,,essays ,,of ,,michel ,,de ,,montaigne ,translated by ,charles ,cotton ,edited by ,william ,carew ,hazilitt #ahgg ,,contents ,,of ,,volume #h4 ,,xlviii4 ,of war-horses1 or destriers4 ,,xlix4 ,of ancient customs4 ,l4 ,of ,democritus and ,heraclitus4 ,,li4 ,of the vanity of words4 ,,lii4 ,of the parsimony of the ,ancients4 ,,liii4 ,of a saying of ,caesar4 ,,liv4 ,of vain subtleties4 ,,lv4 ,of smells4 ,,lvi4 ,of prayers4 ,,lvii4 ,of age4 ,,chapter ,,xlviii ,,of ,,war ,,horses1 ,,or ,,destriers ,i here have become a grammarian1 ,i who never learned any language but by rote1 and who do not yet know adjective1 conjunction1 or ablative4 ,i think ,i have read that the ,romans had a sort of horses by them called 'funales' or 'dextrarios'1 which were either led horses1 or horses laid on at several stages to be taken fresh upon occasion1 and thence it is that we call our horses of service 'destriers'2 and our romances commonly use the phrase of 'adestrer' for 'accompagner'1 to accompany4 ,they also called those that were trained in such sort1 that running full speed1 side by side1 without bridle or saddle1 the ,roman gentlemen1 armed at all pieces1 would shift and throw themselves from one to the other1 'desultorios equos'4 ,the ,numidian men-at-arms had always a led horse in one hand1 besides that they rode upon1 to change in the heat of battle3 ,quibus1 desultorum in modum1 binos trahentibus equos1 inter acerrimam saepe pugnam1 in recentem equum1 ex fesso1 armatis transultare mos erat3 tanta velocitas ipsis1 tamque docile equorum genus4 ,to whom it was a custom1 leading along two horses1 often in the hottest fight1 to leap armed from a tired horse to a fresh one2 so active were the men1 and the horses so docile4--,livy1 xxiii4 #bi4 ,there are many horses trained to help their riders so as to run upon any one1 that appears with a drawn sword1 to fall both with mouth and heels upon any that front or oppose them3 but it often happens that they do more harm to their friends than to their enemies2 and1 moreover1 you cannot loose them from their hold1 to reduce them again into order1 when they are once engaged and grappled1 by which means you remain at the mercy of their quarrel4 ,it happened very ill to ,artybius1 general of the ,persian army1 fighting1 man to man1 with ,onesilus1 king of ,salamis1 to be mounted upon a horse trained after this manner1 it being the occasion of his death1 the squire of ,onesilus cleaving the horse down with a scythe betwixt the shoulders as it was reared up upon his master4 ,and what the ,italians report1 that in the battle of ,fornova1 the horse of ,charles ,,viii41 with kicks and plunges1 disengaged his master from the enemy that pressed upon him1 without which he had been slain1 sounds like a very great chance1 if it be true4 ,in the narrative which ,philip de ,commines has given of this battle1 in which he himself was present 7lib4 viii4 ch4 #f71 he tells us of wonderful performances by the horse on which the king was mounted4 ,the name of the horse was ,savoy1 and it was the most beautiful horse he had ever seen4 ,during the battle the king was personally attacked1 when he had nobody near him but a valet de chambre1 a little fellow1 and not well armed4 ,the king1 says ,commines1 had the best horse under him in the world1 and therefore he stood his ground bravely1 till a number of his men1 not a great way from him1 arrived at the critical minute4 ,the ,mamalukes make their boast that they have the most ready horses of any cavalry in the world2 that by nature and custom they were taught to know and distinguish the enemy1 and to fall foul upon them with mouth and heels1 according to a word or sign given2 as also to gather up with their teeth darts and lances scattered upon the field1 and present them to their riders1 on the word of command4 ',t is said1 both of ,caesar and ,pompey1 that amongst their other excellent qualities they were both very good horsemen1 and particularly of ,caesar1 that in his youth1 being mounted on the bare back1 without saddle or bridle1 he could make the horse run1 stop1 and turn1 and perform all its airs1 with his hands behind him4 ,as nature designed to make of this person1 and of ,alexander1 two miracles of military art1 so one would say she had done her utmost to arm them after an extraordinary manner for every one knows that ,alexander's horse1 ,bucephalus1 had a head inclining to the shape of a bull2 that he would suffer himself to be mounted and governed by none but his master1 and that he was so honoured after his death as to have a city erected to his name4 ,caesar had also one which had forefeet like those of a man1 his hoofs being divided in the form of fingers1 which likewise was not to be ridden1 by any but ,caesar himself1 who1 after his death1 dedicated his statue to the goddess ,venus4 ,i do not willingly alight when ,i am once on horseback1 for it is the place where1 whether well or sick1 ,i find myself most at ease4 ,plato recommends it for health1 as also ,pliny says it is good for the stomach and the joints4 ,let us go further into this matter since here we are4 ,we read in ,xenophon a law forbidding any one who was master of a horse to travel on foot4 ,trogus ,pompeius and ,justin say that the ,parthians were wont to perform all offices and ceremonies1 not only in war but also all affairs whether public or private1 make bargains1 confer1 entertain1 take the air1 and all on horseback2 and that the greatest distinction betwixt freemen and slaves amongst them was that the one rode on horseback and the other went on foot1 an institution of which ,king ,cyrus was the founder4 ,there are several examples in the ,roman history 7and ,suetonius more particularly observes it of ,caesar7 of captains who1 on pressing occasions1 commanded their cavalry to alight1 both by that means to take from them all hopes of flight1 as also for the advantage they hoped in this sort of fight4 ,quo baud dubie superat ,romanus1 ,wherein the ,roman does questionless excel4--,livy1 ix4 #bb4 says ,livy4 ,and so the first thing they did to prevent the mutinies and insurrections of nations of late conquest was to take from them their arms and horses1 and therefore it is that we so often meet in ,caesar3 ,arma proferri1 jumenta produci1 obsides dari jubet4 ,he commanded the arms to be produced1 the horses brought out1 hostages to be given4--,de ,bello ,gall41 vii4 ,,ii4 ,the ,grand ,signior to this day suffers not a ,christian or a ,jew to keep a horse of his own throughout his empire4 ,our ancestors1 and especially at the time they had war with the ,english1 in all their greatest engagements and pitched battles fought for the most part on foot1 that they might have nothing but their own force1 courage1 and constancy to trust to in a quarrel of so great concern as life and honour4 ,you stake 7whatever ,chrysanthes in ,xenophon says to the contrary7 your valour and your fortune upon that of your horse2 his wounds or death bring your person into the same danger2 his fear or fury shall make you reputed rash or cowardly2 if he have an ill mouth or will not answer to the spur1 your honour must answer for it4 ,and1 therefore1 ,i do not think it strange that those battles were more firm and furious than those that are fought on horseback3 ,caedebant pariter1 pariterque ruebant ,victores victique2 neque his fuga nota1 neque illis4 ,they fought and fell pell-mell1 victors and vanquished2 nor was flight thought of by either4--,a,eneid1 x4 #gef4 ,their battles were much better disputed4 ,nowadays there are nothing but routs3 ,primus clamor atque impetus rem decernit4 ,the first shout and charge decides the business4--,livy1 xxv4 #da4 ,and the means we choose to make use of in so great a hazard should be as much as possible at our own command3 wherefore ,i should advise to choose weapons of the shortest sort1 and such of which we are able to give the best account4 ,a man may repose more confidence in a sword he holds in his hand than in a bullet he discharges out of a pistol1 wherein there must be a concurrence of several circumstances to make it perform its office1 the powder1 the stone1 and the wheel3 if any of which fail it endangers your fortune4 ,a man himself strikes much surer than the air can direct his blow3 ,et1 quo ferre velint1 permittere vulnera ventis ,ensis habet vires2 et gens quaecumque virorum est1 ,bella gerit gladiis4 ,and so where they choose to carry the arrows1 the winds allow the wounds2 the sword has strength of arm3 and whatever nation of men there is1 they wage war with swords4--,lucan1 viii4 #chd4 ,but of that weapon ,i shall speak more fully when ,i come to compare the arms of the ancients with those of modern use2 only1 by the way1 the astonishment of the ear abated1 which every one grows familiar with in a short time1 ,i look upon it as a weapon of very little execution1 and hope we shall one day lay it aside4 ,that missile weapon which the ,italians formerly made use of both with fire and by sling was much more terrible3 they called a certain