + Common friendships will admit of division + Conclude the depth of my sense by its obscurity + Concluding no beauty can be greater than what they see + Condemn all violence in the education of a tender soul + Condemn the opposite affirmation equally + Condemnations have I seen more criminal than the crimes + Condemning wine, because some people will be drunk + Confession enervates reproach and disarms slander + Confidence in another man’s virtue + Conscience makes us betray, accuse, and fight against ourselves + Conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature + Consent, and complacency in giving a man’s self up to melancholy + Consoles himself upon the utility and eternity of his writings + Content: more easily found in want than in abundance + Counterfeit condolings of pretenders + Courageous in death, not because his soul is immortal—Socrates + Courtesy and good manners is a very necessary study + Crafty humility that springs from presumption + Crates did worse, who threw himself into the liberty of poverty + Cruelty is the very extreme of all vices + Culling out of several books the sentences that best please me + Curiosity and of that eager passion for news + Curiosity of knowing things has been given to man for a scourge + “Custom,” replied Plato, “is no little thing” + Customs and laws make justice + Dangerous man you have deprived of all means to escape + Dangers do, in truth, little or nothing hasten our end + Dearness is a good sauce to meat + Death can, whenever we please, cut short inconveniences + Death conduces more to birth and augmentation than to loss + Death discharges us of all our obligations + Death has us every moment by the throat + Death is a part of you + Death is terrible to Cicero, coveted by Cato + Death of old age the most rare and very seldom seen + Deceit maintains and supplies most men’s employment + Decree that says, “The court understands nothing of the matter” + Defence allures attempt, and defiance provokes an enemy + Defend most the defects with which we are most tainted + Defer my revenge to another and better time + Deformity of the first cruelty makes me abhor all imitation + Delivered into our own custody the keys of life + Denying all solicitation, both of hand and mind + Depend as much upon fortune as anything else we do + Desire of riches is more sharpened by their use than by the need + Desire of travel + Desires, that still increase as they are fulfilled + Detest in others the defects which are more manifest in us + Did my discourses came only from my mouth or from my heart + Did not approve all sorts of means to obtain a victory + Die well—that is, patiently and tranquilly + Difference betwixt memory and understanding + Difficulty gives all things their estimation + Dignify our fopperies when we commit them to the press + Diogenes, esteeming us no better than flies or bladders + Discover what there is of good and clean in the bottom of the po + Disdainful, contemplative, serious and grave as the ass + Disease had arrived at its period or an effect of chance? + Disgorge what we eat in the same condition it was swallowed + Disguise, by their abridgments and at their own choice + Dissentient and tumultuary drugs + Diversity of medical arguments and opinions embraces all + Diverting the opinions and conjectures of the people + Do not much blame them for making their advantage of our folly + Do not to pray that all things may go as we would have them + Do not, nevertheless, always believe myself + Do thine own work, and know thyself + Doctors: more felicity and duration in their own lives? + Doctrine much more intricate and fantastic than the thing itself + Dost thou, then, old man, collect food for others’ ears? + Doubt whether those (old writings) we have be not the worst + Doubtful ills plague us worst + Downright and sincere obedience + Drugs being in its own nature an enemy to our health + Drunkeness a true and certain trial of every one’s nature + Dying appears to him a natural and indifferent accident + Each amongst you has made somebody cuckold + Eat your bread with the sauce of a more pleasing imagination + Education + Education ought to be carried on with a severe sweetness + Effect and performance are not at all in our power + Either tranquil life, or happy death + Eloquence prejudices the subject it would advance + Emperor Julian, surnamed the Apostate + Endeavouring to be brief, I become obscure + Engaged in the avenues of old age, being already past forty + Enough to do to comfort myself, without having to console others + Enslave our own contentment to the power of another? + Enters lightly into a quarrel is apt to go as lightly out of it + Entertain us with fables: astrologers and physicians + Epicurus + Establish this proposition by authority and huffing + Evade this tormenting and unprofitable knowledge + Even the very promises of physic are incredible in themselves + Events are a very poor testimony of our worth and parts + Every abridgment of a good book is a foolish abridgment + Every day travels towards death; the last only arrives at it + Every government has a god at the head of it + Every man thinks himself sufficiently intelligent + Every place of retirement requires a walk + Everything has many faces and several aspects + Examine, who is better learned, than who is more learned + Excel above the common rate in frivolous things + Excuse myself from knowing anything which enslaves me to others + Executions rather whet than dull the edge of vices + Expresses more contempt and condemnation than the other + Extend their anger and hatred beyond the dispute in question + Extremity of philosophy is hurtful + Fabric goes forming and piling itself up from hand to hand + Fame: an echo, a dream, nay, the shadow of a dream + Fancy that others cannot believe otherwise than as he does + Fantastic gibberish of the prophetic canting + Far more easy and pleasant to follow than to lead + Fathers conceal their affection from their children + Fault not to discern how far a man’s worth extends + Fault will be theirs for having consulted me + Fear and distrust invite and draw on offence + Fear is more importunate and insupportable than death itself + Fear of the fall more fevers me than the fall itself + Fear to lose a thing, which being lost, cannot be lamented? + Fear was not that I should do ill, but that I should do nothing + Fear: begets a terrible astonishment and confusion + Feared, lest disgrace should make such delinquents desperate + Feminine polity has a mysterious procedure + Few men have been admired by their own domestics + Few men have made a wife of a mistress, who have not repented it + First informed who were to be the other guests + First thing to be considered in love matters: a fitting time + Flatterer in your old age or in your sickness + Follies do not make me laugh, it is our wisdom which does + Folly and absurdity are not to be cured by bare admonition + Folly of gaping after future things + Folly satisfied with itself