,,essays ,,of ,,michel ,,de ,,montaigne 
,translated by ,charles ,cotton  ,edited
 by ,william ,carew ,hazilitt  #ahgg    
,,contents ,,of ,,volume #e4  ,,xxv4    
,of the education of children4 ,,xxvi4  
,that it is folly to measure truth and  
error by our own           capacity4    
,,chapter ,,xxv  ,,of ,,the ,,education 
,,of ,,children  ,,to ,,madame ,,diane  
,,de ,,foix1 ,comtesse de ,gurson  ,i   
never yet saw that father1 but let his  
son be never so decrepit or deformed1   
would not1 notwithstanding1 own him3    
not1 nevertheless1 if he were not       
totally besotted1 and blinded with his  
paternal affection1 that he did not well
 enough discern his defects2 but that   
with all defaults he was still his4     
,just so1 ,i see better than any other1 
that all ,i write here are but the idle 
reveries of a man that has only nibbled 
upon the outward crust of sciences in   
his nonage1 and only retained a general 
and formless image of them2 who has got 
a little snatch of everything and       

nothing of the whole1 'a la ,francoise'4
  ,for ,i know1 in general1 that there  
is such a thing as physic1 as           
jurisprudence3 four parts in            
mathematics1 and1 roughly1 what all     
these aim and point at2 and1            
peradventure1 ,i yet know farther1 what 
sciences in general pretend unto1 in    
order to the service of our life3 but to
 dive farther than that1 and to have    
cudgelled my brains in the study of     
,aristotle1 the monarch of all modern   
learning1 or particularly addicted      
myself to any one science1 ,i have never
 done it2 neither is there any one art  
of which ,i am able to draw the first   
lineaments and dead colour2 insomuch    
that there is not a boy of the lowest   
form in a school1 that may not pretend  
to be wiser than ,i1 who am not able to 
examine him in his first lesson1 which1 
if ,i am at any time forced upon1 ,i am 
necessitated in my own defence1 to ask  
him1 unaptly enough1 some universal     
questions1 such as may serve to try his 

natural understanding2 a lesson as      
strange and unknown to him1 as his is to
 me4  ,i never seriously settled myself 
to the reading any book of solid        
learning but ,plutarch and ,seneca2 and 
there1 like the ,danaides1 ,i eternally 
fill1 and it as constantly runs out2    
something of which drops upon this      
paper1 but little or nothing stays with 
me4 ,history is my particular game as to
 matter of reading1 or else poetry1 for 
which ,i have particular kindness and   
esteem3 for1 as ,cleanthes said1 as the 
voice1 forced through the narrow passage
 of a trumpet1 comes out more forcible  
and shrill3 so1 methinks1 a sentence    
pressed within the harmony of verse     
darts out more briskly upon the         
understanding1 and strikes my ear and   
apprehension with a smarter and more    
pleasing effect4  ,as to the natural    
parts ,i have1 of which this is the     
essay1 ,i find them to bow under the    
burden2 my fancy and judgment do but    
grope in the dark1 tripping and         

stumbling in the way2 and when ,i have  
gone as far as ,i can1 ,i am in no      
degree satisfied2 ,i discover still a   
new and greater extent of land before   
me1 with a troubled and imperfect sight 
and wrapped up in clouds1 that ,i am not
 able to penetrate4  ,and taking upon me
 to write indifferently of whatever     
comes into my head1 and therein making  
use of nothing but my own proper and    
natural means1 if it befall me1 as      
oft-times it does1 accidentally to meet 
in any good author1 the same heads and  
commonplaces upon which ,i have         
attempted to write 7as ,i did but just  
now in ,plutarch's ,discourse of the    
,force of ,imagination71 to see myself  
so weak and so forlorn1 so heavy and so 
flat1 in comparison of those better     
writers1 ,i at once pity or despise     
myself4  ,yet do ,i please myself with  
this1 that my opinions have often the   
honour and good fortune to jump with    
theirs1 and that ,i go in the same path1
 though at a very great distance1 and   

can say1 ,ah1 that is so4  ,i am farther
 satisfied to find that ,i have a       
quality1 which every one is not blessed 
withal1 which is1 to discern the vast   
difference between them and me2 and     
notwithstanding all that1 suffer my own 
inventions1 low and feeble as they are1 
to run on in their career1 without      
mending or plastering up the defects    
that this comparison has laid open to my
 own view4  ,and1 in plain truth1 a man 
had need of a good strong back to keep  
pace with these people4  ,the indiscreet
 scribblers of our times1 who1 amongst  
their laborious nothings1 insert whole  
sections and pages out of ancient       
authors1 with a design1 by that means1  
to illustrate their own writings1 do    
quite contrary2 for this infinite       
dissimilitude of ornaments renders the  
complexion of their own compositions so 
sallow and deformed1 that they lose much
 more than they get4  ,the philosophers1
 ,chrysippus and ,epicurus1 were in this
 of two quite contrary humours3 the     

first not only in his books mixed       
passages and sayings of other authors1  
but entire pieces1 and1 in one1 the     
whole ,medea of ,euripides2 which gave  
,apollodorus occasion to say1 that      
should a man pick out of his writings   
all that was none of his1 he would leave
 him nothing but blank paper3 whereas   
the latter1 quite on the contrary1 in   
three hundred volumes that he left      
behind him1 has not so much as one      
quotation4--,diogenes ,laertius1 ,lives 
of ,chyysippus1 vii4 #aha1 and          
,epicurus1 x4 #bf4  ,i happened the     
other day upon this piece of fortune2 ,i
 was reading a ,french book1 where after
 ,i had a long time run dreaming over a 
great many words1 so dull1 so insipid1  
so void of all wit or common sense1 that
 indeed they were only ,french words3   
after a long and tedious travel1 ,i came
 at last to meet with a piece that was  
lofty1 rich1 and elevated to the very   
clouds2 of which1 had ,i found either   
the declivity easy or the ascent        

gradual1 there had been some excuse2 but
 it was so perpendicular a precipice1   
and so wholly cut off from the rest of  
the work1 that by the first six words1  
,i found myself flying into the other   
world1 and thence discovered the vale   
whence ,i came so deep and low1 that ,i 
have never had since the heart to       
descend into it any more4  ,if ,i should
 set out one of my discourses with such 
rich spoils as these1 it would but too  
evidently manifest the imperfection of  
my own writing4  ,to reprehend the fault
 in others that ,i am guilty of myself1 
appears to me no more unreasonable1 than
 to condemn1 as ,i often do1 those of   
others in myself3 they are to be        
everywhere reproved1 and ought to have  
no sanctuary allowed them4  ,i know very
 well how audaciously ,i myself1 at     
every turn1 attempt to equal myself to  
my thefts1 and to make my style go hand 
in hand with them1 not without a        
temerarious hope of deceiving the eyes  
of my reader from discerning the        

difference2 but withal it is as much by 
the benefit of my application1 that ,i  
hope to do it1 as by that of my         
invention or any force of my own4       
,besides1 ,i do not offer to contend    
with the whole body of these champions1 
nor hand to hand with anyone of them3   
'tis only by flights and little light   
attempts that ,i engage them2 ,i do not 
grapple with them1 but try their        
strength only1 and never engage so far  
as ,i make a show to do4  ,if ,i could  
hold them in play1 ,i were a brave      
fellow2 for ,i never attack them2 but   
where they are most sinewy and strong4  
,to cover a man's self 7as ,i have seen 
some do7 with another man's armour1 so  
as not to discover so much as his       
fingers' ends2 to carry on a design 7as 
it is not hard for a man that has       
anything of a scholar in him1 in an     
ordinary subject to do7 under old       
inventions patched up here and there    
with his own trumpery1 and then to      
endeavour to conceal the theft1 and to  

make it pass for his own1 is first      
injustice and meanness of spirit in     
those who do it1 who having nothing in  
them of their own fit to procure them a 
reputation1 endeavour to do it by       
attempting to impose things upon the    
world in their own name1 which they have
 no manner of title to2 and next1 a     
ridiculous folly to content themselves  
with acquiring the ignorant approbation 
of the vulgar by such a pitiful cheat1  
at the price at the same time of        
degrading themselves in the eyes of men 
of understanding1 who turn up their     
noses at all this borrowed incrustation1
 yet whose praise alone is worth the    
having4  ,for my own part1 there is     
nothing ,i would not sooner do than     
that1 neither have ,i said so much of   
others1 but to get a better opportunity 
to explain myself4  ,nor in this do ,i  
glance at the composers of centos1 who  
declare themselves for such2 of which   
sort of writers ,i have in my time known
 many very ingenious1 and particularly  

one under the name of ,capilupus1       
besides the ancients4 ,these are really 
men of wit1 and that make it appear they
 are so1 both by that and other ways of 
writing2 as for example1 ,lipsius1 in   
that learned and laborious contexture of
 his ,politics4  ,but1 be it how it     
will1 and how inconsiderable soever     
these ineptitudes may be1 ,i will say ,i
 never intended to conceal them1 no more
 than my old bald grizzled likeness     
before them1 where the painter has      
presented you not with a perfect face1  
but with mine4  ,for these are my own   
particular opinions and fancies1 and ,i 
deliver them as only what ,i myself     
believe1 and not for what is to be      
believed by others4  ,i have no other   
end in this writing1 but only to        
discover myself1 who1 also shall1       
peradventure1 be another thing          
to-morrow1 if ,i chance to meet any new 
instruction to change me4  ,i have no   
authority to be believed1 neither do ,i 
desire it1 being too conscious of my own

 inerudition to be able to instruct     
others4  ,some one1 then1 having seen   
the preceding chapter1 the other day    
told me at my house1 that ,i should a   
little farther have extended my         
discourse on the education of           
children4--,which1 how fit ,i am to do1 
let my friends flatter me if they       
please1 ,i have in the meantime no such 
opinion of my own talent1 as to promise 
myself any very good success from my    
endeavour4  ,this passage would appear  
to be an interpolation by ,cotton4 ,at  
all events1 ,i do not find it in the    
original editions before me1 or in      
,coste4--  ,now1 madam1 if ,i had any   
sufficiency in this subject1 ,i could   
not possibly better employ it1 than to  
present my best instructions to the     
little man that threatens you shortly   
with a happy birth 7for you are too     
generous to begin otherwise than with a 
male72 for1 having had so great a hand  
in the treaty of your marriage1 ,i have 
a certain particular right and interest 

in the greatness and prosperity of the  
issue that shall spring from it2 beside 
that1 your having had the best of my    
services so long in possession1         
sufficiently obliges me to desire the   
honour and advantage of all wherein you 
shall be concerned4  ,but1 in truth1 all
 ,i understand as to that particular is 
only this1 that the greatest and most   
important difficulty of human science is
 the education of children4  ,for as in 
agriculture1 the husbandry that is to   
precede planting1 as also planting      
itself1 is certain1 plain1 and well     
known2 but after that which is planted  
comes to life1 there is a great deal    
more to be done1 more art to be used1   
more care to be taken1 and much more    
difficulty to cultivate and bring it to 
perfection so it is with men2 it is no  
hard matter to get children2 but after  
they are born1 then begins the trouble1 
solicitude1 and care rightly to train1  
principle1 and bring them up4  ,the     
symptoms of their inclinations in that  

tender age are so obscure1 and the      
promises so uncertain and fallacious1   
that it is very hard to establish any   
solid judgment or conjecture upon them4 
,look at ,cimon1 for example1 and       
,themistocles1 and a thousand others1   
who very much deceived the expectation  
men had of them4  ,cubs of bears and    
puppies readily discover their natural  
inclination2 but men1 so soon as ever   
they are grownup1 applying themselves to
 certain habits1 engaging themselves in 
certain opinions1 and conforming        
themselves to particular laws and       
customs1 easily alter1 or at least      
disguise1 their true and real           
disposition2 and yet it is hard to force
 the propension of nature4  ,whence it  
comes to pass1 that for not having      
chosen the right course1 we often take  
very great pains1 and consume a good    
part of our time in training up children
 to things1 for which1 by their natural 
constitution1 they are totally unfit4   
,in this difficulty1 nevertheless1 ,i am

 clearly of opinion1 that they ought to 
be elemented in the best and most       
advantageous studies1 without taking too
 much notice of1 or being too           
superstitious in those light prognostics
 they give of themselves in their tender
 years1 and to which ,plato1 in his     
,republic1 gives1 methinks1 too much    
authority4  ,madam1 science is a very   
great ornament1 and a thing of          
marvellous use1 especially in persons   
raised to that degree of fortune in     
which you are4 ,and1 in truth1 in       
persons of mean and low condition1 it   
cannot perform its true and genuine     
office1 being naturally more prompt to  
assist in the conduct of war1 in the    
government of peoples1 in negotiating   
the leagues and friendships of princes  
and foreign nations1 than in forming a  
syllogism in logic1 in pleading a       
process in law1 or in prescribing a dose
 of pills in physic4  ,wherefore1 madam1
 believing you will not omit this so    
necessary feature in the education of   

