,,essays ,,of ,,michel ,,de ,,montaigne 
,translated by ,charles ,cotton  ,edited
 by ,william ,carew ,hazilitt  #ahgg    
,,contents ,,of ,,volume #c4  ,,xiii4   
,the ceremony of the interview of       
princes4 ,,xiv4      ,that men are      
justly punished for being obstinate in  
the defence           of a fort that is 
not in reason to be defended ,,xv4      
,of the punishment of cowardice4 ,,xvi4 
,a proceeding of some ambassadors4      
,,xvii4     ,of fear4 ,,xviii4    ,that 
men are not to judge of our happiness   
till after death4 ,,xix4      ,that to  
study philosophy is to learn to die4    
,,xx4       ,of the force of            
imagination4 ,,xxi4      ,that the      
profit of one man is the damage of      
another4     ,,chapter ,,xiii  ,,the    
,,ceremony ,,of ,,the ,,interview ,,of  
,,princes  ,there is no subject so      
frivolous that does not merit a place in
 this rhapsody4  ,according to our      
common rule of civility1 it would be a  
notable affront to an equal1 and much   

more to a superior1 to fail being at    
home when he has given you notice he    
will come to visit you4  ,nay1 ,queen   
,margaret of ,navarre--,marguerite de   
,valois1 authoress of the               
',heptameron'--further adds1 that it    
would be a rudeness in a gentleman to go
 out1 as we so often do1 to meet any    
that is coming to see him1 let him be of
 what high condition soever2 and that it
 is more respectful and more civil to   
stay at home to receive him1 if only    
upon the account of missing him by the  
way1 and that it is enough to receive   
him at the door1 and to wait upon him4  
,for my part1 who as much as ,i can     
endeavour to reduce the ceremonies of my
 house1 ,i very often forget both the   
one and the other of these vain offices4
  ,if1 peradventure1 some one may take  
offence at this1 ,i can't help it2 it is
 much better to offend him once than    
myself every day1 for it would be a     
perpetual slavery4  ,to what end do we  
avoid the servile attendance of courts1 

if we bring the same trouble home to our
 own private houses8  ,it is also a     
common rule in all assemblies1 that     
those of less quality are to be first   
upon the place1 by reason that it is    
more due to the better sort to make     
others wait and expect them4            
,nevertheless1 at the interview betwixt 
,pope ,clement and ,king ,francis at    
,marseilles1--in #aecc4--the ,king1     
after he had taken order for the        
necessary preparations for his reception
 and entertainment1 withdrew out of the 
town1 and gave the ,pope two or three   
days' respite for his entry1 and to     
repose and refresh himself1 before he   
came to him4  ,and in like manner1 at   
the assignation of the ,pope and the    
,emperor1--,charles ,v4  in #aecb4 at   
,bologna1 the ,emperor gave the ,pope   
opportunity to come thither first1 and  
came himself after2 for which the reason
 given was this1 that at all the        
interviews of such princes1 the greater 
ought to be first at the appointed      

place1 especially before the other in   
whose territories the interview is      
appointed to be1 intimating thereby a   
kind of deference to the other1 it      
appearing proper for the less to seek   
out and to apply themselves to the      
greater1 and not the greater to them4   
,not every country only1 but every city 
and every society has its particular    
forms of civility4  ,there was care     
enough to this taken in my education1   
and ,i have lived in good company enough
 to know the formalities of our own     
nation1 and am able to give lessons in  
it4  ,i love to follow them1 but not to 
be so servilely tied to their           
observation that my whole life should be
 enslaved to ceremonies1 of which there 
are some so troublesome that1 provided a
 man omits them out of discretion1 and  
not for want of breeding1 it will be    
every whit as handsome4  ,i have seen   
some people rude1 by being overcivil and
 troublesome in their courtesy4  ,still1
 these excesses excepted1 the knowledge 

of courtesy and good manners is a very  
necessary study4  ,it is1 like grace and
 beauty1 that which begets liking and an
 inclination to love one another at the 
first sight1 and in the very beginning  
of acquaintance2 and1 consequently1 that
 which first opens the door and         
intromits us to instruct ourselves by   
the example of others1 and to give      
examples ourselves1 if we have any worth
 taking notice of and communicating4    
,,chapter ,,xiv  ,,that ,,men ,,are     
,,justly ,,punished ,,for ,,being       
,,obstinate ,,in ,,the ,,defence ,,of ,a
 ,,fort ,,that ,,is ,,not ,,in ,,reason 
,,to ,,be ,,defended  ,valour has its   
bounds as well as other virtues1 which1 
once transgressed1 the next step is into
 the territories of vice2 so that by    
having too large a proportion of this   
heroic virtue1 unless a man be very     
perfect in its limits1 which upon the   
confines are very hard to discern1 he   
may very easily unawares run into       
temerity1 obstinacy1 and folly4  ,from  

this consideration it is that we have   
derived the custom1 in times of war1 to 
punish1 even with death1 those who are  
obstinate to defend a place that by the 
rules of war is not tenable2 otherwise  
men would be so confident upon the hope 
of impunity1 that not a henroost but    
would resist and seek to stop an army4  
,the ,constable ,monsieur de            
,montmorenci1 having at the siege of    
,pavia been ordered to pass the ,ticino1
 and to take up his quarters in the     
,faubourg ,st4 ,antonio1 being hindered 
by a tower at the end of the bridge1    
which was so obstinate as to endure a   
battery1 hanged every man he found      
within it for their labour4  ,and again1
 accompanying the ,dauphin in his       
expedition beyond the ,alps1 and taking 
the ,castle of ,villano by assault1 and 
all within it being put to the sword by 
the fury of the soldiers1 the governor  
and his ensign only excepted1 he caused 
them both to be trussed up for the same 
reason2 as also did the ,captain ,martin

 du ,bellay1 then governor of ,turin1   
with the governor of ,san ,buono1 in the
 same country1 all his people having    
been cut to pieces at the taking of the 
place4  ,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 culverins1 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 field1 his reputation1 and the     
respect that is due unto him1 are also  
put into the balance1 there is danger   
that the balance be pressed too much in 
that direction4  ,and it may happen that
 a man is possessed with so great an    
opinion of himself and his power1 that  
thinking it unreasonable any place      
should dare to shut its gates against   
him1 he puts all to the sword where he  
meets with any opposition1 whilst his   
fortune continues2 as is plain in the   

fierce and arrogant forms of summoning  
towns and denouncing war1 savouring so  
much of barbarian pride and insolence1  
in use amongst the ,oriental princes1   
and which their successors to this day  
do yet retain and practise4  ,and in    
that part of the world where the        
,portuguese subdued the ,indians1 they  
found some states where it was a        
universal and inviolable law amongst    
them that every enemy overcome by the   
king in person1 or by his lieutenant1   
was out of composition4  ,so above all  
both of ransom and mercy a man should   
take heed1 if he can1 of falling into   
the hands of a judge who is an enemy and
 victorious4     ,,chapter ,,xv  ,,of   
,,the ,,punishment ,,of ,,cowardice  ,i 
once heard of a prince1 and a great     
captain1 having a narration given him as
 he sat at table of the proceeding      
against ,monsieur de ,vervins1 who was  
sentenced to death for having           
surrendered ,boulogne to the ,english1  
--,to ,henry ,,viii4 in #aedd--openly   

maintaining that a soldier could not    
justly be put to death for want of      
courage4  ,and1 in truth1 'tis reason   
that a man should make a great          
difference betwixt faults that merely   
proceed from infirmity1 and those that  
are visibly the effects of treachery and
 malice3 for1 in the last1 we act       
against the rules of reason that nature 
has imprinted in us2 whereas1 in the    
former1 it seems as if we might produce 
the same nature1 who left us in such a  
state of imperfection and weakness of   
courage1 for our justification4         
,insomuch that many have thought we are 
not fairly questionable for anything but
 what we commit against our conscience2 
and it is partly upon this rule that    
those ground their opinion who          
disapprove of capital or sanguinary     
punishments inflicted upon heretics and 
misbelievers2 and theirs also who       
advocate or a judge is not accountable  
for having from mere ignorance failed in
 his administration4  ,but as to        

cowardice1 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 ,charondas2 and that1 before 
his time1 the laws of ,greece punished  
those with death who fled from a battle2
 whereas he ordained only that they be  
for three days exposed in the public    
dressed in woman's attire1 hoping yet   
for some service from them1 having      
awakened their courage by this open     
shame3            ,suffundere malis     
homims sanguinem1 quam effundere4       
,rather bring the blood into a man's    
cheek than let it out of his      body4 
,tertullian in his ,apologetics4  ,it   
appears also that the ,roman laws did   
anciently punish those with death who   
had run away2 for ,ammianus ,marcellinus
 says that the ,emperor ,julian         
commanded ten of his soldiers1 who had  
turned their backs in an encounter      
against the ,parthians1 to be first     
degraded1 and afterward put to death1   

according1 says he1 to the ancient      
laws1--,ammianus ,marcellinus1 xxiv4 #d2
 xxv4 i4--and yet elsewhere for the like
 offence he only condemned others to    
remain amongst the prisoners under the  
baggage ensign4  ,the severe punishment 
the people of ,rome inflicted upon those
 who fled from the battle of ,cannae1   
and those who ran away with ,aeneius    
,fulvius at his defeat1 did not extend  
to death4  ,and yet1 methinks1 'tis to  
be feared1 lest disgrace should make    
such delinquents desperate1 and not only
 faint friends1 but enemies4  ,of late  
memory1--,in #aebc--the ,seigneur de    
,frauget1 lieutenant to the ,mareschal  
de ,chatillon's company1 having by the  
,mareschal de ,chabannes been put in    
government of ,fuentarabia in the place 
of ,monsieur de ,lude1 and having       
surrendered it to the ,spaniard1 he was 
for that condemned to be degraded from  
all nobility1 and both himself and his  
posterity declared ignoble1 taxable1 and
 for ever incapable of bearing arms1    

which severe sentence was afterwards    
accordingly executed at ,lyons4--,in    
#aecf --,and1 since that1 all the       
gentlemen who were in ,guise when the   
,count of ,nassau entered into it1      
underwent the same punishment1 as       
several others have done since for the  
like offence4  ,notwithstanding1 in case
 of such a manifest ignorance or        
cowardice as exceeds all ordinary       
example1 'tis but reason to take it for 
a sufficient proof of treachery and     
malice1 and for such to be punished4    
,,chapter ,,xvi  ,a ,,proceeding ,,of   
,,some ,,ambassadors  ,i observe in my  
travels this custom1 ever to learn      
something from the information of those 
with whom ,i confer 7which is the best  
school of all others71 and to put my    
company upon those subjects they are the
 best able to speak of3--               
,basti al nocchiero ragionar de' venti1 
,al bifolco dei tori2 et le sue piaghe  
,conti'l guerrier2 conti'l pastor gli   
armenti4       ,let the sailor content  

himself with talking of the winds2 the  
cowherd of his oxen2 the soldier of his 
wounds2 the shepherd of his             
flocks4--,an ,italian translation of    
,propertius1 ii4 i1 #dc  ,for it often  
falls out that1 on the contrary1 every  
one will rather choose to be prating of 
another man's province than his own1    
thinking it so much new reputation      
acquired2 witness the jeer ,archidamus  
put upon ,pertander1 that he had quitted
 the glory of being an excellent        
physician to gain the repute of a very  
bad poet4--,plutarch1 ,apoth4 of the    
,lacedaemonians1 'in voce'              
,archidamus4--,and do but observe how   
large and ample ,caesar is to make us   
understand his inventions of building   
bridges and contriving engines of       
war1--,de ,bello ,gall41 iv4 #ag4--;and 
how succinct and reserved in comparison1
 where he speaks of the offices of his  
profession1 his own valour1 and military
 conduct4  ,his exploits sufficiently   
prove him a great captain1 and that he  

knew well enough2 but he would be       
thought an excellent engineer to boot2 a
 quality something different1 and not   
necessary to be expected in him4  ,the  
elder ,dionysius was a very great       
captain1 as it befitted his fortune he  
should be2 but he took very great pains 
to get a particular reputation by       
poetry1 and yet he was never cut out for
 a poet4  ,a man of the legal profession
 being not long since brought to see a  
study furnished with all sorts of books1
 both of his own and all other          
faculties1 took no occasion at all to   
entertain himself with any of them1 but 
fell very rudely and magisterially to   
descant upon a barricade placed on the  
winding stair before the study door1 a  
thing that a hundred captains and common
 soldiers see every day without taking  
any notice or offence4            ,optat
 ephippia bos piger1 optat arare        
caballus4       ,the lazy ox desires a  
saddle and bridle2 the horse wants to   
plough4--,hor41 ,ep41 i4 #ad1dc4  ,by   

this course a man shall never improve   
himself1 nor arrive at any perfection in
 anything4  ,he must1 therefore1 make it
 his business always to put the         
architect1 the painter1 the statuary1   
every mechanic artisan1 upon discourse  
of their own capacities4  ,and1 to this 
purpose1 in reading histories1 which is 
everybody's subject1 ,i use to consider 
what kind of men are the authors3 if    
they be persons that profess nothing but
 mere letters1 ,i1 in and from them1    
principally observe and learn style and 
language2 if physicians1 ,i the rather  
incline to credit what they report of   
the temperature of the air1 of the      
health and complexions of princes1 of   
wounds and diseases2 if lawyers1 we are 
from them to take notice of the         
controversies of rights and wrongs1 the 
establishment of laws and civil         
government1 and the like2 if divines1   
the affairs of the ,church1             
ecclesiastical censures1 marriages1 and 
dispensations2 if courtiers1 manners and