than any reason can reasonably be + Folly than to be moved and angry at the follies of the world + Folly to hazard that upon the uncertainty of augmenting it + Folly to put out their own light and shine by a borrowed lustre + For fear of the laws and report of men + For who ever thought he wanted sense? + Fortune heaped up five or six such-like incidents + Fortune rules in all things + Fortune sometimes seems to delight in taking us at our word + Fortune will still be mistress of events + Fox, who found fault with what he could not obtain + Friend, it is not now time to play with your nails + Friend, the hook will not stick in such soft cheese + Friendships that the law and natural obligation impose upon us + Fruits of public commotion are seldom enjoyed + Gain to change an ill condition for one that is uncertain + Gave them new and more plausible names for their excuse + Gentleman would play the fool to make a show of defence + Gently to bear the inconstancy of a lover + Gewgaw to hang in a cabinet or at the end of the tongue + Give but the rind of my attention + Give me time to recover my strength and health + Give the ladies a cruel contempt of our natural furniture + Give these young wenches the things they long for + Give us history, more as they receive it than as they believe it + Giving is an ambitious and authoritative quality + Glory and curiosity are the scourges of the soul + Go out of ourselves, because we know not how there to reside + Good does not necessarily succeed evil; another evil may succeed + Good to be certain and finite, and evil, infinite and uncertain + Got up but an inch upon the shoulders of the last, but one + Gradations above and below pleasure + Gratify the gods and nature by massacre and murder + Great presumption to be so fond of one’s own opinions + Greatest apprehensions, from things unseen, concealed + Greatest talkers, for the most part, do nothing to purpose + Greedy humour of new and unknown things + Grief provokes itself + Gross impostures of religions + Guess at our meaning under general and doubtful terms + Happen to do anything commendable, I attribute it to fortune + Hard to resolve a man’s judgment against the common opinions + Haste trips up its own heels, fetters, and stops itself + Hate all sorts of obligation and restraint + Hate remedies that are more troublesome than the disease itself + Have ever had a great respect for her I loved + Have more wherewith to defray my journey, than I have way to go + Have no other title left me to these things but by the ears + Have you ever found any who have been dissatisfied with dying? + Having too good an opinion of our own worth + He cannot be good, seeing he is not evil even to the wicked + He did not think mankind worthy of a wise man’s concern + He felt a pleasure and delight in so noble an action + He judged other men by himself + He may employ his passion, who can make no use of his reason + He may well go a foot, they say, who leads his horse in his hand + He must fool it a little who would not be deemed wholly a fool + He should discern in himself, as well as in others + He took himself along with him + He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears + He who is only a good man that men may know it + He who lays the cloth is ever at the charge of the feast + He who lives everywhere, lives nowhere + He who provides for all, provides for nothing + He who stops not the start will never be able to stop the course + He will choose to be alone + Headache should come before drunkenness + Health depends upon the vanity and falsity of their promises + Health is altered and corrupted by their frequent prescriptions + Health to be worth purchasing by all the most painful cauteries + Hearing a philosopher talk of military affairs + Heat and stir up their imagination, and then we find fault + Help: no other effect than that of lengthening my suffering + High time to die when there is more ill than good in living + Hoary head and rivelled face of ancient usage + Hobbes said that if he Had been at college as long as others— + Hold a stiff rein upon suspicion + Home anxieties and a mind enslaved by wearing complaints + Homer: The only words that have motion and action + Honour of valour consists in fighting, not in subduing + How infirm and decaying material this fabric of ours is + How many and many times he has been mistaken in his own judgment + How many more have died before they arrived at thy age + How many several ways has death to surprise us? + “How many things,” said he, “I do not desire!” + How many worthy men have we known to survive their reputation + How much easier is it not to enter in than it is to get out + How much it costs him to do no worse + How much more insupportable and painful an immortal life + How uncertain duration these accidental conveniences are + Humble out of pride + Husbands hate their wives only because they themselves do wrong + I always find superfluity superfluous + I am a little tenderly distrustful of things that I wish + I am apt to dream that I dream + I am disgusted with the world I frequent + I am hard to be got out, but being once upon the road + I am no longer in condition for any great change + I am not to be cuffed into belief + I am plain and heavy, and stick to the solid and the probable + I am very glad to find the way beaten before me by others + I am very willing to quit the government of my house + I bequeath to Areteus the maintenance of my mother + I can more hardly believe a man’s constancy than any virtue + I cannot well refuse to play with my dog + I content myself with enjoying the world without bustle + I dare not promise but that I may one day be so much a fool + I do not consider what it is now, but what it was then + I do not judge opinions by years + I do not much lament the dead, and should envy them rather + I do not say that ‘tis well said, but well thought + I do not willingly alight when I am once on horseback + I enter into confidence with dying + I ever justly feared to raise my head too high + I every day hear fools say things that are not foolish + I find myself here fettered by the laws of ceremony + I find no quality so easy to counterfeit as devotion + I for my part always went the plain way to work + I grudge nothing but care and trouble + I had much rather die than live upon charity + I had rather be old a brief time, than be old before old age + I hail and caress truth in what quarter soever I find it + I hate all sorts of tyranny, both in word and deed + I hate poverty equally with pain + I have a great aversion from a novelty + “I have done nothing to-day”—“What? have you not lived?” + I have lived longer by this one day than I should have done + I have no mind to die, but I have no objection to be dead + I have not a wit supple enough to evade a sudden question + I have nothing of my own that satisfies my judgment + I honour those most to whom I show the least honour + I lay no great stress upon my opinions; or of others + I