kind of javelin1 armed at the point with an iron three feet long1 that it might pierce through and through an armed man1 ,phalarica1 which they sometimes in the field darted by hand1 sometimes from several sorts of engines for the defence of beleaguered places2 the shaft being rolled round with flax1 wax1 rosin1 oil1 and other combustible matter1 took fire in its flight1 and lighting upon the body of a man or his target1 took away all the use of arms and limbs4 ,and yet1 coming to close fight1 ,i should think they would also damage the assailant1 and that the camp being as it were planted with these flaming truncheons1 would produce a common inconvenience to the whole crowd3 ,magnum stridens contorta ,phalarica venit1 ,fulminis acta modo4 ,the ,phalarica1 launched like lightning1 flies through the air with a loud rushing sound4--,a,eneid1 ix4 #gje4 ,they had1 moreover1 other devices which custom made them perfect in 7which seem incredible to us who have not seen them71 by which they supplied the effects of our powder and shot4 ,they darted their spears with so great force1 as ofttimes to transfix two targets and two armed men at once1 and pin them together4 ,neither was the effect of their slings less certain of execution or of shorter carriage3 ,culling round stones from the beach for their slings2 and with these practising over the waves1 so as from a great distance to throw within a very small circuit1 they became able not only to wound an enemy in the head1 but hit any other part at pleasure4 --,livy1 xxxviii4 #bi4 ,their pieces of battery had not only the execution but the thunder of our cannon also3 ,ad ictus moenium cum terribili sonitu editos1 pavor et trepidatio cepit4 ,at the battery of the walls1 performed with a terrible noise1 the defenders began to fear and tremble4--,idem1 ibid41 #e4 ,the ,gauls1 our kinsmen in ,asia1 abominated these treacherous missile arms1 it being their use to fight1 with greater bravery1 hand to hand3 ,they are not so much concerned about large gashes-the bigger and deeper the wound1 the more glorious do they esteem the combat but when they find themselves tormented by some arrow-head or bullet lodged within1 but presenting little outward show of wound1 transported with shame and anger to perish by so imperceptible a destroyer1 they fall to the ground4---,livy1 xxxviii4 #ba4 ,a pretty description of something very like an arquebuse-shot4 ,the ten thousand ,greeks in their long and famous retreat met with a nation who very much galled them with great and strong bows1 carrying arrows so long that1 taking them up1 one might return them back like a dart1 and with them pierce a buckler and an armed man through and through4 ,the engines1 that ,dionysius invented at ,syracuse to shoot vast massy darts and stones of a prodigious greatness with so great impetuosity and at so great a distance1 came very near to our modern inventions4 ,but in this discourse of horses and horsemanship1 we are not to forget the pleasant posture of one ,maistre ,pierre ,pol1 a doctor of divinity1 upon his mule1 whom ,monstrelet reports always to have ridden sideways through the streets of ,paris like a woman4 ,he says also1 elsewhere1 that the ,gascons had terrible horses1 that would wheel in their full speed1 which the ,french1 ,picards1 ,flemings1 and ,brabanters looked upon as a miracle1 having never seen the like before1 which are his very words4 ,caesar1 speaking of the ,suabians3 in the charges they make on horseback1 says he1 they often throw themselves off to fight on foot1 having taught their horses not to stir in the meantime from the place1 to which they presently run again upon occasion2 and according to their custom1 nothing is so unmanly and so base as to use saddles or pads1 and they despise such as make use of those conveniences3 insomuch that1 being but a very few in number1 they fear not to attack a great many4 ,that which ,i have formerly wondered at1 to see a horse made to perform all his airs with a switch only and the reins upon his neck1 was common with the ,massilians1 who rid their horses without saddle or bridle3 ,et gens1 quae nudo residens ,massylia dorso1 ,ora levi flectit1 fraenorum nescia1 virga4 ,the ,massylians1 mounted on the bare backs of their horses1 bridleless1 guide them by a mere switch4--,lucan1 iv4 #fhb4 ,et ,numidae infraeni cingunt4 ,the ,numidians guiding their horses without bridles4 --,a,eneid1 iv4 #da4 ,equi sine fraenis1 deformis ipse cursus1 rigida cervice et extento capite currentium4 ,the career of a horse without a bridle is ungraceful2 the neck extended stiff1 and the nose thrust out4--,livy1 xxxv4 ,,ii4 ,king ,alfonso1--,alfonso ,,xi41 king of ,leon and ,castile1 died #acej4-- he who first instituted the ,order of the ,band or ,scarf in ,spain1 amongst other rules of the order1 gave them this1 that they should never ride mule or mulet1 upon penalty of a mark of silver2 this ,i had lately out of ,guevara's ,letters4 ,whoever gave these the title of ,golden ,epistles had another kind of opinion of them than ,i have4 ,the ,courtier says1 that till his time it was a disgrace to a gentleman to ride on one of these creatures3 but the ,abyssinians1 on the contrary1 the nearer they are to the person of ,prester ,john1 love to be mounted upon large mules1 for the greatest dignity and grandeur4 ,xenophon tells us1 that the ,assyrians were fain to keep their horses fettered in the stable1 they were so fierce and vicious2 and that it required so much time to loose and harness them1 that to avoid any disorder this tedious preparation might bring upon them in case of surprise1 they never sat down in their camp till it was first well fortified with ditches and ramparts4 ,his ,cyrus1 who was so great a master in all manner of horse service1 kept his horses to their due work1 and never suffered them to have anything to eat till first they had earned it by the sweat of some kind of exercise4 ,the ,scythians when in the field and in scarcity of provisions used to let their horses blood1 which they drank1 and sustained themselves by that diet3 ,venit et epoto ,sarmata pastus equo4 ,the ,scythian comes1 who feeds on horse-flesh --,martial1 ,de ,spectaculis ,libey1 ,epigr4 iii4 #d4 ,those of ,crete1 being besieged by ,metellus1 were in so great necessity for drink that they were fain to quench their thirst with their horses urine4--,val4 ,max41 vii4 #f1 ext4 #a4 ,to shew how much cheaper the ,turkish armies support themselves than our ,european forces1 'tis said that besides the soldiers drink nothing but water and eat nothing but rice and salt flesh pulverised 7of which every one may easily carry about with him a month's provision71 they know how to feed upon the blood of their horses as well as the ,muscovite and ,tartar1 and salt it for their use4 ,these new-discovered people of the ,indies ,mexico and ,yucatan ,d4,w41 when the ,spaniards first landed amongst them1 had so great an opinion both of the men and horses1 that they looked upon the first as gods and the other as animals ennobled above their nature2 insomuch that after they were subdued1 coming to the men to sue for peace and pardon1 and to bring them gold and provisions1 they failed not to offer of the same to the horses1 with the same kind of harangue to them they had made to the others3 interpreting their neighing for a language of truce and friendship4 ,in the other ,indies1 to ride upon an elephant was the first and royal place of honour2 the second to ride in a coach with four horses2 the third to ride upon a camel2 and the last and least honour to be carried or drawn by one horse only4 ,some one of our late writers tells us that he has been in countries in those parts where they ride upon oxen with pads1 stirrups1 and bridles1 and very much at their ease4 ,quintus ,fabius ,maximus ,rullianus1 in a battle with the ,samnites1 seeing his horse1 after three or four charges1 had failed of breaking into the enemy's battalion1 took this course1 to make them unbridle all their horses and spur their hardest1 so that having nothing to check their career1 they might through weapons and men open the way to his foot1 who by that means gave them a bloody defeat4 ,the same command was given by ,quintus ,fulvius ,flaccus against the ,celtiberians3 ,you will do your business with greater advantage of your horses' strength1 if you send them unbridled upon the enemy1 as it is recorded the ,roman horse to their great glory have often done2 their bits being taken off1 they charged through and again back through the enemy's ranks with great slaughter1 breaking down all their spears4--,idem1 xl4 #dj4 ,the ,duke of ,muscovy was anciently obliged to pay this reverence to the ,tartars1 that when they sent an embassy to him he went out to meet them on foot1 and presented them with a goblet of mares' milk 7a beverage of greatest esteem amongst them71 and if1 in drinking1 a drop fell by chance upon their horse's mane1 he was bound to lick it off with his tongue4 ,the army that ,bajazet had sent into ,russia was