,,essays ,,of ,,michel ,,de ,,montaigne 
,translated by ,charles ,cotton  ,edited
 by ,william ,carew ,hazilitt  #ahgg    
,,contents ,,of ,,volume #f4  ,,xxvii4  
,of friendship4 ,,xxviii4               
,nine-and-twenty sonnets of ,estienne de
 la ,boetie4 ,,xxix4     ,of moderation4
 ,,xxx4      ,of cannibals4 ,,xxxi4     
,that a man is soberly to judge of the  
divine ordinances4 ,,xxxii4    ,that we 
are to avoid pleasures1 even at the     
expense of life4 ,,xxxiii4   ,that      
fortune is oftentimes observed to act by
 the rule of           reason4 ,,xxxiv4 
,of one defect in our government4       
,,xxxv4     ,of the custom of wearing   
clothes4 ,,xxxvi4    ,of ,cato the      
,younger4 ,,xxxvii4   ,that we laugh and
 cry for the same thing4 ,,xxxviii4  ,of
 solitude4     ,,chapter ,,xxvii  ,,of  
,,friendship  ,having considered the    
proceedings of a painter that serves me1
 ,i had a mind to imitate his way4  ,he 
chooses the fairest place and middle of 
any wall1 or panel1 wherein to draw a   

picture1 which he finishes with his     
utmost care and art1 and the vacuity    
about it he fills with grotesques1 which
 are odd fantastic figures without any  
grace but what they derive from their   
variety1 and the extravagance of their  
shapes4  ,and in truth1 what are these  
things ,i scribble1 other than          
grotesques and monstrous bodies1 made of
 various parts1 without any certain     
figure1 or any other than accidental    
order1 coherence1 or proportion8        
,desinit in piscem mulier formosa       
superne4            ,a fair woman in her
 upper form terminates in a fish4       
--,horace1 ,de ,arte ,poetica1 v4 #d4   
,in this second part ,i go hand in hand 
with my painter2 but fall very short of 
him in the first and the better1 my     
power of handling not being such1 that  
,i dare to offer at a rich piece1 finely
 polished1 and set off according to art4
  ,i have therefore thought fit to      
borrow one of ,estienne de la ,boetie1  
and such a one as shall honour and adorn

 all the rest of my work--namely1 a     
discourse that he called ',voluntary    
,servitude'2 but1 since1 those who did  
not know him have properly enough called
 it ,le contr ,un4  ,he wrote in his    
youth1--,not being as yet eighteen years
 old4--,edition of #aehh4 by way of     
essay1 in honour of liberty against     
tyrants2 and it has since run through   
the hands of men of great learning and  
judgment1 not without singular and      
merited commendation2 for it is finely  
written1 and as full as anything can    
possibly be4  ,and yet one may          
confidently say it is far short of what 
he was able to do2 and if in that more  
mature age1 wherein ,i had the happiness
 to know him1 he had taken a design like
 this of mine1 to commit his thoughts to
 writing1 we should have seen a great   
many rare things1 and such as would have
 gone very near to have rivalled the    
best writings of antiquity3 for in      
natural parts especially1 ,i know no man
 comparable to him4  ,but he has left   

nothing behind him1 save this treatise  
only 7and that too by chance1 for ,i    
believe he never saw it after it first  
went out of his hands71 and some        
observations upon that edict of         
,january--#aefb1 which granted to the   
,huguenots the public exercise of their 
religion4--made famous by our           
civil-wars1 which also shall elsewhere1 
peradventure1 find a place4 ,these were 
all ,i could recover of his remains1 ,i 
to whom with so affectionate a          
remembrance1 upon his death-bed1 he by  
his last will bequeathed his library and
 papers1 the little book of his works   
only excepted1 which ,i committed to the
 press4  ,and this particular obligation
 ,i have to this treatise of his1 that  
it was the occasion of my first coming  
acquainted with him2 for it was showed  
to me long before ,i had the good       
fortune to know him2 and the first      
knowledge of his name1 proving the first
 cause and foundation of a friendship1  
which we afterwards improved and        

maintained1 so long as ,god was pleased 
to continue us together1 so perfect1    
inviolate1 and entire1 that certainly   
the like is hardly to be found in story1
 and amongst the men of this age1 there 
is no sign nor trace of any such thing  
in use2 so much concurrence is required 
to the building of such a one1 that 'tis
 much1 if fortune bring it but once to  
pass in three ages4  ,there is nothing  
to which nature seems so much to have   
inclined us1 as to society2 and         
,aristotle 1 says that the good         
legislators had more respect to         
friendship than to justice4  ,now the   
most supreme point of its perfection is 
this3 for1 generally1 all those that    
pleasure1 profit1 public or private     
interest create and nourish1 are so much
 the less beautiful and generous1 and so
 much the less friendships1 by how much 
they mix another cause1 and design1 and 
fruit in friendship1 than itself4       
,neither do the four ancient kinds1     
natural1 social1 hospitable1 venereal1  

either separately or jointly1 make up a 
true and perfect friendship4  ,that of  
children to parents is rather respect3  
friendship is nourished by              
communication1 which cannot by reason of
 the great disparity1 be betwixt these1 
but would rather perhaps offend the     
duties of nature2 for neither are all   
the secret thoughts of fathers fit to be
 communicated to children1 lest it beget
 an indecent familiarity betwixt them2  
nor can the advices and reproofs1 which 
is one of the principal offices of      
friendship1 be properly performed by the
 son to the father4  ,there are some    
countries where 'twas the custom for    
children to kill their fathers2 and     
others1 where the fathers killed their  
children1 to avoid their being an       
impediment one to another in life2 and  
naturally the expectations of the one   
depend upon the ruin of the other4      
,there have been great philosophers who 
have made nothing of this tie of nature1
 as ,aristippus for one1 who being      

pressed home about the affection he owed
 to his children1 as being come out of  
him1 presently fell to spit1 saying1    
that this also came out of him1 and that
 we also breed worms and lice2 and that 
other1 that ,plutarch endeavoured to    
reconcile to his brother3 ,i make never 
the more account of him1 said he1 for   
coming out of the same hole4  ,this name
 of brother does indeed carry with it a 
fine and delectable sound1 and for that 
reason1 he and ,i called one another    
brothers but the complication of        
interests1 the division of estates1 and 
that the wealth of the one should be the
 property of the other1 strangely relax 
and weaken the fraternal tie3 brothers  
pursuing their fortune and advancement  
by the same path1 'tis hardly possible  
but they must of necessity often jostle 
and hinder one another4  ,besides1 why  
is it necessary that the correspondence 
of manners1 parts1 and inclinations1    
which begets the true and perfect       
friendships1 should always meet in these

 relations8  ,the father and the son may
 be of quite contrary humours1 and so of
 brothers3 he is my son1 he is my       
brother2 but he is passionate1          
ill-natured1 or a fool4  ,and moreover1 
by how much these are friendships that  
the law and natural obligation impose   
upon us1 so much less is there of our   
own choice and voluntary freedom2       
whereas that voluntary liberty of ours  
has no production more promptly and2    
properly its own than affection and     
friendship4  ,not that ,i have not in my
 own person experimented all that can   
possibly be expected of that kind1      
having had the best and most indulgent  
father1 even to his extreme old age1    
that ever was1 and who was himself      
descended from a family for many        
generations famous and exemplary for    
brotherly concord3                      
,et ipse                     ,notus in  
fratres animi paterni4       ,and ,i    
myself1 known for paternal love toward  
my brothers4      --,horace1 ,ode1 ii4  

#b1 #f4  ,we are not here to bring the  
love we bear to women1 though it be an  
act of our own choice1 into comparison1 
nor rank it with the others4  ,the fire 
of this1 ,i confess1                    
,neque enim est dea nescia nostri       
,qux dulcem curis miscet amaritiem1     
,nor is the goddess unknown to me who   
mixes a sweet bitterness      with my   
love4---,catullus1 lxviii4 #ag4  is more
 active1 more eager1 and more sharp3 but
 withal1 'tis more precipitant1 fickle1 
moving1 and inconstant2 a fever subject 
to intermissions and paroxysms1 that has
 seized but on one part of us4 ,whereas 
in friendship1 'tis a general and       
universal fire1 but temperate and equal1
 a constant established heat1 all gentle
 and smooth1 without poignancy or       
roughness4  ,moreover1 in love1 'tis no 
other than frantic desire for that which
 flies from us3                ,come    
segue la lepre il cacciatore            
,al freddo1 al caldo1 alla montagna1 al 
lito2                ,ne piu l'estima   

poi the presa vede2                ,e   
sol dietro a chi fugge affretta il piede
       ,as the hunter pursues the hare1 
in cold and heat1 to the mountain1      
to the shore1 nor cares for it farther  
when he sees it taken1 and      only    
delights in chasing that which flees    
from him4--,aristo1 x4 #g4  so soon as  
it enters unto the terms of friendship1 
that is to say1 into a concurrence of   
desires1 it vanishes and is gone1       
fruition destroys it1 as having only a  
fleshly end1 and such a one as is       
subject to satiety4 ,friendship1 on the 
contrary1 is enjoyed proportionably as  
it is desired2 and only grows up1 is    
nourished and improved by enjoyment1 as 
being of itself spiritual1 and the soul 
growing still more refined by practice4 
,under this perfect friendship1 the     
other fleeting affections have in my    
younger years found some place in me1 to
 say nothing of him1 who himself so     
confesses but too much in his verses2 so
 that ,i had both these passions1 but   

always so1 that ,i could myself well    
enough distinguish them1 and never in   
any degree of comparison with one       
another2 the first maintaining its      
flight in so lofty and so brave a place1
 as with disdain to look down1 and see  
the other flying at a far humbler pitch 
below4  ,as concerning marriage1 besides
 that it is a covenant1 the entrance    
into which only is free1 but the        
continuance in it forced and compulsory1
 having another dependence than that of 
our own free will1 and a bargain        
commonly contracted to other ends1 there
 almost always happens a thousand       
intricacies in it to unravel1 enough to 
break the thread and to divert the      
current of a lively affection3 whereas  
friendship has no manner of business or 
traffic with aught but itself4          
,moreover1 to say truth1 the ordinary   
talent of women is not such as is       
sufficient to maintain the conference   
and communication required to the       
support of this sacred tie2 nor do they 

appear to be endued with constancy of   
mind1 to sustain the pinch of so hard   
and durable a knot4  ,and doubtless1 if 
without this1 there could be such a free
 and voluntary familiarity contracted1  
where not only the souls might have this
 entire fruition1 but the bodies also   
might share in the alliance1 and a man  
be engaged throughout1 the friendship   
would certainly be more full and        
perfect2 but it is without example that 
this sex has ever yet arrived at such   
perfection2 and1 by the common consent  
of the ancient schools1 it is wholly    
rejected from it4  ,that other ,grecian 
licence is justly abhorred by our       
manners1 which also1 from having1       
according to their practice1 a so       
necessary disparity of age and          
difference of offices betwixt the       
lovers1 answered no more to the perfect 
union and harmony that we here require  
than the other3           ,quis est enim
 iste amor amicitiae8 cur neque deformem
           adolescentem quisquam amat1  

neque formosum senem8       ,for what is
 that friendly love8 why does no one    
love a deformed      youth or a comely  
old man8--,cicero1 ,tusc4  ,quaes41 iv4 
#cc4  ,neither will that very picture   
that the ,academy presents of it1 as ,i 
conceive1 contradict me1 when ,i say1   
that this first fury inspired by the son
 of ,venus into the heart of the lover1 
upon sight of the flower and prime of a 
springing and blossoming youth1 to which
 they allow all the insolent and        
passionate efforts that an immoderate   
ardour can produce1 was simply founded  
upon external beauty1 the false image of
 corporal generation2 for it could not  
ground this love upon the soul1 the     
sight of which as yet lay concealed1 was
 but now springing1 and not of maturity 
to blossom2 that this fury1 if it seized
 upon a low spirit1 the means by which  
it preferred its suit were rich         
presents1 favour in advancement to      
dignities1 and such trumpery1 which they
 by no means approve2 if on a more      

generous soul1 the pursuit was suitably 
generous1 by philosophical instructions1
 precepts to revere religion1 to obey   
the laws1 to die for the good of one's  
country2 by examples of valour1         
prudence1 and justice1 the lover        
studying to render himself acceptable by
 the grace and beauty of the soul1 that 
of his body being long since faded and  
decayed1 hoping by this mental society  
to establish a more firm and lasting    
contract4 ,when this courtship came to  
effect in due season 7for that which    
they do not require in the lover1       
namely1 leisure and discretion in his   
pursuit1 they strictly require in the   
person loved1 forasmuch as he is to     
judge of an internal beauty1 of         
difficult knowledge and abstruse        
discovery71 then there sprung in the    
person loved the desire of a spiritual  
conception2 by the mediation of a       
spiritual beauty4  ,this was the        
principal2 the corporeal1 an accidental 
and secondary matter2 quite the contrary

 as to the lover4  ,for this reason they
 prefer the person beloved1 maintaining 
that the gods in like manner preferred  
him too1 and very much blame the poet   
,a,eschylus for having1 in the loves of 
,achilles and ,patroclus1 given the     
lover's part to ,achilles1 who was in   
the first and beardless flower of his   
adolescence1 and the handsomest of all  
the ,greeks4  ,after this general       
community1 the sovereign1 and most      
worthy part presiding and governing1 and
 performing its proper offices1 they    
say1 that thence great utility was      
derived1 both by private and public     
concerns2 that it constituted the force 
and power of the countries where it     
prevailed1 and the chiefest security of 
liberty and justice4  ,of which the     
healthy loves of ,harmodius and         
,aristogiton are instances4  ,and       
therefore it is that they called it     
sacred and divine1 and conceive that    
nothing but the violence of tyrants and 
the baseness of the common people are   

inimical to it4  ,finally1 all that can 
be said in favour of the ,academy is1   
that it was a love which ended in       
friendship1 which well enough agrees    
with the ,stoical definition of love3   
,amorem conatum esse amicitiae faciendae
                ex pulchritudinis       
specie4       ,love is a desire of      
contracting friendship arising from the 
beauty      of the object4--,cicero1    
,tusc4 ,quaes41 vi4 #cd4  ,i return to  
my own more just and true description3  
,omnino amicitiae1 corroboratis jam     
confirmatisque1           et ingeniis1  
et aetatibus1 judicandae sunt4          
,those are only to be reputed           
friendships that are fortified and      
confirmed by judgement and the length of
 time4      --,cicero1 ,de ,amicit41 c4 
#bj4  ,for the rest1 what we commonly   
call friends and friendships1 are       
nothing but acquaintance and            
familiarities1 either occasionally      
contracted1 or upon some design1 by     
means of which there happens some little

 intercourse betwixt our souls4  ,but in
 the friendship ,i speak of1 they mix   
and work themselves into one piece1 with
 so universal a mixture1 that there is  
no more sign of the seam by which they  
were first conjoined4  ,if a man should 
importune me to give a reason why ,i    
loved him1 ,i find it could no otherwise
 be expressed1 than by making answer3   
because it was he1 because it was ,i4   
,there is1 beyond all that ,i am able to
 say1 ,i know not what inexplicable and 
fated power that brought on this union4 
,we sought one another long before we   
met1 and by the characters we heard of  
one another1 which wrought upon our     
affections more than1 in reason1 mere   
reports should do2 ,i think 'twas by    
some secret appointment of heaven4 ,we  
embraced in our names2 and at our first 
meeting1 which was accidentally at a    
great city entertainment1 we found      
ourselves so mutually taken with one    
another1 so acquainted1 and so endeared 
betwixt ourselves1 that from            

thenceforward nothing was so near to us 
as one another4  ,he wrote an excellent 
,latin satire1 since printed1 wherein he
 excuses the precipitation of our       
intelligence1 so suddenly come to       
perfection1 saying1 that destined to    
have so short a continuance1 as begun so
 late 7for we were both full-grown men1 
and he some years the older71 there was 
no time to lose1 nor were we tied to    
conform to the example of those slow and
 regular friendships1 that require so   
many precautions of long preliminary    
conversation3 ,this has no other idea   
than that of itself1 and can only refer 
to itself3 this is no one special       
consideration1 nor two1 nor three1 nor  
four1 nor a thousand2 'tis ,i know not  
what quintessence of all this mixture1  
which1 seizing my whole will1 carried it
 to plunge and lose itself in his1 and  
that having seized his whole will1      
brought it back with equal concurrence  
and appetite to plunge and lose itself  
in mine4  ,i may truly say lose1        

reserving nothing to ourselves that was 
either his or mine4--,all this relates  
to ,estienne de la ,boetie4  ,when      
,laelius1--,cicero1 ,de ,amicit41 c4    
,,ii4--in the presence of the ,roman    
consuls1 who after thay had sentenced   
,tiberius ,gracchus1 prosecuted all     
those who had had any familiarity with  
him also2 came to ask ,caius ,blosius1  
who was his chiefest friend1 how much he
 would have done for him1 and that he   
made answer3  ,all things4--,how6  ,all 
things6  said ,laelius4  ,and what if he
 had commanded you to fire our          
temples8--,he would never have commanded
 me that1 replied ,blosius4--,but what  
if he had8 said ,laelius4--,i would have
 obeyed him1 said the other4  ,if he was
 so perfect a friend to ,gracchus as the
 histories report him to have been1     
there was yet no necessity of offending 
the consuls by such a bold confession1  
though he might still have retained the 
assurance he had of ,gracchus'          
disposition4  ,however1 those who accuse

 this answer as seditious1 do not well  
understand the mystery2 nor presuppose1 
as it was true1 that he had ,gracchus'  
will in his sleeve1 both by the power of
 a friend1 and the perfect knowledge he 
had of the man3 they were more friends  
than citizens1 more friends to one      
another than either enemies or friends  
to their country1 or than friends to    
ambition and innovation2 having         
absolutely given up themselves to one   
another1 either held absolutely the     
reins of the other's inclination2 and   
suppose all this guided by virtue1 and  
all this by the conduct of reason1 which
 also without these it had not been     
possible to do1 ,blosius' answer was    
such as it ought to be4  ,if any of     
their actions flew out of the handle1   
they were neither 7according to my      
measure of friendship7 friends to one   
another1 nor to themselves4  ,as to the 
rest1 this answer carries no worse      
sound1 than mine would do to one that   
should ask me3 ,if your will should     

command you to kill your daughter1 would
 you do it8 and that ,i should make     
answer1 that ,i would2 for this         
expresses no consent to such an act1    
forasmuch as ,i do not in the least     
suspect my own will1 and as little that 
of such a friend4  ',tis not in the     
power of all the eloquence in the world1
 to dispossess me of the certainty ,i   
have of the intentions and resolutions  
of my friend2 nay1 no one action of his1
 what face soever it might bear1 could  
be presented to me1 of which ,i could   
not presently1 and at first sight1 find 
out the moving cause4  ,our souls had   
drawn so unanimously together1 they had 
considered each other with so ardent an 
affection1 and with the like affection  
laid open the very bottom of our hearts 
to one another's view1 that ,i not only 
knew his as well as my own2 but should  
certainly in any concern of mine have   
trusted my interest much more willingly 
with him1 than with myself4  ,let no    
one1 therefore1 rank other common       

friendships with such a one as this4  ,i
 have had as much experience of these as
 another1 and of the most perfect of    
their kind3 but ,i do not advise that   
any should confound the rules of the one
 and the other1 for they would find     
themselves much deceived4  ,in those    
other ordinary friendships1 you are to  
walk with bridle in your hand1 with     
prudence and circumspection1 for in them
 the knot is not so sure that a man may 
not half suspect it will slip4  ,love   
him1 said ,chilo1--,aulus ,gellius1 i4  
#c4--so as if you were one day to hate  
him2 and hate him so as you were one day
 to love him4  ,this precept1 though    
abominable in the sovereign and perfect 
friendship ,i speak of1 is nevertheless 
very sound as to the practice of the    
ordinary and customary ones1 and to     
which the saying that ,aristotle had so 
frequent in his mouth1 ,o my friends1   
there is no friend1 may very fitly be   
applied4  ,in this noble commerce1 good 
offices1 presents1 and benefits1 by     

which other friendships are supported   
and maintained1 do not deserve so much  
as to be mentioned2 and the reason is   
the concurrence of our wills2 for1 as   
the kindness ,i have for myself receives
 no increase1 for anything ,i relieve   
myself withal in time of need 7whatever 
the ,stoics say71 and as ,i do not find 
myself obliged to myself for any service
 ,i do myself3 so the union of such     
friends1 being truly perfect1 deprives  
them of all idea of such duties1 and    
makes them loathe and banish from their 
conversation these words of division and
 distinction1 benefits1 obligation1     
acknowledgment1 entreaty1 thanks1 and   
the like4  ,all things1 wills1 thoughts1
 opinions1 goods1 wives1 children1      
honours1 and lives1 being in effect     
common betwixt them1 and that absolute  
concurrence of affections being no other
 than one soul in two bodies 7according 
to that very proper definition of       
,aristotle71 they can neither lend nor  
give anything to one another4  ,this is 

the reason why the lawgivers1 to honour 
marriage with some resemblance of this  
divine alliance1 interdict all gifts    
betwixt man and wife2 inferring by that1
 that all should belong to each of them1
 and that they have nothing to divide or
 to give to each other4  ,if1 in the    
friendship of which ,i speak1 one could 
give to the other1 the receiver of the  
benefit would be the man that obliged   
his friend2 for each of them contending 
and above all things studying how to be 
useful to the other1 he that administers
 the occasion is the liberal man1 in    
giving his friend the satisfaction of   
doing that towards him which above all  
things he most desires4  ,when the      
philosopher ,diogenes wanted money1 he  
used to say1 that he redemanded it of   
his friends1 not that he demanded it4   
,and to let you see the practical       
working of this1 ,i will here produce an
 ancient and singular example4          
,eudamidas1 a ,corinthian1 had two      
friends1 ,charixenus a ,sicyonian and   