look upon death carelessly when I look upon it universally + I love stout expressions amongst gentle men + I love temperate and moderate natures + I need not seek a fool from afar; I can laugh at myself + I owe it rather to my fortune than my reason + I receive but little advice, I also give but little + I scorn to mend myself by halves + I see no people so soon sick as those who take physic + I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare + I take hold of, as little glorious and exemplary as you will + I understand my men even by their silence and smiles + I was always superstitiously afraid of giving offence + I was too frightened to be ill + “I wish you good health”—“No health to thee” replied the other + I would as willingly be lucky as wise + I would be rich of myself, and not by borrowing + I write my book for few men and for few years + Idleness is to me a very painful labour + Idleness, the mother of corruption + If a passion once prepossess and seize me, it carries me away + If I am talking my best, whoever interrupts me, stops me + If I stand in need of anger and inflammation, I borrow it + If it be a delicious medicine, take it + If it be the writer’s wit or borrowed from some other + If nature do not help a little, it is very hard + If they can only be kind to us out of pity + If they chop upon one truth, that carries a mighty report + If they hear no noise, they think men sleep + If to philosophise be, as ‘tis defined, to doubt + Ignorance does not offend me, but the foppery of it + Impotencies that so unseasonably surprise the lover + Ill luck is good for something + Imagne the mighty will not abase themselves so much as to live + Imitating other men’s natures, thou layest aside thy own + Immoderate either seeking or evading glory or reputation + Impose them upon me as infallible + Impostures: very strangeness lends them credit + Improperly we call this voluntary dissolution, despair + Impunity pass with us for justice + In everything else a man may keep some decorum + In ordinary friendships I am somewhat cold and shy + In solitude, be company for thyself—Tibullus + In sorrow there is some mixture of pleasure + In the meantime, their halves were begging at their doors + In this last scene of death, there is no more counterfeiting + In those days, the tailor took measure of it + In war not to drive an enemy to despair + Inclination to love one another at the first sight + Inclination to variety and novelty common to us both + Incline the history to their own fancy + Inconsiderate excuses are a kind of self-accusation + Inconveniences that moderation brings (in civil war) + Indiscreet desire of a present cure, that so blind us + Indocile liberty of this member + Inquisitive after everything + Insensible of the stroke when our youth dies in us + Insert whole sections and pages out of ancient authors + Intelligence is required to be able to know that a man knows not + Intemperance is the pest of pleasure + Intended to get a new husband than to lament the old + Interdict all gifts betwixt man and wife + Interdiction incites, and who are more eager, being forbidden + It (my books) may know many things that are gone from me + It happens, as with cages, the birds without despair to get in + It is better to die than to live miserable + It is no hard matter to get children + It is not a book to read, ‘tis a book to study and learn + It is not for outward show that the soul is to play its part + It’s madness to nourish infirmity + Jealousy: no remedy but flight or patience + Judge by justice, and choose men by reason + Judge by the eye of reason, and not from common report + Judgment of duty principally lies in the will + Judgment of great things is many times formed from lesser thing + Justice als takes cognisance of those who glean after the reaper + Killing is good to frustrate an offence to come, not to revenge + Knock you down with the authority of their experience + Knot is not so sure that a man may not half suspect it will slip + Knowledge and truth may be in us without judgment + Knowledge is not so absolutely necessary as judgment + Knowledge of others, wherein the honour consists + Known evil was ever more supportable than one that was, new + Ladies are no sooner ours, than we are no more theirs + Language: obscure and unintelligible in wills and contracts + Lascivious poet: Homer + Last death will kill but a half or a quarter of a man + Law: breeder of altercation and division + Laws (of Plato on travel), which forbids it after threescore + Laws cannot subsist without mixture of injustice + Laws do what they can, when they cannot do what they would + Laws keep up their credit, not for being just—but as laws + Lay the fault on the voices of those who speak to me + Laying themselves low to avoid the danger of falling + Learn my own debility and the treachery of my understanding + Learn the theory from those who best know the practice + Learn what it is right to wish + Learning improves fortunes enough, but not minds + Least end of a hair will serve to draw them into my discourse + Least touch or prick of a pencil in comparison of the whole + Leave society when we can no longer add anything to it + Leaving nothing unsaid, how home and bitter soever + Led by the ears by this charming harmony of words + Lend himself to others, and only give himself to himself + Lessen the just value of things that I possess + “Let a man take which course he will,” said he; “he will repent” + Let him be as wise as he will, after all he is but a man + Let him be satisfied with correcting himself + Let him examine every man’s talent + Let it alone a little + Let it be permitted to the timid to hope + Let not us seek illusions from without and unknown + Let us not be ashamed to speak what we are not ashamed to think + Let us not seek our disease out of ourselves; ‘tis in us + Liberality at the expense of others + Liberty and laziness, the qualities most predominant in me + Liberty of poverty + Liberty to lean, but not to lay our whole weight upon others + Library: Tis there that I am in my kingdom + License of judgments is a great disturbance to great affairs + Life of Caesar has no greater example for us than our own + Life should be cut off in the sound and living part + Light griefs can speak: deep sorrows are dumb + Light prognostics they give of themselves in their tender years + Little affairs most disturb us + Little knacks and frivolous subtleties + Little learning is needed to form a sound mind—Seneca + Little less trouble in governing a private family than a kingdom + Live a quite contrary sort of life to what they prescribe others + Live at the expense of life itself + Live, not so long as they please, but as long as they ought + Living is slavery if the liberty of dying be wanting + Living well, which of all arts is the greatest + Llaying the fault upon the patient, by such frivolous reasons + Lodge nothing in his fancy upon simple authority and upon trust + Long a voyage I should at last