 ceremonies2 if soldiers1 the things    
that properly belong to their trade1    
and1 principally1 the accounts of the   
actions and enterprises wherein they    
were personally engaged2 if ambassadors1
 we are to observe negotiations1        
intelligences1 and practices1 and the   
manner how they are to be carried on4   
,and this is the reason why 7which      
perhaps ,i should have lightly passed   
over in another7 ,i dwelt upon and      
maturely considered one passage in the  
history written by ,monsieur de ,langey1
 a man of very great judgment in things 
of that nature3 after having given a    
narrative of the fine oration ,charles  
,v4 had made in the ,consistory at      
,rome1 and in the presence of the       
,bishop of ,macon and ,monsieur du      
,velly1 our ambassadors there1 wherein  
he had mixed several injurious          
expressions to the dishonour of our     
nation2 and amongst the rest1 that if   
his captains and soldiers were not men  
of another kind of fidelity1 resolution1

 and sufficiency in the knowledge of    
arms than those of the ,king1 he would  
immediately go with a rope about his    
neck and sue to him for mercy 7and it   
should seem the ,emperor had really     
this1 or a very little better opinion of
 our military men1 for he afterwards1   
twice or thrice in his life1 said the   
very same thing72 as also1 that he      
challenged the ,king to fight him in his
 shirt with rapier and poignard in a    
boat4  ,the said ,sieur de ,langey1     
pursuing his history1 adds that the     
forenamed ambassadors1 sending a        
despatch to the ,king of these things1  
concealed the greatest part1 and        
particularly the last two passages4  ,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 master1 especially of
 so great importance as this1 coming    
from the mouth of such a person1 and    
spoken in so great an assembly2 and ,i  
should rather conceive it had been the  

servant's duty faithfully to have       
represented to him the whole thing as it
 passed1 to the end that the liberty of 
selecting1 disposing1 judging1 and      
concluding might have remained in him3  
for either to conceal or to disguise the
 truth for fear he should take it       
otherwise than he ought to do1 and lest 
it should prompt him to some extravagant
 resolution1 and1 in the meantime1 to   
leave him ignorant of his affairs1      
should seem1 methinks1 rather to belong 
to him who is to give the law than to   
him who is only to receive it2 to him   
who is in supreme command1 and not to   
him who ought to look upon himself as   
inferior1 not only in authority1 but    
also in prudence and good counsel4  ,i1 
for my part1 would not be so served in  
my little concerns4  ,we so willingly   
slip the collar of command upon any     
pretence whatever1 and are so ready to  
usurp upon dominion1 every one does so  
naturally aspire to liberty and power1  
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 obedience4  ,to   
obey more upon the account of           
understanding than of subjection1 is to 
corrupt the office of command --,taken  
from ,aulus ,gellius1 i4 #ac4--2        
insomuch that ,p4 ,crassus1 the same    
whom the ,romans reputed five times     
happy1 at the time when he was consul in
 ,asia1 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 him1 to be     
employed about some engine of battery he
 had a design to make2 the other1       
presuming upon his own science and      
sufficiency in those affairs1 thought   
fit to do otherwise than directed1 and  
to bring the less1 which1 according to  
the rules of art1 was really more proper
 for the use to which it was designed2  
but ,crassus1 though he gave ear to his 
reasons with great patience1 would not1 
however1 take them1 how sound or        

convincing soever1 for current pay1 but 
caused him to be well whipped for his   
pains1 valuing the interest of          
discipline much more than that of the   
work in hand4  ,notwithstanding1 we may 
on the other side consider that so      
precise and implicit an obedience as    
this is only due to positive and limited
 commands4  ,the employment of          
ambassadors is never so confined1 many  
things in their management of affairs   
being wholly referred to the absolute   
sovereignty of their own conduct2 they  
do not simply execute1 but also1 to     
their own discretion and wisdom1 form   
and model their master's pleasure4  ,i  
have1 in my time1 known men of command  
checked for having rather obeyed the    
express words of the king's letters1    
than the necessity of the affairs they  
had in hand4  ,men of understanding do  
yet1 to this day1 condemn the custom of 
the kings of ,persia to give their      
lieutenants and agents so little rein1  
that1 upon the least arising            

difficulties1 they must fain have       
recourse to their further commands2 this
 delay1 in so vast an extent of         
dominion1 having often very much        
prejudiced their affairs2 and ,crassus1 
writing to a man whose profession it was
 best to understand those things1 and   
pre-acquainting him to what use this    
mast was designed1 did he not seem to   
consult his advice1 and in a manner     
invite him to interpose his better      
judgment8     ,,chapter ,,xvii  ,,of    
,,fear            ,obstupui1            
steteruntque comae et vox faucibus      
haesit4       ,i was amazed1 my hair    
stood on end1 and my voice stuck in my  
throat4  ,virgil1 ,a,eneid1 ii4  #ggd4  
,i am not so good a naturalist 7as they 
call it7 as to discern by what secret   
springs fear has its motion in us2 but1 
be this as it may1 'tis a strange       
passion1 and such a one that the        
physicians say there is no other        
whatever that sooner dethrones our      
judgment from its proper seat2 which is 

so true1 that ,i myself have seen very  
many become frantic through fear2 and1  
even in those of the best settled temper
 it is most certain that it begets a    
terrible astonishment and confusion     
during the fit4 ,i omit the vulgar sort1
 to whom it one while represents their  
great-grandsires risen out of their     
graves in their shrouds1 another while  
werewolves1 nightmares1 and chimaeras2  
but even amongst soldiers1 a sort of men
 over whom1 of all others1 it ought to  
have the least power1 how often has it  
converted flocks of sheep into armed    
squadrons1 reeds and bullrushes into    
pikes and lances1 friends into enemies1 
and the ,french white cross into the red
 cross of ,spain6  ,when ,monsieur de   
,bourbon took ,rome1--,in #aebg--;an    
ensign who was upon guard at ,borgo ,san
 ,pietro was seized with such a fright  
upon the first alarm1 that he threw     
himself out at a breach with his colours
 upon his shoulder1 and ran directly    
upon the enemy1 thinking he had         

retreated toward the inward defences of 
the city1 and with much ado1 seeing     
,monsieur de ,bourbon's people1 who     
thought it had been a sally upon them1  
draw up to receive him1 at last came to 
himself1 and saw his error2 and then    
facing about1 he retreated full speed   
through the same breach by which he had 
gone out1 but not till he had first     
blindly advanced above three hundred    
paces into the open field4 ,it did not1 
however1 fall out so well with ,captain 
,giulio's ensign1 at the time when ,st4 
,paul was taken from us by the ,comte de
 ,bures and ,monsieur de ,reu1 for he1  
being so astonished with fear as to     
throw himself1 colours and all1 out of a
 porthole1 was immediately1 cut to      
pieces by the enemy2 and in the same    
siege1 it was a very memorable fear that
 so seized1 contracted1 and froze up the
 heart of a gentleman1 that he sank     
down1 stone-dead1 in the breach1 without
 any manner of wound or hurt at all4    
,the like madness does sometimes push on

 a whole multitude2 for in one of the   
encounters that ,germanicus had with the
 ,germans1 two great parties were so    
amazed with fear that they ran two      
opposite ways1 the one to the same place
 from which the other had fled4--,tacit1
 ,annal41 i4  #fc4--,sometimes it adds  
wings to the heels1 as in the two first3
 sometimes it nails them to the ground1 
and fetters them from moving2 as we read
 of the ,emperor ,theophilus1 who1 in a 
battle he lost against the ,agarenes1   
was so astonished and stupefied that he 
had no power to fly--                   
,adeo pavor etiam auxilia formidat      
,so much does fear dread even the means 
of safety4--,quint4      ,curt41 ii4    
,,ii4  --till such time as ,manuel1 one 
of the principal commanders of his army1
 having jogged and shaked him so as to  
rouse him out of his trance1 said to    
him1 ,sir1 if you will not follow me1 ,i
 will kill you2 for it is better you    
should lose your life than1 by being    
taken1 lose your empire4 --,zonaras1    

lib4  iii4--,but fear does then manifest
 its utmost power when it throws us upon
 a valiant despair1 having before       
deprived us of all sense both of duty   
and honour4  ,in the first pitched      
battle the ,romans lost against         
,hannibal1 under the ,consul            
,sempronius1 a body of ten thousand     
foot1 that had taken fright1 seeing no  
other escape for their cowardice1 went  
and threw themselves headlong upon the  
great battalion of the enemies1 which   
with marvellous force and fury they     
charged through and through1 and routed 
with a very great slaughter of the      
,carthaginians1 thus purchasing an      
ignominious flight at the same price    
they might have gained a glorious       
victory4--,livy1 xxi4  #ef4  ,the thing 
in the world ,i am most afraid of is    
fear1 that passion alone1 in the trouble
 of it1 exceeding all other accidents4  
,what affliction could be greater or    
more just than that of ,pompey's        
friends1 who1 in his ship1 were         

spectators of that horrible murder8     
,yet so it was1 that the fear of the    
,egyptian vessels they saw coming to    
board them1 possessed them with so great
 alarm that it is observed they thought 
of nothing but calling upon the mariners
 to make haste1 and by force of oars to 
escape away1 till being arrived at      
,tyre1 and delivered from fear1 they had
 leisure to turn their thoughts to the  
loss of their captain1 and to give vent 
to those tears and lamentations that the
 other more potent passion had till then
 suspended4            ,tum pavor       
sapientiam omnem mihiex animo           
expectorat4       ,then fear drove out  
all intelligence from my mind4--,ennius1
 ap4      ,cicero1 ,tusc41 iv4  #h4     
,such as have been well rubbed in some  
skirmish1 may yet1 all wounded and      
bloody as they are1 be brought on again 
the next day to charge2 but such as have
 once conceived a good sound fear of the
 enemy1 will never be made so much as to
 look him in the face4  ,such as are in 

immediate fear of a losing their        
estates1 of banishment1 or of slavery1  
live in perpetual anguish1 and lose all 
appetite and repose2 whereas such as are
 actually poor1 slaves1 or exiles1      
ofttimes live as merrily as other folk4 
,and the many people who1 impatient of  
the perpetual alarms of fear1 have      
hanged or drowned themselves1 or dashed 
themselves to pieces1 give us           
sufficiently to understand that fear is 
more importunate and insupportable than 
death itself4  ,the ,greeks acknowledged
 another kind of fear1 differing from   
any we have spoken of yet1 that         
surprises us without any visible cause1 
by an impulse from heaven1 so that whole
 nations and whole armies have been     
struck with it4  ,such a one was that   
which brought so wonderful a desolation 
upon ,carthage1 where nothing was to be 
heard but affrighted voices and         
outcries2 where the inhabitants were    
seen to sally out of their houses as to 
an alarm1 and there to charge1 wound1   

and kill one another1 as if they had    
been enemies come to surprise their     
city4  ,all things were in disorder and 
fury till1 with prayers and sacrifices1 
they had appeased their gods--,diod4    
,sic41 xv4 #g2 and this is that they    
call panic terrors4--,ibid4 2 ,plutarch 
on ,isis and ,osiris1 c4  #h4           
,,chapter ,,xviii  ,,that ,,men ,,are   
,,not ,,to ,,judge ,,of ,,our           
,,happiness ,,till ,,after ,,death4     
,charron has borrowed with unusual      
liberality from this and the            
succeeding chapter4  ,see ,nodier1      
,questions1 p4 #bjf4                    
,scilicet ultima semper                 
,exspectanda dies homini est2 dicique   
beatus                ,ante obitum nemo 
supremaque funera debet4       ,we      
should all look forward to our last day3
 no one can be called      happy till he
 is dead and buried4--,ovid1 ,met1 iii4 
#ace  ,the very children know the story 
of ,king ,croesus to this purpose1 who  
being taken prisoner by ,cyrus1 and by  

him condemned to die1 as he was going to
 execution cried out1 ,o ,solon1 ,solon6
  which being presently reported to     
,cyrus1 and he sending to inquire of him
 what it meant1 ,croesus gave him to    
understand that he now found the        
teaching ,solon had formerly given him  
true to his cost2 which was1 ,that men1 
however fortune may smile upon them1    
could never be said to be happy till    
they had been seen to pass over the last
 day of their lives1 by reason of the   
uncertainty and mutability of human     
things1 which1 upon very light and      
trivial occasions1 are subject to be    
totally changed into a quite contrary   
condition4  ,and so it was that         
,agesilaus made answer to one who was   
saying what a happy young man the ,king 
of ,persia was1 to come so young to so  
mighty a kingdom3 ',tis true1 said he1  
but neither was ,priam unhappy at his   
years4--,plutarch1 ,apothegms of the    
,lacedaemonians4--,in a short time1     
kings of ,macedon1 successors to that   