,areteus a ,corinthian2 this man coming 
to die1 being poor1 and his two friends 
rich1 he made his will after this       
manner4  ,i bequeath to ,areteus the    
maintenance of my mother1 to support and
 provide for her in her old age2 and to 
,charixenus ,i bequeath the care of     
marrying my daughter1 and to give her as
 good a portion as he is able2 and in   
case one of these chance to die1 ,i     
hereby substitute the survivor in his   
place4  ,they who first saw this will   
made themselves very merry at the       
contents3 but the legatees1 being made  
acquainted with it1 accepted it with    
very great content2 and one of them1    
,charixenus1 dying within five days     
after1 and by that means the charge of  
both duties devolving solely on him1    
,areteus nurtured the old woman with    
very great care and tenderness1 and of  
five talents he had in estate1 he gave  
two and a half in marriage with an only 
daughter he had of his own1 and two and 
a half in marriage with the daughter of 

,eudamidas1 and on one and the same day 
solemnised both their nuptials4  ,this  
example is very full1 if one thing were 
not to be objected1 namely the multitude
 of friends for the perfect friendship  
,i speak of is indivisible2 each one    
gives himself so entirely to his friend1
 that he has nothing left to distribute 
to others3 on the contrary1 is sorry    
that he is not double1 treble1 or       
quadruple1 and that he has not many     
souls and many wills1 to confer them all
 upon this one object4  ,common         
friendships will admit of division2 one 
may love the beauty of this person1 the 
good-humour of that1 the liberality of a
 third1 the paternal affection of a     
fourth1 the fraternal love of a fifth1  
and so of the rest3 but this friendship 
that possesses the whole soul1 and there
 rules and sways with an absolute       
sovereignty1 cannot possibly admit of a 
rival4 ,if two at the same time should  
call to you for succour1 to which of    
them would you run8  ,should they       

require of you contrary offices1 how    
could you serve them both8  ,should one 
commit a thing to your silence that it  
were of importance to the other to know1
 how would you disengage yourself8  ,a  
unique and particular friendship        
dissolves all other obligations         
whatsoever3 the secret ,i have sworn not
 to reveal to any other1 ,i may without 
perjury communicate to him who is not   
another1 but myself4  ',tis miracle     
enough certainly1 for a man to double   
himself1 and those that talk of         
tripling1 talk they know not of what4   
,nothing is extreme1 that has its like2 
and he who shall suppose1 that of two1  
,i love one as much as the other1 that  
they mutually love one another too1 and 
love me as much as ,i love them1        
multiplies into a confraternity the most
 single of units1 and whereof1 moreover1
 one alone is the hardest thing in the  
world to find4  ,the rest of this story 
suits very well with what ,i was saying2
 for ,eudamidas1 as a bounty and favour1

 bequeaths to his friends a legacy of   
employing themselves in his necessity2  
he leaves them heirs to this liberality 
of his1 which consists in giving them   
the opportunity of conferring a benefit 
upon him2 and doubtless1 the force of   
friendship is more eminently apparent in
 this act of his1 than in that of       
,areteus4  ,in short1 these are effects 
not to be imagined nor comprehended by  
such as have not experience of them1 and
 which make me infinitely honour and    
admire the answer of that young soldier 
to ,cyrus1 by whom being asked how much 
he would take for a horse1 with which he
 had won the prize of a race1 and       
whether he would exchange him for a     
kingdom8 --,no1 truly1 sir1 said he1 but
 ,i would give him with all my heart1 to
 get thereby a true friend1 could ,i    
find out any man worthy of that         
alliance4--,xenophon1 ,cyropadia1 viii4 
#c4--;,he did not say ill in saying1    
could ,i find3 for though one may almost
 everywhere meet with men sufficiently  

qualified for a superficial             
acquaintance1 yet in this1 where a man  
is to deal from the very bottom of his  
heart1 without any manner of            
reservation1 it will be requisite that  
all the wards and springs be truly      
wrought and perfectly sure4  ,in        
confederations that hold but by one end1
 we are only to provide against the     
imperfections that particularly concern 
that end4  ,it can be of no importance  
to me of what religion my physician or  
my lawyer is2 this consideration has    
nothing in common with the offices of   
friendship which they owe me2 and ,i am 
of the same indifference in the domestic
 acquaintance my servants must          
necessarily contract with me4  ,i never 
inquire1 when ,i am to take a footman1  
if he be chaste1 but if he be diligent2 
and am not solicitous if my muleteer be 
given to gaming1 as if he be strong and 
able2 or if my cook be a swearer1 if he 
be a good cook4 ,i do not take upon me  
to direct what other men should do in   

the government of their families1 there 
are plenty that meddle enough with that1
 but only give an account of my method  
in my own3            ,mihi sic usus    
est3 tibi1 ut opus est facto1 face4     
,this has been my way2 as for you1 do as
 you find needful4      --,terence1     
,heaut41 i4 ,i41 #bh4  ,for table-talk1 
,i prefer the pleasant and witty before 
the learned and the grave2 in bed1      
beauty before goodness2 in common       
discourse the ablest speaker1 whether or
 no there be sincerity in the case4     
,and1 as he that was found astride upon 
a hobby-horse1 playing with his         
children1 entreated the person who had  
surprised him in that posture to say    
nothing of it till himself came to be a 
father1--,plutarch1 ,life of ,agesilaus1
 c4  #i4--supposing that the fondness   
that would then possess his own soul1   
would render him a fairer judge of such 
an action2 so ,i1 also1 could wish to   
speak to such as have had experience of 
what ,i say3 though1 knowing how remote 

a thing such a friendship is from the   
common practice1 and how rarely it is to
 be found1 ,i despair of meeting with   
any such judge4  ,for even these        
discourses left us by antiquity upon    
this subject1 seem to me flat and poor1 
in comparison of the sense ,i have of   
it1 and in this particular1 the effects 
surpass even the precepts of philosophy4
                 ,nil ego contulerim    
jucundo sanus amico4       ,while ,i    
have sense left to me1 there will never 
be anything more      acceptable to me  
than an agreeable friend4               
--,horace1 ,sat41 i4 #e1 #dd4  ,the     
ancient ,menander declared him to be    
happy that had had the good fortune to  
meet with but the shadow of a friend3   
and doubtless he had good reason to say 
so1 especially if he spoke by           
experience3 for in good earnest1 if ,i  
compare all the rest of my life1 though1
 thanks be to ,god1 ,i have passed my   
time pleasantly enough1 and at my ease1 
and the loss of such a friend excepted1 

free from any grievous affliction1 and  
in great tranquillity of mind1 having   
been contented with my natural and      
original commodities1 without being     
solicitous after others2 if ,i should   
compare it all1 ,i say1 with the four   
years ,i had the happiness to enjoy the 
sweet society of this excellent man1    
'tis nothing but smoke1 an obscure and  
tedious night4  ,from the day that ,i   
lost him3                               
,quern semper acerbum1                  
,semper honoratum 7sic1 di1 voluistis7  
habebo1       ,a day for me ever sad1   
for ever sacred1 so have you willed ye  
gods4--,a,eneid1 v4 #di4  ,i have only  
led a languishing life2 and the very    
pleasures that present themselves to me1
 instead of administering anything of   
consolation1 double my affliction for   
his loss4  ,we were halves throughout1  
and to that degree1 that methinks1 by   
outliving him1 ,i defraud him of his    
part4                ,nec fas esse ulla 
me voluptate hic frui                   

,decrevi1 tantisper dum ille abest meus 
particeps4       ,i have determined that
 it will never be right for me to enjoy 
any      pleasure1 so long as he1 with  
whom ,i shared all pleasures is away4   
--,terence1 ,heaut41 i4 ,i4 #ig4  ,i was
 so grown and accustomed to be always   
his double in all places and in all     
things1 that methinks ,i am no more than
 half of myself3                ,illam  
meae si partem anima tulit              
,maturior vis1 quid moror altera8       
,nec carus aeque1 nec superstes         
,integer8  ,ille dies utramque          
,duxit ruinam4       ,if that half of my
 soul were snatch away from me by an    
untimely      stroke1 why should the    
other stay8  ,that which remains will   
not be      equally dear1 will not be   
whole3 the same day will involve the    
destruction of both4       or3       ,if
 a superior force has taken that part of
 my soul1 why do ,i1 the      remaining 
one1 linger behind8  ,what is left is   
not so dear1 nor an      entire thing3  

this day has wrought the destruction of 
both4      --,horace1 ,ode1 ii4 #ag1 #e4
  ,there is no action or imagination of 
mine wherein ,i do not miss him2 as ,i  
know that he would have missed me3 for  
as he surpassed me by infinite degrees  
in virtue and all other accomplishments1
 so he also did in the duties of        
friendship3                ,quis        
desiderio sit pudor1 aut modus          
,tam cari capitis8       ,what shame can
 there1 or measure1 in lamenting so dear
 a friend8      --,horace1 ,ode1 i4 #bd1
 ,i4                ,o misero frater    
adempte mihi6                ,omnia     
tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra1      
,quae tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor4  
,tu mea1 tu moriens fregisti commoda1   
frater2                ,tecum una tota  
est nostra sepulta anima                
,cujus ego interitu tota de menthe      
fugavi                ,haec studia1     
atque omnes delicias animi4             
,alloquar8  audiero nunquam tua verba   
loquentem8                ,nunquam ego  

te1 vita frater amabilior               
,aspiciam posthac2 at certe semper      
amabo2       ,o brother1 taken from me  
miserable6  with thee1 all our joys have
      vanished1 those joys which1 in thy
 life1 thy dear love nourished4         
,dying1 thou1 my brother1 hast destroyed
 all my happiness4  ,my whole      soul 
is buried with thee4  ,through whose    
death ,i have banished from      my mind
 these studies1 and all the delights of 
the mind4  ,shall ,i      address thee8 
,i shall never hear thy voice4  ,never  
shall ,i behold      thee hereafter4  ,o
 brother1 dearer to me than life4       
,nought remains1      but assuredly ,i  
shall ever love thee4--,catullus1       
lxviii4  #bj2 lxv4  ,but let us hear a  
boy of sixteen speak3       --,in       
,cotton's translation the work referred 
to is those ,memoirs      upon the      
famous edict of ,january1 of which      
mention has already been      made in   
the present edition4  ,the edition of   
#aehj1 however1 and the      ,variorum  

edition of #ahgb-aijj1 indicate no      
particular work2 but the      edition of
 #aehj has it this boy of eighteen years
 7which was the      age at which ,la   
,boetie wrote his ,servitude            
,volontaire71 speaks of      a boy of   
sixteen as occurring only in the common 
editions1 and it      would seem        
tolerably clear that this more important
 work was1 in      fact1 the production 
to which ,montaigne refers1 and that the
 proper      reading of the text should 
be sixteen years4  ,what this boy       
spoke is not given by ,montaigne1 for   
the reason stated in the next           
following paragraph4  ,because ,i have  
found that that work has been since     
brought out1 and with a mischievous     
design1 by those who aim at disturbing  
and changing the condition of our       
government1 without troubling themselves
 to think whether they are likely to    
improve it3 and because they have mixed 
up his work with some of their own      
performance1 ,i have refrained from     

inserting it here4  ,but that the memory
 of the author may not be injured1 nor  
suffer with such as could not come      
near-hand to be acquainted with his     
principles1 ,i here give them to        
understand1 that it was written by him  
in his boyhood1 and that by way of      
exercise only1 as a common theme that   
has been hackneyed by a thousand        
writers4  ,i make no question but that  
he himself believed what he wrote1 being
 so conscientious that he would not so  
much as lie in jest3 and ,i moreover    
know1 that could it have been in his own
 choice1 he had rather have been born at
 ,venice1 than at ,sarlac2 and with     
reason4  ,but he had another maxim      
sovereignty imprinted in his soul1 very 
religiously to obey and submit to the   
laws under which he was born4  ,there   
never was a better citizen1 more        
affectionate to his country2 nor a      
greater enemy to all the commotions and 
innovations of his time3 so that he     
would much rather have employed his     

talent to the extinguishing of those    
civil flames1 than have added any fuel  
to them2 he had a mind fashioned to the 
model of better ages4  ,now1 in exchange
 of this serious piece1 ,i will present 
you with another of a more gay and      
frolic air1 from the same hand1 and     
written at the same age4     ,,chapter  
,,xxviii4  ,,nine ,,and ,,twenty        
,,sonnets ,,of ,,estienne ,,de ,,la     
,,boitie  ,,to ,,madame ,,de ,,grammont1
 ,,comtesse ,,de ,,guissen4       ,they 
scarce contain anything but amorous     
complaints1 expressed in a      very    
rough style1 discovering the follies and
 outrages of a restless      passion1   
overgorged1 as it were1 with jealousies1
 fears and      suspicions4--,coste4    
,these4444contained in the edition of   
#aehh nine-and-twenty sonnets      of   
,la ,boetie1 accompanied by a dedicatory
 epistle to ,madame de      ,grammont4  
,the former1 which are referred to at   
the end of ,chap4      ,,xxvil1 do not  
really belong to the book1 and are of   

very slight      interest at this time2 
the epistle is transferred to the       
,correspondence4  ,the sonnets1 with the
 letter1 were presumably sent      some 
time after ,letters ,v4 et seq4         
,montaigne seems to have had            
several copies written out to forward to
 friends or acquaintances4     ,,chapter
 ,,xxix4  ,,of ,,moderation  ,as if we  
had an infectious touch1 we1 by our     
manner of handling1 corrupt things that 
in themselves are laudable and good3 we 
may grasp virtue so that it becomes     
vicious1 if we embrace it too           
stringently and with too violent a      
desire4  ,those who say1 there is never 
any excess in virtue1 forasmuch as it is
 not virtue when it once becomes excess1
 only play upon words3                  
,insani sapiens nomen ferat1 aequus     
iniqui1                ,ultra quam satis
 est1 virtutem si petat ipsam4          
,let the wise man bear the name of a    
madman1 the just one of an      unjust1 
if he seek wisdom more than is          

sufficient4      --,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #f1
 #ae4       ,the wise man is no longer  
wise1 the just man no longer just1 if he
      seek to carry his love for wisdom 
or virtue beyond that which is          
necessary4  ,this is a subtle           
consideration of philosophy4  ,a man may
 both be too much in love with virtue1  
and be excessive in a just action4      
,holy ,writ agrees with this1 ,be not   
wiser than you should1 but be soberly   
wise4--,st4 ,paul1 ,epistle to the      
,romans1 xii4 #c4--;,i have known a     
great man1       --,it is likely that   
,montaigne meant ,henry ,,iii41 king of 
,france4      ,the ,cardinal d',ossat1  
writing to ,louise1 the queen-dowager1  
told      her1 in his frank manner1 that
 he had lived as much or more like a    
monk than a monarch 7,letter ,,xxiii47  
,and ,pope ,sextus ,v41 speaking of     
that prince one day to the ,cardinal de 
,joyeuse1 protector of the      affairs 
of ,france1 said to him pleasantly1     
',there is nothing that      your king  

hath not done1 and does not do so still1
 to be a monk1 nor      anything that ,i
 have not done1 not to be a             
monk4'--,coste4  prejudice the opinion  
men had of his devotion1 by pretending  
to be devout beyond all examples of     
others of his condition4  ,i love       
temperate and moderate natures4  ,an    
immoderate zeal1 even to that which is  
good1 even though it does not offend1   
astonishes me1 and puts me to study what
 name to give it4  ,neither the mother  
of ,pausanias1       --,montaigne would 
here give us to understand1 upon the    
authority of      ,diodorus ,siculus1   
that ,pausanias' mother gave the first  
hint of the      punishment that was to 
be inflicted on her son4  ',pausanias1' 
says      this historian1 'perceiving   
that the ephori1 and some other         
,lacedoemonians1 aimed at apprehending  
him1 got the start of them1      and    
went and took sanctuary m ,minerva's    
temple3 and the      ,lacedaemonians1   
being doubtful whether they ought to    

take him from      thence in violation  
of the franchise there1 it is said that 
his own      mother came herself to the 
temple but spoke nothing nor did        
anything      more than lay a piece of  
brick1 which she brought with her1 on   
the      threshold of the temple1 which1
 when she had done1 she returned        
home4  ,the ,lacedaemonians1 taking the 
hint from the mother1 caused      the   
gate of the temple to be walled up1 and 
by this means starved      ,pausanias1  
so that he died with hunger1 c4 7lib4   
xi4 cap4 #aj41 of      ,amyot's         
translation74  ,the name of ,pausanias' 
mother was ,alcithea1      as we are    
informed by ,thucydides' scholiast1 who 
only says that it      was reported1    
that when they set about walling up the 
gates of the      chapel in which       
,pausanias had taken refuge1 his mother 
,alcithea laid      the first           
stone4--,coste4  who was the first      
instructor of her son's process1 and    
threw the first stone towards his death1

 nor ,posthumius the dictator1 who put  
his son to death1 whom the ardour of    
youth had successfully pushed upon the  
enemy a little more advanced than the   
rest of his squadron1 do appear to me so
 much just as strange2 and ,i should    
neither advise nor like to follow so    
savage a virtue1 and that costs so dear4
       --,opinions differ as to the     
truth of this fact4  ,livy thinks he    
has good authority for rejecting it     
because it does not appear in           
history that ,posthumious was branded   
with it1 as ,titus ,manlius was1        
about #ajj years after his time2 for    
,manlius1 having put his son to         
death for the like cause1 obtained the  
odious name of ,imperiosus1      and    
since that time ,manliana imperia has   
been used as a term to      signify     
orders that are too severe2 ,manliana   
,imperia1 says ,livy1      were not only
 horrible for the time present1 but of a
 bad example to      posterity4  ,and   
this historian makes no doubt but such  

commands      would have been actually  
styled ,posthumiana ,imperia1 if        
,posthumius      had been the first who 
set so barbarous an example 7,livy1 lib4
 iv4      cap4 #bi1 and lib4 viii4 cap4 
#g74  ,but1 however1 ,montaigne has     
,valer4      ,maximus on his side1 who  
says expressly1 that ,posthumius caused 
his      son to be put to death1 and    
,diodorus of ,sicily 7lib4  xii4  cap4  
#ai74--;,coste4  ,the archer that shoots
 over1 misses as much as he that falls  
short1 and 'tis equally troublesome to  
my sight1 to look up at a great light1  
and to look down into a dark abyss4     
,callicles in ,plato says1 that the     
extremity of philosophy is hurtful1 and 
advises not to dive into it beyond the  
limits of profit2 that1 taken           
moderately1 it is pleasant and useful2  
but that in the end it renders a man    
brutish and vicious1 a contemner of     
religion and the common laws1 an enemy  
to civil conversation1 and all human    
pleasures1 incapable of all public      

administration1 unfit either to assist  
others or to relieve himself1 and a fit 
object for all sorts of injuries and    
affronts4  ,he says true2 for in its    
excess1 it enslaves our natural freedom1
 and by an impertinent subtlety1 leads  
us out of the fair and beaten way that  
nature has traced for us4  ,the love we 
bear to our wives is very lawful1 and   
yet theology thinks fit to curb and     
restrain it4  ,as ,i remember1 ,i have  
read in one place of ,st4 ,thomas       
,aquinas1--,secunda ,secundx1 ,quaest4  
#aed1 art4 #i4--where he condemns       
marriages within any of the forbidden   
degrees1 for this reason1 amongst       
others1 that there is some danger1 lest 
the friendship a man bears to such a    
woman1 should be immoderate2 for if the 
conjugal affection be full and perfect  
betwixt them1 as it ought to be1 and    
that it be over and above surcharged    
with that of kindred too1 there is no   
doubt1 but such an addition will carry  
the husband beyond the bounds of reason4