your children1 who yourself have tasted 
its sweetness1 and are of a learned     
extraction 7for we yet have the writings
 of the ancient ,counts of ,foix1 from  
whom my lord1 your husband1 and         
yourself1 are both of you descended1 and
 ,monsieur de ,candale1 your uncle1     
every day obliges the world with others1
 which will extend the knowledge of this
 quality in your family for so many     
succeeding ages71 ,i will1 upon this    
occasion1 presume to acquaint your      
ladyship with one particular fancy of my
 own1 contrary to the common method1    
which is all ,i am able to contribute to
 your service in this affair4  ,the     
charge of the tutor you shall provide   
for your son1 upon the choice of whom   
depends the whole success of his        
education1 has several other great and  
considerable parts and duties required  
in so important a trust1 besides that of
 which ,i am about to speak3 these1     
however1 ,i shall not mention1 as being 
unable to add anything of moment to the 

common rules3 and in this1 wherein ,i   
take upon me to advise1 he may follow it
 so far only as it shall appear         
advisable4  ,for a1 boy of quality then1
 who pretends to letters not upon the   
account of profit 7for so mean an object
 is unworthy of the grace and favour of 
the ,muses1 and moreover1 in it a man   
directs his service to and depends upon 
others71 nor so much for outward        
ornament1 as for his own proper and     
peculiar use1 and to furnish and enrich 
himself within1 having rather a desire  
to come out an accomplished cavalier    
than a mere scholar or learned man2 for 
such a one1 ,i say1 ,i would1 also1 have
 his friends solicitous to find him out 
a tutor1 who has rather a well-made than
 a well-filled head2--',tete bien       
faite'1 an expression created by        
,montaigne1 and which has remained a    
part of our language4--,servan4--       
seeking1 indeed1 both the one and the   
other1 but rather of the two to prefer  
manners and judgment to mere learning1  

and that this man should exercise his   
charge after a new method4  ',tis the   
custom of pedagogues to be eternally    
thundering in their pupil's ears1 as    
they were pouring into a funnel1 whilst 
the business of the pupil is only to    
repeat what the others have said3 now ,i
 would have a tutor to correct this     
error1 and1 that at the very first1 he  
should according to the capacity he has 
to deal with1 put it to the test1       
permitting his pupil himself to taste   
things1 and of himself to discern and   
choose them1 sometimes opening the way  
to him1 and sometimes leaving him to    
open it for himself2 that is1 ,i would  
not have him alone to invent and speak1 
but that he should also hear his pupil  
speak in turn4 ,socrates1 and since him 
,arcesilaus1 made first their scholars  
speak1 and then they spoke to           
them--,diogenes ,laertius1 iv4 #cf4     
,obest plerumque iis1 qui discere       
volunt1                auctoritas eorum1
 qui docent4       ,the authority of    

those who teach1 is very often an       
impediment to      those who desire to  
learn4--,cicero1 ,de ,natura ,deor41 i4 
#e4  ,it is good to make him1 like a    
young horse1 trot before him1 that he   
may judge of his going1 and how much he 
is to abate of his own speed1 to        
accommodate himself to the vigour and   
capacity of the other4  ,for want of    
which due proportion we spoil all2 which
 also to know how to adjust1 and to keep
 within an exact and due measure1 is one
 of the hardest things ,i know1 and 'tis
 the effect of a high and well-tempered 
soul1 to know how to condescend to such 
puerile motions and to govern and direct
 them4 ,i walk firmer and more secure up
 hill than down4  ,such as1 according to
 our common way of teaching1 undertake1 
with one and the same lesson1 and the   
same measure of direction1 to instruct  
several boys of differing and unequal   
capacities1 are infinitely mistaken2 and
 'tis no wonder1 if in a whole multitude
 of scholars1 there are not found above 

two or three who bring away any good    
account of their time and discipline4   
,let the master not only examine him    
about the grammatical construction of   
the bare words of his lesson1 but about 
the sense and let him judge of the      
profit he has made1 not by the testimony
 of his memory1 but by that of his life4
  ,let him make him put what he has     
learned into a hundred several forms1   
and accommodate it to so many several   
subjects1 to see if he yet rightly      
comprehends it1 and has made it his own1
 taking instruction of his progress by  
the pedagogic institutions of ,plato4   
',tis a sign of crudity and indigestion 
to disgorge what we eat in the same     
condition it was swallowed2 the stomach 
has not performed its office unless it  
have altered the form and condition of  
what was committed to it to concoct4    
,our minds work only upon trust1 when   
bound and compelled to follow the       
appetite of another's fancy1 enslaved   
and captivated under the authority of   

another's instruction2 we have been so  
subjected to the trammel1 that we have  
no free1 nor natural pace of our own2   
our own vigour and liberty are extinct  
and gone3                      ,nunquam 
tutelae suae fiunt4            ,they are
 ever in wardship4--,seneca1 ,ep41 #cc4 
,i was privately carried at ,pisa to see
 a very honest man1 but so great an     
,aristotelian1 that his most usual      
thesis was3 ,that the touchstone and    
square of all solid imagination1 and of 
all truth1 was an absolute conformity to
 ,aristotle's doctrine2 and that all    
besides was nothing but inanity and     
chimera2 for that he had seen all1 and  
said all4 ,a position1 that for having  
been a little too injuriously and       
broadly interpreted1 brought him once   
and long kept him in great danger of the
 ,inquisition at ,rome4  ,let him make  
him examine and thoroughly sift         
everything he reads1 and lodge nothing  
in his fancy upon simple authority and  
upon trust4 ,aristotle's principles will

 then be no more principles to him1 than
 those of ,epicurus and the ,stoics3 let
 this diversity of opinions be          
propounded to1 and laid before him2 he  
will himself choose1 if he be able2 if  
not1 he will remain in doubt4           
,che non men the saver1 dubbiar m'      
aggrata4       ,i love to doubt1 as well
 as to know4--,dante1 ,inferno1 xi4 #ic 
for1 if he embrace the opinions of      
,xenophon and ,plato1 by his own reason1
 they will no more be theirs1 but become
 his own4  ,who follows another1 follows
 nothing1 finds nothing1 nay1 is        
inquisitive after nothing4              
,non sumus sub rege2 sibi quisque se    
vindicet4            ,we are under no   
king2 let each vindicate himself4       
--,seneca1 ,ep41#cc  ,let him1 at least1
 know that he knows4  ,it will be       
necessary that he imbibe their          
knowledge1 not that he be corrupted with
 their precepts2 and no matter if he    
forget where he had his learning1       
provided he know how to apply it to his 

own use4  ,truth and reason are common  
to every one1 and are no more his who   
spake them first1 than his who speaks   
them after3 'tis no more according to   
,plato1 than according to me1 since both
 he and ,i equally see and understand   
them4  ,bees cull their several sweets  
from this flower and that blossom1 here 
and there where they find them1 but     
themselves afterwards make the honey1   
which is all and purely their own1 and  
no more thyme and marjoram3 so the      
several fragments he borrows from       
others1 he will transform and shuffle   
together to compile a work that shall be
 absolutely his own2 that is to say1 his
 judgment3 his instruction1 labour and  
study1 tend to nothing else but to form 
that4 ,he is not obliged to discover    
whence he got the materials that have   
assisted him1 but only to produce what  
he has himself done with them4 ,men that
 live upon pillage and borrowing1 expose
 their purchases and buildings to every 
one's view3 but do not proclaim how they

 came by the money4  ,we do not see the 
fees and perquisites of a gentleman of  
the long robe2 but we see the alliances 
wherewith he fortifies himself and his  
family1 and the titles and honours he   
has obtained for him and his4  ,no man  
divulges his revenue2 or1 at least1     
which way it comes in but every one     
publishes his acquisitions4  ,the       
advantages of our study are to become   
better and more wise4  ',tis1 says      
,epicharmus1 the understanding that sees
 and hears1 'tis the understanding that 
improves everything1 that orders        
everything1 and that acts1 rules1 and   
reigns3 all other faculties are blind1  
and deaf1 and without soul4  ,and       
certainly we render it timorous and     
servile1 in not allowing it the liberty 
and privilege to do anything of itself4 
,whoever asked his pupil what he thought
 of grammar and rhetoric1 or of such and
 such a sentence of ,cicero8  ,our      
masters stick them1 full feathered1 in  
our memories1 and there establish them  

like oracles1 of which the letters and  
syllables are of the substance of the   
thing4  ,to know by rote1 is no         
knowledge1 and signifies no more but    
only to retain what one has intrusted to
 our memory4  ,that which a man rightly 
knows and understands1 he is the free   
disposer of at his own full liberty1    
without any regard to the author from   
whence he had it1 or fumbling over the  
leaves of his book4  ,a mere bookish    
learning is a poor1 paltry learning2 it 
may serve for ornament1 but there is yet
 no foundation for any superstructure to
 be built upon it1 according to the     
opinion of ,plato1 who says1 that       
constancy1 faith1 and sincerity1 are the
 true philosophy1 and the other         
sciences1 that are directed to other    
ends2 mere adulterate paint4  ,i could  
wish that ,paluel or ,pompey1 those two 
noted dancers of my time1 could have    
taught us to cut capers1 by only seeing 
them do it1 without stirring from our   
places1 as these men pretend to inform  

the understanding without ever setting  
it to work1 or that we could learn to   
ride1 handle a pike1 touch a lute1 or   
sing without the trouble of practice1 as
 these attempt to make us judge and     
speak well1 without exercising us in    
judging or speaking4  ,now in this      
initiation of our studies in their      
progress1 whatsoever presents itself    
before us is book sufficient2 a roguish 
trick of a page1 a sottish mistake of a 
servant1 a jest at the table1 are so    
many new subjects4  ,and for this       
reason1 conversation with men is of very
 great use and travel into foreign      
countries2 not to bring back 7as most of
 our young monsieurs do7 an account only
 of how many paces ,santa ,rotonda--,the
 ,pantheon of ,agrippa4--is in circuit2 
or of the richness of ,signora ,livia's 
petticoats2 or1 as some others1 how much
 ,nero's face1 in a statue in such an   
old ruin1 is longer and broader than    
that made for him on some medal2 but to 
be able chiefly to give an account of   

the humours1 manners1 customs1 and laws 
of those nations where he has been1 and 
that we may whet and sharpen our wits by
 rubbing them against those of others4  
,i would that a boy should be sent      
abroad very young1 and first1 so as to  
kill two birds with one stone1 into     
those neighbouring nations whose        
language is most differing from our own1
 and to which1 if it be not formed      
betimes1 the tongue will grow too stiff 
to bend4  ,and also 'tis the general    
opinion of all1 that a child should not 
be brought up in his mother's lap4      
,mothers are too tender1 and their      
natural affection is apt to make the    
most discreet of them all so overfond1  
that they can neither find in their     
hearts to give them due correction for  
the faults they may commit1 nor suffer  
them to be inured to hardships and      
hazards1 as they ought to be4  ,they    
will not endure to see them return all  
dust and sweat from their exercise1 to  
drink cold drink when they are hot1 nor 

see them mount an unruly horse1 nor take
 a foil in hand against a rude fencer1  
or so much as to discharge a carbine4   
,and yet there is no remedy2 whoever    
will breed a boy to be good for anything
 when he comes to be a man1 must by no  
means spare him when young1 and must    
very often transgress the rules of      
physic3                ,vitamque sub    
dio1 et trepidis agat                ,in
 rebus4       ,let him live in open air1
 and ever in movement about something4  
--,horace1 ,od4 ii41 #c1 #e4  ,it is not
 enough to fortify his soul2 you are    
also to make his sinews strong2 for the 
soul will be oppressed if not assisted  
by the members1 and would have too hard 
a task to discharge two offices alone4  
,i know very well to my cost1 how much  
mine groans under the burden1 from being
 accommodated with a body so tender and 
indisposed1 as eternally leans and      
presses upon her2 and often in my       
reading perceive that our masters1 in   
their writings1 make examples pass for  

magnanimity and fortitude of mind1 which
 really are rather toughness of skin and
 hardness of bones2 for ,i have seen    
men1 women1 and children1 naturally born
 of so hard and insensible a            
constitution of body1 that a sound      
cudgelling has been less to them than a 
flirt with a finger would have been to  
me1 and that would neither cry out1     
wince1 nor shrink1 for a good swinging  
beating2 and when wrestlers counterfeit 
the philosophers in patience1 'tis      
rather strength of nerves than stoutness
 of heart4  ,now to be inured to undergo
 labour1 is to be accustomed to endure  
pain3                      ,labor callum
 obducit dolori4       ,labour hardens  
us against pain4--,cicero1 ,tusc4       
,quaes41 ii4 #ae4  ,a boy is to be      
broken in to the toil and roughness of  
exercise1 so as to be trained up to the 
pain and suffering of dislocations1     
cholics1 cauteries1 and even            
imprisonment and the rack itself2 for he
 may come by misfortune to be reduced to

 the worst of these1 which 7as this     
world goes7 is sometimes inflicted on   
the good as well as the bad4  ,as for   
proof1 in our present civil war whoever 
draws his sword against the laws1       
threatens the honestest men with the    
whip and the halter4  ,and1 moreover1 by
 living at home1 the authority of this  
governor1 which ought to be sovereign   
over the boy he has received into his   
charge1 is often checked and hindered by
 the presence of parents2 to which may  
also be added1 that the respect the     
whole family pay him1 as their master's 
son1 and the knowledge he has of the    
estate and greatness he is heir to1 are1
 in my opinion1 no small inconveniences 
in these tender years4  ,and yet1 even  
in this conversing with men ,i spoke of 
but now1 ,i have observed this vice1    
that instead of gathering observations  
from others1 we make it our whole       
business to lay ourselves open to them1 
and are more concerned how to expose and
 set out our own commodities1 than how  