mighty ,alexander1 became joiners and   
scriveners at ,rome2 a tyrant of        
,sicily1 a pedant at ,corinth2 a        
conqueror of one-half of the world and  
general of so many armies1 a miserable  
suppliant to the rascally officers of a 
king of ,egypt3 so much did the         
prolongation of five or six months of   
life cost the great ,pompey2 and1 in our
 fathers' days1 ,ludovico ,sforza1 the  
tenth ,duke of ,milan1 whom all ,italy  
had so long truckled under1 was seen to 
die a wretched prisoner at ,loches1 but 
not till he had lived ten years in      
captivity1--,he was imprisoned by ,louis
 ,,xi4 in an iron cage-- which was the  
worst part of his fortune4  ,the fairest
 of all queens1 --,mary1 ,queen of      
,scots4--widow to the greatest king in  
,europe1 did she not come to die by the 
hand of an executioner8  ,unworthy and  
barbarous cruelty6  ,and a thousand more
 examples there are of the same kind2   
for it seems that as storms and tempests
 have a malice against the proud and    

overtowering heights of our lofty       
buildings1 there are also spirits above 
that are envious of the greatnesses here
 below3                ,usque adeo res  
humanas vis abdita quaedam              
,obterit1 et pulchros fasces1 saevasque 
secures                ,proculcare1 ac  
ludibrio sibi habere videtur4       ,so 
true it is that some occult power upsets
 human affairs1 the      glittering     
fasces and the cruel axes spurns under  
foot1 and seems to      make sport of   
them4--,lucretius1 v4  #abca4  ,and it  
should seem1 also1 that ,fortune        
sometimes lies in wait to surprise the  
last hour of our lives1 to show the     
power she has1 in a moment1 to overthrow
 what she was so many years in building1
 making us cry out with ,laberius3      
,nimirum hac die           ,una plus    
vixi mihi1 quam vivendum fuit4       ,i 
have lived longer by this one day than  
,i should have      done4--,macrobius1  
ii4  #g4  ,and1 in this sense1 this good
 advice of ,solon may reasonably be     

taken2 but he1 being a philosopher 7with
 which sort of men the favours and      
disgraces of ,fortune stand for nothing1
 either to the making a man happy or    
unhappy1 and with whom grandeurs and    
powers are accidents of a quality almost
 indifferent7 ,i am apt to think that he
 had some further aim1 and that his     
meaning was1 that the very felicity of  
life itself1 which depends upon the     
tranquillity and contentment of a       
well-descended spirit1 and the          
resolution and assurance of a           
well-ordered soul1 ought never to be    
attributed to any man till he has first 
been seen to play the last1 and1        
doubtless1 the hardest act of his part4 
,there may be disguise and dissimulation
 in all the rest3 where these fine      
philosophical discourses are only put   
on1 and where accident1 not touching us 
to the quick1 gives us leisure to       
maintain the same gravity of aspect2    
but1 in this last scene of death1 there 
is no more counterfeiting3 we must speak

 out plain1 and discover what there is  
of good and clean in the bottom of the  
pot1                ,nam vera2 voces    
turn demum pectore ab imo               
,ejiciuntur2 et eripitur persona1 manet 
res4       ,then at last truth issues   
from the heart2 the visor's gone1       
the man remains4--,lucretius1 iii4  #eg4
  ,wherefore1 at this last1 all the     
other actions of our life ought to be   
tried and sifted3 'tis the master-day1  
'tis the day that is judge of all the   
rest1 'tis the day1 says one of the     
ancients1--,seneca1 ,ep41 #ajb-- that   
must be judge of all my foregoing years4
  ,to death do ,i refer the assay of the
 fruit of all my studies3 we shall then 
see whether my discourses came only from
 my mouth or from my heart4  ,i have    
seen many by their death give a good or 
an ill repute to their whole life4      
,scipio1 the father-in-law of ,pompey1  
in dying1 well removed the ill opinion  
that till then every one had conceived  
of him4  ,epaminondas being asked which 

of the three he had in greatest esteem1 
,chabrias1 ,iphicrates1 or himself4 ,you
 must first see us die1 said he1 before 
that question can be                    
resolved4--,plutarch1 ,apoth4--,and1 in 
truth1 he would infinitely wrong that   
man who would weigh him without the     
honour and grandeur of his end4  ,god   
has ordered all things as it has best   
pleased ,him2 but ,i have1 in my time1  
seen three of the most execrable persons
 that ever ,i knew in all manner of     
abominable living1 and the most infamous
 to boot1 who all died a very regular   
death1 and in all circumstances         
composed1 even to perfection4  ,there   
are brave and fortunate deaths3 ,i have 
seen death cut the thread of the        
progress of a prodigious advancement1   
and in the height and flower of its     
increase1 of a certain                  
person1--,montaigne doubtless refers to 
his friend ,etienne de la ,boetie1 at   
whose death in #aefc he was             
present4--with so glorious an end that1 

in my opinion1 his ambitious and        
generous designs had nothing in them so 
high and great as their interruption4   
,he arrived1 without completing his     
course1 at the place to which his       
ambition aimed1 with greater glory than 
he could either have hoped or desired1  
anticipating by his fall the name and   
power to which he aspired in perfecting 
his career4  ,in the judgment ,i make of
 another man's life1 ,i always observe  
how he carried himself at his death2 and
 the principal concern ,i have for my   
own is that ,i may die well--that is1   
patiently and tranquilly4     ,,chapter 
,,xix  ,,that ,,to ,,study ,,philosopy  
,,is ,,to ,,learn ,,to ,,die  ,cicero   
says--,tusc41 i4  #ca4--that to study   
philosophy is nothing but to prepare    
one's self to die4  ,the reason of which
 is1 because study and contemplation do 
in some sort withdraw from us our soul1 
and employ it separately from the body1 
which is a kind of apprenticeship and a 
resemblance of death2 or1 else1 because 

all the wisdom and reasoning in the     
world do in the end conclude in this    
point1 to teach us not to fear to die4  
,and to say the truth1 either our reason
 mocks us1 or it ought to have no other 
aim but our contentment only1 nor to    
endeavour anything but1 in sum1 to make 
us live well1 and1 as the ,holy         
,scripture says1 at our ease4  ,all the 
opinions of the world agree in this1    
that pleasure is our end1 though we make
 use of divers means to attain it3 they 
would1 otherwise1 be rejected at the    
first motion2 for who would give ear to 
him that should propose affliction and  
misery for his end8  ,the controversies 
and disputes of the philosophical sects 
upon this point are merely verbal3      
,transcurramus solertissimas nugas      
,let us skip over those subtle          
trifles4--,seneca1 ,ep41 #aag4  --there 
is more in them of opposition and       
obstinacy than is consistent with so    
sacred a profession2 but whatsoever     
personage a man takes upon himself to   

perform1 he ever mixes his own part with
 it4  ,let the philosophers say what    
they will1 the thing at which we all    
aim1 even in virtue is pleasure4  ,it   
amuses me to rattle in ears this word1  
which they so nauseate to and if it     
signify some supreme pleasure and       
contentment1 it is more due to the      
assistance of virtue than to any other  
assistance whatever4  ,this pleasure1   
for being more gay1 more sinewy1 more   
robust and more manly1 is only the more 
seriously voluptuous1 and we ought give 
it the name of pleasure1 as that which  
is more favourable1 gentle1 and natural1
 and not that from which we have        
denominated it4  ,the other and meaner  
pleasure1 if it could deserve this fair 
name1 it ought to be by way of          
competition1 and not of privilege4  ,i  
find it less exempt from traverses and  
inconveniences than virtue itself2 and1 
besides that the enjoyment is more      
momentary1 fluid1 and frail1 it has its 
watchings1 fasts1 and labours1 its sweat

 and its blood2 and1 moreover1 has      
particular to itself so many several    
sorts of sharp and wounding passions1   
and so dull a satiety attending it1 as  
equal it to the severest penance4  ,and 
we mistake if we think that these       
incommodities serve it for a spur and a 
seasoning to its sweetness 7as in nature
 one contrary is quickened by another71 
or say1 when we come to virtue1 that    
like consequences and difficulties      
overwhelm and render it austere and     
inaccessible2 whereas1 much more aptly  
than in voluptuousness1 they ennoble1   
sharpen1 and heighten the perfect and   
divine pleasure they procure us4  ,he   
renders himself unworthy of it who will 
counterpoise its cost with its fruit1   
and neither understands the blessing nor
 how to use it4  ,those who preach to us
 that the quest of it is craggy1        
difficult1 and painful1 but its fruition
 pleasant1 what do they mean by that but
 to tell us that it is always           
unpleasing8  ,for what human means will 

ever attain its enjoyment8  ,the most   
perfect have been fain to content       
themselves to aspire unto it1 and to    
approach it only1 without ever          
possessing it4  ,but they are deceived1 
seeing that of all the pleasures we     
know1 the very pursuit is pleasant4     
,the attempt ever relishes of the       
quality of the thing to which it is     
directed1 for it is a good part of1 and 
consubstantial with1 the effect4  ,the  
felicity and beatitude that glitters in 
,virtue1 shines throughout all her      
appurtenances and avenues1 even to the  
first entry and utmost limits4  ,now1 of
 all the benefits that virtue confers   
upon us1 the contempt of death is one of
 the greatest1 as the means that        
accommodates human life with a soft and 
easy tranquillity1 and gives us a pure  
and pleasant taste of living1 without   
which all other pleasure would be       
extinct4  ,which is the reason why all  
the rules centre and concur in this one 
article4  ,and although they all in like

 manner1 with common accord1 teach us   
also to despise pain1 poverty1 and the  
other accidents to which human life is  
subject1 it is not1 nevertheless1 with  
the same solicitude1 as well by reason  
these accidents are not of so great     
necessity1 the greater part of mankind  
passing over their whole lives without  
ever knowing what poverty is1 and some  
without sorrow or sickness1 as          
,xenophilus the musician1 who lived a   
hundred and six years in a perfect and  
continual health2 as also because1 at   
the worst1 death can1 whenever we       
please1 cut short and put an end to all 
other inconveniences4  ,but as to death1
 it is inevitable3--                    
,omnes eodem cogimur2 omnium            
,versatur urna serius ocius             
,sors exitura1 et nos in aeternum       
,exilium impositura cymbae4       ,we   
are all bound one voyage2 the lot of    
all1 sooner or later1 is      to come   
out of the urn4  ,all must to eternal   
exile sail away4       --,hor41 ,od41   

ii4  #c1 #be4  and1 consequently1 if it 
frights us1 'tis a perpetual torment1   
for which there is no sort of           
consolation4  ,there is no way by which 
it may not reach us4  ,we may           
continually turn our heads this way and 
that1 as in a suspected country3        
,quae1 quasi saxum ,tantalo1 semper     
impendet4            ,ever1 like        
,tantalus stone1 hangs over us4         
--,cicero1 ,de ,finib41 i4 #ah4  ,our   
courts of justice often send back       
condemned criminals to be executed upon 
the place where the crime was committed2
 but1 carry them to fine houses by the  
way1 prepare for them the best          
entertainment you can--                 
,non ,siculae dapes                     
,dulcem elaborabunt saporem3            
,non avium cyatheaceae cantus           
,somnum reducent4       ,sicilian       
dainties will not tickle their palates1 
nor the melody of      birds and harps  
bring back sleep4--,hor41 ,od41 iii4 #a1
 #ah4  ,do you think they can relish it8

 and that the fatal end of their journey
 being continually before their eyes1   
would not alter and deprave their palate
 from tasting these regalios8           
,audit iter1 numeratque dies1 spatioque 
viarum           ,metitur vitam2        
torquetur peste futura4       ,he       
considers the route1 computes the time  
of travelling1 measuring      his life  
by the length of the journey2 and       
torments himself by      thinking of the
 blow to come4--,claudianus1 in ,ruf41  
ii4  #acg4  ,the end of our race is     
death2 'tis the necessary object of our 
aim1 which1 if it fright us1 how is it  
possible to advance a step without a fit
 of ague8  ,the remedy the vulgar use is
 not to think on't2 but from what       
brutish stupidity can they derive so    
gross a blindness8  ,they must bridle   
the ass by the tail3            ,qui    
capite ipse suo instituit vestigia      
retro1       ,who in his folly seeks to 
advance backwards--,lucretius1 iv4 #dgd 
'tis no wonder if he be often trapped in

 the pitfall4  ,they affright people    
with the very mention of death1 and many
 cross themselves1 as it were the name  
of the devil4  ,and because the making a
 man's will is in reference to dying1   
not a man will be persuaded to take a   
pen in hand to that purpose1 till the   
physician has passed sentence upon and  
totally given him over1 and then betwixt
 and terror1 ,god knows in how fit a    
condition of understanding he is to do  
it4  ,the ,romans1 by reason that this  
poor syllable death sounded so harshly  
to their ears and seemed so ominous1    
found out a way to soften and spin it   
out by a periphrasis1 and instead of    
pronouncing such a one is dead1 said1   
,such a one has lived1 or ,such a one   
has ceased to live --,plutarch1 ,life of
 ,cicero1 c4  #bb3--;for1 provided there
 was any mention of life in the case1   
though past1 it carried yet some sound  
of consolation4  ,and from them it is   
that we have borrowed our expression1   
,the late ,monsieur such and such a     