  ,those sciences that regulate the     
manners of men1 divinity and philosophy1
 will have their say in everything2     
there is no action so private and secret
 that can escape their inspection and   
jurisdiction4  ,they are best taught who
 are best able to control and curb their
 own liberty2 women expose their        
nudities as much as you will upon the   
account of pleasure1 though in the      
necessities of physic they are          
altogether as shy4  ,i will1 therefore1 
in their behalf3       --,coste         
translates this3 on the part of         
philosophy and theology1      observing 
that but few wives would think          
themselves obliged to      ,montaigne   
for any such lesson to their husbands4--
  teach the husbands1 that is1 such as  
are too vehement in the exercise of the 
matrimonial duty--if such there still   
be--this lesson1 that the very pleasures
 they enjoy in the society of their     
wives are reproachable if immoderate1   
and that a licentious and riotous abuse 

of them is a fault as reprovable here as
 in illicit connections4  ,those        
immodest and debauched tricks and       
postures1 that the first ardour suggests
 to us in this affair1 are not only     
indecently but detrimentally practised  
upon our wives4  ,let them at least     
learn impudence from another hand2 they 
are ever ready enough for our business1 
and ,i for my part always went the plain
 way to work4  ,marriage is a solemn and
 religious tie1 and therefore the       
pleasure we extract from it should be a 
sober and serious delight1 and mixed    
with a certain kind of gravity2 it      
should be a sort of discreet and        
conscientious pleasure4  ,and seeing    
that the chief end of it is generation1 
some make a question1 whether when men  
are out of hopes as when they are       
superannuated or already with child1 it 
be lawful to embrace our wives4  ',tis  
homicide1 according to ,plato4--,laws1  
#h4-- ,certain nations 7the ,mohammedan1
 amongst others7 abominate all          

conjunction with women with child1      
others also1 with those who are in their
 courses4 ,zenobia would never admit her
 husband for more than one encounter1   
after which she left him to his own     
swing for the whole time of her         
conception1 and not till after that     
would again receive him3--,trebellius   
,pollio1 ,triginta ,tyran41 c4 #cj4--;a 
brave and generous example of conjugal  
continence4  ,it was doubtless from some
 lascivious poet1--,the lascivious poet 
is ,homer2 see his ,iliad1 xiv4         
#bid4--;and one that himself was in     
great distress for a little of this     
sport1 that ,plato borrowed this story2 
that ,jupiter was one day so hot upon   
his wife1 that not having so much       
patience as till she could get to the   
couch1 he threw her upon the floor1     
where the vehemence of pleasure made him
 forget the great and important         
resolutions he had but newly taken with 
the rest of the gods in his celestial   
council1 and to brag that he had had as 

good a bout1 as when he got her         
maidenhead1 unknown to their parents4   
,the kings of ,persia were wont to      
invite their wives to the beginning of  
their festivals2 but when the wine began
 to work in good earnest1 and that they 
were to give the reins to pleasure1 they
 sent them back to their private        
apartments1 that they might not         
participate in their immoderate lust1   
sending for other women in their stead1 
with whom they were not obliged to so   
great a decorum of respect4--,plutarch1 
,precepts of ,marriage1 c4  #ad4--;,all 
pleasures and all sorts of              
gratifications are not properly and     
fitly conferred upon all sorts of       
persons4 ,epaminondas had committed to  
prison a young man for certain          
debauches2 for whom ,pelopidas mediated1
 that at his request he might be set at 
liberty1 which ,epaminondas denied to   
him1 but granted it at the first word to
 a wench of his1 that made the same     
intercession2 saying1 that it was a     

gratification fit for such a one as she1
 but not for a captain4 ,sophocles being
 joint praetor with ,pericles1 seeing   
accidentally a fine boy pass by3 ,o what
 a charming boy is that6 said he4  ,that
 might be very well1 answered ,pericles1
 for any other than a praetor1 who ought
 not only to have his hands1 but his    
eyes1 too1 chaste4--,cicero1 ,de        
,offic41 i4 #dj4  ,a,elius ,verus1 the  
emperor1 answered his wife1 who         
reproached him with his love to other   
women1 that he did it upon a            
conscientious account1 forasmuch as     
marriage was a name of honour and       
dignity1 not of wanton and lascivious   
desire2 and our ecclesiastical history  
preserves the memory of that woman in   
great veneration1 who parted from her   
husband because she would not comply    
with his indecent and inordinate        
desires4  ,in fine1 there is no pleasure
 so just and lawful1 where intemperance 
and excess are not to be condemned4     
,but1 to speak the truth1 is not man a  

most miserable creature the while8 ,it  
is scarce1 by his natural condition1 in 
his power to taste one pleasure pure and
 entire2 and yet must he be contriving  
doctrines and precepts to curtail that  
little he has2 he is not yet wretched   
enough1 unless by art and study he      
augment his own misery3                 
,fortunae miseras auximus arte vias4    
,we artificially augment the            
wretchedness of fortune4                
--,properitius1 lib4 iii4 #g1 #dd4      
,human wisdom makes as ill use of her   
talent1 when she exercises it in        
rescinding from the number and sweetness
 of those pleasures that are naturally  
our due1 as she employs it favourably   
and well in artificially disguising and 
tricking out the ills of life1 to       
alleviate the sense of them4  ,had ,i   
ruled the roast1 ,i should have taken   
another and more natural course1 which1 
to say the truth1 is both commodious and
 holy1 and should1 peradventure1 have   
been able to have limited it too2       

notwithstanding that both our spiritual 
and corporal physicians1 as by compact  
betwixt themselves1 can find no other   
way to cure1 nor other remedy for the   
infirmities of the body and the soul1   
than by misery and pain4  ,to this end1 
watchings1 fastings1 hair-shirts1 remote
 and solitary banishments1 perpetual    
imprisonments1 whips and other          
afflictions1 have been introduced       
amongst men3 but so1 that they should   
carry a sting with them1 and be real    
afflictions indeed2 and not fall out as 
it once did to one ,gallio1 who having  
been sent an exile into the isle of     
,lesbos1 news was not long after brought
 to ,rome1 that he there lived as merry 
as the day was long2 and that what had  
been enjoined him for a penance1 turned 
to his pleasure and satisfaction3       
whereupon the ,senate thought fit to    
recall him home to his wife and family1 
and confine him to his own house1 to    
accommodate their punishment to his     
feeling and apprehension4  ,for to him  

whom fasting would make more healthful  
and more sprightly1 and to him to whose 
palate fish were more acceptable than   
flesh1 the prescription of these would  
have no curative effect2 no more than in
 the other sort of physic1 where drugs  
have no effect upon him who swallows    
them with appetite and pleasure3 the    
bitterness of the potion and the        
abhorrence of the patient are necessary 
circumstances to the operation4  ,the   
nature that would eat rhubarb like      
buttered turnips1 would frustrate the   
use and virtue of it2 it must be        
something to trouble and disturb the    
stomach1 that must purge and cure it2   
and here the common rule1 that things   
are cured by their contraries1 fails2   
for in this one ill is cured by another4
  ,this belief a little resembles that  
other so ancient one1 of thinking to    
gratify the gods and nature by massacre 
and murder3 an opinion universally once 
received in all religions4  ,and still1 
in these later times wherein our fathers

 lived1 ,amurath at the taking of the   
,isthmus1 immolated six hundred young   
,greeks to his father's soul1 in the    
nature of a propitiatory sacrifice for  
his sins4  ,and in those new countries  
discovered in this age of ours1 which   
are pure and virgin yet1 in comparison  
of ours1 this practice is in some       
measure everywhere received3 all their  
idols reek with human blood1 not without
 various examples of horrid cruelty3    
some they burn alive1 and take1 half    
broiled1 off the coals to tear out their
 hearts and entrails2 some1 even women1 
they flay alive1 and with their bloody  
skins clothe and disguise others4       
,neither are we without great examples  
of constancy and resolution in this     
affair the poor souls that are to be    
sacrificed1 old men1 women1 and         
children1 themselves going about some   
days before to beg alms for the offering
 of their sacrifice1 presenting         
themselves to the slaughter1 singing and
 dancing with the spectators4  ,the     

ambassadors of the king of ,mexico1     
setting out to ,fernando ,cortez the    
power and greatness of their master1    
after having told him1 that he had      
thirty vassals1 of whom each was able to
 raise an hundred thousand fighting men1
 and that he kept his court in the      
fairest and best fortified city under   
the sun1 added at last1 that he was     
obliged yearly to offer to the gods     
fifty thousand men4  ,and it is         
affirmed1 that he maintained a continual
 war1 with some potent neighbouring     
nations1 not only to keep the young men 
in exercise1 but principally to have    
wherewithal to furnish his sacrifices   
with his prisoners of war4  ,at a       
certain town in another place1 for the  
welcome of the said ,cortez1 they       
sacrificed fifty men at once4  ,i will  
tell you this one tale more1 and ,i have
 done2 some of these people being beaten
 by him1 sent to acknowledge him1 and to
 treat with him of a peace1 whose       
messengers carried him three sorts of   

gifts1 which they presented in these    
terms3 ,behold1 lord1 here are five     
slaves3 if thou art a furious god that  
feedeth upon flesh and blood1 eat these1
 and we will bring thee more2 if thou   
art an affable god1 behold here incense 
and feathers2 but if thou art a man1    
take these fowls and these fruits that  
we have brought thee4     ,,chapter     
,,xxx  ,,of ,,cannibals  ,when ,king    
,pyrrhus invaded ,italy1 having viewed  
and considered the order of the army the
 ,romans sent out to meet him2 ,i know  
not1 said he1 what kind of barbarians   
7for so the ,greeks called all other    
nations7 these may be2 but the          
disposition of this army that ,i see has
 nothing of barbarism in it4--,plutarch1
 ,life of ,pyrrhus1 c4 #h4--;,as much   
said the ,greeks of that which          
,flaminius brought into their country2  
and ,philip1 beholding from an eminence 
the order and distribution of the ,roman
 camp formed in his kingdom by ,publius 
,sulpicius ,galba1 spake to the same    

effect4  ,by which it appears how       
cautious men ought to be of taking      
things upon trust from vulgar opinion1  
and that we are to judge by the eye of  
reason1 and not from common report4  ,i 
long had a man in my house that lived   
ten or twelve years in the ,new ,world1 
discovered in these latter days1 and in 
that part of it where ,villegaignon     
landed1--,at ,brazil1 in #aeeg4--which  
he called ,antarctic ,france4  ,this    
discovery of so vast a country seems to 
be of very great consideration4  ,i     
cannot be sure1 that hereafter there may
 not be another1 so many wiser men than 
we having been deceived in this4  ,i am 
afraid our eyes are bigger than our     
bellies1 and that we have more curiosity
 than capacity2 for we grasp at all1 but
 catch nothing but wind4  ,plato brings 
in ,solon1--,in ,timaeus4--telling a    
story that he had heard from the priests
 of ,sais in ,egypt1 that of old1 and   
before the ,deluge1 there was a great   
island called ,atlantis1 situate        

directly at the mouth of the straits of 
,gibraltar1 which contained more        
countries than both ,africa and ,asia   
put together2 and that the kings of that
 country1 who not only possessed that   
,isle1 but extended their dominion so   
far into the continent that they had a  
country of ,africa as far as ,egypt1 and
 extending in ,europe to ,tuscany1      
attempted to encroach even upon ,asia1  
and to subjugate all the nations that   
border upon the ,mediterranean ,sea1 as 
far as the ,black ,sea2 and to that     
effect overran all ,spain1 the ,gauls1  
and ,italy1 so far as to penetrate into 
,greece1 where the ,athenians stopped   
them3 but that some time after1 both the
 ,athenians1 and they and their island1 
were swallowed by the ,flood4  ,it is   
very likely that this extreme irruption 
and inundation of water made wonderful  
changes and alterations in the          
habitations of the earth1 as 'tis said  
that the sea then divided ,sicily from  
,italy--           ,haec loca1 vi       

quondam et vasta convulsa ruina1        
,dissiluisse ferunt1 quum protenus      
utraque tellus           ,una foret     
,these lands1 they say1 formerly with   
violence and vast desolation            
convulsed1 burst asunder1 where erewhile
 were4--,a,eneid1 iii4 #dad4  ,cyprus   
from ,syria1 the isle of ,negropont from
 the continent of ,beeotia1 and         
elsewhere united lands that were        
separate before1 by filling up the      
channel betwixt them with sand and mud3 
,sterilisque diu palus1 aptaque remis1  
,vicinas urbes alit1 et grave sentit    
aratrum4       ,that which was once a   
sterile marsh1 and bore vessels on its  
bosom1 now feeds neighbouring cities1   
and admits the plough4      --,horace1  
,de ,arte ,poetica1 v4 #fe4  ,but there 
is no great appearance that this isle   
was this ,new ,world so lately          
discovered3 for that almost touched upon
 ,spain1 and it were an incredible      
effect of an inundation1 to have tumbled
 back so prodigious a mass1 above twelve

 hundred leagues3 besides that our      
modern navigators have already almost   
discovered it to be no island1 but terra
 firma1 and continent with the ,east    
,indies on the one side1 and with the   
lands under the two poles on the other  
side2 or1 if it be separate from them1  
it is by so narrow a strait and channel1
 that it none the more deserves the name
 of an island for that4  ,it should     
seem1 that in this great body1 there are
 two sorts of motions1 the one natural  
and the other febrific1 as there are in 
ours4  ,when ,i consider the impression 
that our river of ,dordogne has made in 
my time on the right bank of its        
descent1 and that in twenty years it has
 gained so much1 and undermined the     
foundations of so many houses1 ,i       
perceive it to be an extraordinary      
agitation3 for had it always followed   
this course1 or were hereafter to do it1
 the aspect of the world would be       
totally changed4  ,but rivers alter     
their course1 sometimes beating against 

the one side1 and sometimes the other1  
and some times quietly keeping the      
channel4  ,i do not speak of sudden     
inundations1 the causes of which        
everybody understands4  ,in ,medoc1 by  
the seashore1 the ,sieur d',arsac1 my   
brother1 sees an estate he had there1   
buried under the sands which the sea    
vomits before it3 where the tops of some
 houses are yet to be seen1 and where   
his rents and domains are converted into
 pitiful barren pasturage4  ,the        
inhabitants of this place affirm1 that  
of late years the sea has driven so     
vehemently upon them1 that they have    
lost above four leagues of land4  ,these
 sands are her harbingers3 and we now   
see great heaps of moving sand1 that    
march half a league before her1 and     
occupy the land4  ,the other testimony  
from antiquity1 to which some would     
apply this discovery of the ,new ,world1
 is in ,aristotle2 at least1 if that    
little book of ,unheard of ,miracles be 
his--one of the spurious publications   

brought out under his name--,d4,w44  ,he
 there tells us1 that certain           
,carthaginians1 having crossed the      
,atlantic ,sea without the ,straits of  
,gibraltar1 and sailed a very long time1
 discovered at last a great and fruitful
 island1 all covered over with wood1 and
 watered with several broad and deep    
rivers1 far remote from all terra firma2
 and that they1 and others after them1  
allured by the goodness and fertility of
 the soil1 went thither with their wives
 and children1 and began to plant a     
colony4 ,but the senate of ,carthage    
perceiving their people by little and   
little to diminish1 issued out an       
express prohibition1 that none1 upon    
pain of death1 should transport         
themselves thither2 and also drove out  
these new inhabitants2 fearing1 'tis    
said1 lest' in process of time they     
should so multiply as to supplant       
themselves and ruin their state4  ,but  
this relation of ,aristotle no more     
agrees with our new-found lands than the

 other4  ,this man that ,i had was a    
plain ignorant fellow1 and therefore the
 more likely to tell truth3 for your    
better-bred sort of men are much more   
curious in their observation1 'tis true1
 and discover a great deal more2 but    
then they gloss upon it1 and to give the
 greater weight to what they deliver1   
and allure your belief1 they cannot     
forbear a little to alter the story2    
they never represent things to you      
simply as they are1 but rather as they  
appeared to them1 or as they would have 
them appear to you1 and to gain the     
reputation of men of judgment1 and the  
better to induce your faith1 are willing
 to help out the business with something
 more than is really true1 of their own 
invention4  ,now in this case1 we should
 either have a man of irreproachable    
veracity1 or so simple that he has not  
wherewithal to contrive1 and to give a  
colour of truth to false relations1 and 
who can have no ends in forging an      
untruth4  ,such a one was mine2 and     

besides1 he has at divers times brought 
to me several seamen and merchants who  
at the same time went the same voyage4  
,i shall therefore content myself with  
his information1 without inquiring what 
the cosmographers say to the business4  
,we should have topographers to trace   
out to us the particular places where   
they have been2 but for having had this 
advantage over us1 to have seen the     
,holy ,land1 they would have the        
privilege1 forsooth1 to tell us stories 
of all the other parts of the world     
beside4  ,i would have every one write  
what he knows1 and as much as he knows1 
but no more2 and that not in this only  
but in all other subjects2 for such a   
person may have some particular         
knowledge and experience of the nature  
of such a river1 or such a fountain1    
who1 as to other things1 knows no more  
than what everybody does1 and yet to    
give a currency to his little pittance  
of learning1 will undertake to write the
 whole body of physics3 a vice from     

which great inconveniences derive their 
original4  ,now1 to return to my        
subject1 ,i find that there is nothing  
barbarous and savage in this nation1 by 
anything that ,i can gather1 excepting1 
that every one gives the title of       
barbarism to everything that is not in  
use in his own country4  ,as1 indeed1 we
 have no other level of truth and reason
 than the example and idea of the       
opinions and customs of the place       
wherein we live3 there is always the    
perfect religion1 there the perfect     
government1 there the most exact and    
accomplished usage of all things4 ,they 
are savages at the same rate that we say
 fruits are wild1 which nature produces 
of herself and by her own ordinary      
progress2 whereas1 in truth1 we ought   
rather to call those wild whose natures 
we have changed by our artifice and     
diverted from the common order4  ,in    
those1 the genuine1 most useful1 and    
natural virtues and properties are      
vigorous and sprightly1 which we have   

helped to degenerate in these1 by       
accommodating them to the pleasure of   
our own corrupted palate4  ,and yet for 
all this1 our taste confesses a flavour 
and delicacy excellent even to emulation
 of the best of ours1 in several fruits 
wherein those countries abound without  
art or culture4  ,neither is it         
reasonable that art should gain the     
pre-eminence of our great and powerful  
mother nature4  ,we have so surcharged  
her with the additional ornaments and   
graces we have added to the beauty and  
riches of her own works by our          
inventions1 that we have almost         
smothered her2 yet in other places1     
where she shines in her own purity and  
proper lustre1 she marvellously baffles 
and disgraces all our vain and frivolous
 attempts3                ,et veniunt   
hederae sponte sua melius2              
,surgit et in solis formosior arbutus   
antris2                ,et volucres     
nulls dulcius arte canunt4       ,the   
ivy grows best spontaneously1 the       