to increase our stock by acquiring new4 
,silence1 therefore1 and modesty are    
very advantageous qualities in          
conversation4  ,one should1 therefore1  
train up this boy to be sparing and an  
husband of his knowledge when he has    
acquired it2 and to forbear taking      
exceptions at or reproving every idle   
saying or ridiculous story that is said 
or told in his presence2 for it is a    
very unbecoming rudeness to carp at     
everything that is not agreeable to our 
own palate4  ,let him be satisfied with 
correcting himself1 and not seem to     
condemn everything in another he would  
not do himself1 nor dispute it as       
against common customs4                 
,licet sapere sine pompa1 sine invidia4 
,let us be wise without ostentation1    
without envy4           --,seneca1 ,ep41
 #ajc4  ,let him avoid these vain and   
uncivil images of authority1 this       
childish ambition of coveting to appear 
better bred and more accomplished1 than 
he really will1 by such carriage1       

discover himself to be4  ,and1 as if    
opportunities of interrupting and       
reprehending were not to be omitted1 to 
desire thence to derive the reputation  
of something more than ordinary4 ,for as
 it becomes none but great poets to make
 use of the poetical licence1 so it is  
intolerable for any but men of great and
 illustrious souls to assume privilege  
above the authority of custom3       ,si
 quid ,socrates ant ,aristippus contra  
morem et consuetudinem      fecerunt1   
idem sibi ne arbitretur licere3 magnis  
enim illi et      divinis bonis hanc    
licentiam assequebantur4       ,if      
,socrates and ,aristippus have committed
 any act against manners      and       
custom1 let him not think that he is    
allowed to do the same2 for      it was 
by great and divine benefits that they  
obtained this      privilege4--,cicero1 
,de ,offic41 i4 #da4  ,let him be       
instructed not to engage in discourse or
 dispute but with a champion worthy of  
him1 and1 even there1 not to make use of

 all the little subtleties that may seem
 pat for his purpose1 but only such     
arguments as may best serve him4  ,let  
him be taught to be curious in the      
election and choice of his reasons1 to  
abominate impertinence1 and             
consequently1 to affect brevity2 but1   
above all1 let him be lessoned to       
acquiesce and submit to truth so soon as
 ever he shall discover it1 whether in  
his opponent's argument1 or upon better 
consideration of his own2 for he shall  
never be preferred to the chair for a   
mere clatter of words and syllogisms1   
and is no further engaged to any        
argument whatever1 than as he shall in  
his own judgment approve it3 nor yet is 
arguing a trade1 where the liberty of   
recantation and getting off upon better 
thoughts1 are to be sold for ready      
money3            ,neque1 ut omnia1 qux 
praescripta et imperata sint1           
defendat1 necessitate ulla cogitur4     
,neither is their any necessity upon    
him1 that he should defend      all     

things that are prescribed and enjoined 
him4      --,cicero1 ,acad41 ii4 #c4    
,if his governor be of my humour1 he    
will form his will to be a very good and
 loyal subject to his prince1 very      
affectionate to his person1 and very    
stout in his quarrel2 but withal he will
 cool in him the desire of having any   
other tie to his service than public    
duty4  ,besides several other           
inconveniences that are inconsistent    
with the liberty every honest man ought 
to have1 a man's judgment1 being bribed 
and prepossessed by these particular    
obligations1 is either blinded and less 
free to exercise its function1 or is    
blemished with ingratitude and          
indiscretion4  ,a man that is purely a  
courtier1 can neither have power nor    
will to speak or think otherwise than   
favourably and well of a master1 who1   
amongst so many millions of other       
subjects1 has picked out him with his   
own hand to nourish and advance2 this   
favour1 and the profit flowing from it1 

must needs1 and not without some show of
 reason1 corrupt his freedom and dazzle 
him2 and we commonly see these people   
speak in another kind of phrase than is 
ordinarily spoken by others of the same 
nation1 though what they say in that    
courtly language is not much to be      
believed4  ,let his conscience and      
virtue be eminently manifest in his     
speaking1 and have only reason for their
 guide4  ,make him understand1 that to  
acknowledge the error he shall discover 
in his own argument1 though only found  
out by himself1 is an effect of judgment
 and sincerity1 which are the principal 
things he is to seek after2 that        
obstinacy and contention are common     
qualities1 most appearing in mean souls2
 that to revise and correct himself1 to 
forsake an unjust argument in the height
 and heat of dispute1 are rare1 great1  
and philosophical qualities4  ,let him  
be advised1 being in company1 to have   
his eye and ear in every corner2 for ,i 
find that the places of greatest honour 

are commonly seized upon by men that    
have least in them1 and that the        
greatest fortunes are seldom accompanied
 with the ablest parts4  ,i have been   
present when1 whilst they at the upper  
end of the chamber have been only       
commenting the beauty of the arras1 or  
the flavour of the wine1 many things    
that have been very finely said at the  
lower end of the table have been lost   
and thrown away4  ,let him examine every
 man's talent2 a peasant1 a bricklayer1 
a passenger3 one may learn something    
from every one of these in their several
 capacities1 and something will be      
picked out of their discourse whereof   
some use may be made at one time or     
another2 nay1 even the folly and        
impertinence of others will contribute  
to his instruction4 ,by observing the   
graces and manners of all he sees1 he   
will create to himself an emulation of  
the good1 and a contempt of the bad4    
,let an honest curiosity be suggested to
 his fancy of being inquisitive after   

everything2 whatever there is singular  
and rare near the place where he is1 let
 him go and see it2 a fine house1 a     
noble fountain1 an eminent man1 the     
place where a battle has been anciently 
fought1 the passages of ,caesar and     
,charlemagne3                ,qux tellus
 sit lenta gelu1 quae putris ab aestu1  
,ventus in ,italiam quis bene vela      
ferat4       ,what country is bound in  
frost1 what land is friable with heat1  
what wind serves fairest for            
,italy4--,propertius1 iv4 #c1 #ci4  ,let
 him inquire into the manners1 revenues1
 and alliances of princes1 things in    
themselves very pleasant to learn1 and  
very useful to know4  ,in this          
conversing with men1 ,i mean also1 and  
principally1 those who only live in the 
records of history2 he shall1 by reading
 those books1 converse with the great   
and heroic souls of the best ages4      
',tis an idle and vain study to those   
who make it so by doing it after a      
negligent manner1 but to those who do it

 with care and observation1 'tis a study
 of inestimable fruit and value2 and the
 only study1 as ,plato reports1 that the
 ,lacedaemonians reserved to themselves4
  ,what profit shall he not reap as to  
the business of men1 by reading the     
,lives of ,plutarch8  ,but1 withal1 let 
my governor remember to what end his    
instructions are principally directed1  
and that he do not so much imprint in   
his pupil's memory the date of the ruin 
of ,carthage1 as the manners of         
,hannibal and ,scipio2 nor so much where
 ,marcellus died1 as why it was unworthy
 of his duty that he died there4  ,let  
him not teach him so much the narrative 
parts of history as to judge them2 the  
reading of them1 in my opinion1 is a    
thing that of all others we apply       
ourselves unto with the most differing  
measure4  ,i have read a hundred things 
in ,livy that another has not1 or not   
taken notice of at least2 and ,plutarch 
has read a hundred more there than ever 
,i could find1 or than1 peradventure1   

that author ever wrote2 to some it is   
merely a grammar study1 to others the   
very anatomy of philosophy1 by which the
 most abstruse parts of our human nature
 penetrate4  ,there are in ,plutarch    
many long discourses very worthy to be  
carefully read and observed1 for he is1 
in my opinion1 of all others the        
greatest master in that kind of writing2
 but there are a thousand others which  
he has only touched and glanced upon1   
where he only points with his finger to 
direct us which way we may go if we     
will1 and contents himself sometimes    
with giving only one brisk hit in the   
nicest article of the question1 whence  
we are to grope out the rest4  ,as1 for 
example1 where he says'--,in the ,essay 
on ,false ,shame4--that the inhabitants 
of ,asia came to be vassals to one only1
 for not having been able to pronounce  
one syllable1 which is ,no4  ,which     
saying of his gave perhaps matter and   
occasion to ,la ,boetie to write his    
,voluntary ,servitude4  ,only to see him

 pick out a light action in a man's     
life1 or a mere word that does not seem 
to amount even to that1 is itself a     
whole discourse4  ',tis to our prejudice
 that men of understanding should so    
immoderately affect brevity2 no doubt   
their reputation is the better by it1   
but in the meantime we are the worse4   
,plutarch had rather we should applaud  
his judgment than commend his knowledge1
 and had rather leave us with an        
appetite to read more1 than glutted with
 that we have already read4  ,he knew   
very well1 that a man may say too much  
even upon the best subjects1 and that   
,alexandridas justly reproached him who 
made very good4 but too long speeches to
 the ,ephori1 when he said3 ,o stranger6
  thou speakest the things thou shouldst
 speak1 but not as thou shouldst speak  
them4--,plutarch1 ,apothegms of the     
,lacedamonians4--,such as have lean and 
spare bodies stuff themselves out with  
clothes2 so they who are defective in   
matter endeavour to make amends with    

words4  ,human understanding is         
marvellously enlightened by daily       
conversation with men1 for we are1      
otherwise1 compressed and heaped up in  
ourselves1 and have our sight limited to
 the length of our own noses4  ,one     
asking ,socrates of what country he was1
 he did not make answer1 of ,athens1 but
 of the world2--,cicero1 ,tusc4 ,quaes41
 v4 #cg2 ,plutarch1 ,on ,exile1 c4 #d4--
 he whose imagination was fuller and    
wider1 embraced the whole world for his 
country1 and extended his society and   
friendship to all mankind2 not as we do1
 who look no further than our feet4     
,when the vines of my village are nipped
 with the frost1 my parish priest       
presently concludes1 that the           
indignation of ,god has gone out against
 all the human race1 and that the       
cannibals have already got the pip4     
,who is it that1 seeing the havoc of    
these civil wars of ours1 does not cry  
out1 that the machine of the world is   
near dissolution1 and that the day of   

judgment is at hand2 without            
considering1 that many worse things have
 been seen1 and that in the meantime1   
people are very merry in a thousand     
other parts of the earth for all this8  
,for my part1 considering the licence   
and impunity that always attend such    
commotions1 ,i wonder they are so       
moderate1 and that there is no more     
mischief done4  ,to him who feels the   
hailstones patter about his ears1 the   
whole hemisphere appears to be in storm 
and tempest2 like the ridiculous        
,savoyard1 who said very gravely1 that  
if that simple king of ,france could    
have managed his fortune as he should   
have done1 he might in time have come to
 have been steward of the household to  
the duke his master3 the fellow could   
not1 in his shallow imagination1        
conceive that there could be anything   
greater than a ,duke of ,savoy4  ,and1  
in truth1 we are all of us1 insensibly1 
in this error1 an error of a very great 
weight and very pernicious consequence4 

,but whoever shall represent to his     
fancy1 as in a picture1 that great image
 of our mother nature1 in her full      
majesty and lustre1 whoever in her face 
shall read so general and so constant a 
variety1 whoever shall observe himself  
in that figure1 and not himself but a   
whole kingdom1 no bigger than the least 
touch or prick of a pencil in comparison
 of the whole1 that man alone is able to
 value things according to their true   
estimate and grandeur4  ,this great     
world which some do yet multiply as     
several species under one genus1 is the 
mirror wherein we are to behold         
ourselves1 to be able to know ourselves 
as we ought to do in the true bias4  ,in
 short1 ,i would have this to be the    
book my young gentleman should study    
with the most attention4  ,so many      
humours1 so many sects1 so many         
judgments1 opinions1 laws1 and customs1 
teach us to judge aright of our own1 and
 inform our understanding to discover   
its imperfection and natural infirmity1 

which is no trivial speculation4  ,so   
many mutations of states and kingdoms1  
and so many turns and revolutions of    
public fortune1 will make us wise enough
 to make no great wonder of our own4    
,so many great names1 so many famous    
victories and conquests drowned and     
swallowed in oblivion1 render our hopes 
ridiculous of eternising our names by   
the taking of half-a-score of light     
horse1 or a henroost1 which only derives
 its memory from its ruin4 ,the pride   
and arrogance of so many foreign pomps1 
the inflated majesty of so many courts  
and grandeurs1 accustom and fortify our 
sight without closing our eyes to behold
 the lustre of our own2 so many         
trillions of men1 buried before us1     
encourage us not to fear to go seek such
 good company in the other world3 and so
 of the rest ,pythagoras was want to    
say1--,cicero1 ,tusc4 ,quaes41 v4       
#c4--that our life resembles the great  
and populous assembly of the ,olympic   
games1 wherein some exercise the body1  

that they may carry away the glory of   
the prize3 others bring merchandise to  
sell for profit3 there are also some    
7and those none of the worst sort7 who  
pursue no other advantage than only to  
look on1 and consider how and why       
everything is done1 and to be spectators
 of the lives of other men1 thereby the 
better to judge of and regulate their   
own4  ,to examples may fitly be applied 
all the profitable discourses of        
philosophy1 to which all human actions1 
as to their best rule1 ought to be      
especially directed3 a scholar shall be 
taught to know--                        
,quid fas optare3 quid asper            
,utile nummus habet3 patrix carisque    
propinquis           ,quantum elargiri  
deceat3 quern te ,deus esse             
,jussit1 et humana qua parte locatus es 
in re2           ,quid sumus1 et quidnam
 victuri gignimur4       ,learn what it 
is right to wish2 what is the true use  
of coined      money2 how much it       
becomes us to give in liberality to our 