one4--feu ,monsieur un tel4             
,peradventure1 as the saying is1 the    
term we have lived is worth our money4  
,i was born betwixt eleven and twelve   
o'clock in the forenoon the last day of 
,february #aecc1 according to our       
computation1 beginning the year the #ast
 of ,january1--,this was in virtue of an
 ordinance of ,charles ,,ix4 in #aefc4  
,previously the year commenced at       
,easter1 so that the #ast ,january #aefc
 became the first day of the year       
#aefc4--;and it is now but just fifteen 
days since ,i was complete              
nine-and-thirty years old2 ,i make      
account to live1 at least1 as many more4
  ,in the meantime1 to trouble a man's  
self with the thought of a thing so far 
off were folly4  ,but what8 ,young and  
old die upon the same terms2 no one     
departs out of life otherwise than if he
 had but just before entered into it2   
neither is any man so old and decrepit1 
who1 having heard of ,methuselah1 does  
not think he has yet twenty good years  

to come4  ,fool that thou art6  who has 
assured unto thee the term of life8     
,thou dependest upon physicians' tales3 
rather consult effects and experience4  
,according to the common course of      
things1 'tis long since that thou hast  
lived by extraordinary favour2 thou hast
 already outlived the ordinary term of  
life4  ,and that it is so1 reckon up thy
 acquaintance1 how many more have died  
before they arrived at thy age than have
 attained unto it2 and of those who have
 ennobled their lives by their renown1  
take but an account1 and ,i dare lay a  
wager thou wilt find more who have died 
before than after five-and-thirty years 
of age4  ,it is full both of reason and 
piety1 too1 to take example by the      
humanity of ,jesus ,christ ,himself2    
now1 ,he ended ,his life at             
three-and-thirty years4  ,the greatest  
man1 that was no more than a man1       
,alexander1 died also at the same age4  
,how many several ways has death to     
surprise us8                ,quid       

quisque1 vitet1 nunquam homini satis    
,cautum est in horas4       ,be as      
cautious as he may1 man can never       
foresee the danger that      may at any 
hour befal him4--,hor4 ,o4 ii4  #ac1    
#ac4  ,to omit fevers and pleurisies1   
who would ever have imagined that a duke
 of ,brittany1--,jean ,,ii4 died        
#acje4--should be pressed to death in a 
crowd as that duke was at the entry of  
,pope ,clement1 my neighbour1 into      
,lyons8--,montaigne speaks of him as if 
he had been a contemporary neighbour1   
perhaps because he was the ,archbishop  
of ,bordeaux4  ,bertrand le ,got was    
,pope under the title of ,clement ,v41  
#acje-ad4--;,hast thou not seen one of  
our kings--,henry ,,ii41 killed in a    
tournament1 ,july #aj1 #aeei--killed at 
a tilting1 and did not one of his       
ancestors die by jostle of a            
hog8--,philip1 eldest son of ,louis le  
,gros4--,a,eschylus1 threatened with the
 fall of a house1 was to much purpose   
circumspect to avoid that danger1 seeing

 that he was knocked on the head by a   
tortoise falling out of an eagle's      
talons in the air4  ,another was choked 
with a grape-stone2--,val4  ,max41 ix4  
#ab1 ext4 #b4--;an emperor killed with  
the scratch of a comb in combing his    
head4  ,a,emilius ,lepidus with a       
stumble at his own threshold1--,pliny1  
,nat4  ,hist41 vii4  #cc4-- and         
,aufidius with a jostle against the door
 as he entered the council-chamber4     
,and betwixt the very thighs of women1  
,cornelius ,gallus the proctor2         
,tigillinus1 captain of the watch at    
,rome2 ,ludovico1 son of ,guido di      
,gonzaga1 ,marquis of ,mantua2 and 7of  
worse example7 ,speusippus1 a ,platonic 
philosopher1 and one of our ,popes4     
,the poor judge ,bebius gave adjournment
 in a case for eight days2 but he       
himself1 meanwhile1 was condemned by    
death1 and his own stay of life expired4
  ,whilst ,caius ,julius1 the physician1
 was anointing the eyes of a patient1   
death closed his own2 and1 if ,i may    

bring in an example of my own blood1 a  
brother of mine1 ,captain ,st4 ,martin1 
a young man1 three-and-twenty years old1
 who had already given sufficient       
testimony of his valour1 playing a match
 at tennis1 received a blow of a ball a 
little above his right ear1 which1 as it
 gave no manner of sign of wound or     
contusion1 he took no notice of it1 nor 
so much as sat down to repose himself1  
but1 nevertheless1 died within five or  
six hours after of an apoplexy          
occasioned by that blow4  ,these so     
frequent and common examples passing    
every day before our eyes1 how is it    
possible a man should disengage himself 
from the thought of death1 or avoid     
fancying that it has us every moment by 
the throat8  ,what matter is it1 you    
will say1 which way it comes to pass1   
provided a man does not terrify himself 
with the expectation8  ,for my part1 ,i 
am of this mind1 and if a man could by  
any means avoid it1 though by creeping  
under a calf's skin1 ,i am one that     

should not be ashamed of the shift2 all 
,i aim at is1 to pass my time at my     
ease1 and the recreations that will most
 contribute to it1 ,i take hold of1 as  
little glorious and exemplary as you    
will3                ,praetulerim 4  4  
4  delirus inersque videri1             
,dum mea delectent mala me1 vel denique 
fallant1                ,quam sapere1 et
 ringi4       ,i had rather seem mad and
 a sluggard1 so that my defects are     
agreeable to myself1 or that ,i am not  
painfully conscious of them1      than  
be wise1 and chaptious4--,hor41 ,ep41   
ii4 #b1 #abf4  ,but 'tis folly to think 
of doing anything that way4  ,they go1  
they come1 they gallop and dance1 and   
not a word of death4  ,all this is very 
fine2 but withal1 when it comes either  
to themselves1 their wives1 their       
children1 or friends1 surprising them at
 unawares and unprepared1 then1 what    
torment1 what outcries1 what madness and
 despair6  ,did you ever see anything so
 subdued1 so changed1 and so confounded8

  ,a man must1 therefore1 make more     
early provision for it2 and this brutish
 negligence1 could it possibly lodge in 
the brain of any man of sense 7which ,i 
think utterly impossible71 sells us its 
merchandise too dear4  ,were it an enemy
 that could be avoided1 ,i would then   
advise to borrow arms even of cowardice 
itself2 but seeing it is not1 and that  
it will catch you as well flying and    
playing the poltroon1 as standing to't  
like an honest man3--                   
,nempe et fugacem persequitur virum1    
,nec parcit imbellis juventae           
,poplitibus timidoque tergo4       ,he  
pursues the flying poltroon1 nor spares 
the hamstrings of the      unwarlike    
youth who turns his back--,hor41 ,ep41  
iii4 #b1 #ad4  ,and seeing that no      
temper of arms is of proof to secure    
us3--                ,ille licet ferro  
cautus1 se condat et aere1              
,mors tamen inclusum protrahet inde     
caput       ,let him hide beneath iron  
or brass in his fear1 death will pull   

his head out of his                     
armour4--,propertious iii4 #ah  --let us
 learn bravely to stand our ground1 and 
fight him4  ,and to begin to deprive him
 of the greatest advantage he has over  
us1 let us take a way quite contrary to 
the common course4  ,let us disarm him  
of his novelty and strangeness1 let us  
converse and be familiar with him1 and  
have nothing so frequent in our thoughts
 as death4  ,upon all occasions         
represent him to our imagination in his 
every shape2 at the stumbling of a      
horse1 at the falling of a tile1 at the 
least prick with a pin1 let us presently
 consider1 and say to ourselves1 ,well1 
and what if it had been death itself8   
and1 thereupon1 let us encourage and    
fortify ourselves4 ,let us evermore1    
amidst our jollity and feasting1 set the
 remembrance of our frail condition     
before our eyes1 never suffering        
ourselves to be so far transported with 
our delights1 but that we have some     
intervals of reflecting upon1 and       

considering how many several ways this  
jollity of ours tends to death1 and with
 how many dangers it threatens it4  ,the
 ,egyptians were wont to do after this  
manner1 who in the height of their      
feasting and mirth1 caused a dried      
skeleton of a man to be brought into the
 room to serve for a memento to their   
guests3                ,omnem crede diem
 tibi diluxisse supremum                
,grata superveniet1 quae non sperabitur1
 hora4       ,think each day when past  
is thy last2 the next day1 as           
unexpected1      will be the more       
welcome4--,hor41 ,ep41 i4 #d1 #ac4      
,where death waits for us is uncertain2 
let us look for him everywhere4 ,the    
premeditation of death is the           
premeditation of liberty2 he who has    
learned to die has unlearned to serve4  
,there is nothing evil in life for him  
who rightly comprehends that the        
privation of life is no evil3 to know1  
how to die delivers us from all         
subjection and constraint4  ,paulus     

,emilius answered him whom the miserable
 ,king of ,macedon1 his prisoner1 sent  
to entreat him that he would not lead   
him in his triumph1 ,let him make that  
request to himself4-- ,plutarch1 ,life  
of ,paulus ,aemilius1 c4 #ag2 ,cicero1  
,tusc41 v4 #dj4  ,in truth1 in all      
things1 if nature do not help a little1 
it is very hard for art and industry to 
perform anything to purpose4  ,i am in  
my own nature not melancholic1 but      
meditative2 and there is nothing ,i have
 more continually entertained myself    
withal than imaginations of death1 even 
in the most wanton time of my age3      
,jucundum quum aetas florida ver ageret4
            ,when my florid age rejoiced
 in pleasant spring4                    
--,catullus1 lxviii4  ,in the company of
 ladies1 and at games1 some have perhaps
 thought me possessed with some         
jealousy1 or the uncertainty of some    
hope1 whilst ,i was entertaining myself 
with the remembrance of some one1       
surprised1 a few days before1 with a    

burning fever of which he died1         
returning from an entertainment like    
this1 with his head full of idle fancies
 of love and jollity1 as mine was then1 
and that1 for aught ,i knew1 the        
same-destiny was attending me4          
,jam fuerit1 nec post unquam revocare   
licebit4       ,presently the present   
will have gone1 never to be recalled4   
,lucretius1 iii4  #ibh4  ,yet did not   
this thought wrinkle my forehead any    
more than any other4 ,it is impossible  
but we must feel a sting in such        
imaginations as these1 at first2 but    
with often turning and returning them in
 one's mind1 they1 at last1 become so   
familiar as to be no trouble at all3    
otherwise1 ,i1 for my part1 should be in
 a perpetual fright and frenzy2 for     
never man was so distrustful of his     
life1 never man so uncertain as to its  
duration4 ,neither health1 which ,i have
 hitherto ever enjoyed very strong and  
vigorous1 and very seldom interrupted1  
does prolong1 nor sickness contract my  

hopes4  ,every minute1 methinks1 ,i am  
escaping1 and it eternally runs in my   
mind1 that what may be done to-morrow1  
may be done to-day4  ,hazards and       
dangers do1 in truth1 little or nothing 
hasten our end2 and if we consider how  
many thousands more remain and hang over
 our heads1 besides the accident that   
immediately threatens us1 we shall find 
that the sound and the sick1 those that 
are abroad at sea1 and those that sit by
 the fire1 those who are engaged in     
battle1 and those who sit idle at home1 
are the one as near it as the other4    
,nemo altero fragilior est2 nemo in     
crastinum sui certior4       ,no man is 
more fragile than another3 no man more  
certain than      another of            
to-morrow4--,seneca1 ,ep41 #ia4  ,for   
anything ,i have to do before ,i die1   
the longest leisure would appear too    
short1 were it but an hour's business ,i
 had to do4  ,a friend of mine the other
 day turning over my tablets1 found     
therein a memorandum of something ,i    

would have done after my decease1       
whereupon ,i told him1 as it was really 
true1 that though ,i was no more than a 
league's distance only from my own      
house1 and merry and well1 yet when that
 thing came into my head1 ,i made haste 
to write it down there1 because ,i was  
not certain to live till ,i came home4  
,as a man that am eternally brooding    
over my own thoughts1 and confine them  
to my own particular concerns1 ,i am at 
all hours as well prepared as ,i am ever
 like to be1 and death1 whenever he     
shall come1 can bring nothing along with
 him ,i did not expect long before4  ,we
 should always1 as near as we can1 be   
booted and spurred1 and ready to go1    
and1 above all things1 take care1 at    
that time1 to have no business with any 
one but one's self3--                   
,quid brevi fortes jaculamur avo        
,multa8       ,why for so short a life  
tease ourselves with so many projects8  
--,hor41 ,od41 ii4  #af1 #ag4  for we   
shall there find work enough to do1     

without any need of addition4 ,one man  
complains1 more than of death1 that he  
is thereby prevented of a glorious      
victory2 another1 that he must die      
before he has married his daughter1 or  
educated his children2 a third seems    
only troubled that he must lose the     
society of his wife2 a fourth1 the      
conversation of his son1 as the         
principal comfort and concern of his    
being4  ,for my part1 ,i am1 thanks be  
to ,god1 at this instant in such a      
condition1 that ,i am ready to dislodge1
 whenever it shall please ,him1 without 
regret for anything whatsoever4  ,i     
disengage myself throughout from all    
worldly relations2 my leave is soon     
taken of all but myself4  ,never did any
 one prepare to bid adieu to the world  
more absolutely and unreservedly1 and to
 shake hands with all manner of interest
 in it1 than ,i expect to do4  ,the     
deadest deaths are the best3            
',miser1 ,o miser1' aiunt1 'omnia ademit
                ,una dies infesta mihi  

tot praemia vitae4'       ',wretch that 
,i am1' they cry1 'one fatal day has    
deprived me of      all joys of         
life4'--,lucretius1 iii4 #iaa4   ,and   
the builder1                ,manuet1    
says he1 opera interrupta1 minaeque     
,murorum ingentes4       ,the works     
remain incomplete1 the tall pinnacles of
 the walls      unmade4--,a,eneid1 iv4  
#hh4  ,a man must design nothing that   
will require so much time to the        
finishing1 or1 at least1 with no such   
passionate desire to see it brought to  
perfection4  ,we are born to action3    
,quum moriar1 medium solvar et inter    
opus4       ,when ,i shall die1 let it  
be doing that ,i had designed4          
--,ovid1 ,amor41 ii4  #aj1 #cf4  ,i     
would always have a man to be doing1    
and1 as much as in him lies1 to extend  
and spin out the offices of life2 and   
then let death take me planting my      
cabbages1 indifferent to him1 and still 
less of my gardens not being finished4  
,i saw one die1 who1 at his last gasp1  

complained of nothing so much as that   
destiny was about to cut the thread of a
 chronicle he was then compiling1 when  
he was gone no farther than the         
fifteenth or sixteenth of our kings3    
,illud in his rebus non addunt3 nec tibi
 earum           jam desiderium rerum   
super insidet una4       ,they do not   
add1 that dying1 we have no longer a    
desire to possess                       
things4--,lucretius1 iii4  #iac4  ,we   
are to discharge ourselves from these   
vulgar and hurtful humours4 ,to this    
purpose it was that men first appointed 
the places of sepulture adjoining the   
churches1 and in the most frequented    
places of the city1 to accustom1 says   
,lycurgus1 the common people1 women1 and
 children1 that they should not be      
startled at the sight of a corpse1 and  
to the end1 that the continual spectacle
 of bones1 graves1 and funeral obsequies
 should put us in mind of our frail     
condition3                ,quin etiam   
exhilarare viris convivia caede         