run myself into some disadvantage + Long sittings at table both trouble me and do me harm + Long toleration begets habit; habit, consent and imitation + Look on death not only without astonishment but without care + Look upon themselves as a third person only, a stranger + Look, you who think the gods have no care of human things + Lose what I have a particular care to lock safe up + Loses more by defending his vineyard than if he gave it up + Love is the appetite of generation by the mediation of beauty + Love shamefully and dishonestly cured by marriage + Love them the less for our own faults + Love we bear to our wives is very lawful + Love, full, lively, and sharp; a pleasure inflamed by difficulty + Loved them for our sport, like monkeys, and not as men + Lower himself to the meanness of defending his innocence + Made all medicinal conclusions largely give way to my pleasure + Making their advantage of our folly, for most men do the same + Malice must be employed to correct this arrogant ignorance + Malice sucks up the greatest part of its own venom + Malicious kind of justice + Man (must) know that he is his own + Man after who held out his pulse to a physician was a fool + Man can never be wise but by his own wisdom + Man may say too much even upon the best subjects + Man may with less trouble adapt himself to entire abstinence + Man must approach his wife with prudence and temperance + Man must have a care not to do his master so great service + Man must learn that he is nothing but a fool + Man runs a very great hazard in their hands (of physicians) + Mark of singular good nature to preserve old age + Marriage + Marriage rejects the company and conditions of love + Melancholy: Are there not some constitutions that feed upon it? + Memories are full enough, but the judgment totally void + Men approve of things for their being rare and new + Men are not always to rely upon the personal confessions + Men as often commend as undervalue me beyond reason + Men make them (the rules) without their (women’s) help + Men must embark, and not deliberate, upon high enterprises + Men should furnish themselves with such things as would float + Mercenaries who would receive any (pay) + Merciful to the man, but not to his wickedness—Aristotle + Methinks I am no more than half of myself + Methinks I promise it, if I but say it + Miracle: everything our reason cannot comprehend + Miracles and strange events have concealed themselves from me + Miracles appear to be so, according to our ignorance of nature + Miserable kind of remedy, to owe one’s health to one’s disease! + Miserable, who has not at home where to be by himself + Misfortunes that only hurt us by being known + Mix railing, indiscretion, and fury in his disputations + Moderation is a virtue that gives more work than suffering + Modesty is a foolish virtue in an indigent person (Homer) + More ado to interpret interpretations + More books upon books than upon any other subject + More brave men been lost in occasions of little moment + More solicitous that men speak of us, than how they speak + More supportable to be always alone than never to be so + More valued a victory obtained by counsel than by force + Morosity and melancholic humour of a sour ill-natured pedant + Most cruel people, and upon frivolous occasions, apt to cry + Most men are rich in borrowed sufficiency + Most men do not so much believe as they acquiesce and permit + Most of my actions are guided by example, not by choice + Mothers are too tender + Motive to some vicious occasion or some prospect of profit + Much better to offend him once than myself every day + Much difference betwixt us and ourselves + Must for the most part entertain ourselves with ourselves + Must of necessity walk in the steps of another + My affection alters, my judgment does not + My books: from me hold that which I have not retained + My dog unseasonably importunes me to play + My fancy does not go by itself, as when my legs move it + My humour is no friend to tumult + My humour is unfit either to speak or write for beginners + My innocence is a simple one; little vigour and no art + My mind is easily composed at distance + My reason is not obliged to bow and bend; my knees are + My thoughts sleep if I sit still + My words does but injure the love I have conceived within + Natural death the most rare and very seldom seen + Nature of judgment to have it more deliberate and more slow + Nature of wit is to have its operation prompt and sudden + Nature, who left us in such a state of imperfection + Nearest to the opinions of those with whom they have to do + Negligent garb, which is yet observable amongst the young men + Neither be a burden to myself nor to any other + Neither continency nor virtue where there are no opposing desire + Neither men nor their lives are measured by the ell + Neither the courage to die nor the heart to live + Never any man knew so much, and spake so little + Never did two men make the same judgment of the same thing + Never observed any great stability in my soul to resist passions + Never oppose them either by word or sign, how false or absurd + Never represent things to you simply as they are + Never spoke of my money, but falsely, as others do + New World: sold it opinions and our arts at a very dear rate + None that less keep their promise (than physicians) + No alcohol the night on which a man intends to get children + No beast in the world so much to be feared by man as man + No danger with them, though they may do us no good + No doing more difficult than that not doing, nor more active + No effect of virtue, to have stronger arms and legs + No evil is honourable; but death is honourable + No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness + No great choice betwixt not knowing to speak anything but ill— + No man continues ill long but by his own fault + No man is free from speaking foolish things + No man more certain than another of to-morrow—Seneca + No necessity upon a man to live in necessity + No one can be called happy till he is dead and buried + No other foundation or support than public abuse + No passion so contagious as that of fear + No physic that has not something hurtful in it + No use to this age, I throw myself back upon that other + No way found to tranquillity that is good in common + Noble and rich, where examples of virtue are rarely lodged + Nobody prognosticated that I should be wicked, but only useless + Noise of arms deafened the voice of laws + None of the sex, let her be as ugly as the devil thinks lovable + Nor get children but before I sleep, nor get them standing + Nor have other tie upon one another, but by our word + Nosegay of foreign flowers, having furnished nothing of my own + Not a victory that puts not an end to the war + Not being able to govern events, I govern myself + Not believe from one, I should not believe from a hundred + Not certain to live till I came home + Not conceiving things otherwise than by this outward bark + Not