arbutus best in shady caves2      and   
the wild notes of birds are sweeter than
 art can teach4      --,propertius1 i4  
#b1 #aj4  ,our utmost endeavours cannot 
arrive at so much as to imitate the nest
 of the least of birds1 its contexture1 
beauty1 and convenience3 not so much as 
the web of a poor spider4  ,all things1 
says ,plato1--,laws1 #aj4--;are produced
 either by nature1 by fortune1 or by    
art2 the greatest and most beautiful by 
the one or the other of the former1 the 
least and the most imperfect by the     
last4  ,these nations then seem to me to
 be so far barbarous1 as having received
 but very little form and fashion from  
art and human invention1 and            
consequently to be not much remote from 
their original simplicity4  ,the laws of
 nature1 however1 govern them still1 not
 as yet much vitiated with any mixture  
of ours3 but 'tis in such purity1 that  
,i am sometimes troubled we were not    
sooner acquainted with these people1 and
 that they were not discovered in those 

better times1 when there were men much  
more able to judge of them than we are4 
,i am sorry that ,lycurgus and ,plato   
had no knowledge of them2 for to my     
apprehension1 what we now see in those  
nations1 does not only surpass all the  
pictures with which the poets have      
adorned the golden age1 and all their   
inventions in feigning a happy state of 
man1 but1 moreover1 the fancy and even  
the wish and desire of philosophy       
itself2 so native and so pure a         
simplicity1 as we by experience see to  
be in them1 could never enter into their
 imagination1 nor could they ever       
believe that human society could have   
been maintained with so little artifice 
and human patchwork4  ,i should tell    
,plato that it is a nation wherein there
 is no manner of traffic1 no knowledge  
of letters1 no science of numbers1 no   
name of magistrate or political         
superiority2 no use of service1 riches  
or poverty1 no contracts1 no            
successions1 no dividends1 no           

properties1 no employments1 but those of
 leisure1 no respect of kindred1 but    
common1 no clothing1 no agriculture1 no 
metal1 no use of corn or wine2 the very 
words that signify lying1 treachery1    
dissimulation1 avarice1 envy1           
detraction1 pardon1 never heard of4     
--,this is the famous passage which     
,shakespeare1 through ,florio's         
version1 #afjc1 or ed4  #afac1 p4 #ajb1 
has employed in the ,tempest1      ii4  
#a4  ,how much would he find his        
imaginary ,republic short of his        
perfection8                      ,viri a
 diis recentes4            ,men fresh   
from the gods4--,seneca1 ,ep41 #ij4     
,hos natura modos primum dedit4         
,these were the manners first taught by 
nature4           --,virgil1 ,georgics1 
ii4 #bj4  ,as to the rest1 they live in 
a country very pleasant and temperate1  
so that1 as my witnesses inform me1 'tis
 rare to hear of a sick person1 and they
 moreover assure me1 that they never saw
 any of the natives1 either paralytic1  

bleareyed1 toothless1 or crooked with   
age4  ,the situation of their country is
 along the sea-shore1 enclosed on the   
other side towards the land1 with great 
and high mountains1 having about a      
hundred leagues in breadth between4     
,they have great store of fish and      
flesh1 that have no resemblance to those
 of ours3 which they eat without any    
other cookery1 than plain boiling1      
roasting1 and broiling4  ,the first that
 rode a horse thither1 though in several
 other voyages he had contracted an     
acquaintance and familiarity with them1 
put them into so terrible a fright1 with
 his centaur appearance1 that they      
killed him with their arrows before they
 could come to discover who he was4     
,their buildings are very long1 and of  
capacity to hold two or three hundred   
people1 made of the barks of tall trees1
 reared with one end upon the ground1   
and leaning to and supporting one       
another at the top1 like some of our    
barns1 of which the covering hangs down 

to the very ground1 and serves for the  
side walls4 ,they have wood so hard1    
that they cut with it1 and make their   
swords of it1 and their grills of it to 
broil their meat4  ,their beds are of   
cotton1 hung swinging from the roof1    
like our seamen's hammocks1 every man   
his own1 for the wives lie apart from   
their husbands4  ,they rise with the    
sun1 and so soon as they are up1 eat for
 all day1 for they have no more meals   
but that2 they do not then drink1 as    
,suidas reports of some other people of 
the ,east that never drank at their     
meals2 but drink very often all day     
after1 and sometimes to a rousing pitch4
  ,their drink is made of a certain     
root1 and is of the colour of our       
claret1 and they never drink it but     
lukewarm4  ,it will not keep above two  
or three days2 it has a somewhat sharp1 
brisk taste1 is nothing heady1 but very 
comfortable to the stomach2 laxative to 
strangers1 but a very pleasant beverage 
to such as are accustomed to it4  ,they 

make use1 instead of bread1 of a certain
 white compound1 like coriander seeds2  
,i have tasted of it2 the taste is sweet
 and a little flat4  ,the whole day is  
spent in dancing4  ,their young men go  
a-hunting after wild beasts with bows   
and arrows2 one part of their women are 
employed in preparing their drink the   
while1 which is their chief employment4 
,one of their old men1 in the morning   
before they fall to eating1 preaches to 
the whole family1 walking from the one  
end of the house to the other1 and      
several times repeating the same        
sentence1 till he has finished the      
round1 for their houses are at least a  
hundred yards long4  ,valour towards    
their enemies and love towards their    
wives1 are the two heads of his         
discourse1 never failing in the close1  
to put them in mind1 that 'tis their    
wives who provide them their drink warm 
and well seasoned4  ,the fashion of     
their beds1 ropes1 swords1 and of the   
wooden bracelets they tie about their   

wrists1 when they go to fight1 and of   
the great canes1 bored hollow at one    
end1 by the sound of which they keep the
 cadence of their dances1 are to be seen
 in several places1 and amongst others1 
at my house4  ,they shave all over1 and 
much more neatly than we1 without other 
razor than one of wood or stone4  ,they 
believe in the immortality of the soul1 
and that those who have merited well of 
the gods are lodged in that part of     
heaven where the sun rises1 and the     
accursed in the west4  ,they have ,i    
know not what kind of priests and       
prophets1 who very rarely present       
themselves to the people1 having their  
abode in the mountains4 ,at their       
arrival1 there is a great feast1 and    
solemn assembly of many villages3 each  
house1 as ,i have described1 makes a    
village1 and they are about a ,french   
league distant from one another4  ,this 
prophet declaims to them in public1     
exhorting them to virtue and their duty3
 but all their ethics are comprised in  

these two articles1 resolution in war1  
and affection to their wives4  ,he also 
prophesies to them events to come1 and  
the issues they are to expect from their
 enterprises1 and prompts them to or    
diverts them from war3 but let him look 
to't2 for if he fail in his divination1 
and anything happen otherwise than he   
has foretold1 he is cut into a thousand 
pieces1 if he be caught1 and condemned  
for a false prophet3 for that reason1 if
 any of them has been mistaken1 he is no
 more heard of4  ,divination is a gift  
of ,god1 and therefore to abuse it1     
ought to be a punishable imposture4     
,amongst the ,scythians1 where their    
diviners failed in the promised effect1 
they were laid1 bound hand and foot1    
upon carts loaded with firs and bavins1 
and drawn by oxen1 on which they were   
burned to death4--,herodotus1 iv4       
#fi4--,such as only meddle with things  
subject to the conduct of human         
capacity1 are excusable in doing the    
best they can3 but those other fellows  

that come to delude us with assurances  
of an extraordinary faculty1 beyond our 
understanding1 ought they not to be     
punished1 when they do not make good the
 effect of their promise1 and for the   
temerity of their imposture8  ,they have
 continual war with the nations that    
live further within the mainland1 beyond
 their mountains1 to which they go      
naked1 and without other arms than their
 bows and wooden swords1 fashioned at   
one end like the head of our javelins4  
,the obstinacy of their battles is      
wonderful1 and they never end without   
great effusion of blood3 for as to      
running away1 they know not what it is4 
,every one for a trophy brings home the 
head of an enemy he has killed1 which he
 fixes over the door of his house4      
,after having a long time treated their 
prisoners very well1 and given them all 
the regales they can think of1 he to    
whom the prisoner belongs1 invites a    
great assembly of his friends4  ,they   
being come1 he ties a rope to one of the

 arms of the prisoner1 of which1 at a   
distance1 out of his reach1 he holds the
 one end himself1 and gives to the      
friend he loves best the other arm to   
hold after the same manner2 which being4
 done1 they two1 in the presence of all 
the assembly1 despatch him with their   
swords4  ,after that1 they roast him1   
eat him amongst them1 and send some     
chops to their absent friends4  ,they do
 not do this1 as some think1 for        
nourishment1 as the ,scythians anciently
 did1 but as a representation of an     
extreme revenge2 as will appear by this3
 that having observed the ,portuguese1  
who were in league with their enemies1  
to inflict another sort of death upon   
any of them they took prisoners1 which  
was to set them up to the girdle in the 
earth1 to shoot at the remaining part   
till it was stuck full of arrows1 and   
then to hang them1 they thought those   
people of the other world 7as being men 
who had sown the knowledge of a great   
many vices amongst their neighbours1 and

 who were much greater masters in all   
sorts of mischief than they7 did not    
exercise this sort of revenge without a 
meaning1 and that it must needs be more 
painful than theirs1 they began to leave
 their old way1 and to follow this4  ,i 
am not sorry that we should here take   
notice of the barbarous horror of so    
cruel an action1 but that1 seeing so    
clearly into their faults1 we should be 
so blind to our own4  ,i conceive there 
is more barbarity in eating a man alive1
 than when he is dead2 in tearing a body
 limb from limb by racks and torments1  
that is yet in perfect sense2 in        
roasting it by degrees2 in causing it to
 be bitten and worried by dogs and swine
 7as we have not only read1 but lately  
seen1 not amongst inveterate and mortal 
enemies1 but among neighbours and       
fellow-citizens1 and1 which is worse1   
under colour of piety and religion71    
than to roast and eat him after he is   
dead4  ,chrysippus and ,zeno1 the two   
heads of the ,stoic sect1 were of       

opinion that there was no hurt in making
 use of our dead carcasses1 in what way 
soever for our necessity1 and in feeding
 upon them too2--,diogenes ,laertius1   
vii4  #ahh4--;as our own ancestors1 who 
being besieged by ,caesar in the city   
,alexia1 resolved to sustain the famine 
of the siege with the bodies of their   
old men1 women1 and other persons who   
were incapable of bearing arms4         
,vascones1 ut fama est1 alimentis       
talibus usi                ,produxere   
animas4       ',tis said the ,gascons   
with such meats appeased their hunger4  
--,juvenal1 ,sat41 xv4 #ic4  ,and the   
physicians make no bones of employing it
 to all sorts of use1 either to apply it
 outwardly2 or to give it inwardly for  
the health of the patient4  ,but there  
never was any opinion so irregular1 as  
to excuse treachery1 disloyalty1        
tyranny1 and cruelty1 which are our     
familiar vices4  ,we may then call these
 people barbarous1 in respect to the    
rules of reason3 but not in respect to  

ourselves1 who in all sorts of barbarity
 exceed them4  ,their wars are          
throughout noble and generous1 and carry
 as much excuse and fair pretence1 as   
that human malady is capable of2 having 
with them no other foundation than the  
sole jealousy of valour4  ,their        
disputes are not for the conquest of new
 lands1 for these they already possess  
are so fruitful by nature1 as to supply 
them without labour or concern1 with all
 things necessary1 in such abundance    
that they have no need to enlarge their 
borders4  ,and they are1 moreover1 happy
 in this1 that they only covet so much  
as their natural necessities require3   
all beyond that is superfluous to them3 
men of the same age call one another    
generally brothers1 those who are       
younger1 children2 and the old men are  
fathers to all4  ,these leave to their  
heirs in common the full possession of  
goods1 without any manner of division1  
or other title than what nature bestows 
upon her creatures1 in bringing them    

into the world4  ,if their neighbours   
pass over the mountains to assault them1
 and obtain a victory1 all the victors  
gain by it is glory only1 and the       
advantage of having proved themselves   
the better in valour and virtue3 for    
they never meddle with the goods of the 
conquered1 but presently return into    
their own country1 where they have no   
want of anything necessary1 nor of this 
greatest of all goods1 to know happily  
how to enjoy their condition and to be  
content4  ,and those in turn do the     
same2 they demand of their prisoners no 
other ransom1 than acknowledgment that  
they are overcome3 but there is not one 
found in an age1 who will not rather    
choose to die than make such a          
confession1 or either by word or look   
recede from the entire grandeur of an   
invincible courage4  ,there is not a man
 amongst them who had not rather be     
killed and eaten1 than so much as to    
open his mouth to entreat he may not4   
,they use them with all liberality and  

freedom1 to the end their lives may be  
so much the dearer to them2 but         
frequently entertain them with menaces  
of their approaching death1 of the      
torments they are to suffer1 of the     
preparations making in order to it1 of  
the mangling their limbs1 and of the    
feast that is to be made1 where their   
carcass is to be the only dish4  ,all   
which they do1 to no other end1 but only
 to extort some gentle or submissive    
word from them1 or to frighten them so  
as to make them run away1 to obtain this
 advantage that they were terrified1 and
 that their constancy was shaken2 and   
indeed1 if rightly taken1 it is in this 
point only that a true victory consists3
                                        
,victoria nulla est1           ,quam    
quae confessor animo quoque subjugat    
hostes4       ,no victory is complete1  
which the conquered do not admit to be  
so4--,claudius1 ,de ,sexto ,consulatu   
,honorii1 v4 #bdh4  ,the ,hungarians1 a 
very warlike people1 never pretend      

further than to reduce the enemy to     
their discretion2 for having forced this
 confession from them1 they let them go 
without injury or ransom1 excepting1 at 
the most1 to make them engage their word
 never to bear arms against them again4 
,we have sufficient advantages over our 
enemies that are borrowed and not truly 
our own2 it is the quality of a porter1 
and no effect of virtue1 to have        
stronger arms and legs2 it is a dead and
 corporeal quality to set in array2 'tis
 a turn of fortune to make our enemy    
stumble1 or to dazzle him with the light
 of the sun2 'tis a trick of science and
 art1 and that may happen in a mean base
 fellow1 to be a good fencer4  ,the     
estimate and value of a man consist in  
the heart and in the will3 there his    
true honour lies4  ,valour is stability1
 not of legs and arms1 but of the       
courage and the soul2 it does not lie in
 the goodness of our horse or our arms  
but in our own4  ,he that falls         
obstinate in his courage--              

,si succiderit1 de genu pugnat          
,if his legs fail him1 he fights on his 
knees4           --,seneca1 ,de         
,providentia1 c4 #b4  --he who1 for any 
danger of imminent death1 abates nothing
 of his assurance2 who1 dying1 yet darts
 at his enemy a fierce and disdainful   
look1 is overcome not by us1 but by     
fortune2 he is killed1 not conquered2   
the most valiant are sometimes the most 
unfortunate4  ,there are defeats more   
triumphant than victories4  ,never could
 those four sister victories1 the       
fairest the sun ever be held1 of        
,salamis1 ,plataea1 ,mycale1 and        
,sicily1 venture to oppose all their    
united glories1 to the single glory of  
the discomfiture of ,king ,leonidas and 
his men1 at the pass of ,thermopylae4   
,who ever ran with a more glorious      
desire and greater ambition1 to the     
winning1 than ,captain ,iscolas to the  
certain loss of a battle8--,diodorus    
,siculus1 xv4  #fd4--,who could have    
found out a more subtle invention to    

secure his safety1 than he did to assure
 his destruction8  ,he was set to defend
 a certain pass of ,peloponnesus against
 the ,arcadians1 which1 considering the 
nature of the place and the inequality  
of forces1 finding it utterly impossible
 for him to do1 and seeing that all who 
were presented to the enemy1 must       
certainly be left upon the place2 and on
 the other side1 reputing it unworthy of
 his own virtue and magnanimity and of  
the ,lacedaemonian name to fail in any  
part of his duty1 he chose a mean       
betwixt these two extremes after this   
manner2 the youngest and most active of 
his men1 he preserved for the service   
and defence of their country1 and sent  
them back2 and with the rest1 whose loss
 would be of less consideration1 he     
resolved to make good the pass1 and with
 the death of them1 to make the enemy   
buy their entry as dear as possibly he  
could2 as it fell out1 for being        
presently environed on all sides by the 
,arcadians1 after having made a great   

slaughter of the enemy1 he and his were 
all cut in pieces4  ,is there any trophy
 dedicated to the conquerors which was  
not much more due to these who were     
overcome8  ,the part that true          
conquering is to play1 lies in the      
encounter1 not in the coming off2 and   
the honour of valour consists in        
fighting1 not in subduing4  ,but to     
return to my story3 these prisoners are 
so far from discovering the least       
weakness1 for all the terrors that can  
be represented to them1 that1 on the    
contrary1 during the two or three months
 they are kept1 they always appear with 
a cheerful countenance2 importune their 
masters to make haste to bring them to  
the test1 defy1 rail at them1 and       
reproach them with cowardice1 and the   
number of battles they have lost against
 those of their country4  ,i have a song
 made by one of these prisoners1 wherein
 he bids them come all1 and dine upon   
him1 and welcome1 for they shall withal 
eat their own fathers and grandfathers1 

whose flesh has served to feed and      
nourish him4  ,these muscles1 says he1  
this flesh and these veins1 are your    
own3 poor silly souls as you are1 you   
little think that the substance of your 
ancestors' limbs is here yet2 notice    
what you eat1 and you will find in it   
the taste of your own flesh3 in which   
song there is to be observed an         
invention that nothing relishes of the  
barbarian4  ,those that paint these     
people dying after this manner1         
represent the prisoner spitting in the  
faces of his executioners and making wry
 mouths at them4  ,and 'tis most        
certain1 that to the very last gasp1    
they never cease to brave and defy them 
both in word and gesture4 ,in plain     
truth1 these men are very savage in     
comparison of us2 of necessity1 they    
must either be absolutely so or else we 
are savages2 for there is a vast        
difference betwixt their manners and    
ours4  ,the men there have several      
wives1 and so much the greater number1  

by how much they have the greater       
reputation for valour4  ,and it is one  
very remarkable feature in their        
marriages1 that the same jealousy our   
wives have to hinder and divert us from 
the friendship and familiarity of other 
women1 those employ to promote their    
husbands' desires1 and to procure them  
many spouses2 for being above all things
 solicitous of their husbands' honour1  
'tis their chiefest care to seek out1   
and to bring in the most companions they
 can1 forasmuch as it is a testimony of 
the husband's virtue4  ,most of our     
ladies will cry out1 that 'tis          
monstrous2 whereas in truth it is not   
so1 but a truly matrimonial virtue1 and 
of the highest form4  ,in the ,bible1   
,sarah1 with ,leah and ,rachel1 the two 
wives of ,jacob1 gave the most beautiful
 of their handmaids to their husbands2  
,livia preferred the passions of        
,augustus to her own interest2          
--,suetonius1 ,life of ,augustus1 c4    
#ga4--;and the wife of ,king ,deiotarus1