overwhelmed with so dreadful a tempest of snow1 that to shelter and preserve themselves from the cold1 many killed and embowelled their horses1 to creep into their bellies and enjoy the benefit of that vital heat4 ,bajazet1 after that furious battle wherein he was overthrown by ,tamerlane1 was in a hopeful way of securing his own person by the fleetness of an ,arabian mare he had under him1 had he not been constrained to let her drink her fill at the ford of a river in his way1 which rendered her so heavy and indisposed1 that he was afterwards easily overtaken by those that pursued him4 ,they say1 indeed1 that to let a horse stale takes him off his mettle1 but as to drinking1 ,i should rather have thought it would refresh him4 ,croesus1 marching his army through certain waste lands near ,sardis1 met with an infinite number of serpents1 which the horses devoured with great appetite1 and which ,herodotus says was a prodigy of ominous portent to his affairs4 ,we call a horse entire1 that has his mane and ears so1 and no other will pass muster4 ,the ,lacedaemonians1 having defeated the ,athenians in ,sicily1 returning triumphant from the victory into the city of ,syracuse1 amongst other insolences1 caused all the horses they had taken to be shorn and led in triumph4 ,alexander fought with a nation called ,dahas1 whose discipline it was to march two and two together armed on one horse1 to the war2 and being in fight1 one of them alighted1 and so they fought on horseback and on foot1 one after another by turns4 ,i do not think that for graceful riding any nation in the world excels the ,french4 ,a good horseman1 according to our way of speaking1 seems rather to have respect to the courage of the man than address in riding4 ,of all that ever ,i saw1 the most knowing in that art1 who had the best seat and the best method in breaking horses1 was ,monsieur de ,carnavalet1 who served our ,king ,henry ,,ii4 ,i have seen a man ride with both his feet upon the saddle1 take off his saddle1 and at his return take it up again and replace it1 riding all the while full speed2 having galloped over a cap1 make at it very good shots backwards with his bow2 take up anything from the ground1 setting one foot on the ground and the other in the stirrup3 with twenty other ape's tricks1 which he got his living by4 ,there has been seen in my time at ,constantinople two men upon one horse1 who1 in the height of its speed1 would throw themselves off and into the saddle again by turn2 and one who bridled and saddled his horse with nothing but his teeth2 an other who betwixt two horses1 one foot upon one saddle and the other upon another1 carrying the other man upon his shoulders1 would ride full career1 the other standing bolt upright upon and making very good shots with his bow2 several who would ride full speed with their heels upward1 and their heads upon the saddle betwixt several scimitars1 with the points upwards1 fixed in the harness4 ,when ,i was a boy1 the prince of ,sulmona1 riding an unbroken horse at ,naples1 prone to all sorts of action1 held reals--,a small coin of ,spain1 the ,two ,sicilies1 c4--under his knees and toes1 as if they had been nailed there1 to shew the firmness of his seat4 ,,chapter ,,xlix ,,of ,,ancient ,,customs ,i should willingly pardon our people for admitting no other pattern or rule of perfection than their own peculiar manners and customs2 for 'tis a common vice1 not of the vulgar only1 but almost of all men1 to walk in the beaten road their ancestors have trod before them4 ,i am content1 when they see ,fabricius or ,laelius1 that they look upon their countenance and behaviour as barbarous1 seeing they are neither clothed nor fashioned according to our mode4 ,but ,i find fault with their singular indiscretion in suffering themselves to be so blinded and imposed upon by the authority of the present usage as every month to alter their opinion1 if custom so require1 and that they should so vary their judgment in their own particular concern4 ,when they wore the busk of their doublets up as high as their breasts1 they stiffly maintained that they were in their proper place2 some years after it was slipped down betwixt their thighs1 and then they could laugh at the former fashion as uneasy and intolerable4 ,the fashion now in use makes them absolutely condemn the other two with so great resolution and so universal consent1 that a man would think there was a certain kind of madness crept in amongst them1 that infatuates their understandings to this strange degree4 ,now1 seeing that our change of fashions is so prompt and sudden1 that the inventions of all the tailors in the world cannot furnish out new whim-whams enow to feed our vanity withal1 there will often be a necessity that the despised forms must again come in vogue1 these immediately after fall into the same contempt2 and that the same judgment must1 in the space of fifteen or twenty years1 take up half-a-dozen not only divers but contrary opinions1 with an incredible lightness and inconstancy2 there is not any of us so discreet1 who suffers not himself to be gulled with this contradiction1 and both in external and internal sight to be insensibly blinded4 ,i wish to muster up here some old customs that ,i have in memory1 some of them the same with ours1 the others different1 to the end that1 bearing in mind this continual variation of human things1 we may have our judgment more clearly and firmly settled4 ,the thing in use amongst us of fighting with rapier and cloak was in practice amongst the ,romans also3 ,sinistras sagis involvunt1 gladiosque distringunt1 ,they wrapt their cloaks upon the left arm1 and drew their swords4--,de ,bello ,civili1 i4 #ge4 says ,caesar2 and he observes a vicious custom of our nation1 that continues yet amongst us1 which is to stop passengers we meet upon the road1 to compel them to give an account who they are1 and to take it for an affront and just cause of quarrel if they refuse to do it4 ,at the ,baths1 which the ancients made use of every day before they went to dinner1 and as frequently as we wash our hands1 they at first only bathed their arms and legs2 but afterwards1 and by a custom that has continued for many ages in most nations of the world1 they bathed stark naked in mixed and perfumed water1 looking upon it as a great simplicity to bathe in mere water4 ,the most delicate and affected perfumed themselves all over three or four times a day4 ,they often caused their hair to be pinched off1 as the women of ,france have some time since taken up a custom to do their foreheads1 ,quod pectus1 quod crura tibi1 quod brachia veilis1 ,you pluck the hairs out of your breast1 your arms1 and thighs4 --,martial1 ii4 #fb1 i4 though they had ointments proper for that purpose3 ,psilotro nitet1 aut acids latet oblita creta4 ,she shines with unguents1 or with chalk dissolved in vinegar4 --,idem1 vi4 #ic1 #i4 ,they delighted to lie soft1 and alleged it as a great testimony of hardiness to lie upon a mattress4 ,they ate lying upon beds1 much after the manner of the ,turks in this age3 ,inde thoro pater ,a,eneas sic orsus ab alto4 ,thus ,father ,a,eneas1 from his high bed of state1 spoke4 --,a,eneid1 ii4 #b4 ,and 'tis said of the younger ,cato1 that after the battle of ,pharsalia1 being entered into a melancholy disposition at the ill posture of the public affairs1 he took his repasts always sitting1 assuming a strict and austere course of life4 ,it was also their custom to kiss the hands of great persons2 the more to honour and caress them4 ,and meeting with friends1 they always kissed in salutation1 as do the ,venetians3 ,gratatusque darem cum dulcibus oscula verbis4 ,and kindest words ,i would mingle with kisses4 --,ovid1 ,de ,pont41 iv4 #i1 #ac ,in petitioning or saluting any great man1 they used to lay their hands upon his knees4 ,pasicles the philosopher1 brother of ,crates1 instead of laying his hand upon the knee laid it upon the private parts1 and being roughly repulsed by him to whom he made that indecent compliment3 ,what1 said he1 is not that part your own as well as the other8 --,diogenes ,laertius1 vi4 #hi4--,they used to eat fruit1 as we do1 after dinner4 ,they wiped their fundaments 7let the ladies1 if they please1 mince it smaller7 with a sponge1 which is the reason that 'spongia' is a smutty word in ,latin2 which sponge was fastened to the end of a stick1 as appears by the story of him who1 as he was led along to be thrown to the wild beasts in the sight of the people1 asking leave to do his business1 and having no other way to despatch himself1 forced the sponge and stick down his throat and choked himself4--,seneca1 ,ep41 #gj4 ,they used to wipe1 after coition1 with perfumed wool3 ,at tibi nil faciam2 sed ,iota mentula lana4 ,they had in the streets of ,rome vessels and little tubs for passengers to urine in3 ,pusi saepe lacum propter se1 ac dolia curta4 ,somno devincti1 credunt extollere vestem4 ,the little boys in their sleep often think they are near the public urinal1 and raise their coats to make