conclude too much upon your mistress’s inviolable chastity + Not for any profit, but for the honour of honesty itself + Not having been able to pronounce one syllable, which is No! + Not in a condition to lend must forbid himself to borrow + Not melancholic, but meditative + Not to instruct but to be instructed + Not want, but rather abundance, that creates avarice + Nothing can be a grievance that is but once + Nothing falls where all falls + Nothing is more confident than a bad poet + Nothing is so firmly believed, as what we least know + Nothing is so supple and erratic as our understanding + Nothing noble can be performed without danger + Nothing presses so hard upon a state as innovation + Nothing so grossly, nor so ordinarily faulty, as the laws + Nothing tempts my tears but tears + Nothing that so poisons as flattery + Number of fools so much exceeds the wise + O Athenians, what this man says, I will do + O my friends, there is no friend: Aristotle + O wretched men, whose pleasures are a crime + O, the furious advantage of opportunity! + Obedience is never pure nor calm in him who reasons and disputes + Obliged to his age for having weaned him from pleasure + Observed the laws of marriage, than I either promised or expect + Obstinacy and contention are common qualities + Obstinacy is the sister of constancy + Obstinancy and heat in argument are the surest proofs of folly + Obstinate in growing worse + Occasion to La Boetie to write his “Voluntary Servitude” + Occasions of the least lustre are ever the most dangerous + Occupy our thoughts about the general, and about universal cause + Of the fleeting years each steals something from me + Office of magnanimity openly and professedly to love and hate + Oftentimes agitated with divers passions + Old age: applaud the past and condemn the present + Old men who retain the memory of things past + Omit, as incredible, such things as they do not understand + On all occasions to contradict and oppose + One door into life, but a hundred thousand ways out + One may be humble out of pride + One may more boldly dare what nobody thinks you dare + One may regret better times, but cannot fly from the present + One must first know what is his own and what is not + Only desire to become more wise, not more learned or eloquent + Only secure harbour from the storms and tempests of life + Only set the humours they would purge more violently in work + Open speaking draws out discoveries, like wine and love + Opinions they have of things and not by the things themselves + Opinions we have are taken on authority and trust + Opposition and contradiction entertain and nourish them + Option now of continuing in life or of completing the voyage + Order a purge for your brain, it will there be much better + Order it so that your virtue may conquer your misfortune + Ordinances it (Medicine)foists upon us + Ordinary friendships, you are to walk with bridle in your hand + Ordinary method of cure is carried on at the expense of life + Others adore all of their own side + Ought not only to have his hands, but his eyes, too, chaste + Ought not to expect much either from his vigilance or power + Ought to withdraw and retire his soul from the crowd + Our extremest pleasure has some sort of groaning + Our fancy does what it will, both with itself and us + Our judgments are yet sick + Our justice presents to us but one hand + Our knowledge, which is a wretched foundation + Our qualities have no title but in comparison + Our will is more obstinate by being opposed + Over-circumspect and wary prudence is a mortal enemy + Overvalue things, because they are foreign, absent + Owe ourselves chiefly and mostly to ourselves + Passion has a more absolute command over us than reason + Passion has already confounded his judgment + Passion of dandling and caressing infants scarcely born + Pay very strict usury who did not in due time pay the principal + People are willing to be gulled in what they desire + People conceiving they have right and title to be judges + Perfect friendship I speak of is indivisible + Perfect men as they are, they are yet simply men + Perfection: but I will not buy it so dear as it costs + Perpetual scolding of his wife (of Socrates) + Petulant madness contends with itself + Philopoemen: paying the penalty of my ugliness + Philosophy + Philosophy has discourses proper for childhood + Philosophy is nothing but to prepare one’s self to die + Philosophy is that which instructs us to live + Philosophy looked upon as a vain and fantastic name + Phusicians cure by by misery and pain + Physic + Physician worse physicked + Physician: pass through all the diseases he pretends to cure + Physician’s “help”, which is very often an obstacle + Physicians are not content to deal only with the sick + Physicians fear men should at any time escape their authority + Physicians were the only men who might lie at pleasure + Physicians: earth covers their failures + Pinch the secret strings of our imperfections + Pitiful ways and expedients to the jugglers of the law + Pity is reputed a vice amongst the Stoics + Plato angry at excess of sleeping than at excess of drinking + Plato forbids children wine till eighteen years of age + Plato said of the Egyptians, that they were all physicians + Plato says, that the gods made man for their sport + Plato will have nobody marry before thirty + Plato: lawyers and physicians are bad institutions of a country + Plays of children are not performed in play + Pleasing all: a mark that can never be aimed at or hit + Pleasure of telling (a pleasure little inferior to that of doing + Possession begets a contempt of what it holds and rules + Practical Jokes: Tis unhandsome to fight in play + Preachers very often work more upon their auditory than reasons + Preface to bribe the benevolence of the courteous reader + Prefer in bed, beauty before goodness + Preferring the universal and common tie to all national ties + Premeditation of death is the premeditation of liberty + Prepare ourselves against the preparations of death + Present Him such words as the memory suggests to the tongue + Present himself with a halter about his neck to the people + Presumptive knowledge by silence + Pretending to find out the cause of every accident + Priest shall on the wedding-day open the way to the bride + Proceed so long as there shall be ink and paper in the world + Profession of knowledge and their immeasurable self-conceit + Profit made only at the expense of another + Prolong his life also prolonged and augmented his pain + Prolong your misery an hour or two + Prudent and just man may be intemperate and inconsistent + Prudent man, when I imagine him in this posture + Psalms of King David: promiscuous, indiscreet + Public weal requires that men should betray, and lie + Puerile simplicities of our children + Pure cowardice that makes our belief so pliable + Put us into a way of extending and diversifying difficulties + Pyrrho’s hog + Quiet repose and a profound sleep without