,mos olim1 et miscere epulis spectacula 
dira                ,certantum ferro1   
saepe et super ipsa cadentum            
,pocula1 respersis non parco sanguine   
mensis4       ,it was formerly the      
custom to enliven banquets with         
slaughter1 and      to combine with the 
repast the dire spectacle of men        
contending with      the sword1 the     
dying in many cases falling upon the    
cups1 and      covering the tables with 
blood4--,silius ,italicus1 xi4 #ea4     
,and as the ,egyptians after their      
feasts were wont to present the company 
with a great image of death1 by one that
 cried out to them1 ,drink and be merry1
 for such shalt thou be when thou art   
dead2 so it is my custom to have death  
not only in my imagination1 but         
continually in my mouth4 ,neither is    
there anything of which ,i am so        
inquisitive1 and delight to inform      
myself1 as the manner of men's deaths1  
their words1 looks1 and bearing2 nor any
 places in history ,i am so intent upon2

 and it is manifest enough1 by my       
crowding in examples of this kind1 that 
,i have a particular fancy for that     
subject4  ,if ,i were a writer of books1
 ,i would compile a register1 with a    
comment1 of the various deaths of men3  
he who should teach men to die would at 
the same time teach them to live4       
,dicarchus made one1 to which he gave   
that title2 but it was designed for     
another and less profitable end4        
,peradventure1 some one may object1 that
 the pain and terror of dying so        
infinitely exceed all manner of         
imagination1 that the best fencer will  
be quite out of his play when it comes  
to the push4  ,let them say what they   
will3 to premeditate is doubtless a very
 great advantage2 and besides1 is it    
nothing to go so far1 at least1 without 
disturbance or alteration8 ,moreover1   
,nature herself assists and encourages  
us3 if the death be sudden and violent1 
we have not leisure to fear2 if         
otherwise1 ,i perceive that as ,i engage

 further in my disease1 ,i naturally    
enter into a certain loathing and       
disdain of life4  ,i find ,i have much  
more ado to digest this resolution of   
dying1 when ,i am well in health1 than  
when languishing of a fever2 and by how 
much ,i have less to do with the        
commodities of life1 by reason that ,i  
begin to lose the use and pleasure of   
them1 by so much ,i look upon death with
 less terror4  ,which makes me hope1    
that the further ,i remove from the     
first1 and the nearer ,i approach to the
 latter1 ,i shall the more easily       
exchange the one for the other4  ,and1  
as ,i have experienced in other         
occurrences1 that1 as ,caesar says1     
things often appear greater to us at    
distance than near at hand1 ,i have     
found1 that being well1 ,i have had     
maladies in much greater horror than    
when really afflicted with them4  ,the  
vigour wherein ,i now am1 the           
cheerfulness and delight wherein ,i now 
live1 make the contrary estate appear in

 so great a disproportion to my present 
condition1 that1 by imagination1 ,i     
magnify those inconveniences by         
one-half1 and apprehend them to be much 
more troublesome1 than ,i find them     
really to be1 when they lie the most    
heavy upon me2 ,i hope to find death the
 same4  ,let us but observe in the      
ordinary changes and declinations we    
daily suffer1 how nature deprives us of 
the light and sense of our bodily decay4
  ,what remains to an old man of the    
vigour of his youth and better days8    
,heu6 senibus vitae portio quanta manet4
       ,alas1 to old men what portion of
 life remains6---,maximian1 vel         
,pseudo-,gallus1 i4 #af4  ,caesar1 to an
 old weather-beaten soldier of his      
guards1 who came to ask him leave that  
he might kill himself1 taking notice of 
his withered body and decrepit motion1  
pleasantly answered1 ,thou fanciest1    
then1 that thou art yet alive4--,seneca1
 ,ep41 #gg4--,should a man fall into    
this condition on the sudden1 ,i do not 

think humanity capable of enduring such 
a change3 but nature1 leading us by the 
hand1 an easy and1 as it were1 an       
insensible pace1 step by step conducts  
us to that miserable state1 and by that 
means makes it familiar to us1 so that  
we are insensible of the stroke when our
 youth dies in us1 though it be really a
 harder death than the final dissolution
 of a languishing body1 than the death  
of old age2 forasmuch as the fall is not
 so great from an uneasy being to none  
at all1 as it is from a sprightly and   
flourishing being to one that is        
troublesome and painful4  ,the body1    
bent and bowed1 has less force to       
support a burden2 and it is the same    
with the soul1 and therefore it is1 that
 we are to raise her up firm and erect  
against the power of this adversary4    
,for1 as it is impossible she should    
ever be at rest1 whilst she stands in   
fear of it2 so1 if she once can assure  
herself1 she may boast 7which is a thing
 as it were surpassing human condition7 

that it is impossible that disquiet1    
anxiety1 or fear1 or any other          
disturbance1 should inhabit or have any 
place in her3                ,non vulnus
 instants ,tyranni                      
,mentha cadi solida1 neque ,auster      
,dux inquieti turbidus ,adriae1         
,nec fulminantis magna ,jovis manus4    
,not the menacing look of a tyrant      
shakes her well-settled soul1      nor  
turbulent ,auster1 the prince of the    
stormy ,adriatic1 nor yet the           
strong hand of thundering ,jove1 such a 
temper moves4      --,hor41 ,od41 iii4  
#c1 #c4  ,she is then become sovereign  
of all her lusts and passions1 mistress 
of necessity1 shame1 poverty1 and all   
the other injuries of fortune4  ,let us1
 therefore1 as many of us as can1 get   
this advantage2 'tis the true and       
sovereign liberty here on earth1 that   
fortifies us wherewithal to defy        
violence and injustice1 and to contemn  
prisons and chains3                     
,in manicis et                          

,compedibus saevo te sub custode tenebo4
                ,ipse ,deus1 simul atque
 volam1 me solvet4  ,opinor1            
,hoc sentit2 moriar2 mors ultima linea  
rerum est4            ,i will keep thee 
in fetters and chains1 in custody of a  
savage keeper4--,a god will when ,i ask 
,him1 set me free4           ,this god  
,i think is death4  ,death is the term  
of all things4           --,hor41 ,ep41 
i4  #af1 #gf4  ,our very religion itself
 has no surer human foundation than the 
contempt of death4  ,not only the       
argument of reason invites us to it--for
 why should we fear to lose a thing1    
which being lost1 cannot be lamented8   
--but1 also1 seeing we are threatened by
 so many sorts of death1 is it not      
infinitely worse eternally to fear them 
all1 than once to undergo one of them8  
,and what matters it1 when it shall     
happen1 since it is inevitable8 ,to him 
that told ,socrates1 ,the thirty tyrants
 have sentenced thee to death2 ,and     
nature them1 said he4--,socrates was not

 condemned to death by the thirty       
tyrants1 but by the                     
,athenians4-,diogenes ,laertius1        
ii4#ce4-- ,what a ridiculous thing it is
 to trouble ourselves about taking the  
only step that is to deliver us from all
 trouble6  ,as our birth brought us the 
birth of all things1 so in our death is 
the death of all things included4 ,and  
therefore to lament that we shall not be
 alive a hundred years hence1 is the    
same folly as to be sorry we were not   
alive a hundred years ago4 ,death is the
 beginning of another life4  ,so did we 
weep1 and so much it cost us to enter   
into this1 and so did we put off our    
former veil in entering into it4        
,nothing can be a grievance that is but 
once4  ,is it reasonable so long to fear
 a thing that will so soon be           
despatched8 ,long life1 and short1 are  
by death made all one2 for there is no  
long1 nor short1 to things that are no  
more4  ,aristotle tells us that there   
are certain little beasts upon the banks

 of the river ,hypanis1 that never live 
above a day3 they which die at eight of 
the clock in the morning1 die in their  
youth1 and those that die at five in the
 evening1 in their decrepitude3 which of
 us would not laugh to see this moment  
of continuance put into the             
consideration of weal or woe8  ,the most
 and the least1 of ours1 in comparison  
with eternity1 or yet with the duration 
of mountains1 rivers1 stars1 trees1 and 
even of some animals1 is no less        
ridiculous4-- ,seneca1 ,consol4 ad      
,marciam1 c4 #bj4  ,but nature compels  
us to it4  ,go out of this world1 says  
she1 as you entered into it2 the same   
pass you made from death to life1       
without passion or fear1 the same1 after
 the same manner1 repeat from life to   
death4  ,your death is a part of the    
order of the universe1 'tis a part of   
the life of the world4                  
,inter se mortales mutua vivunt         
44444444444444444444444444444444        
,et1 quasi cursores1 vitai lampada      

tradunt4       ,mortals1 amongst        
themselves1 live by turns1 and1 like the
 runners      in the games1 give up the 
lamp1 when they have won the race1 to   
the      next comer4-- ,lucretius1 ii4  
#ge1 #gh4  ,shall ,i exchange for you   
this beautiful contexture of things8    
',tis the condition of your creation2   
death is a part of you1 and whilst you  
endeavour to evade it1 you evade        
yourselves4  ,this very being of yours  
that you now enjoy is equally divided   
betwixt life and death4  ,the day of    
your birth is one day's advance towards 
the grave3            ,prima1 qux vitam 
dedit1 hora carpsit4       ,the first   
hour that gave us life took away also an
 hour4      --,seneca1 ,her4  ,fur41 #c 
,chor4  #hgd4            ,nascentes     
morimur1 finisque ab origine pendet4    
,as we are born we die1 and the end     
commences with the beginning4           
--,manilius1 ,ast41 iv4  #af4  ,all the 
whole time you live1 you purloin from   
life and live at the expense of life    

itself4  ,the perpetual work of your    
life is but to lay the foundation of    
death4  ,you are in death1 whilst you   
are in life1 because you still are after
 death1 when you are no more alive2 or1 
if you had rather have it so1 you are   
dead after life1 but dying all the while
 you live2 and death handles the dying  
much more rudely than the dead1 and more
 sensibly and essentially4  ,if you have
 made your profit of life1 you have had 
enough of it2 go your way satisfied4    
,cur non ut plenus vita2 conviva        
recedis8       ,why not depart from life
 as a sated guest from a feast8         
,lucretius1 iii4  #iea4  ,if you have   
not known how to make the best use of   
it1 if it was unprofitable to you1 what 
need you care to lose it1 to what end   
would you desire longer to keep it8     
',cur amplius addere quaeris1           
,rursum quod pereat male1 et ingratum   
occidat omne8'       ,why seek to add   
longer life1 merely to renew ill-spent  
time1 and      be again                 

tormented8--,lucretius1 iii4 #iad4      
,life in itself is neither good nor     
evil2 it is the scene of good or evil as
 you make it4' ,and1 if you have lived a
 day1 you have seen all3 one day is     
equal and like to all other days4       
,there is no other light1 no other      
shade2 this very sun1 this moon1 these  
very stars1 this very order and         
disposition of things1 is the same your 
ancestors enjoyed1 and that shall also  
entertain your posterity3               
',non alium videre patres1 aliumve      
nepotes                ,aspicient4'     
,your grandsires saw no other thing2 nor
 will your posterity4      --,manilius1 
i4 #ebi4  ,and1 come the worst that can 
come1 the distribution and variety of   
all the acts of my comedy are performed 
in a year4  ,if you have observed the   
revolution of my four seasons1 they     
comprehend the infancy1 the youth1 the  
virility1 and the old age of the world3 
the year has played his part1 and knows 
no other art but to begin again2 it will