 ,stratonice1 did not only give up a    
fair young maid that served her to her  
husband's embraces1 but moreover        
carefully brought up the children he had
 by her1 and assisted them in the       
succession to their father's crown4     
,and that it may not be supposed1 that  
all this is done by a simple and servile
 obligation to their common practice1 or
 by any authoritative impression of     
their ancient custom1 without judgment  
or reasoning1 and from having a soul so 
stupid that it cannot contrive what else
 to do1 ,i must here give you some      
touches of their sufficiency in point of
 understanding4  ,besides what ,i       
repeated to you before1 which was one of
 their songs of war1 ,i have another1 a 
love-song1 that begins thus3            
,stay1 adder1 stay1 that by thy pattern 
my sister may draw the      fashion and 
work of a rich ribbon1 that ,i may      
present to my beloved1      by which    
means thy beauty and the excellent order
 of thy scales      shall for ever be   

preferred before all other serpents4    
,wherein the first couplet1 ,stay1      
adder1 c41 makes the burden of the song4
  ,now ,i have conversed enough with    
poetry to judge thus much that not only 
there is nothing barbarous in this      
invention1 but1 moreover1 that it is    
perfectly ,anacreontic4  ,to which it   
may be added1 that their language is    
soft1 of a pleasing accent1 and         
something bordering upon the ,greek     
termination4  ,three of these people1   
not foreseeing how dear their knowledge 
of the corruptions of this part of the  
world will one day cost their happiness 
and repose1 and that the effect of this 
commerce will be their ruin1 as ,i      
presuppose it is in a very fair way     
7miserable men to suffer themselves to  
be deluded with desire of novelty and to
 have left the serenity of their own    
heaven to come so far to gaze at ours671
 were at ,rouen at the time that the    
late ,king ,charles ,,ix4 was there4    
,the king himself talked to them a good 

while1 and they were made to see our    
fashions1 our pomp1 and the form of a   
great city4  ,after which1 some one     
asked their opinion1 and would know of  
them1 what of all the things they had   
seen1 they found most to be admired8    
,to which they made answer1 three       
things1 of which ,i have forgotten the  
third1 and am troubled at it1 but two ,i
 yet remember4 ,they said1 that in the  
first place they thought it very strange
 that so many tall men1 wearing beards1 
strong1 and well armed1 who were about  
the king 7'tis like they meant the      
,swiss of the guard71 should submit to  
obey a child1 and that they did not     
rather choose out one amongst themselves
 to command4  ,secondly 7they have a way
 of speaking in their language to call  
men the half of one another71 that they 
had observed that there were amongst us 
men full and crammed with all manner of 
commodities1 whilst1 in the meantime1   
their halves were begging at their      
doors1 lean and half-starved with hunger

 and poverty2 and they thought it       
strange that these necessitous halves   
were able to suffer so great an         
inequality and injustice1 and that they 
did not take the others by the throats1 
or set fire to their houses4  ,i talked 
to one of them a great while together1  
but ,i had so ill an interpreter1 and   
one who was so perplexed by his own     
ignorance to apprehend my meaning1 that 
,i could get nothing out of him of any  
moment3 ,asking him what advantage he   
reaped from the superiority he had      
amongst his own people 7for he was a    
captain1 and our mariners called him    
king71 he told me1 to march at the head 
of them to war4  ,demanding of him      
further how many men he had to follow   
him1 he showed me a space of ground1 to 
signify as many as could march in such a
 compass1 which might be four or five   
thousand men2 and putting the question  
to him whether or no his authority      
expired with the war1 he told me this   
remained3 that when he went to visit the

 villages of his dependence1 they planed
 him paths through the thick of their   
woods1 by which he might pass at his    
ease4  ,all this does not sound very    
ill1 and the last was not at all amiss1 
for they wear no breeches4     ,,chapter
 ,,xxxi  ,,that ,a ,,man ,,is ,,soberly 
,,to ,,judge ,,of ,,the ,,divine        
,,ordinances  ,the true field and       
subject of imposture are things unknown1
 forasmuch as1 in the first place1 their
 very strangeness lends them credit1 and
 moreover1 by not being subjected to our
 ordinary reasons1 they deprive us of   
the means to question and dispute them3 
,for which reason1 says ,plato1 --,in   
,critias4--it is much more easy to      
satisfy the hearers1 when speaking of   
the nature of the gods than of the      
nature of men1 because the ignorance of 
the auditory affords a fair and large   
career and all manner of liberty in the 
handling of abstruse things4  ,thence it
 comes to pass1 that nothing is so      
firmly believed1 as what we least know2 

nor any people so confident1 as those   
who entertain us with fables1 such as   
your alchemists1 judicial astrologers1  
fortune-tellers1 and physicians1        
,id genus omne4            ,all that    
sort of people4--,horace1 ,sat41 i4 #b1 
#b4  ,to which ,i would willingly1 if ,i
 durst1 join a pack of people that take 
upon them to interpret and control the  
designs of ,god ,himself1 pretending to 
find out the cause of every accident1   
and to pry into the secrets of the      
divine will1 there to discover the      
incomprehensible motive1 of ,his works2 
and although the variety1 and the       
continual discordance of events1 throw  
them from corner to corner1 and toss    
them from east to west1 yet do they     
still persist in their vain inquisition1
 and with the same pencil to paint black
 and white4  ,in a nation of the        
,indies1 there is this commendable      
custom1 that when anything befalls them 
amiss in any encounter or battle1 they  
publicly ask pardon of the sun1 who is  

their god1 as having committed an unjust
 action1 always imputing their good or  
evil fortune to the divine justice1 and 
to that submitting their own judgment   
and reason4  ',tis enough for a         
,christian to believe that all things   
come from ,god1 to receive them with    
acknowledgment of ,his divine and       
inscrutable wisdom1 and also thankfully 
to accept and receive them1 with what   
face soever they may present themselves4
  ,but ,i do not approve of what ,i see 
in use1 that is1 to seek to affirm and  
support our religion by the prosperity  
of our enterprises4 ,our belief has     
other foundation enough1 without going  
about to authorise it by events3 for the
 people being accustomed to such        
plausible arguments as these and so     
proper to their taste1 it is to be      
feared1 lest when they fail of success  
they should also stagger in their faith3
 as in the war wherein we are now       
engaged upon the account of religion1   
those who had the better in the business

 of ,rochelabeille1--,may #aefi4--making
 great brags of that success as an      
infallible approbation of their cause1  
when they came afterwards to excuse     
their misfortunes of ,moncontour and    
,jarnac1 by saying they were fatherly   
scourges and corrections that they had  
not a people wholly at their mercy1 they
 make it manifestly enough appear1 what 
it is to take two sorts of grist out of 
the same sack1 and with the same mouth  
to blow hot and cold4  ,it were better  
to possess the vulgar with the solid and
 real foundations of truth4  ',twas a   
fine naval battle that was gained under 
the command of ,don ,john of ,austria a 
few months since--,that of ,lepanto1    
,october #g1 #aega4--;against the       
,turks2 but it has also pleased ,god at 
other times to let us see as great      
victories at our own expense4  ,in fine1
 'tis a hard matter to reduce divine    
things to our balance1 without waste and
 losing a great deal of the weight4     
,and who would take upon him to give a  

reason that ,arius and his ,pope ,leo1  
the principal heads of the ,arian       
heresy1 should die1 at several times1 of
 so like and strange deaths 7for being  
withdrawn from the disputation by a     
griping in the bowels1 they both of them
 suddenly gave up the ghost upon the    
stool71 and would aggravate this divine 
vengeance by the circumstances of the   
place1 might as well add the death of   
,heliogabalus1 who was also slain in a  
house of office4  ,and1 indeed1         
,irenaeus was involved in the same      
fortune4  ,god1 being pleased to show   
us1 that the good have something else to
 hope for and the wicked something else 
to fear1 than the fortunes or           
misfortunes of this world1 manages and  
applies these according to ,his own     
occult will and pleasure1 and deprives  
us of the means foolishly to make       
thereof our own profit4 ,and those      
people abuse themselves who will pretend
 to dive into these mysteries by the    
strength of human reason4  ,they never  

give one hit that they do not receive   
two for it2 of which ,st4 ,augustine    
makes out a great proof upon his        
adversaries4  ',tis a conflict that is  
more decided by strength of memory than 
by the force of reason4  ,we are to     
content ourselves with the light it     
pleases the sun to communicate to us1 by
 virtue of his rays2 and who will lift  
up his eyes to take in a greater1 let   
him not think it strange1 if for the    
reward of his presumption1 he there lose
 his sight4                 ,quis       
hominum potest scire consilium ,dei8    
,aut quis poterit cogitare quid velit   
,dominus8       ,who of men can know the
 counsel of ,god8 or who can think what 
the      will of the ,lord is4--,book of
 ,wisdom1 ix4 #ac4     ,,chapter ,,xxxii
  ,,that ,,we ,,are ,,to ,,avoid        
,,pleasures1 ,,even ,,at ,,the ,,expense
 ,,of ,,life  ,i had long ago observed  
most of the opinions of the ancients to 
concur in this1 that it is high time to 
die when there is more ill than good in 

living1 and that to preserve life to our
 own torment and inconvenience is       
contrary to the very rules of nature1 as
 these old laws instruct us4            
,either tranquil life1 or happy death4  
,it is well to die when life      is    
wearisome4  ,it is better to die than to
 live miserable4      --,stobaeus1      
,serm4 xx4  ,but to push this contempt  
of death so far as to employ it to the  
removing our thoughts from the honours1 
riches1 dignities1 and other favours and
 goods1 as we call them1 of fortune1 as 
if reason were not sufficient to        
persuade us to avoid them1 without      
adding this new injunction1 ,i had never
 seen it either commanded or practised1 
till this passage of ,seneca fell into  
my hands2 who advising ,lucilius1 a man 
of great power and authority about the  
emperor1 to alter his voluptuous and    
magnificent way of living1 and to retire
 himself from this worldly vanity and   
ambition1 to some solitary1 quiet1 and  
philosophical life1 and the other       

alleging some difficulties3 ,i am of    
opinion1 says he1 either that thou leave
 that life of thine1 or life itself2 ,i 
would1 indeed1 advise thee to the gentle
 way1 and to untie1 rather than to      
break1 the knot thou hast indiscreetly  
knit1 provided1 that if it be not       
otherwise to be untied1 thou resolutely 
break it4  ,there is no man so great a  
coward1 that had not rather once fall   
than to be always falling4  ,i should   
have found this counsel conformable     
enough to the ,stoical roughness3 but it
 appears the more strange1 for being    
borrowed from ,epicurus1 who writes the 
same thing upon the like occasion to    
,idomeneus4  ,and ,i think ,i have      
observed something like it1 but with    
,christian moderation1 amongst our own  
people4  ,st4 ,hilary1 ,bishop of       
,poictiers1 that famous enemy of the    
,arian heresy1 being in ,syria1 had     
intelligence thither sent him1 that     
,abra1 his only daughter1 whom he left  
at home under the eye and tuition of her

 mother1 was sought in marriage by the  
greatest noblemen of the country1 as    
being a virgin virtuously brought up1   
fair1 rich1 and in the flower of her    
age2 whereupon he wrote to her 7as      
appears upon record71 that she should   
remove her affection from all the       
pleasures and advantages proposed to    
her2 for that he had in his travels     
found out a much greater and more worthy
 fortune for her1 a husband of much     
greater power and magnificence1 who     
would present her with robes and jewels 
of inestimable value2 wherein his design
 was to dispossess her of the appetite  
and use of worldly delights1 to join her
 wholly to ,god2 but the nearest and    
most certain way to this1 being1 as he  
conceived1 the death of his daughter2 he
 never ceased1 by vows1 prayers1 and    
orisons1 to beg of the ,almighty1 that  
,he would please to call her out of this
 world1 and to take her to ,himself2 as 
accordingly it came to pass2 for soon   
after his return1 she died1 at which he 

expressed a singular joy4  ,this seems  
to outdo the other1 forasmuch as he     
applies himself to this means at the    
outset1 which they only take            
subsidiarily2 and1 besides1 it was      
towards his only daughter4 ,but ,i will 
not omit the latter end of this story1  
though it be for my purpose2 ,st4       
,hilary's wife1 having understood from  
him how the death of their daughter was 
brought about by his desire and design1 
and how much happier she was to be      
removed out of this world than to have  
stayed in it1 conceived so vivid an     
apprehension of the eternal and heavenly
 beatitude1 that she begged of her      
husband1 with the extremest importunity1
 to do as much for her2 and ,god1 at    
their joint request1 shortly after      
calling her to ,him1 it was a death     
embraced with singular and mutual       
content4     ,,chapter ,,xxxiii  ,,that 
,,fortune ,,is ,,oftentimes ,,observed  
,,to ,,act ,,by ,,the ,,rule ,,of       
,,reason  ,the inconstancy and various  

motions of ,fortune       ,the term     
,fortune1 so often employed by          
,montaigne1 and in passages      where  
he might have used ,providence1 was     
censured by the doctors who             
examined his ,essays when he was at     
,rome in #aeha4  ,see his ,travels1     
i4 #ce and #gf4  may reasonably make us 
expect she should present us with all   
sorts of faces4  ,can there be a more   
express act of justice than this8  ,the 
,duc de ,valentinois1--,caesar          
,borgia4--having resolved to poison     
,adrian1 ,cardinal of ,corneto1 with    
whom ,pope ,alexander ,,vi41 his father 
and himself1 were to sup in the         
,vatican1 he sent before a bottle of    
poisoned wine1 and withal1 strict order 
to the butler to keep it very safe4 ,the
 ,pope being come before his son1 and   
calling for drink1 the butler supposing 
this wine had not been so strictly      
recommended to his care1 but only upon  
the account of its excellency1 presented
 it forthwith to the ,pope1 and the duke

 himself coming in presently after1 and 
being confident they had not meddled    
with his bottle1 took also his cup2 so  
that the father died immediately upon   
the spot--,other historians assign the  
,pope several days of misery prior to   
death4  ,d4,w4--1 and the son1 after    
having been long tormented with         
sickness1 was reserved to another and a 
worse fortune4  ,sometimes she seems to 
play upon us1 just in the nick of an    
affair2 ,monsieur d',estrees1 at that   
time ensign to ,monsieur de ,vendome1   
and ,monsieur de ,licques1 lieutenant in
 the company of the ,duc d',ascot1 being
 both pretenders to the ,sieur de       
,fougueselles' sister1 though of several
 parties 7as it oft falls out amongst   
frontier neighbours71 the ,sieur de     
,licques carried her2 but on the same   
day he was married1 and which was worse1
 before he went to bed to his wife1 the 
bridegroom having a mind to break a     
lance in honour of his new bride1 went  
out to skirmish near ,st4 ,omer1 where  

the ,sieur d',estrees proving the       
stronger1 took him prisoner1 and the    
more to illustrate his victory1 the lady
 was fain--                ,conjugis    
ante coacta novi dimittere collum1      
,quam veniens una atque altera rursus   
hyems                ,noctibus in longis
 avidum saturasset amorem1              
,compelled to abstain from embracing her
 new spouse in her arms      before two 
winters pass in succession1 during their
 long nights had      satiated her eager
 love4--,catullus1 lxviii4  #ha4  --to  
request him of courtesy1 to deliver up  
his prisoner to her1 as he accordingly  
did1 the gentlemen of ,france never     
denying anything to ladies4  ,does she  
not seem to be an artist here8          
,constantine1 son of ,helena1 founded   
the empire of ,constantinople1 and so   
many ages after1 ,constantine1 the son  
of ,helen1 put an end to it4  ,sometimes
 she is pleased to emulate our miracles 
we are told1 that ,king ,clovis         
besieging ,angouleme1 the walls fell    

down of themselves by divine favour and 
,bouchet has it from some author1 that  
,king ,robert having sat down before a  
city1 and being stolen away from the    
siege to go keep the feast of ,st4      
,aignan at ,orleans1 as he was in       
devotion at a certain part of the ,mass1
 the walls of the beleaguered city1     
without any manner of violence1 fell    
down with a sudden ruin4  ,but she did  
quite contrary in our ,milan wars2 for1 
le ,capitaine ,rense laying siege for us
 to the city ,arona1 and having carried 
a mine under a great part of the wall1  
the mine being sprung1 the wall was     
lifted from its base1 but dropped down  
again nevertheless1 whole and entire1   
and so exactly upon its foundation1 that
 the besieged suffered no inconvenience 
by that attempt4  ,sometimes she plays  
the physician4  ,jason of ,pheres being 
given over by the physicians1 by reason 
of an imposthume in his breast1 having a
 mind to rid himself of his pain1 by    
death at least1 threw himself in a      

battle desperately into the thickest of 
the enemy1 where he was so fortunately  
wounded quite through the body1 that the
 imposthume broke1 and he was perfectly 
cured4  ,did she not also excel the     
painter ,protogenes in his art8 who     
having finished the picture of a dog    
quite tired and out of breath1 in all   
the other parts excellently well to his 
own liking1 but not being able to       
express1 as he would1 the slaver and    
foam that should come out of its mouth1 
vexed and angry at his work1 he took his
 sponge1 which by cleaning his pencils  
had imbibed several sorts of colours1   
and threw it in a rage against the      
picture1 with an intent utterly to      
deface it2 when fortune guiding the     
sponge to hit just upon the mouth of the
 dog1 it there performed what all his   
art was not able to do4  ,does she not  
sometimes direct our counsels and       
correct them8  ,isabel1 ,queen of       
,england1 having to sail from ,zealand  
into her own kingdom1--in #acbf-- with  

an army1 in favour of her son against   
her husband1 had been lost1 had she come
 into the port she intended1 being there
 laid wait for by the enemy2 but        
fortune1 against her will1 threw her    
into another haven1 where she landed in 
safety4  ,and that man of old who1      
throwing a stone at a dog1 hit and      
killed his mother-in-law1 had he not    
reason to pronounce this verse3         
,fortune has more judgement than        
we4--,menander  ,icetes had contracted  
with two soldiers to kill ,timoleon at  
,adrana in ,sicily4--,plutarch1 ,life of
 ,timoleon1 c4 #g4--,they took their    
time to do it when he was assisting at a
 sacrifice1 and thrusting into the      
crowd1 as they were making signs to one 
another1 that now was a fit time to do  
their business1 in steps a third1 who1  
with a sword takes one of them full     
drive over the pate1 lays him dead upon 
the place and runs away1 which the      
others see1 and concluding himself      
discovered and lost1 runs to the altar  

and begs for mercy1 promising to        
discover the whole truth1 which as he   
was doing1 and laying open the full     
conspiracy1 behold the third man1 who   
being apprehended1 was1 as a murderer1  
thrust and hauled by the people through 
the press1 towards ,timoleon1 and the   
other most eminent persons of the       
assembly1 before whom being brought1 he 
cries out for pardon1 pleading that he  
had justly slain his father's murderer2 
which he1 also1 proving upon the spot1  
by sufficient witnesses1 whom his good  
fortune very opportunely supplied him   
withal1 that his father was really      
killed in the city of ,leontini1 by that
 very man on whom he had taken his      
revenge1 he was presently awarded ten   
,attic minae1 for having had the good   
fortune1 by designing to revenge the    
death of his father1 to preserve the    
life of the common father of ,sicily4   
,fortune1 truly1 in her conduct         
surpasses all the rules of human        
prudence4  ,but to conclude3 is there   

not a direct application of her favour1 
bounty1 and piety manifestly discovered 
in this action8  ,ignatius the father   
and ,ignatius the son being proscribed  
by the triumvirs of ,rome1 resolved upon
 this generous act of mutual kindness1  
to fall by the hands of one another1 and
 by that means to frustrate and defeat  
the cruelty of the tyrants2 and         
accordingly with their swords drawn1 ran
 full drive upon one another1 where     
fortune so guided the points1 that they 
made two equally mortal wounds1         
affording withal so much honour to so   
brave a friendship1 as to leave them    
just strength enough to draw out their  
bloody swords1 that they might have     
liberty to embrace one another in this  
dying condition1 with so close and      
hearty an embrace1 that the executioner 
cut off both their heads at once1       
leaving the bodies still fast linked    
together in this noble bond1 and their  
wounds joined mouth to mouth1           
affectionately sucking in the last blood

 and remainder of the lives of each     
other4     ,,chapter ,,xxxiv  ,,of ,,one
 ,,defect ,,in ,,our ,,government  ,my  
late father1 a man that had no other    
advantages than experience and his own  
natural parts1 was nevertheless of a    
very clear judgment1 formerly told me   
that he once had thoughts of            
endeavouring to introduce this practice2
 that there might be in every city a    
certain place assigned to which such as 
stood in need of anything might repair1 
and have their business entered by an   
officer appointed for that purpose4  ,as
 for example3 ,i want a chapman to buy  
my pearls2 ,i want one that has pearls  
to sell2 such a one wants company to go 
to ,paris2 such a one seeks a servant of
 such a quality2 such a one a master2   
such a one such an artificer2 some      
inquiring for one thing1 some for       
another1 every one according to what he 
wants4  ,and doubtless1 these mutual    
advertisements would be of no           
contemptible advantage to the public    