dreams + Rage compelled to excuse itself by a pretence of good-will + Rage it puts them to oppose silence and coldness to their fury + Rash and incessant scolding runs into custom + Rather be a less while old than be old before I am really so + Rather complain of ill-fortune than be ashamed of victory + Rather prating of another man’s province than his own + Reading those books, converse with the great and heroic souls + Reasons often anticipate the effect + Recommendation of strangeness, rarity, and dear purchase + Refusin to justify, excuse, or explain myself + Regret so honourable a post, where necessity must make them bold + Remotest witness knows more about it than those who were nearest + Represented her a little too passionate for a married Venus + Reputation: most useless, frivolous, and false coin that passes + Repute for value in them, not what they bring to us + Reserve a backshop, wholly our own and entirely free + Resolved to bring nothing to it but expectation and patience + Rest satisfied, without desire of prolongation of life or name + Restoring what has been lent us, wit usury and accession + Revenge more wounds our children than it heals us + Revenge, which afterwards produces a series of new cruelties + Reverse of truth has a hundred thousand forms + Rhetoric: an art to flatter and deceive + Rhetoric: to govern a disorderly and tumultuous rabble + Richer than we think we are; but we are taught to borrow + Ridiculous desire of riches when we have lost the use of them + Right of command appertains to the beautiful-Aristotle + Rome was more valiant before she grew so learned + Rowers who so advance backward + Rude and quarrelsome flatly to deny a stated fact + Same folly as to be sorry we were not alive a hundred years ago + Satisfaction of mind to have only one path to walk in + Satisfied and pleased with and in themselves + Say of some compositions that they stink of oil and of the lamp + Scratching is one of nature’s sweetest gratifications + Season a denial with asperity, suspense, or favour + See how flexible our reason is + Seek the quadrature of the circle, even when on their wives + Seeming anger, for the better governing of my house + Send us to the better air of some other country + Sense: no one who is not contented with his share + Setting too great a value upon ourselves + Setting too little a value upon others + Settled my thoughts to live upon less than I have + Sex: To put fools and wise men, beasts and us, on a level + Shake the truth of our Church by the vices of her ministers + Shame for me to serve, being so near the reach of liberty + Sharps and sweets of marriage, are kept secret by the wise + She who only refuses, because ‘tis forbidden, consents + Shelter my own weakness under these great reputations + Short of the foremost, but before the last + Should first have mended their breeches + Silence, therefore, and modesty are very advantageous qualities + Silent mien procured the credit of prudence and capacity + Sins that make the least noise are the worst + Sitting betwixt two stools + Slaves, or exiles, ofttimes live as merrily as other folk + Sleep suffocates and suppresses the faculties of the soul + Smile upon us whilst we are alive + So austere and very wise countenance and carriage—of physicians + So many trillions of men, buried before us + So much are men enslaved to their miserable being + So that I could have said no worse behind their backs + So weak and languishing, as not to have even wishing left to him + Socrates kept a confounded scolding wife + Socrates: According to what a man can + Soft, easy, and wholesome pillow is ignorance and incuriosity + Solon said that eating was physic against the malady hunger + Solon, that none can be said to be happy until he is dead + some people rude, by being overcivil in their courtesy + Some wives covetous indeed, but very few that are good managers + Sometimes the body first submits to age, sometimes the mind + Souls that are regular and strong of themselves are rare + Sparing and an husband of his knowledge + Speak less of one’s self than what one really is is folly + Spectators can claim no interest in the honour and pleasure + Stilpo lost wife, children, and goods + Stilpo: thank God, nothing was lost of his + Strangely suspect all this merchandise: medical care + Strong memory is commonly coupled with infirm judgment + Studied, when young, for ostentation, now for diversion + Studies, to teach me to do, and not to write + Study makes me sensible how much I have to learn + Study of books is a languishing and feeble motion + Study to declare what is justice, but never took care to do it + Stumble upon a truth amongst an infinite number of lies + Stupidity and facility natural to the common people + Style wherewith men establish religions and laws + Subdividing these subtilties we teach men to increase their doub + Such a recipe as they will not take themselves + Suffer my judgment to be made captive by prepossession + Suffer those inconveniences which are not possibly to be avoided + Sufficiently covered by their virtue without any other robe + Suicide: a morsel that is to be swallowed without chewing + Superstitiously to seek out in the stars the ancient causes + Swell and puff up their souls, and their natural way of speaking + Swim in troubled waters without fishing in them + Take a pleasure in being uninterested in other men’s affairs + Take all things at the worst, and to resolve to bear that worst + Take my last leave of every place I depart from + Take two sorts of grist out of the same sack + Taking things upon trust from vulgar opinion + Taught to be afraid of professing our ignorance + Taught to consider sleep as a resemblance of death + Tearing a body limb from limb by racks and torments + Testimony of the truth from minds prepossessed by custom? + That he could neither read nor swim + That looks a nice well-made shoe to you + That we may live, we cease to live + That which cowardice itself has chosen for its refuge + The action is commendable, not the man + The age we live in produces but very indifferent things + The authors, with whom I converse + The Babylonians carried their sick into the public square + The best authors too much humble and discourage me + The Bible: the wicked and ignorant grow worse by it + The cause of truth ought to be the common cause + The conduct of our lives is the true mirror of our doctrine + The consequence of common examples + The day of your birth is one day’s advance towards the grave + The deadest deaths are the best + The event often justifies a very foolish conduct + The faintness that surprises in the exercises of Venus + The gods sell us all the goods they give us + The good opinion of the vulgar is injurious + The honour we receive from those that fear us is not honour + The ignorant return from the combat full of joy and triumph + The impulse of nature, which is a rough counsellor + The last informed is better persuaded than the first + The mean is best + The mind grows costive and thick in growing old + The most manifest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness + The most voluntary death is the finest + The particular error first makes the public error + The pedestal is no part of the statue + The privilege of the mind to rescue itself from old age + The reward of a thing well done is to have done it + The satiety of living, inclines a man to desire to die + The sick man has not to complain who has his cure in his sleeve + The storm is only begot by a concurrence of angers + The thing in the world I am most afraid of is fear + The very name Liberality sounds of Liberty + The vice opposite to curiosity is negligence + The virtue of the soul does not consist in flying high + Their disguises and figures only serve to cosen fools + Their labour is not to delivery, but about conception + Their pictures are not here who were cast away + Their souls seek repose in agitation + There are defeats more triumphant than victories + There are some upon whom their rich clothes weep + There can be no pleasure to me without communication + There is more trouble in keeping money than in getting it + There is no allurement like modesty, if it be not rude + There is no long, nor short, to things that are no more + There is no merchant that always gains + There is no reason that has not its contrary + There is no recompense becomes virtue + There is none of us who would not be worse than kings + There is nothing I hate so much as driving a bargain + There is nothing like alluring the appetite and affections + There is nothing single and rare in respect of nature + These sleepy, sluggish sort of men are often the most dangerous + They (good women) are not by the dozen, as every one knows + They begin to teach us to live when we have almost done living + They better conquer us by flying + They buy a cat in a sack + They can neither lend nor give anything to one another + They do not see my heart, they see but my countenance + They err as much who too much forbear Venus + They gently name them, so they patiently endure them (diseases) + They have heard, they have seen, they have done so and so + They have not one more invention left wherewith to amuse us + They have not the courage to suffer themselves to be corrected + They have yet touched nothing of that which is mine + They juggle and trifle in all their discourses at our expense + They must be very hard to please, if they are not contented + They must become insensible and invisible to satisfy us + They neither instruct us to think well nor to do well + They never loved them till dead + They who would fight custom with grammar are triflers + Thing at which we all aim, even in virtue is pleasure + Things grow familiar to men’s minds by being often seen + Things I say are better than those I write + Things often appear greater to us at distance than near at hand + Things seem greater by imagination than they are in effect + Things that engage us elsewhere and separate us from ourselves + Think myself no longer worth my own care + Think of physic as much good or ill as any one would have me + Thinking nothing done, if anything remained to be done + Thinks nothing profitable that is not painful + This decay of nature which renders him useless, burdensome + This plodding occupation of bookes is as painfull as any other + Those immodest and debauched tricks and postures + Those oppressed with sorrow sometimes surprised by a smile + Those which we fear the least are, peradventure, most to be fear + Those who can please and hug themselves in what they do + Those within (marriage) despair of getting out + Thou diest because thou art living + Thou wilt not feel it long if thou feelest it too much + Though I be engaged to one forme, I do not tie the world unto it + Though nobody should read me, have I wasted time + Threats of the day of judgment + Thucydides: which was the better wrestler + Thy own cowardice is the cause, if thou livest in pain + Tis all swine’s flesh, varied by sauces + Tis an exact life that maintains itself in due order in private + Tis better to lean towards doubt than assurance—Augustine + Tis evil counsel that will admit no change + Tis far beyond not fearing death to taste and relish it + Tis for youth to subject itself to common opinions + Tis impossible to deal fairly with a fool + Tis in some sort a kind of dying to avoid the pain of living well + Tis more laudable to obey the bad than the good + Tis no matter; it may be of use to some others + Tis not the cause, but their interest, that inflames them + Tis not the number of men, but the number of good men + Tis said of Epimenides, that he always prophesied backward + Tis so I melt and steal away from myself + Tis the sharpnss of our mind that gives the edge to our pains + Tis then no longer correction, but revenge + Tis there she talks plain French + Titillation of ill-natured pleasure in seeing others suffer + Title of barbarism to everything that is not familiar + Titles being so dearly bought + Titles of my chapters do not always comprehend the whole matter + To be a slave, incessantly to be led by the nose by one’s self + To be, not to seem + To condemn them as impossible, is by a temerarious presumption + To contemn what we do not comprehend + To die of old age is a death rare, extraordinary, and singular + To do well where there was danger was the proper office + To forbear doing is often as generous as to do + To forbid us anything is to make us have a mind to’t + To fret and vex at folly, as I do, is folly itself + To give a currency to his little pittance of learning + To go a mile out of their way to hook in a fine word + To keep me from dying is not in your power + To kill men, a clear and strong light is required + To know by rote, is no knowledge + To make little things appear great was his profession + To make their private advantage at the public expense + To smell, though well, is to stink + To study philosophy is nothing but to prepare one’s self to die + To what friend dare you intrust your griefs + To whom no one is ill who can be good? + Tongue will grow too stiff to bend + Too contemptible to be punished + Torture: rather a trial of patience than of truth + Totally brutified by an immoderate thirst after knowledge + Transferring of money from the right owners to strangers + Travel with not only a necessary, but a handsome equipage + True liberty is to be able to do what a man will with himself + Truly he, with a great effort will shortly say a mighty trifle + Truth itself has not the privilege to be spoken at all times + Truth, that for being older it is none the wiser + Turks have alms and hospitals for beasts + Turn up my eyes to heaven to return thanks, than to crave + Tutor to the ignorance and folly of the first we meet + Twas a happy marriage betwixt a blind wife and a deaf husband + Twenty people prating about him when he is at stool + Two opinions alike, no more than two hairs + Two principal guiding reins are