 always be the same thing3              
',versamur ibidem1 atque insumus usque4'
       ,we are turning in the same      
circle1 ever therein confined4          
--,lucretius1 iii4 #ajic4               
',atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur 
annus4'       ,the year is ever turning 
around in the same footsteps4           
--,virgil1 ,georg41 ii4 #djb4  ,i am not
 prepared to create for you any new     
recreations3               ',nam tibi   
prxterea quod machiner1 inveniamque     
,quod placeat1 nihil est2 eadem sunt    
omnia semper4'       ,i can devise1 nor 
find anything else to please you3 'tis  
the same      thing over and over       
again4--,lucretius iii4 #ieg  ,give     
place to others1 as others have given   
place to you4  ,equality is the soul of 
equity4  ,who can complain of being     
comprehended in the same destiny1       
wherein all are involved8  ,besides1    
live as long as you can1 you shall by   
that nothing shorten the space you are  
to be dead2 'tis all to no purpose2 you 

shall be every whit as long in the      
condition you so much fear1 as if you   
had died at nurse3                      
',licet quot vis vivendo vincere secla1 
,mors aeterna tamen nihilominus illa    
manebit4'       ,live triumphing over as
 many ages as you will1 death still will
      remain eternal4--,lucretius1 iii4 
#aajc  ,and yet ,i will place you in    
such a condition as you shall have no   
reason to be displeased4            ',in
 vera nescis nullum fore morte alium te1
           ,qui possit vivus tibi to    
lugere peremptum1           ,stansque   
jacentem4'       ,know you not that1    
when dead1 there can be no other living 
self to      lament you dead1 standing  
on your grave4--,idem41 ibid41 #hih4    
,nor shall you so much as wish for the  
life you are so concerned about3        
',nec sibi enim quisquam tum se vitamque
 requirit4                              
4444444444444444444444444444444444444444
4444444444           ',nec desiderium   
nostri nos afficit ullum4'  ,death is   

less to be feared than nothing1 if there
 could be anything less than nothing4   
',multo 4  4  4  mortem minus ad nos    
esse putandium1           ,si minus esse
 potest1 quam quod nihil esse videmus4' 
,neither can it any way concern you1    
whether you are living or dead3 living1 
by reason that you are still in being2  
dead1 because you are no more4          
,moreover1 no one dies before his hour3 
the time you leave behind was no more   
yours than that was lapsed and gone     
before you came into the world2 nor does
 it any more concern you4               
',respice enim1 quam nil ad nos anteacta
 vetustas           ,temporis aeterni   
fuerit4'       ,consider how as nothing 
to us is the old age of times past4     
--,lucretius iii4 #ihe  ,wherever your  
life ends1 it is all there4  ,the       
utility of living consists not in the   
length of days1 but in the use of time2 
a man may have lived long1 and yet lived
 but a little4  ,make use of time while 
it is present with you4  ,it depends    

upon your will1 and not upon the number 
of days1 to have a sufficient length of 
life4  ,is it possible you can imagine  
never to arrive at the place towards    
which you are continually going8 and yet
 there is no journey but hath its end4  
,and1 if company will make it more      
pleasant or more easy to you1 does not  
all the world go the self-same way8     
',omnia te1 vita perfuncta1 sequentur4' 
,all things1 then1 life over1 must      
follow thee4           --,lucretius1    
iii4  #iha4  ,does not all the world    
dance the same brawl that you do8  ,is  
there anything that does not grow old1  
as well as you8  ,a thousand men1 a     
thousand animals1 a thousand other      
creatures1 die at the same moment that  
you die3          ',nam nox nulla diem1 
neque noctem aurora sequuta est1        
,quae non audierit mistos vagitibus     
aegris           ,ploratus1 mortis      
comites et funeris atri4'       ,no     
night has followed day1 no day has      
followed night1 in which      there has 

not been heard sobs and sorrowing cries1
 the companions of      death and       
funerals4--,lucretius1 v4  #egi4  ,to   
what end should you endeavour to draw   
back1 if there be no possibility to     
evade it8 you have seen examples enough 
of those who have been well pleased to  
die1 as thereby delivered from heavy    
miseries2 but have you ever found any   
who have been dissatisfied with dying8  
,it must1 therefore1 needs be very      
foolish to condemn a thing you have     
neither experimented in your own person1
 nor by that of any other4  ,why dost   
thou complain of me and of destiny8  ,do
 we do thee any wrong8  ,is it for thee 
to govern us1 or for us to govern thee8 
,though1 peradventure1 thy age may not  
be accomplished1 yet thy life is3 a man 
of low stature is as much a man as a    
giant2 neither men nor their lives are  
measured by the ell4 ,chiron refused to 
be immortal1 when he was acquainted with
 the conditions under which he was to   
enjoy it1 by the god of time itself and 

its duration1 his father ,saturn4  ,do  
but seriously consider how much more    
insupportable and painful an immortal   
life would be to man than what ,i have  
already given him4  ,if you had not     
death1 you would eternally curse me for 
having deprived you of it2 ,i have mixed
 a little bitterness with it1 to the    
end1 that seeing of what convenience it 
is1 you might not too greedily and      
indiscreetly seek and embrace it3 and   
that you might be so established in this
 moderation1 as neither to nauseate     
life1 nor have any antipathy for dying1 
which ,i have decreed you shall once do1
 ,i have tempered the one and the other 
betwixt pleasure and pain4  ,it was ,i  
that taught ,thales1 the most eminent of
 your sages1 that to live and to die    
were indifferent2 which made him1 very  
wisely1 answer him1 ',why then he did   
not die8'  ',because1' said he1 'it is  
indifferent4'--,diogenes ,laertius1 i4  
#ce4--,water1 earth1 air1 and fire1 and 
the other parts of this creation of     

mine1 are no more instruments of thy    
life than they are of thy death4  ,why  
dost thou fear thy last day8 it         
contributes no more to thy dissolution1 
than every one of the rest3 the last    
step is not the cause of lassitude3 it  
does not confess it4  ,every day travels
 towards death2 the last only arrives at
 it4  ,these are the good lessons our   
mother ,nature teaches4  ,i have often  
considered with myself whence it should 
proceed1 that in war the image of death1
 whether we look upon it in ourselves or
 in others1 should1 without comparison1 
appear less dreadful than at home in our
 own houses 7for if it were not so1 it  
would be an army of doctors and whining 
milksops71 and that being still in all  
places the same1 there should be1       
notwithstanding1 much more assurance in 
peasants and the meaner sort of people1 
than in others of better quality4  ,i   
believe1 in truth1 that it is those     
terrible ceremonies and preparations    
wherewith we set it out1 that more      

terrify us than the thing itself2 a new1
 quite contrary way of living2 the cries
 of mothers1 wives1 and children2 the   
visits of astounded and afflicted       
friends2 the attendance of pale and     
blubbering servants2 a dark room1 set   
round with burning tapers2 our beds     
environed with physicians and divines2  
in sum1 nothing but ghostliness and     
horror round about us2 we seem dead and 
buried already4  ,children are afraid   
even of those they are best acquainted  
with1 when disguised in a visor2 and so 
'tis with us2 the visor must be removed 
as well from things as from persons1    
that being taken away1 we shall find    
nothing underneath but the very same    
death that a mean servant or a poor     
chambermaid died a day or two ago1      
without any manner of apprehension4     
,happy is the death that deprives us of 
leisure for preparing such ceremonials4 
,,chapter ,,xx  ,,of ,,the ,,force ,,of 
,,imagination              ,fortis      
imaginatio generat casum1 say the       

schoolmen4       ,a strong imagination  
begets the event itself4--,axiom4       
,scholast4  ,i am one of those who are  
most sensible of the power of           
imagination3 every one is jostled by it1
 but some are overthrown by it4  ,it has
 a very piercing impression upon me2 and
 ,i make it my business to avoid1       
wanting force to resist it4  ,i could   
live by the sole help of healthful and  
jolly company3 the very sight of        
another's pain materially pains me1 and 
,i often usurp the sensations of another
 person4  ,a perpetual cough in another 
tickles my lungs and throat4  ,i more   
unwillingly visit the sick in whom by   
love and duty ,i am interested1 than    
those ,i care not for1 to whom ,i less  
look4  ,i take possession of the disease
 ,i am concerned at1 and take it to     
myself4  ,i do not at all wonder that   
fancy should give fevers and sometimes  
kill such as allow it too much scope1   
and are too willing to entertain it4    
,simon ,thomas was a great physician of 

his time3 ,i remember1 that happening   
one day at ,toulouse to meet him at a   
rich old fellow's house1 who was        
troubled with weak lungs1 and           
discoursing with the patient about the  
method of his cure1 he told him1 that   
one thing which would be very conducive 
to it1 was to give me such occasion to  
be pleased with his company1 that ,i    
might come often to see him1 by which   
means1 and by fixing his eyes upon the  
freshness of my complexion1 and his     
imagination upon the sprightliness and  
vigour that glowed in my youth1 and     
possessing all his senses with the      
flourishing age wherein ,i then was1 his
 habit of body might1 peradventure1 be  
amended2 but he forgot to say that mine1
 at the same time1 might be made worse4 
,gallus ,vibius so much bent his mind to
 find out the essence and motions of    
madness1 that1 in the end1 he himself   
went out of his wits1 and to such a     
degree1 that he could never after       
recover his judgment1 and might brag    

that he was become a fool by too much   
wisdom4  ,some there are who through    
fear anticipate the hangman2 and there  
was the man1 whose eyes being unbound to
 have his pardon read to him1 was found 
stark dead upon the scaffold1 by the    
stroke of imagination4  ,we start1      
tremble1 turn pale1 and blush1 as we are
 variously moved by imagination2 and1   
being a-bed1 feel our bodies agitated   
with its power to that degree1 as even  
sometimes to expiring4  ,and boiling    
youth1 when fast asleep1 grows so warm  
with fancy1 as in a dream to satisfy    
amorous desires3--           ,ut1 quasi 
transactis saepe omnibu rebu1 profundant
           ,fluminis ingentes1 fluctus1 
vestemque cruentent4  ,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 bed1 notwithstanding1   
what befell ,cippus1 ,king of ,italy1   
is memorable2 who having one day been a 
very delighted spectator of a bullfight1
 and having all the night dreamed that  

he had horns on his head1 did1 by the   
force of imagination1 really cause them 
to grow there4  ,passion gave to the son
 of ,croesus the voice which nature had 
denied him4  ,and ,antiochus fell into a
 fever1 inflamed with the beauty of     
,stratonice1 too deeply imprinted in his
 soul4  ,pliny pretends to have seen    
,lucius ,cossitius1 who from a woman was
 turned into a man upon her very        
wedding-day4  ,pontanus and others      
report the like metamorphosis to have   
happened in these latter days in ,italy4
  ,and1 through the vehement desire of  
him and his mother3            ,volta   
puer solvit1 quae foemina voverat1      
,iphis4  ,myself passing by ,vitry le   
,francois1  saw a man the ,bishop of    
,soissons had1 in confirmation1 called  
,germain1 whom all the inhabitants of   
the place had known to be a girl till   
two-and-twenty years of age1 called     
,mary4  ,he was1 at the time of my being
 there1 very full of beard1 old1 and not
 married4  ,he told us1 that by         

straining himself in a leap his male    
organs came out2 and the girls of that  
place have1 to this day1 a song1 wherein
 they advise one another not to take too
 great strides1 for fear of being turned
 into men1 as ,mary ,germain was4  ,it  
is no wonder if this sort of accident   
frequently happen2 for if imagination   
have any power in such things1 it is so 
continually and vigorously bent upon    
this subject1 that to the end it may not
 so often relapse into the same thought 
and violence of desire1 it were better1 
once for all1 to give these young       
wenches the things they long for4  ,some
 attribute the scars of ,king ,dagobert 
and of ,st4 ,francis to the force of    
imagination4  ,it is said1 that by it   
bodies will sometimes be removed from   
their places2 and ,celsus tells us of a 
priest whose soul would be ravished into
 such an ecstasy that the body would1   
for a long time1 remain without sense or
 respiration4  ,st4 ,augustine makes    
mention of another1 who1 upon the       

hearing of any lamentable or doleful    
cries1 would presently fall into a      
swoon1 and be so far out of himself1    
that it was in vain to call1 bawl in his
 ears1 pinch or burn him1 till he       
voluntarily came to himself2 and then he
 would say1 that he had heard voices as 
it were afar off1 and did feel when they
 pinched and burned him2 and1 to prove  
that this was no obstinate dissimulation
 in defiance of his sense of feeling1 it
 was manifest1 that all the while he had
 neither pulse nor breathing4  ',tis    
very probable1 that visions1            
enchantments1 and all extraordinary     
effects of that nature1 derive their    
credit principally from the power of    
imagination1 working and making its     
chiefest impression upon vulgar and more
 easy souls1 whose belief is so         
strangely imposed upon1 as to think they
 see what they do not see4  ,i am not   
satisfied whether those pleasant        
ligatures--,les nouements               
d'aiguillettes1 as they were called1    