country      and our dear relations2    
whom and what the ,deity commanded thee 
to      be2 and in what part of the     
human system thou art placed2 what we   
are ant to what purpose                 
engendered4--,persius1 iii4 #fi  what it
 is to know1 and what to be ignorant2   
what ought to be the end and design of  
study2 what valour1 temperance1 and     
justice are2 the difference betwixt     
ambition and avarice1 servitude and     
subjection1 licence and liberty2 by what
 token a man may know true and solid    
contentment2 how far death1 affliction1 
and disgrace are to be apprehended2     
,et quo quemque modo fugiatque feratque 
laborem4            ,and how you may    
shun or sustain every hardship4         
--,virgil1 ,a,eneid1 iii4 #dei4  by what
 secret springs we move1 and the reason 
of our various agitations and           
irresolutions3 for1 methinks the first  
doctrine with which one should season   
his understanding1 ought to be that     
which regulates his manners and his     

sense2 that teaches him to know himself1
 and how both well to dig and well to   
live4  ,amongst the liberal sciences1   
let us begin with that which makes us   
free2 not that they do not all serve in 
some measure to the instruction and use 
of life1 as all other things in some    
sort also do2 but let us make choice of 
that which directly and professedly     
serves to that end4  ,if we are once    
able to restrain the offices of human   
life within their just and natural      
limits1 we shall find that most of the  
sciences in use are of no great use to  
us1 and even in those that are1 that    
there are many very unnecessary cavities
 and dilatations which we had better let
 alone1 and1 following ,socrates'       
direction1 limit the course of our      
studies to those things only where is a 
true and real utility3                  
,sapere aude2                ,incipe2   
,qui recte vivendi prorogat horam1      
,rusticus exspectat1 dum defluat amnis2 
at ille                ,labitur1 et     

labetur in omne volubilis oevum4        
,dare to be wise2 begin6 he who defers  
the hour of living well is      like the
 clown1 waiting till the river shall    
have flowed out3 but      the river     
still flows1 and will run on1 with      
constant course1 to      ages without   
end4--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #b4  ',tis a    
great foolery to teach our children3    
,quid moveant ,pisces1 animosaque signa 
,leonis1                ,lotus et       
,hesperia quid ,capricornus aqua1       
,what influence ,pisces have1 or the    
sign of angry ,leo1 or      ,capricorn1 
washed by the ,hesperian                
wave4--,propertius1 iv4 ,i1 #hi4  the   
knowledge of the stars and the motion of
 the eighth sphere before their own3    
,what care ,i about the ,pleiades or the
 stars of ,taurus8      --,anacreon1    
,ode1 xvii4 #aj4  ,anaximenes writing to
 ,pythagoras1 ,to what purpose1 said he1
 should ,i trouble myself in searching  
out the secrets of the stars1 having    
death or slavery continually before my  

eyes8 for the kings of ,persia were at  
that time preparing to invade his       
country4  ,every one ought to say thus1 
,being assaulted1 as ,i am by ambition1 
avarice1 temerity1 superstition1 and    
having within so many other enemies of  
life1 shall ,i go ponder over the       
world's changes8  ,after having taught  
him what will make him more wise and    
good1 you may then entertain him with   
the elements of logic1 physics1         
geometry1 rhetoric1 and the science     
which he shall then himself most incline
 to1 his judgment being beforehand      
formed and fit to choose1 he will       
quickly make his own4  ,the way of      
instructing him ought to be sometimes by
 discourse1 and sometimes by reading2   
sometimes his governor shall put the    
author himself1 which he shall think    
most proper for him1 into his hands1 and
 sometimes only the marrow and substance
 of it2 and if himself be not conversant
 enough in books to turn to all the fine
 discourses the books contain for his   

purpose1 there may some man of learning 
be joined to him1 that upon every       
occasion shall supply him with what he  
stands in need of1 to furnish it to his 
pupil4  ,and who can doubt but that this
 way of teaching is much more easy and  
natural than that of ,gaza1--,theodore  
,gaza1 rector of the ,academy of        
,ferrara4--in which the precepts are so 
intricate1 and so harsh1 and the words  
so vain1 lean2 and insignificant1 that  
there is no hold to be taken of them1   
nothing that quickens and elevates the  
wit and fancy1 whereas here the mind has
 what to feed upon and to digest4  ,this
 fruit1 therefore1 is not only without  
comparison1 much more fair and          
beautiful2 but will also be much more   
early ripe4  ',tis a thousand pities    
that matters should be at such a pass in
 this age of ours1 that philosophy1 even
 with men of understanding1 should be1  
looked upon as a vain and fantastic     
name1 a thing of no use1 no value1      
either in opinion or effect1 of which ,i

 think those ergotisms and petty        
sophistries1 by prepossessing the       
avenues to it1 are the cause4  ,and     
people are much to blame to represent it
 to children for a thing of so difficult
 access1 and with such a frowning1 grim1
 and formidable aspect4 ,who is it that 
has disguised it thus1 with this false1 
pale1 and ghostly countenance8  ,there  
is nothing more airy1 more gay1 more    
frolic1 and ,i had like to have said1   
more wanton4  ,she preaches nothing but 
feasting and jollity2 a melancholic     
anxious look shows that she does not    
inhabit there4  ,demetrius the          
grammarian finding in the temple of     
,delphos a knot of philosophers set     
chatting together1 said to              
them1--,plutarch1 ,treatise on ,oracles 
which have ceased--,either ,i am much   
deceived1 or by your cheerful and       
pleasant countenances1 you are engaged  
in no1 very deep discourse4  ,to which  
one of them1 ,heracleon the ,megarean1  
replied3 ,tis for such as are puzzled   

about inquiring whether the future tense
 of the verb ------ is spelt with a     
double ,a1 or that hunt after the       
derivation of the comparatives ----- and
 -----1 and the superlatives ---- and   
------1 to knit their brows whilst      
discoursing of their science3 but as to 
philosophical discourses1 they always   
divert and cheer up those that entertain
 them1 and never deject them or make    
them sad4                ,deprendas     
animi tormenta latentis in aegro        
,corpore2 deprendas et gaudia2 sumit    
utrumque                ,inde habitum   
facies4       ,you may discern the      
torments of mind lurking in a sick body2
 you      may discern its joys3 either  
expression the face assumes from the    
mind4--,juvenal1 ix4 #ah  ,the soul that
 lodges philosophy1 ought to be of such 
a constitution of health1 as to render  
the body in like manner healthful too2  
she ought to make her tranquillity and  
satisfaction shine so as to appear      
without1 and her contentment ought to   

fashion the outward behaviour to her own
 mould1 and consequently to fortify it  
with a graceful confidence1 an active   
and joyous carriage1 and a serene and   
contented countenance4  ,the most       
manifest sign of wisdom is a continual  
cheerfulness2 her state is like that of 
things in the regions above the moon1   
always clear and serene4 ',tis ,baroco  
and ,baralipton--,two terms of the      
ancient scholastic logic4--that render  
their disciples so dirty and            
ill-favoured1 and not she2 they do not  
so much as know her but by hearsay4     
,what6  ,it is she that calms and       
appeases the storms and tempests of the 
soul1 and who teaches famine and fevers 
to laugh and sing2 and that1 not by     
certain imaginary epicycles1 but by     
natural and manifest reasons4  ,she has 
virtue for her end1 which is not1 as the
 schoolmen say1 situate upon the summit 
of a perpendicular1 rugged1 inaccessible
 precipice3 such as have approached her 
find her1 quite on the contrary1 to be  

seated in a fair1 fruitful1 and         
flourishing plain1 whence she easily    
discovers all things below2 to which    
place any one may1 however1 arrive1 if  
he know but the way1 through shady1     
green1 and sweetly-flourishing avenues1 
by a pleasant1 easy1 and smooth descent1
 like that of the celestial vault4 ',tis
 for not having frequented this supreme1
 this beautiful1 triumphant1 and        
amiable1 this equally delicious and     
courageous virtue1 this so professed and
 implacable enemy to anxiety1 sorrow1   
fear1 and constraint1 who1 having nature
 for her guide1 has fortune and pleasure
 for her companions1 that they have     
gone1 according to their own weak       
imagination1 and created this           
ridiculous1 this sorrowful1 querulous1  
despiteful1 threatening1 terrible image 
of it to themselves and others1 and     
placed it upon a rock apart1 amongst    
thorns and brambles1 and made of it a   
hobgoblin to affright people4  ,but the 
governor that ,i would have1 that is    

such a one as knows it to be his duty to
 possess his pupil with as much or more 
affection than reverence to virtue1 will
 be able to inform him1 that the poets  
have evermore accommodated themselves to
 the public humour1 and make him        
sensible1 that the gods have planted    
more toil and sweat in the avenues of   
the cabinets of ,venus than in those of 
,minerva4  ,and when he shall once find 
him begin to apprehend1 and shall       
represent to him a ,bradamante or an    
,angelica--,heroines of ,ariosto4--for a
 mistress1 a natural1 active1 generous1 
and not a viragoish1 but a manly beauty1
 in comparison of a soft1 delicate1     
artificial simpering1 and affected form2
 the one in the habit of a heroic youth1
 wearing a glittering helmet1 the other 
tricked up in curls and ribbons like a  
wanton minx2 he will then look upon his 
own affection as brave and masculine1   
when he shall choose quite contrary to  
that effeminate shepherd of ,phrygia4   
,such a tutor will make a pupil digest  

this new lesson1 that the height and    
value of true virtue consists in the    
facility1 utility1 and pleasure of its  
exercise2 so far from difficulty1 that  
boys1 as well as men1 and the innocent  
as well as the subtle1 may make it their
 own2 it is by order1 and not by force1 
that it is to be acquired4  ,socrates1  
her first minion1 is so averse to all   
manner of violence1 as totally to throw 
it aside1 to slip into the more natural 
facility of her own progress2 'tis the  
nursing mother of all human pleasures1  
who in rendering them just1 renders them
 also pure and permanent2 in moderating 
them1 keeps them in breath and appetite2
 in interdicting those which she herself
 refuses1 whets our desire to those that
 she allows2 and1 like a kind and       
liberal mother1 abundantly allows all   
that nature requires1 even to satiety1  
if not to lassitude3 unless we mean to  
say that the regimen which stops the    
toper before he has drunk himself drunk1
 the glutton before he has eaten to a   

surfeit1 and the lecher before he has   
got the pox1 is an enemy to pleasure4   
,if the ordinary fortune fail1 she does 
without it1 and forms another1 wholly   
her own1 not so fickle and unsteady as  
the other4  ,she can be rich1 be potent 
and wise1 and knows how to lie upon soft
 perfumed beds3 she loves life1 beauty1 
glory1 and health2 but her proper and   
peculiar office is to know how to       
regulate the use of all these good      
things1 and how to lose them without    
concern3 an office much more noble than 
troublesome1 and without which the whole
 course of life is unnatural1 turbulent1
 and deformed1 and there it is indeed1  
that men may justly represent those     
monsters upon rocks and precipices4  ,if
 this pupil shall happen to be of so    
contrary a disposition1 that he had     
rather hear a tale of a tub than the    
true narrative of some noble expedition 
or some wise and learned discourse2 who 
at the beat of drum1 that excites the   
youthful ardour of his companions1      

leaves that to follow another that calls
 to a morris or the bears2 who would not
 wish1 and find it more delightful and  
more excellent1 to return all dust and  
sweat victorious from a battle1 than    
from tennis or from a ball1 with the    
prize of those exercises2 ,i see no     
other remedy1 but that he be bound      
prentice in some good town to learn to  
make minced pies1 though he were the son
 of a duke2 according to ,plato's       
precept1 that children are to be placed 
out and disposed of1 not according to   
the wealth1 qualities1 or condition of  
the father1 but according to the        
faculties and the capacity of their own 
souls4  ,since philosophy is that which 
instructs us to live1 and that infancy  
has there its lessons as well as other  
ages1 why is it not communicated to     
children betimes8           ,udum et    
molle lutum est2 nunc1 nunc properandus1
 et acri           ,fingendus sine fine 
rota4       ,the clay is moist and soft3
 now1 now make haste1 and form the      

pitcher on the rapid wheel4--,persius1  
iii4 #bc4  ,they begin to teach us to   
live when we have almost done living4 ,a
 hundred students have got the pox      
before they have come to read           
,aristotle's lecture on temperance4     
,cicero said1 that though he should live
 two men's ages1 he should never find   
leisure to study the lyric poets2 and ,i
 find these sophisters yet more         
deplorably unprofitable4 ,the boy we    
would breed has a great deal less time  
to spare2 he owes but the first fifteen 
or sixteen years of his life to         
education2 the remainder is due to      
action4  ,let us1 therefore1 employ that
 short time in necessary instruction4   
,away with the thorny subtleties of     
dialectics2 they are abuses1 things by  
which our lives can never be amended3   
take the plain philosophical discourses1
 learn how rightly to choose1 and then  
rightly to apply them2 they are more    
easy to be understood than one of       
,boccaccio's novels2 a child from nurse 

is much more capable of them1 than of   
learning to read or to write4           
,philosophy has discourses proper for   
childhood1 as well as for the decrepit  
age of men4  ,i am of ,plutarch's mind1 
that ,aristotle did not so much trouble 
his great disciple with the knack of    
forming syllogisms1 or with the elements
 of geometry2 as with infusing into him 
good precepts concerning valour1        
prowess1 magnanimity1 temperance1 and   
the contempt of fear2 and with this     
ammunition1 sent him1 whilst yet a boy1 
with no more than thirty thousand foot1 
four thousand horse1 and but forty-two  
thousand crowns1 to subjugate the empire
 of the whole earth4  ,for the other    
acts and sciences1 he says1 ,alexander  
highly indeed commended their excellence
 and charm1 and had them in very great  
honour and esteem1 but not ravished with
 them to that degree as to be tempted to
 affect the practice of them ,in his own
 person3                ,petite hinc1   
juvenesque senesque1                    