use of it4 --,lucretius1 iv4 ,they had collation betwixt meals1 and had in summer cellars of snow to cool their wine2 and some there were who made use of snow in winter1 not thinking their wine cool enough1 even at that cold season of the year4 ,the men of quality had their cupbearers and carvers1 and their buffoons to make them sport4 ,they had their meat served up in winter upon chafing dishes1 which were set upon the table1 and had portable kitchens 7of which ,i myself have seen some7 wherein all their service was carried about with them3 ,has vobis epulas habete1 lauti ,nos offendimur ambulante caena4 ,do you1 if you please1 esteem these feasts3 we do not like the ambulatory suppers4--,martial1 vii4 #dh1 #d4 ,in summer they had a contrivance to bring fresh and clear rills through their lower rooms1 wherein were great store of living fish1 which the guests took out with their own hands to be dressed every man according to his own liking4 ,fish has ever had this pre-eminence1 and keeps it still1 that the grandees1 as to them1 all pretend to be cooks2 and indeed the taste is more delicate than that of flesh1 at least to my fancy4 ,but in all sorts of magnificence1 debauchery1 and voluptuous inventions of effeminacy and expense1 we do1 in truth1 all we can to parallel them2 for our wills are as corrupt as theirs3 but we want ability to equal them4 ,our force is no more able to reach them in their vicious1 than in their virtuous1 qualities1 for both the one and the other proceeded from a vigour of soul which was without comparison greater in them than in us2 and souls1 by how much the weaker they are1 by so much have they less power to do either very well or very ill4 ,the highest place of honour amongst them was the middle4 ,the name going before1 or following after1 either in writing or speaking1 had no signification of grandeur1 as is evident by their writings2 they will as soon say ,oppius and ,caesar1 as ,caesar and ,oppius2 and me and thee1 as thee and me4 ,this is the reason that made me formerly take notice in the life of ,flaminius1 in our ,french ,plutarch1 of one passage1 where it seems as if the author1 speaking of the jealousy of honour betwixt the ,a,etolians and ,romans1 about the winning of a battle they had with their joined forces obtained1 made it of some importance1 that in the ,greek songs they had put the ,a,etolians before the ,romans3 if there be no amphibology in the words of the ,french translation4 ,the ladies1 in their baths1 made no scruple of admitting men amongst them1 and moreover made use of their serving-men to rub and anoint them3 ,inguina succinctus nigri tibi servus aluta ,stat1 quoties calidis nuda foveris aquis4 ,a slave--his middle girded with a black apron--stands before you1 when1 naked1 you take a hot bath4--,martial1 vii4 #ce1 i4 ,they all powdered themselves with a certain powder1 to moderate their sweats4 ,the ancient ,gauls1 says ,sidonius ,apollinaris1 wore their hair long before and the hinder part of the head shaved1 a fashion that begins to revive in this vicious and effeminate age4 ,the ,romans used to pay the watermen their fare at their first stepping into the boat1 which we never do till after landing3 ,dum aes exigitur1 dum mula ligatur1 ,tota abit hora4 ,whilst the fare's paying1 and the mule is being harnessed1 a whole hour's time is past4--,horace1 ,sat4 i4 #e1 #ac4 ,the women used to lie on the side of the bed next the wall3 and for that reason they called ,caesar1 ,spondam regis ,nicomedis1 ,the bed of ,king ,nicomedes4--,suetonius1 ,life of ,caesar1 #di4 ,they took breath in their drinking1 and watered their wine ,quis puer ocius ,restinguet ardentis ,falerni ,pocula praetereunte lympha8 ,what boy will quickly come and cool the heat of the ,falernian wine with clear water8--,horace1 ,od41 ii4 z1 #ah4 ,and the roguish looks and gestures of our lackeys were also in use amongst them3 ,o ,jane1 a tergo quern nulls ciconia pinsit1 ,nec manus1 auriculas imitari est mobilis albas1 ,nec lingua1 quantum sitiat canis ,appula1 tantum4 ,o ,janus1 whom no crooked fingers1 simulating a stork1 peck at behind your back1 whom no quick hands deride behind you1 by imitating the motion of the white ears of the ass1 against whom no mocking tongue is thrust out1 as the tongue of the thirsty ,apulian dog4--,persius1 i4 #eh4 ,the ,argian and ,roman ladies mourned in white1 as ours did formerly and should do still1 were ,i to govern in this point4 ,but there are whole books on this subject4 ,,chapter ,l ,,of ,,democritus ,,and ,,heraclitus ,the judgment is an utensil proper for all subjects1 and will have an oar in everything3 which is the reason1 that in these ,essays ,i take hold of all occasions where1 though it happen to be a subject ,i do not very well understand1 ,i try1 however1 sounding it at a distance1 and finding it too deep for my stature1 ,i keep me on the shore2 and this knowledge that a man can proceed no further1 is one effect of its virtue1 yes1 one of those of which it is most proud4 ,one while in an idle and frivolous subject1 ,i try to find out matter whereof to compose a body1 and then to prop and support it2 another while1 ,i employ it in a noble subject1 one that has been tossed and tumbled by a thousand hands1 wherein a man can scarce possibly introduce anything of his own1 the way being so beaten on every side that he must of necessity walk in the steps of another3 in such a case1 'tis the work of the judgment to take the way that seems best1 and of a thousand paths1 to determine that this or that is the best4 ,i leave the choice of my arguments to fortune1 and take that she first presents to me2 they are all alike to me1 ,i never design to go through any of them2 for ,i never see all of anything3 neither do they who so largely promise to show it others4 ,of a hundred members and faces that everything has1 ,i take one1 onewhile to look it over only1 another while to ripple up the skin1 and sometimes to pinch it to the bones3 ,i give a stab1 not so wide but as deep as ,i can1 and am for the most part tempted to take it in hand by some new light ,i discover in it4 ,did ,i know myself less1 ,i might perhaps venture to handle something or other to the bottom1 and to be deceived in my own inability2 but sprinkling here one word and there another1 patterns cut from several pieces and scattered without design and without engaging myself too far1 ,i am not responsible for them1 or obliged to keep close to my subject1 without varying at my own liberty and pleasure1 and giving up myself to doubt and uncertainty1 and to my own governing method1 ignorance4 ,all motion discovers us3 the very same soul of ,caesar1 that made itself so conspicuous in marshalling and commanding the battle of ,pharsalia1 was also seen as solicitous and busy in the softer affairs of love and leisure4 ,a man makes a judgment of a horse1 not only by seeing him when he is showing off his paces1 but by his very walk1 nay1 and by seeing him stand in the stable4 ,amongst the functions of the soul1 there are some of a lower and meaner form2 he who does not see her in those inferior offices as well as in those of nobler note1 never fully discovers her2 and1 peradventure1 she is best shown where she moves her simpler pace4 ,the winds of passions take most hold of her in her highest flights2 and the rather by reason that she wholly applies herself to1 and exercises her whole virtue upon1 every particular subject1 and never handles more than one thing at a time1 and that not according to it1 but according to herself4 ,things in respect to themselves have1 peradventure1 their weight1 measures1 and conditions2 but when we once take them into us1 the soul forms them as she pleases4 ,death is terrible to ,cicero1 coveted by ,cato1 indifferent to ,socrates4 ,health1 conscience1 authority1 knowledge1 riches1 beauty1 and their contraries1 all strip themselves at their entering into us1 and receive a new robe1 and of another fashion1 from the soul2 and of what colour1 brown1 bright1 green1 dark1 and of what quality1 sharp1 sweet1 deep1 or superficial1 as best pleases each of them1 for they are not agreed upon any common standard of forms1 rules1 or proceedings2 every one is a queen in her own dominions4 ,let us1 therefore1 no more excuse ourselves upon the external qualities of things2 it belongs to us to give ourselves an account of them4 ,our good or ill has no other dependence but on ourselves4 ',tis there that our offerings and our vows are due1 and not to fortune she has no power over our manners2 on the contrary1 they draw and make her follow in their train1 and cast her in their own mould4 ,why should not ,i judge of ,alexander at table1 ranting and drinking at the prodigious rate he sometimes used to do8 ,or1 if he played at chess8 what string of his soul was not touched by this idle and childish game8 ,i hate and avoid it1 because it is not play enough1 that it is too grave and serious a diversion1 and ,i am ashamed to lay out as much thought and study upon it as would serve to