reward and punishment + Tyrannic sourness not to endure a form contrary to one’s own + Tyrannical authority physicians usurp over poor creatures + Unbecoming rudeness to carp at everything + Under fortune’s favour, to prepare myself for her disgrace + Universal judgments that I see so common, signify nothing + Unjust judges of their actions, as they are of ours + Unjust to exact from me what I do not owe + Upon the precipice, ‘tis no matter who gave you the push + Use veils from us the true aspect of things + Utility of living consists not in the length of days + Valour has its bounds as well as other virtues + Valour whetted and enraged by mischance + Valour will cause a trembling in the limbs as well as fear + Valuing the interest of discipline + Vast distinction betwixt devotion and conscience + Venture it upon his neighbour, if he will let him + venture the making ourselves better without any danger + Very idea we invent for their chastity is ridiculous + Vice of confining their belief to their own capacity + Vices will cling together, if a man have not a care + Victorious envied the conquered + Virtue and ambition, unfortunately, seldom lodge together + Virtue is a pleasant and gay quality + Virtue is much strengthened by combats + Virtue refuses facility for a companion + Viscid melting kisses of youthful ardour in my wanton age + Voice and determination of the rabble, the mother of ignorance + Vulgar reports and opinions that drive us on + We are masters of nothing but the will + We are not to judge of counsels by events + We ask most when we bring least + We believe we do not believe + We can never be despised according to our full desert + We cannot be bound beyond what we are able to perform + We confess our ignorance in many things + We consider our death as a very great thing + We do not correct the man we hang; we correct others by him + We do not easily accept the medicine we understand + We do not go, we are driven + We do not so much forsake vices as we change them + We have lived enough for others + We have more curiosity than capacity + We have naturally a fear of pain, but not of death + We have not the thousandth part of ancient writings + We have taught the ladies to blush + We much more aptly imagine an artisan upon his close-stool + We must learn to suffer what we cannot evade + We neither see far forward nor far backward + We only labour to stuff the memory + We ought to grant free passage to diseases + We say a good marriage because no one says to the contrary + We set too much value upon ourselves + We still carry our fetters along with us + We take other men’s knowledge and opinions upon trust + Weakness and instability of a private and particular fancy + Weigh, as wise: men should, the burden of obligation + Well, and what if it had been death itself? + Were more ambitious of a great reputation than of a good one + What a man says should be what he thinks + What are become of all our brave philosophical precepts? + What can they not do, what do they fear to do (for beauty) + What can they suffer who do not fear to die? + What did I say? that I have? no, Chremes, I had + What he did by nature and accident, he cannot do by design + What is more accidental than reputation? + What may be done to-morrow, may be done to-day + What more? they lie with their lovers learnedly + What need have they of anything but to live beloved and honoured + What sort of wine he liked the best: “That of another” + What step ends the near and what step begins the remote + What they ought to do when they come to be men + What we have not seen, we are forced to receive from other hands + What, shall so much knowledge be lost + Whatever was not ordinary diet, was instead of a drug + When I travel I have nothing to care for but myself + When jealousy seizes these poor souls + When their eyes give the lie to their tongue + When time begins to wear things out of memory + When we have got it, we want something else + “When will this man be wise,” said he, “if he is yet learning?” + When you see me moved first, let me alone, right or wrong + Where the lion’s skin is too short + Where their profit is, let them there have their pleasure too + Wherever the mind is perplexed, it is in an entire disorder + Whilst thou wast silent, thou seemedst to be some great thing + Whimpering is offensive to the living and vain to the dead + Who by their fondness of some fine sounding word + Who can flee from himself + Who discern no riches but in pomp and show + Who does not boast of some rare recipe + Who escapes being talked of at the same rate + Who ever saw one physician approve of another’s prescription + Who has once been a very fool, will never after be very wise + Who would weigh him without the honour and grandeur of his end + Whoever expects punishment already suffers it + Whoever will be cured of ignorance must confess it + Whoever will call to mind the excess of his past anger + Whosoever despises his own life, is always master + Why do we not imitate the Roman architecture? + Wide of the mark in judging of their own works + Willingly give them leave to laugh after we are dead + Willingly slip the collar of command upon any pretence whatever + Wisdom has its excesses, and has no less need of moderation + Wisdom is folly that does not accommodate itself to the common + Wise man lives as long as he ought, not so long as he can + Wise man never loses anything if he have himself + Wise man to keep a curbing hand upon the impetus of friendship + Wise may learn more of fools, than fools can of the wise + Wise whose invested money is visible in beautiful villas + Wiser who only know what is needful for them to know + With being too well I am about to die + Woman who goes to bed to a man, must put off her modesty + Women who paint, pounce, and plaster up their ruins + Wont to give others their life, and not to receive it + World where loyalty of one’s own children is unknown + Worse endure an ill-contrived robe than an ill-contrived mind + Would have every one in his party blind or a blockhead + Would in this affair have a man a little play the servant + Wrangling arrogance, wholly believing and trusting in itself + Wretched and dangerous thing to depend upon others + Write what he knows, and as much as he knows, but no more + Wrong the just side when they go about to assist it with fraud + Yet at least for ambition’s sake, let us reject ambition + Yet do we find any end of the need of interpretating? + You and companion are theatre enough to one another + You have lost a good captain, to make of him a bad general + You may indeed make me die an ill death + You must first see us die + You must let yourself down to those with whom you converse + Young and old die upon the same terms + Young are to make their preparations, the old to enjoy them +</pre> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESSAYS OF MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE 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