,finem ammo certum1 miserisque viatica  
canis4       ,young men and old men1    
derive hence a certain end to the mind1 
and stores for miserable grey           
hairs4--,persius1 v4 #fd4  ,epicurus1 in
 the beginning of his letter to         
,meniceus1--,diogenes ,laertius1 x4     
#abb4--says1 ,that neither the youngest 
should refuse to philosophise1 nor the  
oldest grow weary of it4  ,who does     
otherwise1 seems tacitly to imply1 that 
either the time of living happily is not
 yet come1 or that it is already past4  
,and yet1 a for all that1 ,i would not  
have this pupil of ours imprisoned and  
made a slave to his book2 nor would ,i  
have him given up to the morosity and   
melancholic humour of a sour ill-natured
 pedant4  ,i would not have his spirit  
cowed and subdued1 by applying him to   
the rack1 and tormenting him1 as some   
do1 fourteen or fifteen hours a day1 and
 so make a pack-horse of him4  ,neither 
should ,i think it good1 when1 by reason
 of a solitary and melancholic          

complexion1 he is discovered to be      
overmuch addicted to his book1 to       
nourish that humour in him2 for that    
renders him unfit for civil             
conversation1 and diverts him from      
better employments4  ,and how many have 
,i seen in my time totally brutified by 
an immoderate thirst after knowledge8   
,carneades was so besotted with it1 that
 he would not find time so much as to   
comb his head or to pare his nails4     
,neither would ,i have his generous     
manners spoiled and corrupted by the    
incivility and barbarism of those of    
another4  ,the ,french wisdom was       
anciently turned into proverb3 ,early1  
but of no continuance4  ,and1 in truth1 
we yet see1 that nothing can be more    
ingenious and pleasing than the children
 of ,france2 but they ordinarily deceive
 the hope and expectation that have been
 conceived of them2 and grown up to be  
men1 have nothing extraordinary or worth
 taking notice of3 ,i have heard men of 
good understanding say1 these colleges  

of ours to which we send our young      
people 7and of which we have but too    
many7 make them such animals as they    
are4--,hobbes said that if he ,had been 
at college as long as other people he   
should have been as great a blockhead as
 they4 ,w4,c4,h4 ,and ,bacon before     
,hobbe's time had discussed the futility
 of university teaching4 ,d4,w4  ,but to
 our little monsieur1 a closet1 a       
garden1 the table1 his bed1 solitude1   
and company1 morning and evening1 all   
hours shall be the same1 and all places 
to him a study2 for philosophy1 who1 as 
the formatrix of judgment and manners1  
shall be his principal lesson1 has that 
privilege to have a hand in everything4 
,the orator ,isocrates1 being at a feast
 entreated to speak of his art1 all the 
company were satisfied with and         
commended his answer3  ,it is not now a 
time1 said he1 to do what ,i can do2 and
 that which it is now time to do1 ,i    
cannot do4--,plutarch1 ,symp41 i4       
,i4--,for to make orations and          

rhetorical disputes in a company met    
together to laugh and make good cheer1  
had been very unreasonable and improper1
 and as much might have been said of all
 the other sciences4 ,but as to what    
concerns philosophy1 that part of it at 
least that treats of man1 and of his    
offices and duties1 it has been the     
common opinion of all wise men1 that1   
out of respect to the sweetness of her  
conversation1 she is ever to be admitted
 in all sports and entertainments4  ,and
 ,plato1 having invited her to his      
feast1 we see after how gentle and      
obliging a manner1 accommodated both to 
time and place1 she entertained the     
company1 though in a discourse of the   
highest and most important nature3      
,aeque pauperibus prodest1 locupletibus 
aeque2                ,et1 neglecta1    
aeque pueris senibusque nocebit4        
,it profits poor and rich alike1 but1   
neglected1 equally hurts old      and   
young4--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #be4  ,by this
 method of instruction1 my young pupil  

will be much more and better employed   
than his fellows of the college are4    
,but as the steps we take in walking to 
and fro in a gallery1 though three times
 as many1 do not tire a man so much as  
those we employ in a formal journey1 so 
our lesson1 as it were accidentally     
occurring1 without any set obligation of
 time or place1 and falling naturally   
into every action1 will insensibly      
insinuate itself4  ,by which means our  
very exercises and recreations1 running1
 wrestling1 music1 dancing1 hunting1    
riding1 and fencing1 will prove to be a 
good part of our study4  ,i would have  
his outward fashion and mien1 and the   
disposition of his limbs1 formed at the 
same time with his mind4  ',tis not a   
soul1 'tis not a body that we are       
training up1 but a man1 and we ought not
 to divide him4  ,and1 as ,plato says1  
we are not to fashion one without the   
other1 but make them draw together like 
two horses harnessed to a coach4  ,by   
which saying of his1 does he not seem to

 allow more time for1 and to take more  
care of exercises for the body1 and to  
hold that the mind1 in a good           
proportion1 does her business at the    
same time too8  ,as to the rest1 this   
method of education ought to be carried 
on with a severe sweetness1 quite       
contrary to the practice of our pedants1
 who1 instead of tempting and alluring  
children to letters by apt and gentle   
ways1 do in truth present nothing before
 them but rods and ferules1 horror and  
cruelty4  ,away with this violence6     
away with this compulsion6 than which1  
,i certainly believe nothing more dulls 
and degenerates a well-descended nature4
  ,if you would have him apprehend shame
 and chastisement1 do not harden him to 
them3 inure him to heat and cold1 to    
wind and sun1 and to dangers that he    
ought to despise2 wean him from all     
effeminacy and delicacy in clothes and  
lodging1 eating and drinking2 accustom  
him to everything1 that he may not be a 
,sir ,paris1 a carpet-knight1 but a     

sinewy1 hardy1 and vigorous young man4  
,i have ever from a child to the age    
wherein ,i now am1 been of this opinion1
 and am still constant to it4  ,but     
amongst other things1 the strict        
government of most of our colleges has  
evermore displeased me2 peradventure1   
they might have erred less perniciously 
on the indulgent side4  ',tis a real    
house of correction of imprisoned youth4
  ,they are made debauched by being     
punished before they are so4  ,do but   
come in when they are about their       
lesson1 and you shall hear nothing but  
the outcries of boys under execution1   
with the thundering noise of their      
pedagogues drunk with fury4 ,a very     
pretty way this1 to tempt these tender  
and timorous souls to love their book1  
with a furious countenance1 and a rod in
 hand6  ,a cursed and pernicious way of 
proceeding6  ,besides what ,quintilian  
has very well observed1 that this       
imperious authority is often attended by
 very dangerous consequences1 and       

particularly our way of chastising4     
,how much more decent would it be to see
 their classes strewed with green leaves
 and fine flowers1 than with the bloody 
stumps of birch and willows8  ,were it  
left to my ordering4  ,i should paint   
the school with the pictures of joy and 
gladness2 ,flora and the ,graces1 as the
 philosopher ,speusippus did his4 ,where
 their profit is1 let them there have   
their pleasure too4 ,such viands as are 
proper and wholesome for children1      
should be sweetened with sugar1 and such
 as are dangerous to them1 embittered   
with gall4 ',tis marvellous to see how  
solicitous ,plato is in his ,laws       
concerning the gaiety and diversion of  
the youth of his city1 and how much and 
often he enlarges upon the races1       
sports1 songs1 leaps1 and dances3 of    
which1 he says1 that antiquity has given
 the ordering and patronage particularly
 to the gods themselves1 to ,apollo1    
,minerva1 and the ,muses4  ,he insists  
long upon1 and is very particular in1   

giving innumerable precepts for         
exercises2 but as to the lettered       
sciences1 says very little1 and only    
seems particularly to recommend poetry  
upon the account of music4  ,all        
singularity in our manners and          
conditions is to be avoided1 as         
inconsistent with civil society4  ,who  
would not be astonished at so strange a 
constitution as that of ,demophoon1     
steward to ,alexander the ,great1 who   
sweated in the shade and shivered in the
 sun8  ,i have seen those who have run  
from the smell of a mellow apple with   
greater precipitation than from a       
harquebuss-shot2 others afraid of a     
mouse2 others vomit at the sight of     
cream2 others ready to swoon at the     
making of a feather bed2 ,germanicus    
could neither endure the sight nor the  
crowing of a cock4  ,i will not deny1   
but that there may1 peradventure1 be    
some occult cause and natural aversion  
in these cases2 but1 in my opinion1 a   
man might conquer it1 if he took it in  

time4  ,precept has in this wrought so  
effectually upon me1 though not without 
some pains on my part1 ,i confess1 that 
beer excepted1 my appetite accommodates 
itself indifferently to all sorts of    
diet4  ,young bodies are supple2 one    
should1 therefore1 in that age bend and 
ply them to all fashions and customs3   
and provided a man can contain the      
appetite and the will within their due  
limits1 let a young man1 in ,god's name1
 be rendered fit for all nations and all
 companies1 even to debauchery and      
excess1 if need be2 that is1 where he   
shall do it out of complacency to the   
customs of the place4 ,let him be able  
to do everything1 but love to do nothing
 but what is good4  ,the philosophers   
themselves do not justify ,callisthenes 
for forfeiting the favour of his master 
,alexander the ,great1 by refusing to   
pledge him a cup of wine4  ,let him     
laugh1 play1 wench with his prince3 nay1
 ,i would have him1 even in his         
debauches1 too hard for the rest of the 

company1 and to excel his companions in 
ability and vigour1 and that he may not 
give over doing it1 either through      
defect of power or knowledge how to do  
it1 but for want of will4       ,multum 
interest1 utrum peccare ali quis nolit1 
an nesciat4       ,there is a vast      
difference betwixt forbearing to sin1   
and not      knowing how to             
sin4--,seneca1 ,ep41 #ij  ,i thought ,i 
passed a compliment upon a lord1 as free
 from those excesses as any man in      
,france1 by asking him before a great   
deal of very good company1 how many     
times in his life he had been drunk in  
,germany1 in the time of his being there
 about his ,majesty's affairs2 which he 
also took as it was intended1 and made  
answer1 ,three times2 and withal told us
 the whole story of his debauches4  ,i  
know some who1 for want of this faculty1
 have found a great inconvenience in    
negotiating with that nation4  ,i have  
often with great admiration reflected   
upon the wonderful constitution of      

,alcibiades1 who so easily could        
transform himself to so various fashions
 without any prejudice to his health2   
one while outdoing the ,persian pomp and
 luxury1 and another1 the ,lacedaemonian
 austerity and frugality2 as reformed in
 ,sparta1 as voluptuous in ,ionia3      
,omnis ,aristippum decuit color1 et     
status1 et res4       ,every complexion 
of life1 and station1 and circumstance  
became      ,aristippus4--,horace1 ,ep41
 xvii4 #bc4  ,i would have my pupil to  
be such an one1                         
,quem duplici panno patentia velat1     
,mirabor1 vitae via si conversa decebit1
                ,personamque feret non  
inconcinnus utramque4       ,i should   
admire him who with patience bearing a  
patched garment1      bears well a      
changed fortune1 acting both parts      
equally well4      --,horace ,ep41 xvii4
 #be4  ,these are my lessons1 and he who
 puts them in practice shall reap more  
advantage than he who has had them read 
to him only1 and so only knows them4    