correspondence and intelligence3 for    
there are evermore conditions that hunt 
after one another1 and for want of      
knowing one another's occasions leave   
men in very great necessity4  ,i have   
heard1 to the great shame of the age we 
live in1 that in our very sight two most
 excellent men for learning died so poor
 that they had scarce bread to put in   
their mouths3 ,lilius ,gregorius        
,giraldus in ,italy and ,sebastianus    
,castalio in ,germany3 and ,i believe   
there are a thousand men would have     
invited them into their families1 with  
very advantageous conditions1 or have   
relieved them where they were1 had they 
known their wants4  ,the world is not so
 generally corrupted1 but that ,i know a
 man that would heartily wish the estate
 his ancestors have left him might be   
employed1 so long as it shall please    
fortune to give him leave to enjoy it1  
to secure rare and remarkable persons of
 any kind1 whom misfortune sometimes    
persecutes to the last degree1 from the 

dangers of necessity2 and at least place
 them in such a condition that they must
 be very hard to please1 if they are not
 contented4  ,my father in his domestic 
economy had this rule 7which ,i know how
 to commend1 but by no means to         
imitate71 namely1 that besides the      
day-book or memorial of household       
affairs1 where the small accounts1      
payments1 and disbursements1 which do   
not require a secretary's hand1 were    
entered1 and which a steward always had 
in custody1 he ordered him whom he      
employed to write for him1 to keep a    
journal1 and in it to set down all the  
remarkable occurrences1 and daily       
memorials of the history of his house3  
very pleasant to look over1 when time   
begins to wear things out of memory1 and
 very useful sometimes to put us out of 
doubt when such a thing was begun1 when 
ended2 what visitors came1 and when they
 went2 our travels1 absences1 marriages1
 and deaths2 the reception of good or   
ill news2 the change of principal       

servants1 and the like4  ,an ancient    
custom1 which ,i think it would not be  
amiss for every one to revive in his own
 house2 and ,i find ,i did very         
foolishly in neglecting it4             
,,chapter ,,xxxv  ,,of ,,the ,,custom   
,,of ,,wearing ,,clothes  ,whatever ,i  
shall say upon this subject1 ,i am of   
necessity to invade some of the bounds  
of custom1 so careful has she been to   
shut up all the avenues4  ,i was        
disputing with myself in this shivering 
season1 whether the fashion of going    
naked in those nations lately discovered
 is imposed upon them by the hot        
temperature of the air1 as we say of the
 ,indians and ,moors1 or whether it be  
the original fashion of mankind4  ,men  
of understanding1 forasmuch as all      
things under the sun1 as the ,holy ,writ
 declares1 are subject to the same laws1
 were wont in such considerations as    
these1 where we are to distinguish the  
natural laws from those which have been 
imposed by man's invention1 to have     

recourse to the general polity of the   
world1 where there can be nothing       
counterfeit4  ,now1 all other creatures 
being sufficiently furnished with all   
things necessary for the support of     
their being--,montaigne's expression is1
 with needle and thread4--,w4,c4,h4--it 
is not to be imagined that we only are  
brought into the world in a defective   
and indigent condition1 and in such a   
state as cannot subsist without external
 aid4  ,therefore it is that ,i believe1
 that as plants1 trees1 and animals1 and
 all things that have life1 are seen to 
be by nature sufficiently clothed and   
covered1 to defend them from the        
injuries of weather3                    
,proptereaque fere res omnes ant corio  
sunt1           ,aut seta1 ant conchis1 
ant callo1 ant cortice tectae1          
,and that for this reason nearly all    
things are clothed with skin1      or   
hair1 or shells1 or bark1 or some such  
thing4      --,lucretius1 iv4 #icf4  so 
were we3 but as those who by artificial 

light put out that of day1 so we by     
borrowed forms and fashions have        
destroyed our own4  ,and 'tis plain     
enough to be seen1 that 'tis custom only
 which renders that impossible that     
otherwise is nothing so2 for of those   
nations who have no manner of knowledge 
of clothing1 some are situated under the
 same temperature that we are1 and some 
in much colder climates4  ,and besides1 
our most tender parts are always exposed
 to the air1 as the eyes1 mouth1 nose1  
and ears2 and our country labourers1    
like our ancestors in former times1 go  
with their breasts and bellies open4    
,had we been born with a necessity upon 
us of wearing petticoats and breeches1  
there is no doubt but nature would have 
fortified those parts she intended      
should be exposed to the fury of the    
seasons with a thicker skin1 as she has 
done the finger-ends and the soles of   
the feet4  ,and why should this seem    
hard to believe8  ,i observe much       
greater distance betwixt my habit and   

that of one of our country boors1 than  
betwixt his and that of a man who has no
 other covering but his skin4  ,how many
 men1 especially in ,turkey1 go naked   
upon the account of devotion8  ,some one
 asked a beggar1 whom he saw in his     
shirt in the depth of winter1 as brisk  
and frolic as he who goes muffled up to 
the ears in furs1 how he was able to    
endure to go so8  ,why1 sir1 he         
answered1 you go with your face bare3 ,i
 am all face4  ,the ,italians have a    
story of the ,duke of ,florence's fool1 
whom his master asking how1 being so    
thinly clad1 he was able to support the 
cold1 when he himself1 warmly wrapped up
 as he was1 was hardly able to do it8   
,why1 replied the fool1 use my receipt  
to put on all your clothes you have at  
once1 and you'll feel no more cold than 
,i4  ,king ,massinissa1 to an extreme   
old age1 could never be prevailed upon  
to go with his head covered1 how cold1  
stormy1 or rainy soever the weather     
might be2 which also is reported of the 

,emperor ,severus4  ,herodotus tells us1
 that in the battles fought betwixt the 
,egyptians and the ,persians1 it was    
observed both by himself and by others1 
that of those who were left dead upon   
the field1 the heads of the ,egyptians  
were without comparison harder than     
those of the ,persians1 by reason that  
the last had gone with their heads      
always covered from their infancy1 first
 with biggins1 and then with turbans1   
and the others always shaved and bare4  
,king ,agesilaus continued to a decrepit
 age to wear always the same clothes in 
winter that he did in summer4  ,caesar1 
says ,suetonius1 marched always at the  
head of his army1 for the most part on  
foot1 with his head bare1 whether it was
 rain or sunshine1 and as much is said  
of ,hannibal3                           
,tum vertice nudo1                      
,excipere insanos imbres1 coelique      
ruinam4       ,bareheaded he marched in 
snow1 exposed to pouring rain and the   
utmost rigour of the weather4--,silius  

,italicus1 i4 #bej4  ,a ,venetian who   
has long lived in ,pegu1 and has lately 
returned thence1 writes that the men and
 women of that kingdom1 though they     
cover all their other parts1 go always  
barefoot and ride so too2 and ,plato    
very earnestly advises for the health of
 the whole body1 to give the head and   
the feet no other clothing than what    
nature has bestowed4  ,he whom the      
,poles have elected for their           
king1--,stephen ,bathory--since ours    
came thence1 who is1 indeed1 one of the 
greatest princes of this age1 never     
wears any gloves1 and in winter or      
whatever weather can come1 never wears  
other cap abroad than that he wears at  
home4  ,whereas ,i cannot endure to go  
unbuttoned or untied2 my neighbouring   
labourers would think themselves in     
chains1 if they were so braced4  ,varro 
is of opinion1 that when it was ordained
 we should be bare in the presence of   
the gods and before the magistrate1 it  
was so ordered rather upon the score of 

health1 and to inure us to the injuries 
of weather1 than upon the account of    
reverence2 and since we are now talking 
of cold1 and ,frenchmen used to wear    
variety of colours 7not ,i myself1 for  
,i seldom wear other than black or      
white1 in imitation of my father71 let  
us add another story out of ,le         
,capitaine ,martin du ,bellay1 who      
affirms1 that in the march to           
,luxembourg he saw so great frost1 that 
the munition-wine was cut with hatchets 
and wedges1 and delivered out to the    
soldiers by weight1 and that they       
carried it away in baskets3 and ,ovid1  
,nudaque consistunt1 formam servantia   
testae1                ,vina2 nec hausta
 meri1 sed data frusta1 bibunt4         
,the wine when out of the cask retains  
the form of the cask2      and is given 
out not in cups1 but in bits4           
--,ovid1 ,trist41 iii4 #aj1 #bc4  ,at   
the mouth of ,lake ,maeotis the frosts  
are so very sharp1 that in the very same
 place where ,mithridates' lieutenant   

had fought the enemy dryfoot and given  
them a notable defeat1 the summer       
following he obtained over them a naval 
victory4  ,the ,romans fought at a very 
great disadvantage1 in the engagement   
they had with the ,carthaginians near   
,piacenza1 by reason that they went to  
the charge with their blood congealed   
and their limbs numbed with cold1       
whereas ,hannibal had caused great fires
 to be dispersed quite through his camp 
to warm his soldiers1 and oil to be     
distributed amongst them1 to the end    
that anointing themselves1 they might   
render their nerves more supple and     
active1 and fortify the pores against   
the violence of the air and freezing    
wind1 which raged in that season4  ,the 
retreat the ,greeks made from ,babylon  
into their own country is famous for the
 difficulties and calamities they had to
 overcome2 of which this was one1 that  
being encountered in the mountains of   
,armenia with a horrible storm of snow1 
they lost all knowledge of the country  

and of the ways1 and being driven up1   
were a day and a night without eating or
 drinking2 most of their cattle died1   
many of themselves were starved to      
death1 several struck blind with the    
force of the hail and the glare of the  
snow1 many of them maimed in their      
fingers and toes1 and many stiff and    
motionless with the extremity of the    
cold1 who had yet their understanding   
entire4  ,alexander saw a nation1 where 
they bury their fruit-trees in winter to
 protect them from being destroyed by   
the frost1 and we also may see the same4
  ,but1 so far as clothes go1 the ,king 
of ,mexico changed four times a day his 
apparel1 and never put it on again1     
employing that he left off in his       
continual liberalities and rewards2 and 
neither pot1 dish1 nor other utensil of 
his kitchen or table was ever served    
twice4     ,,chapter ,,xxxvi  ,,of      
,,cato ,,the ,,younger       ,i am not  
possessed with this common errour1 to   
judge of others      according to what  

,i am my selfe4  ,i am easie to beleeve 
things      differing from my selfe4    
,though ,i be engaged to one forme1 ,i  
do not      tie the world unto it1 as   
every man doth4  ,and ,i beleeve and    
conceive a thousand manners of life1    
contrary to the common sorte4           
--,florio1 ed4 #afac1 p4 #aac4  ,i am   
not guilty of the common error of       
judging another by myself4  ,i easily   
believe that in another's humour which  
is contrary to my own2 and though ,i    
find myself engaged to one certain form1
 ,i do not oblige others to it1 as many 
do2 but believe and apprehend a thousand
 ways of living2 and1 contrary to most  
men1 more easily admit of difference    
than uniformity amongst us4  ,i as      
frankly as any one would have me1       
discharge a man from my humours and     
principles1 and consider him according  
to his own particular model4  ,though ,i
 am not continent myself1 ,i            
nevertheless sincerely approve the      
continence of the ,feuillans and        

,capuchins1 and highly commend their way
 of living4  ,i insinuate myself by     
imagination into their place1 and love  
and honour them the more for being other
 than ,i am4  ,i very much desire that  
we may be judged every man by himself1  
and would not be drawn into the         
consequence of common examples4  ,my own
 weakness nothing alters the esteem ,i  
ought to have for the force and vigour  
of those who deserve it3       ,sunt qui
 nihil suadent1 quam quod se imitari    
posse confidunt4       ,there are who   
persuade nothing but what they believe  
they can      imitate                   
themselves4--,cicero1 ,de ,orator41 c4  
#g4  ,crawling upon the slime of the    
earth1 ,i do not for all that cease to  
observe up in the clouds the inimitable 
height of some heroic souls4 ',tis a    
great deal for me to have my judgment   
regular and just1 if the effects cannot 
be so1 and to maintain this sovereign   
part1 at least1 free from corruption2   
'tis something to have my will right and

 good where my legs fail me4  ,this age 
wherein we live1 in our part of the     
world at least1 is grown so stupid1 that
 not only the exercise1 but the very    
imagination of virtue is defective1 and 
seems to be no other but college jargon3
                          ,virtutem     
verba putant1 ut                  ,lucum
 ligna3       ,they think words virtue1 
as they think mere wood a sacred grove4 
--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #f1 #ca4            
,quam vereri deberent1 etiam si         
percipere non possent4       ,which they
 ought to reverence1 though they cannot 
comprehend4      --,cicero1 ,tusc4      
,quas41 v4 #b4  ',tis a gewgaw to hang  
in a cabinet or at the end of the       
tongue1 as on the tip of the ear1 for   
ornament only4  ,there are no longer    
virtuous actions extant2 those actions  
that carry a show of virtue have yet    
nothing of its essence2 by reason that  
profit1 glory1 fear1 custom1 and other  
suchlike foreign causes1 put us on the  
way to produce them4  ,our justice also1

 valour1 courtesy1 may be called so too1
 in respect to others and according to  
the face they appear with to the public2
 but in the doer it can by no means be  
virtue1 because there is another end    
proposed1 another moving cause4  ,now   
virtue owns nothing to be hers1 but what
 is done by herself and for herself     
alone4  ,in that great battle of        
,plataea1 that the ,greeks under the    
command of ,pausanias gained against    
,mardonius and the ,persians1 the       
conquerors1 according to their custom1  
coming to divide amongst them the glory 
of the exploit1 attributed to the       
,spartan nation the pre-eminence of     
valour in the engagement4  ,the         
,spartans1 great judges of virtue1 when 
they came to determine to what          
particular man of their nation the      
honour was due of having the best       
behaved himself upon this occasion1     
found that ,aristodemus had of all      
others hazarded his person with the     
greatest bravery2 but did not1 however1 

allow him any prize1 by reason that his 
virtue had been incited by a desire to  
clear his reputation from the reproach  
of his miscarriage at the business of   
,thermopylae1 and to die bravely to wipe
 off that former blemish4  ,our         
judgments are yet sick1 and obey the    
humour of our depraved manners4 ,i      
observe most of the wits of these times 
pretend to ingenuity1 by endeavouring to
 blemish and darken the glory of the    
bravest and most generous actions of    
former ages1 putting one vile           
interpretation or another upon them1 and
 forging and supposing vain causes and  
motives for the noble things they did3 a
 mighty subtlety indeed6  ,give me the  
greatest and most unblemished action    
that ever the day beheld1 and ,i will   
contrive a hundred plausible drifts and 
ends to obscure it4  ,god knows1 whoever
 will stretch them out to the full1 what
 diversity of images our internal wills 
suffer under4  ,they do not so          
maliciously play the censurers1 as they 

do it ignorantly and rudely in all their
 detractions4  ,the same pains and      
licence that others take to blemish and 
bespatter these illustrious names1 ,i   
would willingly undergo to lend them a  
shoulder to raise them higher4  ,these  
rare forms1 that are culled out by the  
consent of the wisest men of all ages1  
for the world's example1 ,i should not  
stick to augment in honour1 as far as my
 invention would permit1 in all the     
circumstances of favourable             
interpretation2 and we may well believe 
that the force of our invention is      
infinitely short of their merit4  ',tis 
the duty of good men to portray virtue  
as beautiful as they can1 and there     
would be nothing wrong should our       
passion a little transport us in favour 
of so sacred a form4  ,what these people
 do1 on the contrary1 they either do out
 of malice1 or by the vice of confining 
their belief to their own capacity2 or1 
which ,i am more inclined to think1 for 
not having their sight strong1 clear1   

and elevated enough to conceive the     
splendour of virtue in her native       
purity3 as ,plutarch complains1 that in 
his time some attributed the cause of   
the younger ,cato's death to his fear of
 ,caesar1 at which he seems very angry1 
and with good reason2 and by this a man 
may guess how much more he would have   
been offended with those who have       
attributed it to ambition4  ,senseless  
people6  ,he would rather have performed
 a noble1 just1 and generous action1 and
 to have had ignominy for his reward1   
than for glory4  ,that man was in truth 
a pattern that nature chose out to show 
to what height human virtue and         
constancy could arrive4  ,but ,i am not 
capable of handling so rich an argument1
 and shall therefore only set five      
,latin poets together1 contending in the
 praise of ,cato2 and1 incidentally1 for
 their own too4  ,now1 a well-educated  
child will judge the two first1 in      
comparison of the others1 a little flat 
and languid2 the third more vigorous1   

but overthrown by the extravagance of   
his own force2 he will then think that  
there will be room for one or two       
gradations of invention to come to the  
fourth1 and1 mounting to the pitch of   
that1 he will lift up his hands in      
admiration2 coming to the last1 the     
first by some space' 7but a space that  
he will swear is not to be filled up by 
any human wit71 he will be astounded1 he
 will not know where he is4  ,and here  
is a wonder3 we have far more poets than
 judges and interpreters of poetry2 it  
is easier to write it than to understand
 it4  ,there is1 indeed1 a certain low  
and moderate sort of poetry1 that a man 
may well enough judge by certain rules  
of art2 but the true1 supreme1 and      
divine poesy is above all rules and     
reason4  ,and whoever discerns the      
beauty of it with the most assured and  
most steady sight1 sees no more than the
 quick reflection of a flash of         
lightning3 it does not exercise1 but    
ravishes and overwhelms our judgment4   

,the fury that possesses him who is able
 to penetrate into it wounds yet a third
 man by hearing him repeat it2 like a   
loadstone that not only attracts the    
needle1 but also infuses into it the    
virtue to attract others4  ,and it is   
more evidently manifest in our theatres1
 that the sacred inspiration of the     
,muses1 having first stirred up the poet
 to anger1 sorrow1 hatred1 and out of   
himself1 to whatever they will1 does    
moreover by the poet possess the actor1 
and by the actor consecutively all the  
spectators4  ,so much do our passions   
hang and depend upon one another4       
,poetry has ever had that power over me 
from a child to transpierce and         
transport me2 but this vivid sentiment  
that is natural to me has been variously
 handled by variety of forms1 not so    
much higher or lower 7for they were ever
 the highest of every kind71 as         
differing in colour4 ,first1 a gay and  
sprightly fluency2 afterwards1 a lofty  
and penetrating subtlety2 and lastly1 a 

mature and constant vigour4  ,their     
names will better express them3 ,ovid1  
,lucan1 ,virgil4  ,but our poets are    
beginning their career3           ,sit  
,cato1 dum vivit1 sane vel ,caesare     
major1       ,let ,cato1 whilst he live1
 be greater than ,caesar4               
--,martial1 vi4 #cb  says one4          
,et invictum1 devicta morte1 ,catonem1  
,and ,cato invincible1 death being      
overcome4           --,manilius1        
,astron41 iv4 #hg4  says the second4    
,and the third1 speaking of the civil   
wars betwixt ,caesar and ,pompey1       
,victrix causa diis placuit1 set victa  
,catoni4       ,the victorious cause    
blessed the gods1 the defeated one      
,cato4      --,lucan1 i4 #abh4  ,and the
 fourth1 upon the praises of ,caesar3   
,et cuncta terrarum subacta1            
,praeter atrocem animum ,catonis4       
,and conquered all but the indomitable  
mind of ,cato4      --,horace1 ,od41 ii4
 #a1 #bc4  ,and the master of the choir1
 after having set forth all the great   

names of the greatest ,romans1 ends     
thus3                      ,his dantem  
jura ,catonem4       ,cato giving laws  
to all the rest4--,a,eneid1 viii4 #fgj4 
,,chapter ,,xxxvii  ,,that ,,we ,,laugh 
,,and ,,cry ,,for ,,the ,,same ,,thing  
,when we read in history that ,antigonus
 was very much displeased with his son  
for presenting him the head of ,king    
,pyrrhus his enemy1 but newly slain     
fighting against him1 and that seeing   
it1 he wept2 and that ,rene1 ,duke of   
,lorraine1 also lamented the death of   
,charles1 ,duke of ,burgundy1 whom he   
had himself defeated1 and appeared in   
mourning at his funeral2 and that in the
 battle of ,d',auray 7which ,count      
,montfort obtained over ,charles de     
,blois1 his competitor for the duchy of 
,brittany71 the conqueror meeting the   
dead body of his enemy1 was very much   
afflicted at his death1 we must not     
presently cry out3                ,e    
cosi avven1 the l'animo ciascuna        
,sua passion sotto 'l contrario manto1  