much better uses4 ,he did not more pump his brains about his glorious expedition into the ,indies1 nor than another in unravelling a passage upon which depends the safety of mankind4 ,to what a degree does this ridiculous diversion molest the soul1 when all her faculties are summoned together upon this trivial account6 and how fair an opportunity she herein gives every one to know and to make a right judgment of himself8 ,i do not more thoroughly sift myself in any other posture than this3 what passion are we exempted from in it8 ,anger1 spite1 malice1 impatience1 and a vehement desire of getting the better in a concern wherein it were more excusable to be ambitious of being overcome2 for to be eminent1 to excel above the common rate in frivolous things1 nowise befits a man of honour4 ,what ,i say in this example may be said in all others4 ,every particle1 every employment of man manifests him equally with any other4 ,democritus and ,heraclitus were two philosophers1 of whom the first1 finding human condition ridiculous and vain1 never appeared abroad but with a jeering and laughing countenance2 whereas ,heraclitus commiserating that same condition of ours1 appeared always with a sorrowful look1 and tears in his eyes3 ,alter ,ridebat1 quoties a limine moverat unum ,protuleratque pedem2 flebat contrarius alter4 ,the one always1 as often as he had stepped one pace from his threshold1 laughed1 the other always wept4--,juvenal1 ,sat41 x4 #bh4 ,or1 as ,voltaire3 ,life is a comedy to those who think2 a tragedy to those who feel4 ,d4,w4 ,i am clearly for the first humour2 not because it is more pleasant to laugh than to weep1 but because it expresses more contempt and condemnation than the other1 and ,i think we can never be despised according to our full desert4 ,compassion and bewailing seem to imply some esteem of and value for the thing bemoaned2 whereas the things we laugh at are by that expressed to be of no moment4 ,i do not think that we are so unhappy as we are vain1 or have in us so much malice as folly2 we are not so full of mischief as inanity2 nor so miserable as we are vile and mean4 ,and therefore ,diogenes1 who passed away his time in rolling himself in his tub1 and made nothing of the great ,alexander1 esteeming us no better than flies or bladders puffed up with wind1 was a sharper and more penetrating1 and1 consequently in my opinion1 a juster judge than ,timon1 surnamed the ,man-hater2 for what a man hates he lays to heart4 ,this last was an enemy to all mankind1 who passionately desired our ruin1 and avoided our conversation as dangerous1 proceeding from wicked and depraved natures3 the other valued us so little that we could neither trouble nor infect him by our example2 and left us to herd one with another1 not out of fear1 but from contempt of our society3 concluding us as incapable of doing good as evil4 ,of the same strain was ,statilius' answer1 when ,brutus courted him into the conspiracy against ,caesar2 he was satisfied that the enterprise was just1 but he did not think mankind worthy of a wise man's concern'2 according to the doctrine of ,hegesias1 who said1 that a wise man ought to do nothing but for himself1 forasmuch as he only was worthy of it3 and to the saying of ,theodorus1 that it was not reasonable a wise man should hazard himself for his country1 and endanger wisdom for a company of fools4 ,our condition is as ridiculous as risible4 ,,chapter ,,li ,,of ,,the ,,vanity ,,of ,,words ,a rhetorician of times past said1 that to make little things appear great was his profession4 ,this was a shoemaker1 who can make a great shoe for a little foot4--,a saying of ,agesilaus4--,they would in ,sparta have sent such a fellow to be whipped for making profession of a tricky and deceitful act2 and ,i fancy that ,archidamus1 who was king of that country1 was a little surprised at the answer of ,thucydides1 when inquiring of him1 which was the better wrestler1 ,pericles1 or he1 he replied1 that it was hard to affirm2 for when ,i have thrown him1 said he1 he always persuades the spectators that he had no fall and carries away the prize4 --,quintilian1 ii4 #ae4--,the women who paint1 pounce1 and plaster up their ruins1 filling up their wrinkles and deformities1 are less to blame1 because it is no great matter whether we see them in their natural complexions2 whereas these make it their business to deceive not our sight only but our judgments1 and to adulterate and corrupt the very essence of things4 ,the republics that have maintained themselves in a regular and well-modelled government1 such as those of ,lacedaemon and ,crete1 had orators in no very great esteem4 ,aristo wisely defined rhetoric to be a science to persuade the people2 ,socrates and ,plato an art to flatter and deceive4 ,and those who deny it in the general description1 verify it throughout in their precepts4 ,the ,mohammedans will not suffer their children to be instructed in it1 as being useless1 and the ,athenians1 perceiving of how pernicious consequence the practice of it was1 it being in their city of universal esteem1 ordered the principal part1 which is to move the affections1 with their exordiums and perorations1 to be taken away4 ',tis an engine invented to manage and govern a disorderly and tumultuous rabble1 and that never is made use of1 but like physic to the sick1 in a discomposed state4 ,in those where the vulgar or the ignorant1 or both together1 have been all-powerful and able to give the law1 as in those of ,athens1 ,rhodes1 and ,rome1 and where the public affairs have been in a continual tempest of commotion1 to such places have the orators always repaired4 ,and in truth1 we shall find few persons in those republics who have pushed their fortunes to any great degree of eminence without the assistance of eloquence4 ,pompey1 ,caesar1 ,crassus1 ,lucullus1 ,lentulus1 ,metellus1 thence took their chiefest spring1 to mount to that degree of authority at which they at last arrived1 making it of greater use to them than arms1 contrary to the opinion of better times2 for1 ,l4 ,volumnius speaking publicly in favour of the election of ,q4 ,fabius and ,pub4 ,decius1 to the consular dignity3 ,these are men1 said he1 born for war and great in execution2 in the combat of the tongue altogether wanting2 spirits truly consular4 ,the subtle1 eloquent1 and learned are only good for the city1 to make praetors of1 to administer justice4--,livy1 x4 #bb4 ,eloquence most flourished at ,rome when the public affairs were in the worst condition and most disquieted with intestine commotions2 as a free and untilled soil bears the worst weeds4 ,by which it should seem that a monarchical government has less need of it than any other3 for the stupidity and facility natural to the common people1 and that render them subject to be turned and twined and1 led by the ears by this charming harmony of words1 without weighing or considering the truth and reality of things by the force of reason3 this facility1 ,i say1 is not easily found in a single person1 and it is also more easy by good education and advice to secure him from the impression of this poison4 ,there was never any famous orator known to come out of ,persia or ,macedon4 ,i have entered into this discourse upon the occasion of an ,italian ,i lately received into my service1 and who was clerk of the kitchen to the late ,cardinal ,caraffa till his death4 ,i put this fellow upon an account of his office3 when he fell to discourse of this palate-science1 with such a settled countenance and magisterial gravity1 as if he had been handling some profound point of divinity4 ,he made a learned distinction of the several sorts of appetites2 of that a man has before he begins to eat1 and of those after the second and third service2 the means simply to satisfy the first1 and then to raise and actuate the other two2 the ordering of the sauces1 first in general1 and then proceeded to the qualities of the ingredients and their effects2 the differences of salads according to their seasons1 those which ought to be served up hot1 and which cold2 the manner of their garnishment and decoration to render them acceptable to the eye4 ,after which he entered upon the order of the whole service1 full of weighty and important considerations3 ,nec minimo sane discrimine refert1 ,quo gestu lepores1 et quo gallina secetur2 ,nor with less discrimination observes how we should carve a hare1 and how a hen4 or1 7,nor with the least discrimination relates how we should carve hares1 and how cut up a hen47 --,juvenal1 ,sat41 v4 #abc4 and all this set out with lofty and magnificent words1 the very same we make use of when we discourse of the government of an empire4 ,which learned lecture of my man brought this of ,terence into my memory3 ,hoc salsum est1 hoc adustum est1 hoc lautum est1 parum3 ,illud recte3 iterum sic memento3 sedulo ,moneo1 qux possum1 pro mea sapientia4 ,postremo1 tanquam in speculum1 in patinas1 ,demea1 ,inspicere jubeo1 et moneo1 quid facto usus sit4 ,this is too salt1 that's burnt1 that's