,if you see him1 you hear him2 if you   
hear him1 you see him4  ,god forbid1    
says one in ,plato1 that to philosophise
 were only to read a great many books1  
and to learn the arts4            ,hanc 
amplissimam omnium artium bene vivendi  
disciplinam1           vita magis quam  
literis1 persequuti sunt4       ,they   
have proceeded to this discipline of    
living well1 which of      all arts is  
the greatest1 by their lives1 rather    
than by their      reading4--,cicero1   
,tusc4 ,quaes41 iv4 #c4  ,leo1 prince of
 the ,phliasians1 asking ,heraclides    
,ponticus--,it was not ,heraclides of   
,pontus who made this answer1 but       
,pythagoras4--of what art or science he 
made profession3 ,i know1 said he1      
neither art nor science1 but ,i am a    
philosopher4  ,one reproaching ,diogenes
 that1 being ignorant1 he should pretend
 to philosophy2 ,i therefore1 answered  
he1 pretend to it with so much the more 
reason4  ,hegesias entreated that he    
would read a certain book to him3 ,you  

are pleasant1 said he2 you choose those 
figs that are true and natural1 and not 
those that are painted2 why do you not  
also choose exercises which are         
naturally true1 rather than those       
written8  ,the lad will not so much get 
his lesson by heart as he will practise 
it3 he will repeat it in his actions4   
,we shall discover if there be prudence 
in his exercises1 if there be sincerity 
and justice in his deportment1 if there 
be grace and judgment in his speaking2  
if there be constancy in his sickness2  
if there be modesty in his mirth1       
temperance in his pleasures1 order in   
his domestic economy1 indifference in   
palate1 whether what he eats or drinks  
be flesh or fish1 wine or water3        
,qui disciplinam suam non ostentationem 
scientiae1 sed legem vitae      putet3  
quique obtemperet ipse sibi1 et decretis
 pareat4       ,who considers his own   
discipline1 not as a vain ostentation of
      science1 but as a law and rule of 
life2 and who obeys his own             

decrees1 and the laws he has prescribed 
for himself4      --,cicero1 ,tusc4     
,quaes41 ii4 #d4  ,the conduct of our   
lives is the true mirror of our         
doctrine4  ,zeuxidamus1 to one who asked
 him1 why the ,lacedaemonians did not   
commit their constitutions of chivalry  
to writing1 and deliver them to their   
young men to read1 made answer1 that it 
was because they would inure them to    
action1 and not amuse them with words4  
,with such a one1 after fifteen or      
sixteen years' study1 compare one of our
 college ,latinists1 who has thrown away
 so much time in nothing but learning to
 speak4  ,the world is nothing but      
babble2 and ,i hardly ever yet saw that 
man who did not rather prate too much1  
than speak too little4  ,and yet half of
 our age is embezzled this way3 we are  
kept four or five years to learn words  
only1 and to tack them together into    
clauses2 as many more to form them into 
a long discourse1 divided into four or  
five parts2 and other five years1 at    

least1 to learn succinctly to mix and   
interweave them after a subtle and      
intricate manner let us leave all this  
to those who make a profession of it4   
,going one day to ,orleans1 ,i met in   
that plain on this side ,clery1 two     
pedants who were travelling towards     
,bordeaux1 about fifty paces distant    
from one another2 and1 a good way       
further behind them1 ,i discovered a    
troop of horse1 with a gentleman at the 
head of them1 who was the late ,monsieur
 le ,comte de la ,rochefoucauld4  ,one  
of my people inquired of the foremost of
 these masters of arts1 who that        
gentleman was that came after him2 he1  
having not seen the train that followed 
after1 and thinking his companion was   
meant1 pleasantly answered1 ,he is not a
 gentleman2 he is a grammarian2 and ,i  
am a logician4  ,now we who1 quite      
contrary1 do not here pretend to breed a
 grammarian or a logician1 but a        
gentleman1 let us leave them to abuse   
their leisure2 our business lies        

elsewhere4  ,let but our pupil be well  
furnished with things1 words will follow
 but too fast2 he will pull them after  
him if they do not voluntarily follow4  
,i have observed some to make excuses1  
that they cannot express themselves1 and
 pretend to have their fancies full of a
 great many very fine things1 which yet1
 for want of eloquence1 they cannot     
utter2 'tis a mere shift1 and nothing   
else4  ,will you know what ,i think of  
it8  ,i think they are nothing but      
shadows of some imperfect images and    
conceptions that they know not what to  
make of within1 nor consequently bring  
out2 they do not yet themselves         
understand what they would be at1 and if
 you but observe how they haggle and    
stammer upon the point of parturition1  
you will soon conclude1 that their      
labour is not to delivery1 but about    
conception1 and that they are but       
licking their formless embryo4  ,for my 
part1 ,i hold1 and ,socrates commands   
it1 that whoever has in his mind a      

sprightly and clear imagination1 he will
 express it well enough in one kind of  
tongue or another1 and1 if he be dumb1  
by signs--                 ,verbaque    
praevisam rem non invita sequentur2     
,once a thing is conceived in the mind1 
the words to express it      soon       
present themselves4 7,the words will not
 reluctantly follow the      thing      
preconceived47--,horace1 ,de ,arte      
,poetica4 v4 #caa  ,and as another as   
poetically says in his prose3           
,quum res animum occupavere1 verbs      
ambiunt1       ,when things are once in 
the mind1 the words offer themselves    
readily4  7,when things have taken      
possession of the mind1 the      words  
trip47--,seneca1 ,controvers41 iii4     
proem4  and this other4                 
,ipsae res verbs rapiunt4       ,the    
things themselves force the words to    
express them4      --,cicero1 ,de       
,finib41 iii4  #e4  ,he knows nothing of
 ablative1 conjunctive1 substantive1 or 
grammar1 no more than his lackey1 or a  

fishwife of the ,petit ,pont2 and yet   
these will give you a bellyful of talk1 
if you will hear them1 and peradventure 
shall trip as little in their language  
as the best masters of art in ,france4  
,he knows no rhetoric1 nor how in a     
preface to bribe the benevolence of the 
courteous reader2 neither does he care  
to know it4 ,indeed all this fine       
decoration of painting is easily effaced
 by the lustre of a simple and blunt    
truth2 these fine flourishes serve only 
to amuse the vulgar1 of themselves      
incapable of more solid and nutritive   
diet1 as ,aper very evidently           
demonstrates in ,tacitus4  ,the         
ambassadors of ,samos1 prepared with a  
long and elegant oration1 came to       
,cleomenes1 king of ,sparta1 to incite  
him to a war against the tyrant         
,polycrates2 who1 after he had heard    
their harangue with great gravity and   
patience1 gave them this answer3 ,as to 
the exordium1 ,i remember it not1 nor   
consequently the middle of your speech2 

and for what concerns your conclusion1  
,i will not do what you                 
desire3--,plutarch1 ,apothegms of the   
,lacedaemonians4--a very pretty answer  
this1 methinks1 and a pack of learned   
orators most sweetly gravelled4  ,and   
what did the other man say8 ,the        
,athenians were to choose one of two    
architects for a very great building    
they had designed2 of these1 the first1 
a pert affected fellow1 offered his     
service in a long premeditated discourse
 upon the subject of the work in hand1  
and by his oratory inclined the voices  
of the people in his favour2 but the    
other in three words3 ,o ,athenians1    
what this man says1 ,i will             
do4--,plutarch1 ,instructions to        
,statesmen1 c4 #d4-- ,when ,cicero was  
in the height and heat of an eloquent   
harangue1 many were struck with         
admiration2 but ,cato only laughed1     
saying1 ,we have a pleasant             
7mirth-making7 consul4  ,let it go      
before1 or come after1 a good sentence  

or a thing well said1 is always in      
season2 if it neither suit well with    
what went before1 nor has much coherence
 with what follows after1 it is good in 
itself4  ,i am none of those who think  
that good rhyme makes a good poem4  ,let
 him make short long1 and long short if 
he will1 'tis no great matter2 if there 
be invention1 and that the wit and      
judgment have well performed their      
offices1 ,i will say1 here's a good     
poet1 but an ill rhymer4                
,emunctae naris1 durus componere versus4
            ,of delicate humour1 but of 
rugged versification4                   
--,horace1 ,sat1 iv4 #h4  ,let a man1   
says ,horace1 divest his work of all    
method and measure1           ,tempora  
certa modosque1 et1 quod prius ordine   
verbum est1           ,posterius facias1
 praeponens ultima primis               
,invenias etiam disjecti membra poetae4 
,take away certain rhythms and measures1
 and make the word which      was first 
in order come later1 putting that which 

should be last      first1 you will     
still find the scattered remains of the 
poet4      --,horace1 ,sat41 i4 #d1 #eh4
  he will never the more lose himself   
for that2 the very pieces will be fine  
by themselves4  ,menander's answer had  
this meaning1 who being reproved by a   
friend1 the time drawing on at which he 
had promised a comedy1 that he had not  
yet fallen in hand with it2 ,it is made1
 and ready1 said he1 all but the        
verses4--,plutarch1 ,whether the        
,athenians more excelled in ,arms or in 
,letters4--,having contrived the        
subject1 and disposed the scenes in his 
fancy1 he took little care for the rest4
 ,since ,ronsard and ,du ,bellay have   
given reputation to our ,french poesy1  
every little dabbler1 for aught ,i see1 
swells his words as high1 and makes his 
cadences very near as harmonious as     
they3                      ,plus sonat1 
quam valet4                 ,more sound 
than sense--,seneca1 ,ep41 #dj4  ,for   
the vulgar1 there were never so many    

poetasters as now2 but though they find 
it no hard matter to imitate their      
rhyme1 they yet fall infinitely short of
 imitating the rich descriptions of the 
one1 and the delicate invention of the  
other of these masters4  ,but what will 
become of our young gentleman1 if he be 
attacked with the sophistic subtlety of 
some syllogism8  ,a ,westfalia ham makes
 a man drink2 drink quenches thirst3    
ergo a ,westfalia ham quenches thirst4  
,why1 let him laugh at it2 it will be   
more discretion to do so1 than to go    
about to answer it2 or let him borrow   
this pleasant evasion from ,aristippus3 
,why should ,i trouble myself to untie  
that1 which bound as it is1 gives me so 
much trouble8--,diogenes ,laertius1 ii4 
#gj4-- ,one offering at this dialectic  
juggling against ,cleanthes1 ,chrysippus
 took him short1 saying1 ,reserve these 
baubles to play with children1 and do   
not by such fooleries divert the serious
 thoughts of a man of years4  ,if these 
ridiculous subtleties1                  

,contorta et aculeata sophismata1  as   
,cicero calls them1 are designed to     
possess him with an untruth1 they are   
dangerous2 but if they signify no more  
than only to make him laugh1 ,i do not  
see why a man need to be fortified      
against them4  ,there are some so       
ridiculous1 as to go a mile out of their
 way to hook in a fine word3            
,aut qui non verba rebus aptant1 sed res
 extrinsecus           arcessunt1 quibus
 verba conveniant4       ,who do not fit
 words to the subject1 but seek out for 
things      quite from the purpose to   
fit the words4--,quintilian1 viii4 #c4  
,and as another says1            ,qui1  
alicujus verbi decore placentis1        
vocentur ad id1           quod non      
proposuerant scribere4       ,who by    
their fondness of some fine sounding    
word1 are tempted to      something they
 had no intention to treat of4--,seneca1
 ,ep41 #ei4  ,i for my part rather bring
 in a fine sentence by head and         
shoulders to fit my purpose1 than divert

 my designs to hunt after a sentence4   
,on the contrary1 words are to serve1   
and to follow a man's purpose2 and let  
,gascon come in play where ,french will 
not do4  ,i would have things so        
excelling1 and so wholly possessing the 
imagination of him that hears1 that he  
should have something else to do1 than  
to think of words4  ,the way of speaking
 that ,i love1 is natural and plain1 the
 same in writing as in speaking1 and a  
sinewy and muscular way of expressing a 
man's self1 short and pithy1 not so     
elegant and artificial as prompt and    
vehement2                 ,haec demum   
sapiet dictio1 qux feriet2       ,that  
has most weight and wisdom which pierces
 the ear4 7,that      utterance indeed  
will have a taste which shall strike the
 ear47      --,epitaph on ,lucan1 in    
,fabricius1 ,biblioth4  ,lat41 ii4 #aj4 
rather hard than wearisome2 free from   
affectation2 irregular1 incontinuous1   
and bold2 where every piece makes up an 
entire body2 not like a pedant1 a       

preacher1 or a pleader1 but rather a    
soldier-like style1 as ,suetonius calls 
that of ,julius ,caesar2 and yet ,i see 
no reason why he should call it so4  ,i 
have ever been ready to imitate the     
negligent garb1 which is yet observable 
amongst the young men of our time1 to   
wear my cloak on one shoulder1 my cap on
 one side1 a stocking in disorder1 which
 seems to express a kind of haughty     
disdain of these exotic ornaments1 and a
 contempt of the artificial2 but ,i find
 this negligence of much better use in  
the form of speaking4  ,all affectation1
 particularly in the ,french gaiety and 
freedom1 is ungraceful in a courtier1   
and in a monarchy every gentleman ought 
to be fashioned according to the court  
model2 for which reason1 an easy and    
natural negligence does well4  ,i no    
more like a web where the knots and     
seams are to be seen1 than a fine       
figure1 so delicate1 that a man may tell
 all the bones and veins3       ,quae   
veritati operam dat oratio1 incomposita 

sit et simplex4       ,let the language 
that is dedicated to truth be plain and 
unaffected4--,seneca1 ,ep4 #dj4         
,quis accurat loquitur1 nisi qui vult   
putide loqui8       ,for who studies to 
speak accurately1 that does not at the  
same      time wish to perplex his      
auditory8--,idem1 ,ep41 #ge4  ,that     
eloquence prejudices the subject it     
would advance1 that wholly attracts us  
to itself4  ,and as in our outward      
habit1 'tis a ridiculous effeminacy to  
distinguish ourselves by a particular   
and unusual garb or fashion2 so in      
language1 to study new phrases1 and to  
affect words that are not of current    
use1 proceeds from a puerile and        
scholastic ambition4 ,may ,i be bound to
 speak no other language than what is   
spoken in the market-places of ,paris6  
,aristophanes the grammarian was quite  
out1 when he reprehended ,epicurus for  
his plain way of delivering himself1 and
 the design of his oratory1 which was   
only perspicuity of speech4 ,the        

imitation of words1 by its own facility1
 immediately disperses itself through a 
whole people2 but the imitation of      
inventing and fitly applying those words
 is of a slower progress4  ,the         
generality of readers1 for having found 
a like robe1 very mistakingly imagine   
they have the same body and inside too1 
whereas force and sinews are never to be
 borrowed2 the gloss1 and outward       
ornament1 that is1 words and elocution1 
may4  ,most of those ,i converse with1  
speak the same language ,i here write2  
but whether they think the same thoughts
 ,i cannot say4  ,the ,athenians1 says  
,plato1 study fulness and elegancy of   
speaking2 the ,lacedaemonians affect    
brevity1 and those of ,crete to aim more
 at the fecundity of conception than the
 fertility of speech2 and these are the 
best4  ,zeno used to say that he had two
 sorts of disciples1 one that he called 
cy-----ous1 curious to learn things1 and
 these were his favourites2 the other1  
aoy---ous1 that cared for nothing but   