,ricopre1 con la vista or'chiara1       
or'bruna4       ,and thus it happens    
that the mind of each veils its passion 
under      a different appearance1 and  
beneath a smiling visage1 gay beneath a 
sombre air4--,petrarch4  ,when ,pompey's
 head was presented to ,caesar1 the     
histories tell us that he turned away   
his face1 as from a sad and unpleasing  
object4  ,there had been so long an     
intelligence and society betwixt them in
 the management of the public affairs1  
so great a community of fortunes1 so    
many mutual offices1 and so near an     
alliance1 that this countenance of his  
ought not to suffer under any           
misinterpretation1 or to be suspected   
for either false or counterfeit1 as this
 other seems to believe3                
,tutumque putavit           ,jam bonus  
esse socer2 lacrymae non sponte         
cadentes1           ,effudit1 gemitusque
 expressit pectore laeto2       ,and now
 he thought it safe to play the kind    
father-in-law1      shedding forced     

tears1 and from a joyful breast         
discharging sighs      and              
groans4--,lucan1 ix4 #ajcg4  for though 
it be true that the greatest part of our
 actions are no other than visor and    
disguise1 and that it may sometimes be  
true that                 ,haeredis     
fletus sub persona rises est1           
,the heir's tears behind the mask are   
smiles4           --,publius ,syrus1    
apud ,gellium1 xvii4 #ad4  yet1 in      
judging of these accidents1 we are to   
consider how much our souls are         
oftentimes agitated with divers         
passions4  ,and as they say that in our 
bodies there is a congregation of divers
 humours1 of which that is the sovereign
 which1 according to the complexion we  
are of1 is commonly most predominant in 
us3 so1 though the soul have in it      
divers motions to give it agitation1 yet
 must there of necessity be one to      
overrule all the rest1 though not with  
so necessary and absolute a dominion but
 that through the flexibility and       

inconstancy of the soul1 those of less  
authority may upon occasion reassume    
their place and make a little sally in  
turn4  ,thence it is1 that we see not   
only children1 who innocently obey and  
follow nature1 often laugh and cry at   
the same thing1 but not one of us can   
boast1 what journey soever he may have  
in hand that he has the most set his    
heart upon1 but when he comes to part   
with his family and friends1 he will    
find something that troubles him within2
 and though he refrain his tears yet he 
puts foot in the stirrup with a sad and 
cloudy countenance4  ,and what gentle   
flame soever may warm the heart of      
modest and wellborn virgins1 yet are    
they fain to be forced from about their 
mothers' necks to be put to bed to their
 husbands1 whatever this boon companion 
is pleased to say3           ,estne     
novis nuptis odio ,venus8  anne parentum
           ,frustrantur falsis gaudia   
lachrymulis1           ,ubertim thalami 
quasi intra limina fundunt8             

,non1 ita me divi1 vera gemunt1         
juverint4       ,is ,venus really so    
alarming to the new-made bride1 or does 
she      honestly oppose her parent's   
rejoicing the tears she so abundantly   
sheds on entering the nuptial chamber8  
,no1 by the ,gods1 these are      no    
true tears4--,catullus1 lxvi4 #ae4      
,is ,venus really so repugnant to       
newly-married maids8  ,do they meet     
the smiles of parents with feigned      
tears8  ,they weep copiously      within
 the very threshold of the nuptial      
chamber4  ,no1 so the gods      help me1
 they do not truly grieve4--,catullus1  
lxvi4  #ae4--      ,a more literal      
translation4  ,d4,w4  ,neither is it    
strange to lament a person dead whom a  
man would by no means should be alive4  
,when ,i rattle my man1 ,i do it with   
all the mettle ,i have1 and load him    
with no feigned1 but downright real     
curses2 but the heat being over1 if he  
should stand in need of me1 ,i should be
 very ready to do him good3 for ,i      

instantly turn the leaf4  ,when ,i call 
him calf and coxcomb1 ,i do not pretend 
to entail those titles upon him for     
ever2 neither do ,i think ,i give myself
 the lie in calling him an honest fellow
 presently after4  ,no one quality      
engrosses us purely and universally4    
,were it not the sign of a fool to talk 
to one's self1 there would hardly be a  
day or hour wherein ,i might not be     
heard to grumble and mutter to myself   
and against myself1 ,confound the fool6 
and yet ,i do not think that to be my   
definition4  ,who for seeing me one     
while cold and presently very fond      
towards my wife1 believes the one or the
 other to be counterfeited1 is an ass4  
,nero1 taking leave of his mother whom  
he was sending to be drowned1 was       
nevertheless sensible of some emotion at
 this farewell1 and was struck with     
horror and pity4  ',tis said1 that the  
light of the sun is not one continuous  
thing1 but that he darts new rays so    
thick one upon another that we cannot   

perceive the intermission3              
,largus enim liquidi fons luminis1      
aetherius sol1           ,irrigat       
assidue coelum candore recenti1         
,suppeditatque novo confestim lumine    
lumen4       ,so the wide fountain of   
liquid light1 the ethereal sun1 steadily
      fertilises the heavens with new   
heat1 and supplies a continuous         
store of fresh light4--,lucretius1 v4   
#bhb4  ,just so the soul variously and  
imperceptibly darts out her passions4   
,artabanus coming by surprise once upon 
his nephew ,xerxes1 chid him for the    
sudden alteration of his countenance4   
,he was considering the immeasurable    
greatness of his forces passing over the
 ,hellespont for the ,grecian           
expedition3 he was first seized with a  
palpitation of joy1 to see so many      
millions of men under his command1 and  
this appeared in the gaiety of his      
looks3 but his thoughts at the same     
instant suggesting to him that of so    
many lives1 within a century at most1   

there would not be one left1 he         
presently knit his brows and grew sad1  
even to tears4  ,we have resolutely     
pursued the revenge of an injury        
received1 and been sensible of a        
singular contentment for the victory2   
but we shall weep notwithstanding4      
',tis not for the victory1 though1 that 
we shall weep3 there is nothing altered 
in that but the soul looks upon things  
with another eye and represents them to 
itself with another kind of face2 for   
everything has many faces and several   
aspects4  ,relations1 old acquaintances1
 and friendships1 possess our           
imaginations and make them tender for   
the time1 according to their condition2 
but the turn is so quick1 that 'tis gone
 in a moment3                ,nil adeo  
fieri celeri ratione videtur1           
,quam si mens fieri proponit1 et inchoat
 ipsa1                ,ocius ergo       
animus1 quam res se perciet ulla1       
,ante oculos quorum in promptu natura   
videtur2       ,nothing therefore seems 

to be done in so swift a manner than if 
the mind proposes it to be done1 and    
itself begins4  ,it is more      active 
than anything which we see in           
nature4--,lucretius1 iii4 #ahc4  and    
therefore1 if we would make one         
continued thing of all this succession  
of passions1 we deceive ourselves4      
,when ,timoleon laments the murder he   
had committed upon so mature and        
generous deliberation1 he does not      
lament the liberty restored to his      
country1 he does not lament the tyrant2 
but he laments his brother3 one part of 
his duty is performed2 let us give him  
leave to perform the other4             
,,chapter ,,xxxviii  ,,of ,,solitude    
,let us pretermit that long comparison  
betwixt the active and the solitary     
life2 and as for the fine sayings with  
which ambition and avarice palliate     
their vices1 that we are not born for   
ourselves but for the public1--,this is 
the eulogium passed by ,lucan on ,cato  
of ,utica1 ii4 #chc4--let us boldly     

appeal to those who are in public       
affairs2 let them lay their hands upon  
their hearts1 and then say whether1 on  
the contrary1 they do not rather aspire 
to titles and offices and that tumult of
 the world to make their private        
advantage at the public expense4  ,the  
corrupt ways by which in this our time  
they arrive at the height to which their
 ambitions aspire1 manifestly enough    
declares that their ends cannot be very 
good4  ,let us tell ambition that it is 
she herself who gives us a taste of     
solitude2 for what does she so much     
avoid as society8  ,what does she so    
much seek as elbowroom8  ,a man many do 
well or ill everywhere2 but if what     
,bias says be true1 that the greatest   
part is the worse part1 or what the     
,preacher says3 there is not one good of
 a thousand3                ,rari quippe
 boni3 numero vix sunt totidem quot     
,thebarum portae1 vel divitis ostia     
,nili1       ,good men forsooth are     
scarce3 there are hardly as many as     

there      are gates of ,thebes or      
mouths of the rich ,nile4               
--,juvenal1 ,sat41 xiii4 #bf4  the      
contagion is very dangerous in the      
crowd4  ,a man must either imitate the  
vicious or hate them both are dangerous 
things1 either to resemble them because 
they are many or to hate many because   
they are unresembling to ourselves4     
,merchants who go to sea are in the     
right when they are cautious that those 
who embark with them in the same bottom 
be neither dissolute blasphemers nor    
vicious other ways1 looking upon such   
society as unfortunate4  ,and therefore 
it was that ,bias pleasantly said to    
some1 who being with him in a dangerous 
storm implored the assistance of the    
gods3 ,peace1 speak softly1 said he1    
that they may not know you are here in  
my company4--,diogenes ,laertius--,and  
of more pressing example1 ,albuquerque1 
viceroy in the ,indies for ,emmanuel1   
king of ,portugal1 in an extreme peril  
of shipwreck1 took a young boy upon his 

shoulders1 for this only end that1 in   
the society of their common danger his  
innocence might serve to protect him1   
and to recommend him to the divine      
favour1 that they might get safe to     
shore4  ',tis not that a wise man may   
not live everywhere content1 and be     
alone in the very crowd of a palace2 but
 if it be left to his own choice1 the   
schoolman will tell you that he should  
fly the very sight of the crowd3 he will
 endure it if need be2 but if it be     
referred to him1 he will choose to be   
alone4  ,he cannot think himself        
sufficiently rid of vice1 if he must yet
 contend with it in other men4          
,charondas punished those as evil men   
who were convicted of keeping ill       
company4  ,there is nothing so          
unsociable and sociable as man1 the one 
by his vice1 the other by his nature4   
,and ,antisthenes1 in my opinion1 did   
not give him a satisfactory answer1 who 
reproached him with frequenting ill     
company1 by saying that the physicians  

lived well enough amongst the sick1 for 
if they contribute to the health of the 
sick1 no doubt but by the contagion1    
continual sight of1 and familiarity with
 diseases1 they must of necessity impair
 their own4  ,now the end1 ,i take it1  
is all one1 to live at more leisure and 
at one's ease3 but men do not always    
take the right way4  ,they often think  
they have totally taken leave of all    
business1 when they have only exchanged 
one employment for another3 there is    
little less trouble in governing a      
private family than a whole kingdom4    
,wherever the mind is perplexed1 it is  
in an entire disorder1 and domestic     
employments are not less troublesome for
 being less important4  ,moreover1 for  
having shaken off the court and the     
exchange1 we have not taken leave of the
 principal vexations of life3           
,ratio et prudentia curas1              
,non locus effusi late maris arbiter1   
aufert2       ,reason and prudence1 not 
a place with a commanding view of the   

great ocean1 banish care4--,horace1     
,ep41 i4 #b4  ambition1 avarice1        
irresolution1 fear1 and inordinate      
desires1 do not leave us because we     
forsake our native country3             
,et                     ,post equitem   
sedet atra cura2                 ,black 
care sits behind the horse man4         
--,horace1 ,od41 iii4 #a1 #dj4  they    
often follow us even to cloisters and   
philosophical schools2 nor deserts1 nor 
caves1 hair-shirts1 nor fasts1 can      
disengage us from them3                 
,haeret lateri lethalis arundo4         
,the fatal shaft adheres to the         
side4--,a,eneid1 iv4 #gc4  ,one telling 
,socrates that such a one was nothing   
improved by his travels3 ,i very well   
believe it1 said he1 for he took himself
 along with him                         
,quid terras alio calentes              
,sole mutamus8  patriae quis exsul      
,se quoque fugit8       ,why do we seek 
climates warmed by another sun8  ,who is
 the man      that by fleeing from his  

country1 can also flee from himself8    
--,horace1 ,od41 ii4 #af1 #ah4  ,if a   
man do not first discharge both himself 
and his mind of the burden with which he
 finds himself oppressed1 motion will   
but make it press the harder and sit the
 heavier1 as the lading of a ship is of 
less encumbrance when fast and bestowed 
in a settled posture4  ,you do a sick   
man more harm than good in removing him 
from place to place2 you fix and        
establish the disease by motion1 as     
stakes sink deeper and more firmly into 
the earth by being moved up and down in 
the place where they are designed to    
stand4  ,therefore1 it is not enough to 
get remote from the public2 'tis not    
enough to shift the soil only2 a man    
must flee from the popular conditions   
that have taken possession of his soul1 
he must sequester and come again to     
himself3                           ,rupi
 jam vincula1 dicas                ,nam 
luctata canis nodum arripit2 attamen    
illi1                ,quum fugit1 a     

collo trahitur pars longa catenae4      
,you say1 perhaps1 you have broken your 
chains3 the dog who after      long     
efforts has broken his chain1 still in  
his flight drags a heavy      portion of
 it after him4--,persius1 ,sat41 v4     
#aeh4  ,we still carry our fetters along
 with us4  ',tis not an absolute        
liberty2 we yet cast back a look upon   
what we have left behind us2 the fancy  
is still full of it3            ,nisi   
purgatum est pectus1 quae praelia nobis 
,atque pericula tunc ingratis           
insinuandum8           ,quantae         
connscindunt hominem cupedinis acres    
,sollicitum curae8 quantique perinde    
timores8           ,quidve superbia1    
spurcitia1 ac petulantia1 quantas       
,efficiunt clades8 quid luxus           
desidiesque8       ,but unless the mind 
is purified1 what internal combats and  
dangers      must we incur in spite of  
all our efforts6  ,how many bitter      
anxieties1 how many terrors1 follow upon
 unregulated passion6      ,what        

destruction befalls us from pride1 lust1
 petulant anger6      ,what evils arise 
from luxury and sloth6--,lucretius1 v4  
#d4  ,our disease lies in the mind1     
which cannot escape from itself2        
,in culpa est animus1 qui se non effugit
 unquam1           --,horace1 ,ep41 i4  
#ad1 #ac4  and therefore is to be called
 home and confined within itself3 that  
is the true solitude1 and that may be   
enjoyed even in populous cities and the 
courts of kings1 though more            
commodiously apart4  ,now1 since we will
 attempt to live alone1 and to waive all
 manner of conversation amongst them1   
let us so order it that our content may 
depend wholly upon ourselves2 let us    
dissolve all obligations that ally us to
 others2 let us obtain this from        
ourselves1 that we may live alone in    
good earnest1 and live at our ease too4 
,stilpo having escaped from the burning 
of his town1 where he lost wife1        
children1 and goods1 ,demetrius         
,poliorcetes seeing him1 in so great a  

ruin of his country1 appear with an     
undisturbed countenance1 asked him if he
 had received no loss8  ,to which he    
made answer1 ,no2 and that1 thank ,god1 
nothing was lost of his4--,seneca1 ,ep4 
#g4--,this also was the meaning of the  
philosopher ,antisthenes1 when he       
pleasantly said1 that men should furnish
 themselves with such things as would   
float1 and might with the owner escape  
the storm2--,diogenes ,laertius1 vi4 #f4
 and certainly a wise man never loses   
anything if he have himself4  ,when the 
city of ,nola was ruined by the         
barbarians1 ,paulinus1 who was bishop of
 that place1 having there lost all he   
had1 himself a prisoner1 prayed after   
this manner3 ,o ,lord1 defend me from   
being sensible of this loss2 for ,thou  
knowest they have yet touched nothing of
 that which is mine4--,st4 ,augustin1   
,de ,civit4 ,dei1 i4 #aj4--,the riches  
that made him rich and the goods that   
made him good1 were still kept entire4  
,this it is to make choice of treasures 

that can secure themselves from plunder 
and violence1 and to hide them in such a
 place into which no one can enter and  
that is not to be betrayed by any but   
ourselves4  ,wives1 children1 and goods 
must be had1 and especially health1 by  
him that can get it2 but we are not so  
to set our hearts upon them that our    
happiness must have its dependence upon 
them2 we must reserve a backshop1 wholly
 our own and entirely free1 wherein to  
settle our true liberty1 our principal  
solitude and retreat4 ,and in this we   
must for the most part entertain        
ourselves with ourselves1 and so        
privately that no exotic knowledge or   
communication be admitted there2 there  
to laugh and to talk1 as if without     
wife1 children1 goods1 train1 or        
attendance1 to the end that when it     
shall so fall out that we must lose any 
or all of these1 it may be no new thing 
to be without them4 ,we have a mind     
pliable in itself1 that will be company2
 that has wherewithal to attack and to  

defend1 to receive and to give3 let us  
not then fear in this solitude to       
languish under an uncomfortable vacuity4
                      ,in solis sis tibi
 turba locis4       ,in solitude1 be    
company for thyself4--,tibullus1 vi4    
#ac4 #ab4  ,virtue is satisfied with    
herself1 without discipline1 without    
words1 without effects4  ,in our        
ordinary actions there is not one of a  
thousand that concerns ourselves4  ,he  
that thou seest scrambling up the ruins 
of that wall1 furious and transported1  
against whom so many harquebuss-shots   
are levelled2 and that other all over   
scars1 pale1 and fainting with hunger1  
and yet resolved rather to die than to  
open the gates to him2 dost thou think  
that these men are there upon their own 
account8  ,no2 peradventure in the      
behalf of one whom they never saw and   
who never concerns himself for their    
pains and danger1 but lies wallowing the
 while in sloth and pleasure3 this other
 slavering1 blear-eyed1 slovenly fellow1

 that thou seest come out of his study  
after midnight1 dost thou think he has  
been tumbling over books to learn how to
 become a better man1 wiser1 and more   
content8  ,no such matter2 he will there
 end his days1 but he will teach        
posterity the measure of ,plautus'      
verses and the true orthography of a    
,latin word4  ,who is it that does not  
voluntarily exchange his health1 his    
repose1 and his very life for reputation
 and glory1 the most useless1 frivolous1
 and false coin that passes current     
amongst us8  ,our own death does not    
sufficiently terrify and trouble us2 let
 us1 moreover1 charge ourselves with    
those of our wives1 children1 and       
family3 our own affairs do not afford us
 anxiety enough2 let us undertake those 
of our neighbours and friends1 still    
more to break our brains and torment us3
           ,vah6 quemquamne hominem in  
animum instituere1 aut                  
,parare1 quod sit carius1 quam ipse est 
sibi8       ,ah6 can any man conceive in

 his mind or realise what is dearer     
than he is to himself8--,terence1       
,adelph41 i4 ,i1 #ac4  ,solitude seems  
to me to wear the best favour in such as
 have already employed their most active
 and flourishing age in the world's     
service1 after the example of ,thales4  
,we have lived enough for others2 let us
 at least live out the small remnant of 
life for ourselves2 let us now call in  
our thoughts and intentions to          
ourselves1 and to our own ease and      
repose4  ',tis no light thing to make a 
sure retreat2 it will be enough for us  
to do without mixing other enterprises4 
,since ,god gives us leisure to order   
our removal1 let us make ready1 truss   
our baggage1 take leave betimes of the  
company1 and disentangle ourselves from 
those violent importunities that engage 
us elsewhere and separate us from       
ourselves4  ,we must break the knot of  
our obligations1 how strong soever1 and 
hereafter love this or that1 but espouse
 nothing but ourselves3 that is to say1 