knots tied by some one1 at a wedding1 on
 a strip of leather1 cotton1 or silk1   
and which1 especially when passed       
through the wedding-ring1 were supposed 
to have the magical effect of preventing
 a consummation of the marriage until   
they were untied4  ,see ,louandre1 ,la  
,sorcellerie1 #ahec1 p4 #gc4  ,the same 
superstition and appliance existed in   
,england4--with which this age of ours  
is so occupied1 that there is almost no 
other talk1 are not mere voluntary      
impressions of apprehension and fear2   
for ,i know1 by experience1 in the case 
of a particular friend of mine1 one for 
whom ,i can be as responsible as for    
myself1 and a man that cannot possibly  
fall under any manner of suspicion of   
insufficiency1 and as little of being   
enchanted1 who having heard a companion 
of his make a relation of an unusual    
frigidity that surprised him at a very  
unseasonable time2 being afterwards     
himself engaged upon the same account1  
the horror of the former story on a     

sudden so strangely possessed his       
imagination1 that he ran the same       
fortune the other had done2 and from    
that time forward1 the scurvy           
remembrance of his disaster running in  
his mind and tyrannising over him1 he   
was subject to relapse into the same    
misfortune4  ,he found some remedy1     
however1 for this fancy in another      
fancy1 by himself frankly confessing and
 declaring beforehand to the party with 
whom he was to have to do1 this         
subjection of his1 by which means1 the  
agitation of his soul was1 in some sort1
 appeased2 and knowing that1 now1 some  
such misbehaviour was expected from him1
 the restraint upon his faculties grew  
less4  ,and afterwards1 at such times as
 he was in no such apprehension1 when   
setting about the act 7his thoughts     
being then disengaged and free1 and his 
body in its true and natural estate7 he 
was at leisure to cause the part to be  
handled and communicated to the         
knowledge of the other party1 he was    

totally freed from that vexatious       
infirmity4  ,after a man has once done a
 woman right1 he is never after in      
danger of misbehaving himself with that 
person1 unless upon the account of some 
excusable weakness4  ,neither is this   
disaster to be feared1 but in           
adventures1 where the soul is           
overextended with desire or respect1    
and1 especially1 where the opportunity  
is of an unforeseen and pressing nature2
 in those cases1 there is no means for a
 man to defend himself from such a      
surprise1 as shall put him altogether   
out of sorts4  ,i have known some1 who  
have secured themselves from this       
mischance1 by coming half sated         
elsewhere1 purposely to abate the ardour
 of the fury1 and others1 who1 being    
grown old1 find themselves less impotent
 by being less able2 and one1 who found 
an advantage in being assured by a      
friend of his1 that he had a            
counter-charm of enchantments that would
 secure him from this disgrace4  ,the   

story itself is not1 much amiss1 and    
therefore you shall have it4  ,a ,count 
of a very great family1 and with whom ,i
 was very intimate1 being married to a  
fair lady1 who had formerly been courted
 by one who was at the wedding1 all his 
friends were in very great fear2 but    
especially an old lady his kinswoman1   
who had the ordering of the solemnity1  
and in whose house it was kept1         
suspecting his rival would offer foul   
play by these sorceries4  ,which fear   
she communicated to me4  ,i bade her    
rely upon me3 ,i had1 by chance1 about  
me a certain flat plate of gold1 whereon
 were graven some celestial figures1    
supposed good against sunstroke or pains
 in the head1 being applied to the      
suture3 where1 that it might the better 
remain firm1 it was sewed to a ribbon to
 be tied under the chin2 a foppery      
cousin-german to this of which ,i am    
speaking4  ,jaques ,pelletier1 who lived
 in my house1 had presented this to me  
for a singular rarity4 ,i had a fancy to

 make some use of this knack1 and       
therefore privately told the ,count1    
that he might possibly run the same     
fortune other bridegrooms had sometimes 
done1 especially some one being in the  
house1 who1 no doubt1 would be glad to  
do him such a courtesy3 but let him     
boldly go to bed4  ,for ,i would do him 
the office of a friend1 and1 if need    
were1 would not spare a miracle it was  
in my power to do1 provided he would    
engage to me1 upon his honour1 to keep  
it to himself2 and only1 when they came 
to bring him his caudle1--,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 him1 to give me such a sign1  
and leave the rest to me4  ,now he had  
had his ears so battered1 and his mind  
so prepossessed with the eternal tattle 
of this business1 that when he came     
to't1 he did really find himself tied   
with the trouble of his imagination1    
and1 accordingly1 at the time appointed1

 gave me the sign4 ,whereupon1 ,i       
whispered him in the ear1 that he should
 rise1 under pretence of putting us out 
of the room1 and after a jesting manner 
pull my nightgown from my shoulders--we 
were of much about the same height--    
throw it over his own1 and there keep it
 till he had performed what ,i had      
appointed him to do1 which was1 that    
when we were all gone out of the        
chamber1 he should withdraw to make     
water1 should three times repeat such   
and such words1 and as often do such and
 such actions2 that at every of the     
three times1 he should tie the ribbon ,i
 put into his hand about his middle1 and
 be sure to place the medal that was    
fastened to it1 the figures in such a   
posture1 exactly upon his reins1 which  
being done1 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 place1 let him        
confidently return to his business1 and 
withal not forget to spread my gown upon

 the bed1 so that it might be sure to   
cover them both4  ,these ape's tricks   
are the main of the effect1 our fancy   
being so far seduced as to believe that 
such strange means must1 of necessity1  
proceed from some abstruse science3     
their very inanity gives them weight and
 reverence4  ,and1 certain it is1 that  
my figures approved themselves more     
venereal than solar1 more active than   
prohibitive4  ',twas a sudden whimsey1  
mixed with a little curiosity1 that made
 me do a thing so contrary to my nature2
 for ,i am an enemy to all subtle and   
counterfeit actions1 and abominate all  
manner of trickery1 though it be for    
sport1 and to an advantage2 for though  
the action may not be vicious in itself1
 its mode is vicious4  ,amasis1 ,king of
 ,egypt1 having married ,laodice1 a very
 beautiful ,greek virgin1 though noted  
for his abilities elsewhere1 found      
himself quite another man with his wife1
 and could by no means enjoy her2 at    
which he was so enraged1 that he        

threatened to kill her1 suspecting her  
to be a witch4  ,as 'tis usual in things
 that consist in fancy1 she put him upon
 devotion1 and having accordingly made  
his vows to ,venus1 he found himself    
divinely restored the very first night  
after his oblations and sacrifices4     
,now women are to blame to entertain us 
with that disdainful1 coy1 and angry    
countenance1 which extinguishes our     
vigour1 as it kindles our desire2 which 
made the daughter-in-law of             
,pythagoras--,theano1 the lady in       
question was the wife1 not the          
daughter-in-law of ,pythagoras4-- say1  
,that the woman who goes to bed to a    
man1 must put off her modesty with her  
petticoat1 and put it on again with the 
same4  ,the soul of the assailant1 being
 disturbed with many several alarms1    
readily loses the power of performance2 
and whoever the imagination has once put
 this trick upon1 and confounded with   
the shame of it 7and she never does it  
but at the first acquaintance1 by reason

 men are then more ardent and eager1 and
 also1 at this first account a man gives
 of himself1 he is much more timorous of
 miscarrying71 having made an ill       
beginning1 he enters into such fever and
 despite at the accident1 as are apt to 
remain and continue with him upon       
following occasions4  ,married people1  
having all their time before them1 ought
 never to compel or so much as to offer 
at the feat1 if they do not find        
themselves quite ready3 and it is less  
unseemly to fail of handselling the     
nuptial sheets1 when a man perceives    
himself full of agitation and trembling1
 and to await another opportunity at    
more private and more composed leisure1 
than to make himself perpetually        
miserable1 for having misbehaved himself
 and been baffled at the first assault4 
,till possession be taken1 a man that   
knows himself subject to this infirmity1
 should leisurely and by degrees make   
several little trials and light offers1 
without obstinately attempting at once1 

to ,force an absolute conquest over his 
own mutinous and indisposed faculties4  
,such as know their members to be       
naturally obedient1 need take no other  
care but only to counterplot their      
fantasies4  ,the indocile liberty of    
this member is very remarkable1 so      
importunately unruly in its tumidity and
 impatience1 when we do not require it1 
and so unseasonably disobedient1 when we
 stand most in need of it3 so           
imperiously contesting in authority with
 the will1 and with so much haughty     
obstinacy denying all solicitation1 both
 of hand and mind4  ,and yet1 though his
 rebellion is so universally complained 
of1 and that proof is thence deduced to 
condemn him1 if he had1 nevertheless1   
feed me to plead his cause1 ,i should   
peradventure1 bring the rest of his     
fellow-members into suspicion of        
complotting this mischief against him1  
out of pure envy at the importance and  
pleasure especial to his employment2 and
 to have1 by confederacy1 armed the     

whole world against him1 by malevolently
 charging him alone1 with their common  
offence4  ,for let any one consider1    
whether there is any one part of our    
bodies that does not often refuse to    
perform its office at the precept of the
 will1 and that does not often exercise 
its function in defiance of her command4
 ,they have every one of them passions  
of their own1 that rouse and awaken1    
stupefy and benumb them1 without our    
leave or consent4  ,how often do the    
involuntary motions of the countenance  
discover our inward thoughts1 and betray
 our most private secrets to the        
bystanders4  ,the same cause that       
animates this member1 does also1 without
 our knowledge1 animate the lungs1      
pulse1 and heart1 the sight of a        
pleasing object imperceptibly diffusing 
a flame through all our parts1 with a   
feverish motion4  ,is there nothing but 
these veins and muscles that swell and  
flag without the consent1 not only of   
the will1 but even of our knowledge     

also8  ,we do not command our hairs to  
stand on end1 nor our skin to shiver    
either with fear or desire2 the hands   
often convey themselves to parts to     
which we do not direct them2 the tongue 
will be interdict1 and the voice        
congealed1 when we know not how to help 
it4  ,when we have nothing to eat1 and  
would willingly forbid it1 the appetite 
does not1 for all that1 forbear to stir 
up the parts that are subject to it1 no 
more nor less than the other appetite we
 were speaking of1 and in like manner1  
as unseasonably leaves us1 when it      
thinks fit4  ,the vessels that serve to 
discharge the belly have their own      
proper dilatations and compressions1    
without and beyond our concurrence1 as  
well as those which are destined to     
purge the reins2 and that which1 to     
justify the prerogative of the will1    
,st4 ,augustine urges1 of having seen a 
man who could command his rear to       
discharge as often together as he       
pleased1 ,vives1 his commentator1 yet   

further fortifies with another example  
in his time1--of one that could break   
wind in tune2 but these cases do not    
suppose any more pure obedience in that 
part2 for is anything commonly more     
tumultuary or indiscreet8  ,to which let
 me add1 that ,i myself knew one so rude
 and ungoverned1 as for forty years     
together made his master vent with one  
continued and unintermitted outbursting1
 and 'tis like will do so till he die of
 it4  ,and ,i could heartily wish1 that 
,i only knew by reading1 how often a    
man's belly1 by the denial of one single
 puff1 brings him to the very door of an
 exceeding painful death2 and that the  
emperor1--,the ,emperor ,claudius1 who1 
however1 according to ,suetonius 7,vita1
 c4 #cb71 only intended to authorise    
this singular privilege by an           
edict4--who gave liberty to let fly in  
all places1 had1 at the same time1 given
 us power to do it4  ,but for our will1 
in whose behalf we prefer this          
accusation1 with how much greater       

probability may we reproach herself with
 mutiny and sedition1 for her           
irregularity and disobedience8  ,does   
she always will what we would have her  
to do8  ,does she not often will what we
 forbid her to will1 and that to our    
manifest prejudice8  ,does she suffer   
herself1 more than any of the rest1 to  
be governed and directed by the results 
of our reason8 ,to conclude1 ,i should  
move1 in the behalf of the gentleman1 my
 client1 it might be considered1 that in
 this fact1 his cause being inseparably 
and indistinctly conjoined with an      
accessory1 yet he only is called in     
question1 and that by arguments and     
accusations1 which cannot be charged    
upon the other2 whose business1 indeed1 
it is sometimes inopportunely to invite1
 but never to refuse1 and invite1       
moreover1 after a tacit and quiet       
manner2 and therefore is the malice and 
injustice of his accusers most          
manifestly apparent4  ,but be it how it 
will1 protesting against the proceedings

 of the advocates and judges1 nature    
will1 in the meantime1 proceed after her
 own way1 who had done but well1 had she
 endowed this member with some          
particular privilege2 the author of the 
sole immortal work of mortals2 a divine 
work1 according to ,socrates2 and love1 
the desire of immortality1 and himself  
an immortal demon4  ,some one1 perhaps1 
by such an effect of imagination may    
have had the good luck to leave behind  
him here1 the scrofula1 which his       
companion who has come after1 has       
carried with him into ,spain4  ,and 'tis
 for this reason you may see why men in 
such cases require a mind prepared for  
the thing that is to be done4  ,why do  
the physicians possess1 before hand1    
their patients' credulity with so many  
false promises of cure1 if not to the   
end1 that the effect of imagination may 
supply the imposture of their           
decoctions8  ,they know very well1 that 
a great master of their trade has given 
it under his hand1 that he has known    

some with whom the very sight of physic 
would work4  ,all which conceits come   
now into my head1 by the remembrance of 
a story was told me by a domestic       
apothecary of my father's1 a blunt      
,swiss1 a nation not much addicted to   
vanity and lying1 of a merchant he had  
long known at ,toulouse1 who being a    
valetudinary1 and much afflicted with   
the stone1 had often occasion to take   
clysters1 of which he caused several    
sorts to be prescribed him by the       
physicians1 acccording to the accidents 
of his disease2 which1 being brought    
him1 and none of the usual forms1 as    
feeling if it were not too hot1 and the 
like1 being omitted1 he lay down1 the   
syringe advanced1 and all ceremonies    
performed1 injection alone excepted2    
after which1 the apothecary being gone1 
and the patient accommodated as if he   
had really received a clyster1 he found 
the same operation and effect that those
 do who have taken one indeed2 and if at
 any time the physician did not find the