words4  ,not that fine speaking is not a
 very good and commendable quality2 but 
not so excellent and so necessary as    
some would make it2 and ,i am           
scandalised that our whole life should  
be spent in nothing else4  ,i would     
first understand my own language1 and   
that of my neighbours1 with whom most of
 my business and conversation lies4  ,no
 doubt but ,greek and ,latin are very   
great ornaments1 and of very great use1 
but we buy them too dear4  ,i will here 
discover one way1 which has been        
experimented in my own person1 by which 
they are to be had better cheap1 and    
such may make use of it as will4  ,my   
late father having made the most precise
 inquiry that any man could possibly    
make amongst men of the greatest        
learning and judgment1 of an exact      
method of education1 was by them        
cautioned of this inconvenience then in 
use1 and made to believe1 that the      
tedious time we applied to the learning 
of the tongues of them who had them for 

nothing1 was the sole cause we could not
 arrive to the grandeur of soul and     
perfection of knowledge1 of the ancient 
,greeks and ,romans4  ,i do not1        
however1 believe that to be the only    
cause4  ,so it is1 that the expedient my
 father found out for this was1 that in 
my infancy1 and before ,i began to      
speak1 he committed me to the care of a 
,german1 who since died a famous        
physician in ,france1 totally ignorant  
of our language1 and very fluent and a  
great critic in ,latin4  ,this man1 whom
 he had fetched out of his own country1 
and whom he entertained with a great    
salary for this only one end1 had me    
continually with him2 he had with him   
also joined two others1 of inferior     
learning1 to attend me1 and to relieve  
him2 these spoke to me in no other      
language but ,latin4  ,as to the rest of
 his household1 it was an inviolable    
rule1 that neither himself1 nor my      
mother1 nor valet1 nor chambermaid1     
should speak anything in my company1 but

 such ,latin words as each one had      
learned to gabble with me4 --,these     
passages are1 the basis of a small      
volume by the ,abbe ,mangin3 ,education 
de ,montaigne2 ou1 ,l',art d'enseigner  
le ,latin a l'instar des meres          
latines4--,it is not to be imagined how 
great an advantage this proved to the   
whole family2 my father and my mother by
 this means learned ,latin enough to    
understand it perfectly well1 and to    
speak it to such a degree as was        
sufficient for any necessary use2 as    
also those of the servants did who were 
most frequently with me4  ,in short1 we 
,latined it at such a rate1 that it     
overflowed to all the neighbouring      
villages1 where there yet remain1 that  
have established themselves by custom1  
several ,latin appellations of artisans 
and their tools4  ,as for what concerns 
myself1 ,i was above six years of age   
before ,i understood either ,french or  
,perigordin1 any more than ,arabic2 and 
without art1 book1 grammar1 or precept1 

whipping1 or the expense of a tear1 ,i  
had1 by that time1 learned to speak as  
pure ,latin as my master himself1 for ,i
 had no means of mixing it up with any  
other4  ,if1 for example1 they were to  
give me a theme after the college       
fashion1 they gave it to others in      
,french2 but to me they were to give it 
in bad ,latin1 to turn it into that     
which was good4  ,and ,nicolas ,grouchy1
 who wrote a book ,de ,comitiis         
,romanorum2 ,guillaume ,guerente1 who   
wrote a comment upon ,aristotle3 ,george
 ,buchanan1 that great ,scottish poet3  
and ,marc ,antoine ,muret 7whom both    
,france and ,italy have acknowledged for
 the best orator of his time71 my       
domestic tutors1 have all of them often 
told me that ,i had in my infancy that  
language so very fluent and ready1 that 
they were afraid to enter into discourse
 with me4  ,and particularly ,buchanan1 
whom ,i since saw attending the late    
,mareschal de ,brissac1 then told me1   
that he was about to write a treatise of

 education1 the example of which he     
intended to take from mine2 for he was  
then tutor to that ,comte de ,brissac   
who afterward proved so valiant and so  
brave a gentleman4  ,as to ,greek1 of   
which ,i have but a mere smattering1 my 
father also designed to have it taught  
me by a device1 but a new one1 and by   
way of sport2 tossing our declensions to
 and fro1 after the manner of those who1
 by certain games of tables1 learn      
geometry and arithmetic4  ,for he1      
amongst other rules1 had been advised to
 make me relish science and duty by an  
unforced will1 and of my own voluntary  
motion1 and to educate my soul in all   
liberty and delight1 without any        
severity or constraint2 which he was an 
observer of to such a degree1 even of   
superstition1 if ,i may say so1 that    
some being of opinion that it troubles  
and disturbs the brains of children     
suddenly to wake them in the morning1   
and to snatch them violently--and       
over-hastily from sleep 7wherein they   

are much more profoundly involved than  
we71 he caused me to be wakened by the  
sound of some musical instrument1 and   
was never unprovided of a musician for  
that purpose4  ,by this example you may 
judge of the rest1 this alone being     
sufficient to recommend both the        
prudence and the affection of so good a 
father1 who is not to be blamed if he   
did not reap fruits answerable to so    
exquisite a culture4  ,of this1 two     
things were the cause3 first1 a sterile 
and improper soil2 for1 though ,i was of
 a strong and healthful constitution1   
and of a disposition tolerably sweet and
 tractable1 yet ,i was1 withal1 so      
heavy1 idle1 and indisposed1 that they  
could not rouse me from my sloth1 not   
even to get me out to play4  ,what ,i   
saw1 ,i saw clearly enough1 and under   
this heavy complexion nourished a bold  
imagination and opinions above my age4  
,i had a slow wit that would go no      
faster than it was led2 a tardy         
understanding1 a languishing invention1 

and above all1 incredible defect of     
memory2 so that1 it is no wonder1 if    
from all these nothing considerable     
could be extracted4  ,secondly1 like    
those who1 impatient of along and steady
 cure1 submit to all sorts of           
prescriptions and recipes1 the good man 
being extremely timorous of any way     
failing in a thing he had so wholly set 
his heart upon1 suffered himself at last
 to be overruled by the common opinions1
 which always follow their leader as a  
flight of cranes1 and complying with the
 method of the time1 having no more     
those persons he had brought out of     
,italy1 and who had given him the first 
model of education1 about him1 he sent  
me at six years of age to the ,college  
of ,guienne1 at that time the best and  
most flourishing in ,france4  ,and there
 it was not possible to add anything to 
the care he had to provide me the most  
able tutors1 with all other             
circumstances of education1 reserving   
also several particular rules contrary  

to the college practice2 but so it was1 
that with all these precautions1 it was 
a college still4  ,my ,latin immediately
 grew corrupt1 of which also by         
discontinuance ,i have since lost all   
manner of use2 so that this new way of  
education served me to no other end1    
than only at my first coming to prefer  
me to the first forms2 for at thirteen  
years old1 that ,i came out of the      
college1 ,i had run through my whole    
course 7as they call it71 and1 in truth1
 without any manner of advantage1 that  
,i can honestly brag of1 in all this    
time4  ,the first taste which ,i had for
 books came to me from the pleasure in  
reading the fables of ,ovid's           
,metamorphoses2 for1 being about seven  
or eight years old1 ,i gave up all other
 diversions to read them1 both by reason
 that this was my own natural language1 
the easiest book that ,i was acquainted 
with1 and for the subject1 the most     
accommodated to the capacity of my age3 
for as for the ,lancelot of the ,lake1  

the ,amadis of ,gaul1 the ,huon of      
,bordeaux1 and such farragos1 by which  
children are most delighted with1 ,i had
 never so much as heard their names1 no 
more than ,i yet know what they contain2
 so exact was the discipline wherein ,i 
was brought up4  ,but this was enough to
 make me neglect the other lessons that 
were prescribed me2 and here it was     
infinitely to my advantage1 to have to  
do with an understanding tutor1 who very
 well knew discreetly to connive at this
 and other truantries of the same       
nature2 for by this means ,i ran through
 ,virgil's ,a,eneid1 and then ,terence1 
and then ,plautus1 and then some        
,italian comedies1 allured by the       
sweetness of the subject2 whereas had he
 been so foolish as to have taken me off
 this diversion1 ,i do really believe1  
,i had brought away nothing from the    
college but a hatred of books1 as almost
 all our young gentlemen do4  ,but he   
carried himself very discreetly in that 
business1 seeming to take no notice1 and

 allowing me only such time as ,i could 
steal from my other regular studies1    
which whetted my appetite to devour     
those books4  ,for the chief things my  
father expected from their endeavours to
 whom he had delivered me for education1
 were affability and good-humour2 and1  
to say the truth1 my manners had no     
other vice but sloth and want of metal4 
,the fear was not that ,i should do ill1
 but that ,i should do nothing2 nobody  
prognosticated that ,i should be wicked1
 but only useless2 they foresaw         
idleness1 but no malice2 and ,i find it 
falls out accordingly3 ,the complaints  
,i hear of myself are these3 ,he is     
idle1 cold in the offices of friendship 
and relation1 and in those of the       
public1 too particular1 too disdainful4 
,but the most injurious do not say1 ,why
 has he taken such a thing8  ,why has he
 not paid such an one8  but1 ,why does  
he part with nothing8  ,why does he not 
give8  ,and ,i should take it for a     
favour that men would expect from me no 

greater effects of supererogation than  
these4  ,but they are unjust to exact   
from me what ,i do not owe1 far more    
rigorously than they require from others
 that which they do owe4 ,in condemning 
me to it1 they efface the gratification 
of the action1 and deprive me of the    
gratitude that would be my due for it2  
whereas the active well-doing ought to  
be of so much the greater value from my 
hands1 by how much ,i have never been   
passive that way at all4  ,i can the    
more freely dispose of my fortune the   
more it is mine1 and of myself the more 
,i am my own4  ,nevertheless1 if ,i were
 good at setting out my own actions1 ,i 
could1 peradventure1 very well repel    
these reproaches1 and could give some to
 understand1 that they are not so much  
offended1 that ,i do not enough1 as that
 ,i am able to do a great deal more than
 ,i do4  ,yet for all this heavy        
disposition of mine1 my mind1 when      
retired into itself1 was not altogether 
without strong movements1 solid and     

clear judgments about those objects it  
could comprehend1 and could also1       
without any helps1 digest them2 but1    
amongst other things1 ,i do really      
believe1 it had been totally impossible 
to have made it to submit by violence   
and force4  ,shall ,i here acquaint you 
with one faculty of my youth8  ,i had   
great assurance of countenance1 and     
flexibility of voice and gesture1 in    
applying myself to any part ,i undertook
 to act3 for before--            ,alter 
ab undecimo tum me vix ceperat annus1   
,i had just entered my twelfth          
year4--,virgil1 ,bucol41 #ci4  ,i played
 the chief parts in the ,latin tragedies
 of ,buchanan1 ,guerente1 and ,muret1   
that were presented in our ,college of  
,guienne with great dignity3 now        
,andreas ,goveanus1 our principal1 as in
 all other parts of his charge1 was1    
without comparison1 the best of that    
employment in ,france2 and ,i was looked
 upon as one of the best actors4  ',tis 
an exercise that ,i do not disapprove in

 young people of condition2 and ,i have 
since seen our princes1 after the       
example of some of the ancients1 in     
person handsomely and commendably       
perform these exercises2 it was even    
allowed to persons of quality to make a 
profession of it in ,greece4            
,aristoni tragico actori rem aperit3    
huic et genus et           fortuna      
honesta erant3 nec ars1 quia nihil tale 
apud           ,graecos pudori est1 ea  
deformabat4       ,he imparted this     
matter to ,aristo the tragedian2 a man  
of good      family and fortune1 which  
neither of them receive any blemish by  
that profession2 nothing of this kind   
being reputed a disparagement      in   
,greece4--,livy1 xxiv4 #bd4  ,nay1 ,i   
have always taxed those with            
impertinence who condemn these          
entertainments1 and with injustice those
 who refuse to admit such comedians as  
are worth seeing into our good towns1   
and grudge the people that public       
diversion4  ,well-governed corporations 

take care to assemble their citizens1   
not only to the solemn duties of        
devotion1 but also to sports and        
spectacles4  ,they find society and     
friendship augmented by it2 and besides1
 can there possibly be allowed a more   
orderly and regular diversion than what 
is performed m the sight of every one1  
and very often in the presence of the   
supreme magistrate himself8  ,and ,i1   
for my part1 should think it reasonable1
 that the prince should sometimes       
gratify his people at his own expense1  
out of paternal goodness and affection2 
and that in populous cities there should
 be theatres erected for such           
entertainments1 if but to divert them   
from worse and private actions4  ,to    
return to my subject1 there is nothing  
like alluring the appetite and          
affections2 otherwise you make nothing  
but so many asses laden with books2 by  
dint of the lash1 you give them their   
pocketful of learning to keep2 whereas1 
to do well you should not only lodge it 