let the remainder be our own1 but not so
 joined and so close as not to be forced
 away without flaying us or tearing out 
part of our whole4  ,the greatest thing 
in the world is for a man to know that  
he is his own4  ',tis time to wean      
ourselves from society when we can no   
longer add anything to it2 he who is not
 in a condition to lend must forbid     
himself to borrow4  ,our forces begin to
 fail us2 let us call them in and       
concentrate them in and for ourselves4  
,he that can cast off within himself and
 resolve the offices of friendship and  
company1 let him do it4 ,in this decay  
of nature which renders him useless1    
burdensome1 and importunate to others1  
let him take care not to be useless1    
burdensome1 and importunate to himself4 
,let him soothe and caress himself1 and 
above all things be sure to govern      
himself with reverence to his reason and
 conscience to that degree as to be     
ashamed to make a false step in their   
presence3                 ,rarum est    

enim1 ut satis se quisque vereatur4     
,for 'tis rarely seen that men have     
respect and reverence enough      for   
themselves4--,quintilian1 x4 #g4        
,socrates says that boys are to cause   
themselves to be instructed1 men to     
exercise themselves in well-doing1 and  
old men to retire from all civil and    
military employments1 living at their   
own discretion1 without the obligation  
to any office4 ,there are some          
complexions more proper for these       
precepts of retirement than others4     
,such as are of a soft and dull         
apprehension1 and of a tender will and  
affection1 not readily to be subdued or 
employed1 whereof ,i am one1 both by    
natural condition and by reflection1    
will sooner incline to this advice than 
active and busy souls1 which embrace3   
all1 engage in all1 are hot upon        
everything1 which offer1 present1 and   
give themselves up to every occasion4   
,we are to use these accidental and     
extraneous commodities1 so far as they  

are pleasant to us1 but by no means to  
lay our principal foundation there2 'tis
 no true one2 neither nature nor reason 
allows it so to be4  ,why therefore     
should we1 contrary to their laws1      
enslave our own contentment to the power
 of another8  ,to anticipate also the   
accidents of fortune1 to deprive        
ourselves of the conveniences we have in
 our own power1 as several have done    
upon the account of devotion1 and some  
philosophers by reasoning2 to be one's  
own servant1 to lie hard1 to put out our
 own eyes1 to throw our wealth into the 
river1 to go in search of grief2 these1 
by the misery of this life1 aiming at   
bliss in another2 those by laying       
themselves low to avoid the danger of   
falling3 all such are acts of an        
excessive virtue4  ,the stoutest and    
most resolute natures render even their 
seclusion glorious and exemplary3       
,tuta et parvula laudo1           ,quum 
res deficiunt1 satis inter vilia fortis 
,verum1 ubi quid melius contingit et    

unctius1 idem           ,hos sapere et  
solos aio bene vivere1 quorum           
,conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia    
villis4       ,when means are deficient1
 ,i laud a safe and humble condition1   
content with little3 but when things    
grow better and more easy1 ,i      all  
the same say that you alone are wise and
 live well1 whose      invested money is
 visible in beautiful villas4           
--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #ae1 #db4  ,a great 
deal less would serve my turn well      
enough4  ',tis enough for me1 under     
fortune's favour1 to prepare myself for 
her disgrace1 and1 being at my ease1 to 
represent to myself1 as far as my       
imagination can stretch1 the ill to     
come2 as we do at jousts and tiltings1  
where we counterfeit war in the greatest
 calm of peace4  ,i do not think        
,arcesilaus the philosopher the less    
temperate and virtuous for knowing that 
he made use of gold and silver vessels1 
when the condition of his fortune       
allowed him so to do2 ,i have indeed a  

better opinion of him than if he had    
denied himself what he used with        
liberality and moderation4  ,i see the  
utmost limits of natural necessity3 and 
considering a poor man begging at my    
door1 ofttimes more jocund and more     
healthy than ,i myself am1 ,i put myself
 into his place1 and attempt to dress my
 mind after his mode2 and running1 in   
like manner1 over other examples1 though
 ,i fancy death1 poverty1 contempt1 and 
sickness treading on my heels1 ,i easily
 resolve not to be affrighted1 forasmuch
 as a less than ,i takes them with so   
much patience2 and am not willing to    
believe that a less understanding can do
 more than a greater1 or that the       
effects of precept cannot arrive to as  
great a height as those of custom4  ,and
 knowing of how uncertain duration these
 accidental conveniences are1 ,i never  
forget1 in the height of all my         
enjoyments1 to make it my chiefest      
prayer to ,almighty ,god1 that ,he will 
please to render me content with myself 

and the condition wherein ,i am4  ,i see
 young men very gay and frolic1 who     
nevertheless keep a mass of pills in    
their trunk at home1 to take when       
they've got a cold1 which they fear so  
much the less1 because they think they  
have remedy at hand4 ,every one should  
do in like manner1 and1 moreover1 if    
they find themselves subject to some    
more violent disease1 should furnish    
themselves with such medicines as may   
numb and stupefy the part4  ,the        
employment a man should choose for such 
a life ought neither to be a laborious  
nor an unpleasing one2 otherwise 'tis to
 no purpose at all to be retired4  ,and 
this depends upon every one's liking and
 humour4  ,mine has no manner of        
complacency for husbandry1 and such as  
love it ought to apply themselves to it 
with moderation3            ,endeavour  
to make circumstances subject to me1    
and not me subject to circumstances4    
--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 i1 #ai4  ,husbandry 
is otherwise a very servile employment1 

as ,sallust calls it2 though some parts 
of it are more excusable than the rest1 
as the care of gardens1 which ,xenophon 
attributes to ,cyrus2 and a mean may be 
found out betwixt the sordid and low    
application1 so full of perpetual       
solicitude1 which is seen in men who    
make it their entire business and study1
 and the stupid and extreme negligence1 
letting all things go at random which we
 see in others                          
,democriti pecus edit agellos           
,cultaque1 dum peregre est animus sine  
corpore velox4       ,democritus' cattle
 eat his corn and spoil his fields1     
whilst his      soaring mind ranges     
abroad without the body4      --,horace1
 ,ep41 i1 #ab1 #ab4  ,but let us hear   
what advice the younger ,pliny gives his
 friend ,caninius ,rufus upon the       
subject of solitude3 ,i advise thee1 in 
the full and plentiful retirement       
wherein thou art1 to leave to thy hinds 
the care of thy husbandry1 and to addict
 thyself to the study of letters1 to    

extract from thence something that may  
be entirely and absolutely thine own4   
,by which he means reputation2 like     
,cicero1 who says that he would employ  
his solitude and retirement from public 
affairs to acquire by his writings an   
immortal life4                          
,usque adeone           ,scire tuum1    
nihil est1 nisi to scire hoc1 sciat     
alter8            ,is all that thy      
learning nothing1 unless another knows  
that thou knowest8--,persius1 ,sat41 i4 
#bc4  ,it appears to be reason1 when a  
man talks of retiring from the world1   
that he should look quite out of for    
himself4  ,these do it but by halves3   
they design well enough for themselves  
when they shall be no more in it2 but   
still they pretend to extract the fruits
 of that design from the world1 when    
absent from it1 by a ridiculous         
contradiction4  ,the imagination of     
those who seek solitude upon the account
 of devotion1 filling their hopes and   
courage with certainty of divine        

promises in the other life1 is much more
 rationally founded4  ,they propose to  
themselves ,god1 an infinite object in  
goodness and power2 the soul has there  
wherewithal1 at full liberty1 to satiate
 her desires3 afflictions and sufferings
 turn to their advantage1 being         
undergone for the acquisition of eternal
 health and joy2 death is to be wished  
and longed for1 where it is the passage 
to so perfect a condition2 the asperity 
of the rules they impose upon themselves
 is immediately softened by custom1 and 
all their carnal appetites baffled and  
subdued1 by refusing to humour and feed 
them1 these being only supported by use 
and exercise4  ,this sole end of another
 happily immortal life is that which    
really merits that we should abandon the
 pleasures and conveniences of this2 and
 he who can really and constantly       
inflame his soul with the ardour of this
 vivid faith and hope1 erects for       
himself in solitude a more voluptuous   
and delicious life than any other sort  

of existence4  ,neither the end1 then1  
nor the means of this advice pleases me1
 for we often fall out of the frying-pan
 into the fire4--or3 we always relapse  
ill from fever into fever4--,this       
book-employment is as painful as any    
other1 and as great an enemy to health1 
which ought to be the first thing       
considered2 neither ought a man to be   
allured with the pleasure of it1 which  
is the same that destroys the frugal1   
the avaricious1 the voluptuous1 and the 
ambitious man4       ,this plodding     
occupation of bookes is as painfull as  
any other1      and as great an enemie  
vnto health1 which ought principally to 
be      considered4  ,and a man should  
not suffer him selfe to be inveagled    
by the pleasure he takes in             
them4--,florio1 edit4 #afac1 p4 #abb4   
,the sages give us caution enough to    
beware the treachery of our desires1 and
 to distinguish true and entire         
pleasures from such as are mixed and    
complicated with greater pain4  ,for the

 most of our pleasures1 say they1       
wheedle and caress only to strangle us1 
like those thieves the ,egyptians called
 ,philistae2 if the headache should come
 before drunkenness1 we should have a   
care of drinking too much2 but pleasure1
 to deceive us1 marches before and      
conceals her train4  ,books are         
pleasant1 but if1 by being              
over-studious1 we impair our health and 
spoil our goodhumour1 the best pieces we
 have1 let us give it over2 ,i1 for my  
part1 am one of those who think1 that no
 fruit derived from them can recompense 
so great a loss4  ,as men who have long 
felt themselves weakened by             
indisposition1 give themselves up at    
last to the mercy of medicine and submit
 to certain rules of living1 which they 
are for the future never to transgress2 
so he who retires1 weary of and         
disgusted with the common way of living1
 ought to model this new one he enters  
into by the rules of reason1 and to     
institute and establish it by           

premeditation and reflection4  ,he ought
 to have taken leave of all sorts of    
labour1 what advantage soever it may    
promise1 and generally to have shaken   
off all those passions which disturb the
 tranquillity of body and soul1 and then
 choose the way that best suits with his
 own humour3                            
,unusquisque sua noverit ire via4  ,in  
husbandry1 study1 hunting1 and all other
 exercises1 men are to proceed to the   
utmost limits of pleasure1 but must take
 heed of engaging further1 where trouble
 begins to mix with it4  ,we are to     
reserve so much employment only as is   
necessary to keep us in breath and to   
defend us from the inconveniences that  
the other extreme of a dull and stupid  
laziness brings along with it4  ,there  
are sterile knotty sciences1 chiefly    
hammered out for the crowd2 let such be 
left to them who are engaged in the     
world's service4  ,i for my part care   
for no other books1 but either such as  
are pleasant and easy1 to amuse me1 or  

those that comfort and instruct me how  
to regulate my life and death3          
,tacitum sylvas inter reptare salubres1 
,curantem1 quidquid dignum sapienti     
bonoque est4       ,silently meditating 
in the healthy groves1 whatever is      
worthy      of a wise and good          
man4--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #d1 #d4  ,wiser 
men1 having great force and vigour of   
soul1 may propose to themselves a rest  
wholly spiritual but for me1 who have a 
very ordinary soul1 it is very necessary
 to support myself with bodily          
conveniences2 and age having of late    
deprived me of those pleasures that were
 more acceptable to me1 ,i instruct and 
whet my appetite to those that remain1  
more suitable to this other reason4  ,we
 ought to hold with all our force1 both 
of hands and teeth1 the use of the      
pleasures of life that our years1 one   
after another1 snatch away from us3     
,carpamus dulcia2 nostrum est1          
,quod vivis2 cinis1 et manes1 et fabula 
fies4       ,let us pluck life's sweets1

 'tis for them we live3 by and by we    
shall be ashes1 a ghost1 a mere subject 
of talk4      --,persius1 ,sat41 v4     
#aea4  ,now1 as to the end that ,pliny  
and ,cicero propose to us of glory1 'tis
 infinitely wide of my account4         
,ambition is of all others the most     
contrary humour to solitude2 glory and  
repose are things that cannot possibly  
inhabit in one and the same place4  ,for
 so much as ,i understand1 these have   
only their arms and legs disengaged from
 the crowd2 their soul and intention    
remain confined behind more than ever3  
,tun'1 vetule1 auriculis alienis        
colligis escas8       ,dost thou1 then1 
old man1 collect food for others' ears8 
--,persius1 ,sat41 i4 #bb4  they have   
only retired to take a better leap1 and 
by a stronger motion to give a brisker  
charge into the crowd4  ,will you see   
how they shoot short8 ,let us put into  
the counterpoise the advice of two      
philosophers1 of two very different     
sects1 writing1 the one to ,idomeneus1  

the other to ,lucilius1 their friends1  
to retire into solitude from worldly    
honours and affairs4  ,you have1 say    
they1 hitherto lived swimming and       
floating2 come now and die in the       
harbour3 you have given the first part  
of your life to the light1 give what    
remains to the shade4  ,it is impossible
 to give over business1 if you do not   
also quit the fruit2 therefore disengage
 yourselves from all concern of name and
 glory2 'tis to be feared the lustre of 
your former actions will give you but   
too much light1 and follow you into your
 most private retreat4  ,quit with other
 pleasures that which proceeds from the 
approbation of another man3 and as to   
your knowledge and parts1 never concern 
yourselves2 they will not lose their    
effect if yourselves be the better for  
them4  ,remember him1 who being asked   
why he took so much pains in an art that
 could come to the knowledge of but few 
persons8  ',a few are enough for me1'   
replied he2 ',i have enough with one2 ,i

 have enough with never an              
one4'--,seneca1 ,ep41 #g4--;,he said    
true2 you and a companion are theatre   
enough to one another1 or you to        
yourself4  ,let the people be to you    
one1 and be you one to the whole people4
  ',tis an unworthy ambition to think to
 derive glory from a man's sloth and    
privacy3 you are to do like the beasts  
of chase1 who efface the track at the   
entrance into their den4  ,you are no   
more to concern yourself how the world  
talks of you1 but how you are to talk to
 yourself4  ,retire yourself into       
yourself1 but first prepare yourself    
there to receive yourself3 it were a    
folly to trust yourself in your own     
hands1 if you cannot govern yourself4   
,a man may miscarry alone as well as in 
company4  ,till you have rendered       
yourself one before whom you dare not   
trip1 and till you have a bashfulness   
and respect for yourself1               
,obversentur species honestae animo2    
,let honest things be ever present to   

the mind           --,cicero1 ,tusc4    
,quaes41 ii4 #bb4  present continually  
to your imagination ,cato1 ,phocion1 and
 ,aristides1 in whose presence the fools
 themselves will hide their faults1 and 
make them controllers of all your       
intentions2 should these deviate from   
virtue1 your respect to those will set  
you right2 they will keep you in this   
way to be contented with yourself2 to   
borrow nothing of any other but         
yourself2 to stay and fix your soul in  
certain and limited thoughts1 wherein   
she may please herself1 and having      
understood the true and real goods1     
which men the more enjoy the more they  
understand1 to rest satisfied1 without  
desire of prolongation of life or name4 
,this is the precept of the true and    
natural philosophy1 not of a boasting   
and prating philosophy1 such as that of 
the two former4          ,,etext        
,,editor',s ,,bookmarks3       ,a man   
must either imitate the vicious or hate 
them      ,abhorrence of the patient are

 necessary circumstances      ,acquire  
by his writings an immortal life        
,addict thyself to the study of letters 
,always the perfect religion      ,and  
hate him so as you were one day to love 
him      ,archer that shoots over1      
misses as much as he that falls short   
,art that could come to the knowledge of
 but few persons      ,being            
over-studious1 we impair our health and 
spoil our humour      ,by the misery of 
this life1 aiming at bliss in another   
,carnal appetites only supported by use 
and exercise      ,coming out of the    
same hole      ,common friendships will 
admit of division      ,dost thou1 then1
 old man1 collect food for others' ears8
      ,either tranquil life1 or happy   
death      ,enslave our own contentment 
to the power of another8      ,entertain
 us with fables3 astrologers and        
physicians      ,everything has many    
faces and several aspects               
,extremity of philosophy is hurtful     
,friendships that the law and natural   

obligation impose upon us      ,gewgaw  
to hang in a cabinet or at the end of   
the tongue      ,gratify the gods and   
nature by massacre and murder      ,he  
took himself along with him      ,he    
will choose to be alone      ,headache  
should come before drunkenness          
,high time to die when there is more ill
 than good in living      ,honour of    
valour consists in fighting1 not in     
subduing      ,how uncertain duration   
these accidental conveniences are       
,i bequeath to ,areteus the maintenance 
of my mother      ,i for my part always 
went the plain way to work4      ,i love
 temperate and moderate natures4        
,impostures3 very strangeness lends them
 credit      ,in solitude1 be company   
for thyself4--,tibullus      ,in the    
meantime1 their halves were begging at  
their doors      ,interdict all gifts   
betwixt man and wife      ,it is better 
to die than to live miserable           
,judge by the eye of reason1 and not    
from common report      ,knot is not so 

sure that a man may not half suspect it 
will slip      ,lascivious poet3 ,homer 
,laying themselves low to avoid the     
danger of falling      ,leave society   
when we can no longer add anything to it
      ,little less trouble in governing 
a private family than a kingdom         
,love we bear to our wives is very      
lawful      ,man 7must7 know that he is 
his own      ,marriage      ,men should 
furnish themselves with such things as  
would float      ,methinks ,i am no more
 than half of myself      ,must for the 
most part entertain ourselves with      
ourselves      ,never represent things  
to you simply as they are      ,no      
effect of virtue1 to have stronger arms 
and legs      ,not in a condition to    
lend must forbid himself to borrow      
,nothing is so firmly believed1 as what 
we least know      ,o my friends1 there 
is no friend3 ,aristotle                
,oftentimes agitated with divers        
passions      ,ordinary friendships1 you
 are to walk with bridle in your hand   

,ought not only to have his hands1 but  
his eyes1 too1 chaste      ,our         
judgments are yet sick      ,perfect    
friendship ,i speak of is indivisible   
,philosophy      ,phusicians cure by by 
misery and pain      ,prefer in bed1    
beauty before goodness      ,pretending 
to find out the cause of every accident 
,reputation3 most useless1 frivolous1   
and false coin that passes      ,reserve
 a backshop1 wholly our own and entirely
 free      ,rest satisfied1 without     
desire of prolongation of life or name  
,stilpo lost wife1 children1 and goods  
,stilpo3 thank ,god1 nothing was lost of
 his      ,take two sorts of grist out  
of the same sack      ,taking things    
upon trust from vulgar opinion          
,tearing a body limb from limb by racks 
and torments      ,the consequence of   
common examples      ,there are defeats 
more triumphant than victories          
,they can neither lend nor give anything
 to one another      ,they have yet     
touched nothing of that which is mine   

,they must be very hard to please1 if   
they are not contented      ,things that
 engage us elsewhere and separate us    
from ourselves      ,this decay of      
nature which renders him useless1       
burdensome      ,this plodding          
occupation of bookes is as painfull as  
any other      ,those immodest and      
debauched tricks and postures           
,though ,i be engaged to one forme1 ,i  
do not tie the world unto it      ,title
 of barbarism to everything that is not 
familiar      ,to give a currency to his
 little pittance of learning      ,to   
make their private advantage at the     
public expense      ,under fortune's    
favour1 to prepare myself for her       
disgrace      ,vice of confining their  
belief to their own capacity      ,we   
have lived enough for others      ,we   
have more curiosity than capacity       
,we still carry our fetters along with  
us      ,when time begins to wear things
 out of memory      ,wherever the mind  
is perplexed1 it is in an entire        

disorder      ,who can  flee from       
himself      ,wise man never loses      
anything if he have himself      ,wise  
whose invested money is visible in      
beautiful villas      ,write what he    
knows1 and as much as he knows1 but no  
more      ,you and companion are theatre
 enough to one another