not washed enough2 that's well2 remember to do so another time4 ,thus do ,i ever advise them to have things done properly1 according to my capacity2 and lastly1 ,demea1 ,i command my cooks to look into every dish as if it were a mirror1 and tell them what they should do4 --,terence1 ,adelph41 iii4 #c1 #ga4 ,and yet even the ,greeks themselves very much admired and highly applauded the order and disposition that ,paulus ,a,emilius observed in the feast he gave them at his return from ,macedon4 ,but ,i do not here speak of effects1 ,i speak of words only4 ,i do not know whether it may have the same operation upon other men that it has upon me1 but when ,i hear our architects thunder out their bombast words of pilasters1 architraves1 and cornices1 of the ,corinthian and ,doric orders1 and suchlike jargon1 my imagination is presently possessed with the palace of ,apollidon2 when1 after all1 ,i find them but the paltry pieces of my own kitchen door4 ,to hear men talk of metonomies1 metaphors1 and allegories1 and other grammar words1 would not one think they signified some rare and exotic form of speaking8 ,and yet they are phrases that come near to the babble of my chambermaid4 ,and this other is a gullery of the same stamp1 to call the offices of our kingdom by the lofty titles of the ,romans1 though they have no similitude of function1 and still less of authority and power4 ,and this also1 which ,i doubt will one day turn to the reproach of this age of ours1 unworthily and indifferently to confer upon any we think fit the most glorious surnames with which antiquity honoured but one or two persons in several ages4 ,plato carried away the surname of ,divine1 by so universal a consent that never any one repined at it1 or attempted to take it from him2 and yet the ,italians1 who pretend1 and with good reason1 to more sprightly wits and sounder sense than the other nations of their time1 have lately bestowed the same title upon ,aretin1 in whose writings1 save tumid phrases set out with smart periods1 ingenious indeed but far-fetched and fantastic1 and the eloquence1 be it what it may1 ,i see nothing in him above the ordinary writers of his time1 so far is he from approaching the ancient divinity4 ,and we make nothing of giving the surname of great to princes who have nothing more than ordinary in them4 ,,chapter ,,lii ,,of ,,the ,,parsimony ,,of ,,the ,,ancients ,attilius ,regulus1 general of the ,roman army in ,africa1 in the height of all his glory and victories over the ,carthaginians1 wrote to the ,republic to acquaint them that a certain hind he had left in trust with his estate1 which was in all but seven acres of land1 had run away with all his instruments of husbandry1 and entreating therefore1 that they would please to call him home that he might take order in his own affairs1 lest his wife and children should suffer by this disaster4 ,whereupon the ,senate appointed another to manage his business1 caused his losses to be made good1 and ordered his family to be maintained at the public expense4 ,the elder ,cato1 returning consul from ,spain1 sold his warhorse to save the money it would have cost in bringing it back by sea into ,italy2 and being ,governor of ,sardinia1 he made all his visits on foot1 without other train than one officer of the ,republic who carried his robe and a censer for sacrifices1 and for the most part carried his trunk himself4 ,he bragged that he had never worn a gown that cost above ten crowns1 nor had ever sent above tenpence to the market for one day's provision2 and that as to his country houses1 he had not one that was rough-cast on the outside4 ,scipio ,a,emilianus1 after two triumphs and two consulships1 went an embassy with no more than seven servants in his train4 ',tis said that ,homer had never more than one1 ,plato three1 and ,zeno1 founder of the sect of ,stoics1 none at all4 ,tiberius ,gracchus was allowed but fivepence halfpenny a day when employed as public minister about the public affairs1 and being at that time the greatest man of ,rome4 ,,chapter ,,liii ,,of ,a ,,saying ,,of ,,caesar ,if we would sometimes bestow a little consideration upon ourselves1 and employ the time we spend in prying into other men's actions1 and discovering things without us1 in examining our own abilities we should soon perceive of how infirm and decaying material this fabric of ours is composed4 ,is it not a singular testimony of imperfection that we cannot establish our satisfaction in any one thing1 and that even our own fancy and desire should deprive us of the power to choose what is most proper and useful for us8 ,a very good proof of this is the great dispute that has ever been amongst the philosophers1 of finding out man's sovereign good1 that continues yet1 and will eternally continue1 without solution or accord3 ,dum abest quod avemus1 id exsuperare videtur ,caetera2 post aliud1 quum contigit illud1 avemus1 ,et sitis aequa tenet4 ,while that which we desire is wanting1 it seems to surpass all the rest2 then1 when we have got it1 we want something else2 'tis ever the same thirst--,lucretius1 iii4 #ajie4 ,whatever it is that falls into our knowledge and possession1 we find that it satisfies not1 and we still pant after things to come and unknown1 inasmuch as those present do not suffice for us2 not that1 in my judgment1 they have not in them wherewith to do it1 but because we seize them with an unruly and immoderate haste3 ,nam quum vidit hic1 ad victum qux flagitat usus1 ,et per quae possent vitam consistere tutam1 ,omnia jam ferme mortalibus esse parata2 ,divitiis homines1 et honore1 et laude potentes ,aflluere1 atque bona natorum excellere fama2 ,nec minus esse domi cuiquam tamen anxia corda1 ,atque animi ingratis vitam vexare querelis ,causam1 quae infestis cogit saevire querelis1 ,intellegit ibi2 vitium vas efficere ipsum1 ,omniaque1 illius vitio1 corrumpier intus1 ,qux collata foris et commoda quomque venirent4 ,for when he saw that almost all things necessarily required for subsistence1 and which may render life comfortable1 are already prepared to their hand1 that men may abundantly attain wealth1 honour1 praise1 may rejoice in the reputation of their children1 yet that1 notwithstanding1 every one has none the less in his heart and home anxieties and a mind enslaved by wearing complaints1 he saw that the vessel itself was in fault1 and that all good things which were brought into it from without were spoilt by its own imperfections4--,lucretius1 vi4 #i4 ,our appetite is irresolute and fickle2 it can neither keep nor enjoy anything with a good grace3 and man concluding it to be the fault of the things he is possessed of1 fills himself with and feeds upon the idea of things he neither knows nor understands1 to which he devotes his hopes and his desires1 paying them all reverence and honour1 according to the saying of ,caesar3 ,communi fit vitio naturae1 ut invisis1 latitantibus atque incognitis rebus magis confidamas1 vehementiusque exterreamur4 ',tis the common vice of nature1 that we at once repose most confidence1 and receive the greatest apprehensions1 from things unseen1 concealed1 and unknown4--,de ,bello ,civil1 xi4 #d4 ,,chapter ,,liv ,,of ,,vain ,,subtleties ,there are a sort of little knacks and frivolous subtleties from which men sometimes expect to derive reputation and applause3 as poets1 who compose whole poems with every line beginning with the same letter2 we see the shapes of eggs1 globes1 wings1 and hatchets cut out by the ancient ,greeks by the measure of their verses1 making them longer or shorter1 to represent such or such a figure4 ,of this nature was his employment who made it his business to compute into how many several orders the letters of the alphabet might be transposed1 and found out that incredible number mentioned in ,plutarch4 ,i am mightily pleased with the humour of him1 ,alexander1 as may be seen in ,quintil41 ,institut4 ,orat41 lib4 ii41 cap4 #bj1 where he defines ,maratarexvia to be a certain unnecessary imitation of art1 which really does neither good nor harm1 but is as unprofitable and ridiculous as was the labour of that man who had so perfectly learned to cast small peas through the eye of a needle at a good distance that he never missed one1 and was justly rewarded for it1 as is said1 by ,alexander1 who saw the performance1 with a bushel of peas4--,coste4 who having a man brought before him that had learned to throw a grain of millet with such dexterity and assurance as never to miss the eye of a needle2 and being afterwards entreated to give something for the reward of so rare a performance1 he pleasantly1 and in my opinion justly1 ordered a certain number of bushels of the same grain to be delivered to him1 that he might not want wherewith to exercise so famous an art4 ',tis a strong evidence of a weak judgment when men approve of things for their being rare and new1 or for their difficulty1 where worth and usefulness are not conjoined to recommend them4 ,i come just now from playing with my own family at who could find