with them1 but make them espouse it4    
,,chapter ,,xxvi  ,,that ,,it ,,is      
,,folly ,,to ,,measure ,,truth ,,and    
,,error ,,by ,,our ,,own ,,capacity     
',tis not1 perhaps1 without reason1 that
 we attribute facility of belief and    
easiness of persuasion to simplicity and
 ignorance3 for ,i fancy ,i have heard  
belief compared to the impression of a  
seal upon the soul1 which by how much   
softer and of less resistance it is1 is 
the more easy to be impressed upon4     
,ut necesse est1 lancem in ,libra1      
ponderibus impositis1           deprimi1
 sic animum perspicuis cedere4       ,as
 the scale of the balance must give way 
to the weight that      presses it down1
 so the mind yields to demonstration4   
--,cicero1 ,acad41 ii4 #ab4  ,by how    
much the soul is more empty and without 
counterpoise1 with so much greater      
facility it yields under the weight of  
the first persuasion4  ,and this is the 
reason that children1 the common people1
 women1 and sick folks1 are most apt to 

be led by the ears4  ,but then1 on the  
other hand1 'tis a foolish presumption  
to slight and condemn all things for    
false that do not appear to us probable2
 which is the ordinary vice of such as  
fancy themselves wiser than their       
neighbours4  ,i was myself once one of  
those2 and if ,i heard talk of dead     
folks walking1 of prophecies1           
enchantments1 witchcrafts1 or any other 
story ,i had no mind to believe3        
,somnia1 terrores magicos1 miracula1    
sagas1                ,nocturnos        
lemures1 portentaque ,thessala1         
,dreams1 magic terrors1 marvels1        
sorceries1 ,thessalian prodigies4       
--,horace4  ,ep4 ii4 #c1 #bjh4  ,i      
presently pitied the poor people that   
were abused by these follies4 ,whereas  
,i now find1 that ,i myself was to be   
pitied as much1 at least1 as they2 not  
that experience has taught me anything  
to alter my former opinions1 though my  
curiosity has endeavoured that way2 but 
reason has instructed me1 that thus     

resolutely to condemn anything for false
 and impossible1 is arrogantly and      
impiously to circumscribe and limit the 
will of ,god1 and the power of our      
mother nature1 within the bounds of my  
own capacity1 than which no folly can be
 greater4  ,if we give the names of     
monster and miracle to everything our   
reason cannot comprehend1 how many are  
continually presented before our eyes8  
,let us but consider through what       
clouds1 and as it were groping in the   
dark1 our teachers lead us to the       
knowledge of most of the things about   
us2 assuredly we shall find that it is  
rather custom than knowledge that takes 
away their strangeness--                
,jam nemo1 fessus saturusque videndi1   
,suspicere in coeli dignatur lucida     
templa2       ,weary of the sight1 now  
no one deigns to look up to heaven's    
lucid      temples4--,lucretius1 ii4    
#ajcg4  ,the text has 'statiate videnai'
  and that if those things were now     
newly presented to us1 we should think  

them as incredible1 if not more1 than   
any others4                ,si nunc     
primum mortalibus adsint                
,ex improviso1 si sint objecta repente1 
,nil magis his rebus poterat mirabile   
dici1                ,aute minus ante   
quod auderent fore credere gentes4      
,lucretius1 ii4 #ajcb4  ,the sense of   
the passage is in the preceding         
sentence4  ,he that had never seen a    
river1 imagined the first he met with to
 be the sea2 and the greatest things    
that have fallen within our knowledge1  
we conclude the extremes that nature    
makes of the kind4                      
,scilicet et fluvius qui non est        
maximus1 ei'st                ,qui non  
ante aliquem majorem vidit2 et ingens   
,arbor1 homoque videtur1 et omnia de    
genere omni                ,maxima quae 
vidit quisque1 haec ingentia fingit4    
,a little river seems to him1 who has   
never seen a larger river1 a      mighty
 stream2 and so with other things--a    
tree1 a man--anything      appears      

greatest to him that never knew a       
greater4--,idem1 vi4 #fgd4              
,consuetudine oculorum assuescunt animi1
 neque admirantur1           neque      
requirunt rationes earum rerum1 quas    
semper vident4       ,things grow       
familiar to men's minds by being often  
seen2 so that      they neither admire  
nor are they inquisitive about things   
they daily      see4--,cicero1 ,de      
,natura ,deor41 lib4 ii4 #ch4  ,the     
novelty1 rather than the greatness of   
things1 tempts us to inquire into their 
causes4  ,we are to judge with more     
reverence1 and with greater             
acknowledgment of our own ignorance and 
infirmity1 of the infinite power of     
nature4  ,how many unlikely things are  
there testified by people worthy of     
faith1 which1 if we cannot persuade     
ourselves absolutely to believe1 we     
ought at least to leave them in         
suspense2 for1 to condemn them as       
impossible1 is by a temerarious         
presumption to pretend to know the      

utmost bounds of possibility4  ,did we  
rightly understand the difference       
betwixt the impossible and the unusual1 
and betwixt that which is contrary to   
the order and course of nature and      
contrary to the common opinion of men1  
in not believing rashly1 and on the     
other hand1 in not being too            
incredulous1 we should observe the rule 
of ',ne quid nimis' enjoined by ,chilo4 
,when we find in ,froissart1 that the   
,comte de ,foix  knew in ,bearn the     
defeat of ,john1 king of ,castile1 at   
,jubera the next day after it happened1 
and the means by which he tells us he   
came to do so1 we may be allowed to be a
 little merry at it1 as also at what our
 annals report1 that ,pope ,honorius1   
the same day that ,king ,philip         
,augustus died at ,mantes1 performed his
 public obsequies at ,rome1 and         
commanded the like throughout ,italy1   
the testimony of these authors not      
being1 perhaps1 of authority enough to  
restrain us4  ,but what if ,plutarch1   

besides several examples that he        
produces out of antiquity1 tells us1 he 
knows of certain knowledge1 that in the 
time of ,domitian1 the news of the      
battle lost by ,antony in ,germany was  
published at ,rome1 many days' journey  
from thence1 and dispersed throughout   
the whole world1 the same day it was    
fought2 and if ,caesar was of opinion1  
that it has often happened1 that the    
report has preceded the incident1 shall 
we not say1 that these simple people    
have suffered themselves to be deceived 
with the vulgar1 for not having been so 
clear-sighted as we8  ,is there anything
 more delicate1 more clear1 more        
sprightly2 than ,pliny's judgment1 when 
he is pleased to set it to work8        
,anything more remote from vanity8      
,setting aside his learning1 of which ,i
 make less account1 in which of these   
excellences do any of us excel him8     
,and yet there is scarce a young        
schoolboy that does not convict him of  
untruth1 and that pretends not to       

instruct him in the progress of the     
works of nature4  ,when we read in      
,bouchet the miracles of ,st4 ,hilary's 
relics1 away with them3 his authority is
 not sufficient to deprive us of the    
liberty of contradicting him2 but       
generally and offhand to condemn all    
suchlike stories1 seems to me a singular
 impudence4  ,that great ,st4 ,augustin'
 testifies to have seen a blind child   
recover sight upon the relics of ,st4   
,gervasius and ,st4 ,protasius at       
,milan2 a woman at ,carthage cured of a 
cancer1 by the sign of the cross made   
upon her by a woman newly baptized2     
,hesperius1 a familiar friend of his1 to
 have driven away the spirits that      
haunted his house1 with a little earth  
of the sepulchre of our ,lord2 which    
earth1 being also transported thence    
into the church1 a paralytic to have    
there been suddenly cured by it2 a woman
 in a procession1 having touched ,st4   
,stephen's shrine with a nosegay1 and   
rubbing her eyes with it1 to have       

recovered her sight1 lost many years    
before2 with several other miracles of  
which he professes himself to have been 
an eyewitness3 of what shall we excuse  
him and the two holy bishops1 ,aurelius 
and ,maximinus1 both of whom he attests 
to the truth of these things8  ,shall it
 be of ignorance1 simplicity1 and       
facility2 or of malice and imposture8   
,is any man now living so impudent as to
 think himself comparable to them in    
virtue1 piety1 learning1 judgment1 or   
any kind of perfection8                 
,qui1 ut rationem nullam afferrent1     
ipsa auctoritate me frangerent4         
,who1 though they should adduce no      
reason1 would convince me with          
their authority alone4--,cicero1 ,tusc4 
,quaes1 i4 #ba4  ',tis a presumption of 
great danger and consequence1 besides   
the absurd temerity it draws after it1  
to contemn what we do not comprehend4   
,for after1 according to your fine      
understanding1 you have established the 
limits of truth and error1 and that1    

afterwards1 there appears a necessity   
upon you of believing stranger things   
than those you have contradicted1 you   
are already obliged to quit your limits4
  ,now1 that which seems to me so much  
to disorder our consciences in the      
commotions we are now in concerning     
religion1 is the ,catholics dispensing  
so much with their belief4  ,they fancy 
they appear moderate1 and wise1 when    
they grant to their opponents some of   
the articles in question2 but1 besides  
that they do not discern what advantage 
it is to those with whom we contend1 to 
begin to give ground and to retire1 and 
how much this animates our enemy to     
follow his blow3 these articles which   
they select as things indifferent1 are  
sometimes of very great importance4  ,we
 are either wholly and absolutely to    
submit ourselves to the authority of our
 ecclesiastical polity1 or totally throw
 off all obedience to it3 'tis not for  
us to determine what and how much       
obedience we owe to it4  ,and this ,i   

can say1 as having myself made trial of 
it1 that having formerly taken the      
liberty of my own swing and fancy1 and  
omitted or neglected certain rules of   
the discipline of our ,church1 which    
seemed to me vain and strange coming    
afterwards to discourse of it with      
learned men1 ,i have found those same   
things to be built upon very good and   
solid ground and strong foundation2 and 
that nothing but stupidity and ignorance
 makes us receive them with less        
reverence than the rest4  ,why do we not
 consider what contradictions we find in
 our own judgments2 how many things were
 yesterday articles of our faith1 that  
to-day appear no other than fables8     
,glory and curiosity are the scourges of
 the soul2 the last prompts us to thrust
 our noses into everything1 the other   
forbids us to leave anything doubtful   
and undecided4          ,,etext         
,,editor',s ,,bookmarks3       ,a child 
should not be brought up in his mother's
 lap      ,acquiesce and submit to truth

      ,affect words that are not of     
current use      ,anything appears      
greatest to him that never knew a       
greater      ,appetite to read more1    
than glutted with that we have          
,applaud his judgment than commend his  
knowledge      ,attribute facility of   
belief to simplicity and ignorance      
,away with this violence6  away with    
this compulsion6      ,bears well a     
changed fortune1 acting both parts      
equally well      ,belief compared to   
the impression of a seal upon the soul  
cloak on one shoulder1 my cap on one    
side1 a stocking disordered             
,college3 a real house of correction of 
imprisoned youth      ,disgorge what we 
eat in the same condition it was        
swallowed      ,education ought to be   
carried on with a severe sweetness      
,eloquence prejudices the subject it    
would advance      ,fear was not that ,i
 should do ill1 but that ,i should do   
nothing      ,glory and curiosity are   
the scourges of the soul      ,hobbes   

said that if he had been at college as  
long as others--      ,inquisitive after
 everything      ,insert whole sections 
and pages out of ancient authors        
,it is no hard matter to get children   
,learn what it is right to wish         
,least touch or prick of a pencil in    
comparison of the whole      ,let him be
 satisfied with correcting himself      
,let him examine every man's talent     
,light prognostics they give of         
themselves in their tender years        
,living well1 which of all arts is the  
greatest      ,lodge nothing in his     
fancy upon simple authority and upon    
trust      ,man may say too much even   
upon the best subjects      ,miracle3   
everything our reason cannot comprehend 
,morosity and melancholic humour of a   
sour ill-natured pedant      ,mothers   
are too tender      ,negligent garb1    
which is yet observable amongst the     
young men      ,nobody prognosticated   
that ,i should be wicked1 but only      
useless      ,not having been able to   

pronounce one syllable1 which is ,no6   
,o ,athenians1 what this man says1 ,i   
will do      ,obstinacy and contention  
are common qualities      ,occasion to  
,la ,boetie to write his ,voluntary     
,servitude      ,philosophy has         
discourses proper for childhood         
,philosophy is that which instructs us  
to live      ,philosophy looked upon as 
a vain and fantastic name      ,preface 
to bribe the benevolence of the         
courteous reader      ,reading those    
books1 converse with the great and      
heroic souls      ,silence1 therefore1  
and modesty are very advantageous       
qualities      ,so many trillions of    
men1 buried before us      ,sparing and 
an husband of his knowledge      ,the   
conduct of our lives is the true mirror 
of our doctrine      ,the most manifest 
sign of wisdom is a continual           
cheerfulness      ,their labour is not  
to delivery1 but about conception       
,there is nothing like alluring the     
appetite and affections      ,they begin

 to teach us to live when we have almost
 done living      ,things grow familiar 
to men's minds by being often seen      
,to condemn them as impossible1 is by a 
temerarious presumption      ,to contemn
 what we do not comprehend      ,to go a
 mile out of their way to hook in a fine
 word      ,to know by rote1 is no      
knowledge      ,tongue will grow too    
stiff to bend      ,totally brutified by
 an immoderate thirst after knowledge   
,unbecoming rudeness to carp at         
everything      ,unjust to exact from me
 what ,i do not owe      ,where their   
profit is1 let them there have their    
pleasure too      ,who by their fondness
 of some fine sounding word