 operation sufficient1 he would usually 
give him two or three more doses1 after 
the same manner4  ,and the fellow swore1
 that to save charges 7for he paid as if
 he had really taken them7 this sick    
man's wife1 having sometimes made trial 
of warm water only1 the effect          
discovered the cheat1 and finding these 
would do no good1 was fain to return to 
the old way4  ,a woman fancying she had 
swallowed a pin in a piece of bread1    
cried and lamented as though she had an 
intolerable pain in her throat1 where   
she thought she felt it stick2 but an   
ingenious fellow that was brought to    
her1 seeing no outward tumour nor       
alteration1 supposing it to be only a   
conceit taken at some crust of bread    
that had hurt her as it went down1      
caused her to vomit1 and1 unseen1 threw 
a crooked pin into the basin1 which the 
woman no sooner saw1 but believing she  
had cast it up1 she presently found     
herself eased of her pain4  ,i myself   
knew a gentleman1 who having treated a  

large company at his house1 three or    
four days after bragged in jest 7for    
there was no such thing71 that he had   
made them eat of a baked cat2 at which1 
a young gentlewoman1 who had been at the
 feast1 took such a horror1 that falling
 into a violent vomiting and fever1     
there was no possible means to save her4
  ,even brute beasts are subject to the 
force of imagination as well as we2     
witness dogs1 who die of grief for the  
loss of their masters2 and bark and     
tremble and start in their sleep2 so    
horses will kick and whinny in their    
sleep4  ,now all this may be attributed 
to the close affinity and relation      
betwixt the soul and the body           
intercommunicating their fortunes2 but  
'tis quite another thing when the       
imagination works not only upon one's   
own particular body1 but upon that of   
others also4  ,and as an infected body  
communicates its malady to those that   
approach or live near it1 as we see in  
the plague1 the smallpox1 and sore eyes1

 that run through whole families and    
cities3--            ,dum spectant oculi
 laesos1 laeduntur et ipsi2             
,multaque corporibus transitione nocent4
       ,when we look at people with sore
 eyes1 our own eyes become sore4        
,many things are hurtful to our bodies  
by transition4      --,ovid1 ,de ,rem4  
,amor41 #fae4  --so the imagination1    
being vehemently agitated1 darts out    
infection capable of offending the      
foreign object4  ,the ancients had an   
opinion of certain women of ,scythia1   
that being animated and enraged against 
any one1 they killed him only with their
 looks4  ,tortoises and ostriches hatch 
their eggs with only looking on them1   
which infers that their eyes have in    
them some ejaculative virtue4  ,and the 
eyes of witches are said to be assailant
 and hurtful3--            ,nescio quis 
teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos4     
,some eye1 ,i know not whose is         
bewitching my tender lambs4             
--,virgil1 ,eclog41 iii4  #ajc4         

,magicians are no very good authority   
with me4  ,but we experimentally see    
that women impart the marks of their    
fancy to the children they carry in the 
womb2 witness her that was brought to   
bed of a ,moor2 and there was presented 
to ,charles the ,emperor and ,king of   
,bohemia1 a girl from about ,pisa1 all  
over rough and covered with hair1 whom  
her mother said to be so conceived by   
reason of a picture of ,st4 ,john the   
,baptist1 that hung within the curtains 
of her bed4  ,it is the same with       
beasts2 witness ,jacob's sheep1 and the 
hares and partridges that the snow turns
 white upon the mountains4  ,there was  
at my house1 a little while ago1 a cat  
seen watching a bird upon the top of a  
tree3 these1 for some time1 mutually    
fixing their eyes one upon another1 the 
bird at last let herself fall dead into 
the cat's claws1 either dazzled by the  
force of its own imagination1 or drawn  
by some attractive power of the cat4    
,such as are addicted to the pleasures  

of the field1 have1 ,i make no question1
 heard the story of the falconer1 who   
having earnestly fixed his eyes upon a  
kite in the air2 laid a wager that he   
would bring her down with the sole power
 of his sight1 and did so1 as it was    
said2 for the tales ,i borrow ,i charge 
upon the consciences of those from whom 
,i have them4  ,the discourses are my   
own1 and found themselves upon the      
proofs of reason1 not of experience2 to 
which every one has liberty to add his  
own examples2 and who has none1 let him 
not forbear1 the number and varieties of
 accidents considered1 to believe that  
there are plenty of them2 if ,i do not  
apply them well1 let some other do it   
for me4  ,and1 also1 in the subject of  
which ,i treat1 our manners and motions1
 testimonies and instances2 how fabulous
 soever1 provided they are possible1    
serve as well as the true2 whether they 
have really happened or no1 at ,rome or 
,paris1 to ,john or ,peter1 'tis still  
within the verge of human capacity1     

which serves me to good use4  ,i see1   
and make my advantage of it1 as well in 
shadow as in substance2 and amongst the 
various readings thereof in history1 ,i 
cull out the most rare and memorable to 
fit my own turn4  ,there are authors    
whose only end and design it is to give 
an account of things that have happened2
 mine1 if ,i could arrive unto it1      
should be to deliver of what may happen4
  ,there is a just liberty allowed in   
the schools1 of supposing similitudes1  
when they have none at hand4  ,i do not1
 however1 make any use of that          
privilege1 and as to that matter1 in    
superstitious religion1 surpass all     
historical authority4  ,in the examples 
which ,i here bring in1 of what ,i have 
heard1 read1 done1 or said1 ,i have     
forbidden myself to dare to alter even  
the most light and indifferent          
circumstances2 my conscience does not   
falsify one tittle2 what my ignorance   
may do1 ,i cannot say4  ,and this it is 
that makes me sometimes doubt in my own 

mind1 whether a divine1 or a            
philosopher1 and such men of exact and  
tender prudence and conscience1 are fit 
to write history3 for how can they stake
 their reputation upon a popular faith8 
how be responsible for the opinions of  
men they do not know8 and with what     
assurance deliver their conjectures for 
current pay8  ,of actions performed     
before their own eyes1 wherein several  
persons were actors1 they would be      
unwilling to give evidence upon oath    
before a judge2 and there is no man1 so 
familiarly known to them1 for whose     
intentions they would become absolute   
caution4  ,for my part1 ,i think it less
 hazardous to write of things past1 than
 present1 by how much the writer is only
 to give an account of things every one 
knows he must of necessity borrow upon  
trust4  ,i am solicited to write the    
affairs of my own time by some1 who     
fancy ,i look upon them with an eye less
 blinded with passion than another1 and 
have a clearer insight into them by     

reason of the free access fortune has   
given me to the heads of various        
factions2 but they do not consider1 that
 to purchase the glory of ,sallust1 ,i  
would not give myself the trouble1 sworn
 enemy as ,i am to obligation1          
assiduity1 or perseverance3 that there  
is nothing so contrary to my style1 as a
 continued narrative1 ,i so often       
interrupt and cut myself short in my    
writing for want of breath2 ,i have     
neither composition nor explanation     
worth anything1 and am ignorant1 beyond 
a child1 of the phrases and even the    
very words proper to express the most   
common things2 and for that reason it   
is1 that ,i have undertaken to say only 
what ,i can say1 and have accommodated  
my subject to my strength4  ,should ,i  
take one to be my guide1 peradventure ,i
 should not be able to keep pace with   
him2 and in the freedom of my liberty   
might deliver judgments1 which upon     
better thoughts1 and according to       
reason1 would be illegitimate and       

punishable4  ,plutarch would say of what
 he has delivered to us1 that it is the 
work of others3 that his examples are   
all and everywhere exactly true3 that   
they are useful to posterity1 and are   
presented with a lustre that will light 
us the way to virtue1 is his own work4  
,it is not of so dangerous consequence1 
as in a medicinal drug1 whether an old  
story be so or so4     ,,chapter ,,xxi  
,,that ,,the ,,profit ,,of ,,one ,,man  
,,is ,,the ,,damage ,,of ,,another      
,demades the ,athenian--,seneca1 ,de    
,beneficiis1 vi4 #ch1 whence nearly the 
whole of this chapter is                
taken4--condemned one of his city1 whose
 trade it was to sell the necessaries   
for funeral ceremonies1 upon pretence   
that he demanded unreasonable profit1   
and that that profit could not accrue to
 him1 but by the death of a great number
 of people4  ,a judgment that appears to
 be ill grounded1 forasmuch as no profit
 whatever can possibly be made but at   
the expense of another1 and that by the 

same rule he should condemn all gain of 
what kind soever4  ,the merchant only   
thrives by the debauchery of youth1 the 
husband man by the dearness of grain1   
the architect by the ruin of buildings1 
lawyers and officers of justice by the  
suits and contentions of men3 nay1 even 
the honour and office of divines are    
derived from our death and vices4  ,a   
physician takes no pleasure in the      
health even of his friends1 says the    
ancient ,greek comic writer1 nor a      
soldier in the peace of his country1 and
 so of the rest4 ,and1 which is yet     
worse1 let every one but dive into his  
own bosom1 and he will find his private 
wishes spring and his secret hopes grow 
up at another's expense4  ,upon which   
consideration it comes into my head1    
that nature does not in this swerve from
 her general polity2 for physicians     
hold1 that the birth1 nourishment1 and  
increase of every thing is the          
dissolution and corruption of another3  
,nam quodcumque suis mutatum finibus    

exit1           ,continuo hoc mors est  
illius1 quod fuit ante4       ,for1     
whatever from its own confines passes   
changed1 this is at      once the death 
of that which before it                 
was4--,lucretius1 ii4 #geb4             
,,etext ,,editor',s ,,bookmarks3        
,accommodated my subject to my strength 
,affright people with the very mention  
of death      ,all ,i aim at is1 to pass
 my time at my ease      ,all think he  
has yet twenty good years to come       
,apprenticeship and a resemblance of    
death      ,become a fool by too much   
wisdom      ,both himself and his       
posterity declared ignoble1 taxable     
,caesar3 he would be thought an         
excellent engineer to boot              
,courtesy and good manners is a very    
necessary study      ,dangers do1 in    
truth1 little or nothing hasten our end 
,death can1 whenever we please1 cut     
short inconveniences      ,death has us 
every moment by the throat      ,death  
is a part of you      ,denying all      

solicitation1 both of hand and mind     
,did my discourses came only from my    
mouth or from my heart      ,die        
well--that is1 patiently and tranquilly4
      ,discover what there is of good   
and clean in the bottom of the po       
,downright and sincere obedience        
,every day travels towards death2 the   
last only arrives at it4      ,fear is  
more importunate and insupportable than 
death itself      ,fear to lose a thing1
 which being lost1 cannot be lamented8  
,fear3 begets a terrible astonishment   
and confusion      ,feared1 lest        
disgrace should make such delinquents   
desperate      ,give these young wenches
 the things they long for      ,have you
 ever found any who have been           
dissatisfied with dying8      ,how many 
more have died before they arrived at   
thy age      ,how many several ways has 
death to surprise us8      ,how much    
more insupportable and painful an       
immortal life      ,i have lived longer 
by this one day than ,i should have done

      ,i take hold of1 as little        
glorious and exemplary as you will      
,if nature do not help a little1 it is  
very hard      ,in this last scene of   
death1 there is no more counterfeiting  
,inclination to love one another at the 
first sight      ,indocile liberty of   
this member      ,insensible of the     
stroke when our youth dies in us        
,live at the expense of life itself4    
,much better to offend him once than    
myself every day      ,nature1 who left 
us in such a state of imperfection      
,neither men nor their lives are        
measured by the ell      ,no man more   
certain than another of                 
to-morrow4--,seneca      ,no one can be 
called happy till he is dead and buried 
,not certain to live till ,i came home  
,not melancholic1 but meditative        
,nothing can be a grievance that is but 
once      ,philosophy is nothing but to 
prepare one's self to die               
,premeditation of death is the          
premeditation of liberty      ,profit   

made only at the expense of another     
,rather prating of another man's        
province than his own      ,same folly  
as to be sorry we were not alive a      
hundred years ago      ,slaves1 or      
exiles1 ofttimes live as merrily as     
other folk      some people rude1 by    
being overcivil  in their courtesy      
,the day of your birth is one day's     
advance towards the grave      ,the     
deadest deaths are the best      ,the   
thing in the world ,i am most afraid of 
is fear      ,there is no long1 nor     
short1 to things that are no more       
,thing at which we all aim1 even in     
virtue is pleasure      ,things often   
appear greater to us at distance than   
near at hand      ,to study philosophy  
is nothing but to prepare one's self to 
die      ,utility of living consists not
 in the length of days      ,valour has 
its bounds as well as other virtues     
,valuing the interest of discipline     
,well1 and what if it had been death    
itself8      ,what may be done          

to-morrow1 may be done to-day4      ,who
 would weigh him without the honour and 
grandeur of his end4      ,willingly    
slip the collar of command upon any     
pretence whatever      ,woman who goes  
to bed to a man1 must put off her       
modesty      ,you must first see us die 
,young and old die upon the same terms