out the most things that hold by their two extremities2 as ,sire1 which is a title given to the greatest person in the nation1 the king1 and also to the vulgar1 as merchants1 but never to any degree of men between4 ,the women of great quality are called ,dames1 inferior gentlewomen1 ,demoiselles1 and the meanest sort of women1 ,dames1 as the first4 ,the cloth of state over our tables is not permitted but in the palaces of princes and in taverns4 ,democritus said1 that gods and beasts had sharper sense than men1 who are of a middle form4 ,the ,romans wore the same habit at funerals and feasts4 ,it is most certain that an extreme fear and an extreme ardour of courage equally trouble and relax the belly4 ,the nickname of ,trembling with which they surnamed ,sancho ,,xii41 king of ,navarre1 tells us that valour will cause a trembling in the limbs as well as fear4 ,those who were arming that king1 or some other person1 who upon the like occasion was wont to be in the same disorder1 tried to compose him by representing the danger less he was going to engage himself in3 ,you understand me ill1 said he1 for could my flesh know the danger my courage will presently carry it into1 it would sink down to the ground4 ,the faintness that surprises us from frigidity or dislike in the exercises of ,venus are also occasioned by a too violent desire and an immoderate heat4 ,extreme coldness and extreme heat boil and roast4 ,aristotle says1 that sows of lead will melt and run with cold and the rigour of winter just as with a vehement heat4 ,desire and satiety fill all the gradations above and below pleasure with pain4 ,stupidity and wisdom meet in the same centre of sentiment and resolution1 in the suffering of human accidents4 ,the wise control and triumph over ill1 the others know it not3 these last are1 as a man may say1 on this side of accidents1 the others are beyond them1 who after having well weighed and considered their qualities1 measured and judged them what they are1 by virtue of a vigorous soul leap out of their reach2 they disdain and trample them underfoot1 having a solid and well-fortified soul1 against which the darts of fortune1 coming to strike1 must of necessity rebound and blunt themselves1 meeting with a body upon which they can fix no impression2 the ordinary and middle condition of men are lodged betwixt these two extremities1 consisting of such as perceive evils1 feel them1 and are not able to support them4 ,infancy and decrepitude meet in the imbecility of the brain2 avarice and profusion in the same thirst and desire of getting4 ,a man may say with some colour of truth that there is an ,abecedarian ignorance that precedes knowledge1 and a doctoral ignorance that comes after it3 an ignorance that knowledge creates and begets1 at the same time that it despatches and destroys the first4 ,of mean understandings1 little inquisitive1 and little instructed1 are made good ,christians1 who by reverence and obedience simply believe and are constant in their belief4 ,in the average understandings and the middle sort of capacities1 the error of opinion is begotten2 they follow the appearance of the first impression1 and have some colour of reason on their side to impute our walking on in the old beaten path to simplicity and stupidity1 meaning us who have not informed ourselves by study4 ,the higher and nobler souls1 more solid and clear-sighted1 make up another sort of true believers1 who by a long and religious investigation of truth1 have obtained a clearer and more penetrating light into the ,scriptures1 and have discovered the mysterious and divine secret of our ecclesiastical polity2 and yet we see some1 who by the middle step1 have arrived at that supreme degree with marvellous fruit and confirmation1 as to the utmost limit of ,christian intelligence1 and enjoy their victory with great spiritual consolation1 humble acknowledgment of the divine favour1 reformation of manners1 and singular modesty4 ,i do not intend with these to rank those others1 who to clear themselves from all suspicion of their former errors and to satisfy us that they are sound and firm1 render themselves extremely indiscreet and unjust1 in the carrying on our cause1 and blemish it with infinite reproaches of violence and oppression4 ,the simple peasants are good people1 and so are the philosophers1 or whatever the present age calls them1 men of strong and clear reason1 and whose souls are enriched with an ample instruction of profitable sciences4 ,the mongrels who have disdained the first form of the ignorance of letters1 and have not been able to attain to the other 7sitting betwixt two stools1 as ,i and a great many more of us do71 are dangerous1 foolish1 and importunate2 these are they that trouble the world4 ,and therefore it is that ,i1 for my own part1 retreat as much as ,i can towards the first and natural station1 whence ,i so vainly attempted to advance4 ,popular and purely natural poesy ,the term poesie populaire was employed1 for the first time1 in the ,french language on this occasion4 ,montaigne created the expression1 and indicated its nature4--,ampere4 has in it certain artless graces1 by which she may come into comparison with the greatest beauty of poetry perfected by art3 as we see in our ,gascon villanels and the songs that are brought us from nations that have no knowledge of any manner of science1 nor so much as the use of writing4 ,the middle sort of poesy betwixt these two is despised1 of no value1 honour1 or esteem4 ,but seeing that the path once laid open to the fancy1 ,i have found1 as it commonly falls out1 that what we have taken for a difficult exercise and a rare subject1 prove to be nothing so1 and that after the invention is once warm1 it finds out an infinite number of parallel examples4 ,i shall only add this one--that1 were these ,essays of mine considerable enough to deserve a critical judgment1 it might then1 ,i think1 fall out that they would not much take with common and vulgar capacities1 nor be very acceptable to the singular and excellent sort of men2 the first would not understand them enough1 and the last too much2 and so they may hover in the middle region4 ,,chapter ,,lv ,,of ,,smells ,it has been reported of some1 as of ,alexander the ,great1 that their sweat exhaled an odoriferous smell1 occasioned by some rare and extraordinary constitution1 of which ,plutarch and others have been inquisitive into the cause4 ,but the ordinary constitution of human bodies is quite otherwise1 and their best and chiefest excellency is to be exempt from smell4 ,nay1 the sweetness even of the purest breath has nothing in it of greater perfection than to be without any offensive smell1 like those of healthful children1 which made ,plautus say of a woman3 ,mulier tum bene olet1 ubi nihil olet4 ,she smells sweetest1 who smells not at all4 --,plautus1 ,mostel1 i4 #c1 #aaf4 ,and such as make use of fine exotic perfumes are with good reason to be suspected of some natural imperfection which they endeavour by these odours to conceal4 ,to smell1 though well1 is to stink3 ,rides nos1 ,coracine1 nil olentes ,malo1 quam bene olere1 nil olere4 ,you laugh at us1 ,coracinus1 because we are not scented2 ,i would1 rather than smell well1 not smell at all4--,martial1 vi4 #ee1 #d4 ,and elsewhere3 ,posthume1 non bene olet1 qui bene semper olet4 ,posthumus1 he who ever smells well does not smell well4 --,idem1 ii4 #ab1 #ad4 ,i am nevertheless a great lover of good smells1 and as much abominate the ill ones1 which also ,i scent at a greater distance1 ,i think1 than other men3 ,namque sagacius unus odoror1 ,polypus1 an gravis hirsutis cubet hircus in aliis ,quam canis acer1 ubi latest sus4 ,my nose is quicker to scent a fetid sore or a rank armpit1 than a dog to smell out the hidden sow4--,horace1 ,epod41 xii4 #d4 ,of smells1 the simple and natural seem to me the most pleasing4 ,let the ladies look to that1 for 'tis chiefly their concern3 amid the most profound barbarism1 the ,scythian women1 after bathing1 were wont to powder and crust their faces and all their bodies with a certain odoriferous drug growing in their country1 which being cleansed off1 when they came to have familiarity with men they were found perfumed and sleek4 ',tis not to be believed how strangely all sorts of odours cleave to me1 and how apt my skin is to imbibe them4 ,he that complains of nature that she has not furnished mankind with a vehicle to convey smells to the nose had no reason2 for they will do it themselves1 especially to me2 my very mustachios1 which are full1 perform that office2 for if ,i stroke them but with my gloves or handkerchief1 the smell will not out a whole day2 they manifest where ,i have been1 and the close1 luscious1 devouring1 viscid melting kisses of youthful ardour in my wanton age left a sweetness upon my lips for several hours after4 ,and yet ,i have ever found myself little subject to epidemic diseases1 that are caught1 either by conversing with the sick or bred by the contagion of the air1 and have escaped from those of my time1 of which there have been several sorts in our cities and armies4 ,we read of ,socrates1 that though he never departed from ,athens during the frequent plagues that infested the city1 he only was never infected4 ,physicians might1 ,i believe1 extract greater utility from odours than they do1 for ,i have often observed that they cause an alteration in me and work upon my spirits according to their several virtues2 which makes me approve of what is said1 that the use of incense and perfumes in churches1 so ancient and so universally received in all nations and religions1 was intended to cheer us1 and to rouse and purify the senses1 the better to fit us for contemplation4 ,i could have been glad1 the better to judge of it1 to have tasted the culinary art of those cooks who had so rare a way of seasoning exotic odours with the relish of meats2 as it was particularly observed in the service of the king of ,tunis1 who in our days--,muley-,hassam1 in #aedc4 --landed at ,naples to have an interview with ,charles the ,emperor4 ,his dishes were larded with odoriferous drugs1 to that degree of expense that the cookery of one peacock and two pheasants amounted to a hundred ducats to dress them after their fashion2 and when the carver came to cut them up1 not only the dining-room1 but all the apartments of his palace and the adjoining streets were filled with an aromatic vapour which did not presently vanish4 ,my chiefest care in choosing my lodgings is always to avoid a thick and stinking air2 and those beautiful cities1 ,venice and ,paris1 very much lessen the kindness ,i have for them1 the one by the offensive smell of her marshes1 and the other of her dirt4 ,,chapter ,,lvi ,,of ,,prayers ,i propose formless and undetermined fancies1 like those who publish doubtful questions1 to be after a disputed upon in the schools1 not to establish truth but to seek it2 and ,i submit them to the judgments of those whose office it is to regulate1 not my writings and actions only1 but moreover my very thoughts4 ,let what ,i here set down meet with correction or applause1 it shall be of equal welcome and utility to me1 myself beforehand condemning as absurd and impious1 if anything shall be found1 through ignorance or inadvertency1 couched in this rhapsody1 contrary to the holy resolutions and prescriptions of the ,catholic ,apostolic and ,roman ,church1 into which ,i was born and in which ,i will die4 ,and yet1 always submitting to the authority of their censure1 which has an absolute power over me1 ,i thus rashly venture at everything1 as in treating upon this present subject4 ,i know not if or no ,i am wrong1 but since1 by a particular favour of the divine bounty1 a certain form of prayer has been prescribed and dictated to us1 word by word1 from the mouth of ,god ,himself1 ,i have ever been of opinion that we ought to have it in more frequent use than we yet have2 and if ,i were worthy to advise1 at the sitting down to and rising from our tables1 at our rising from and going to bed1 and in every particular action wherein prayer is used1 ,i would that ,christians always make use of the ,lord's ,prayer1 if not alone1 yet at least always4 ,the ,church may lengthen and diversify prayers1 according to the necessity of our instruction1 for ,i know very well that it is always the same in substance and the same thing3 but yet such a privilege ought to be given to that prayer1 that the people should have it continually in their mouths2 for it is most certain that all necessary petitions are comprehended in it1 and that it is infinitely proper for all occasions4 ',tis the only prayer ,i use in all places and conditions1 and which ,i still repeat instead of changing2 whence it also happens that ,i have no other so entirely by heart as that4 ,it just now came into my mind1 whence it is we should derive that error of having recourse to ,god in all our designs and enterprises1 to call ,him to our assistance in all sorts of affairs1 and in all places where our weakness stands in need of support1 without considering whether the occasion be just or otherwise2 and to invoke ,his name and power1 in what state soever we are1 or action we are engaged in1 howsoever vicious4 ,he is indeed1 our sole and unique protector1 and can do all things for us3 but though ,he is pleased to honour us with this sweet paternal alliance1 ,he is1 notwithstanding1 as just as ,he is good and mighty2 and more often exercises ,his justice than ,his power1 and favours us according to that1 and not according to our petitions4 ,plato in his ,laws1 makes three sorts of belief injurious to the gods2 that there are none2 that they concern not themselves about our affairs2 that they never refuse anything to our vows1 offerings1 and sacrifices4 ,the first of these errors 7according to his opinion1 never continued rooted in any man from his infancy to his old age72 the other two1 he confesses1 men might be obstinate in4 ,god's justice and ,his power are inseparable2 'tis in vain we invoke ,his power in an unjust cause4 ,we are to have our souls pure and clean1 at that moment at least wherein we pray to ,him1 and purified from all vicious passions2 otherwise we ourselves present ,him the rods wherewith to chastise us2 instead of repairing anything we have done amiss1 we double the wickedness and the offence when we offer to ,him1 to whom we are to sue for pardon1 an affection full of irreverence and hatred4 ,which makes me not very apt to applaud those whom ,i observe to be so frequent on their knees1 if the actions nearest to the prayer do not give me some evidence of amendment and reformation3 ,si1 nocturnus adulter1 ,tempora ,santonico velas adoperta cucullo4 ,if a night adulterer1 thou coverest thy head with a ,santonic cowl4--,juvenal1 ,sat41 viii4 #add4--,the ,santones were the people who inhabited ,saintonge in ,france1 from whom the ,romans derived the use of hoods or cowls covering the head and face4 ,and the practice of a man who mixes devotion with an execrable life seems in some sort more to be condemned than that of a man conformable to his own propension and dissolute throughout2 and for that reason it is that our ,church denies admittance to and communion with men obstinate and incorrigible in any notorious wickedness4 ,we pray only by custom and for fashion's sake2 or rather1 we read or pronounce our prayers aloud1 which is no better than an hypocritical show of devotion2 and ,i am scandalised to see a man cross himself thrice at the ,benedicite1 and as often at ,grace 7and the more1 because it is a sign ,i have in great veneration and continual use1 even when ,i yawn71 and to dedicate all the other hours of the day to acts of malice1 avarice1 and injustice4 ,one hour to ,god1 the rest to the devil1 as if by composition and compensation4 ',tis a wonder to see actions so various in themselves succeed one another with such an uniformity of method as not to interfere nor suffer any alteration1 even upon the very confines and passes from the one to the other4 ,what a prodigious conscience must that be that can be at quiet within itself whilst it harbours under the same roof1 with so agreeing and so calm a society1 both the crime and the judge8 ,a man whose whole meditation is continually working upon nothing but impurity which he knows to be so odious to ,almighty ,god1 what can he say when he comes to speak to ,him8 ,he draws back1 but immediately falls into a relapse4 ,if the object of divine justice and the presence of his ,maker did1 as he pretends1 strike and chastise his soul1 how short soever the repentance might be1 the very fear of offending the ,infinite ,majesty would so often present itself to his imagination that he would soon see himself master of those vices that are most natural and vehement in him4 ,but what shall we say of those who settle their whole course of life upon the profit and emolument of sins1 which they know to be mortal8 ,how many trades and vocations have we admitted and countenanced amongst us1 whose very essence is vicious8 ,and he that1 confessing himself to me1 voluntarily told me that he had all his lifetime professed and practised a religion1 in his opinion damnable and contrary to that he had in his heart1 only to preserve his credit and the honour of his employments1 how could his courage suffer so infamous a confession8 ,what can men say to the divine justice upon this subject8 ,their repentance consisting in a visible and manifest reparation1 they lose the colour of alleging it both to ,god and man4 ,are they so impudent as to sue for remission without satisfaction and without penitence8 ,i look upon these as in the same condition with the first3 but the obstinacy is not there so easy to be overcome4 ,this contrariety and volubility of opinion so sudden1 so violent1 that they feign1 are a kind of miracle to me3 they present us with the state of an indigestible agony of mind4 ,it seemed to me a fantastic imagination in those who1 these late years past1 were wont to reproach every man they knew to be of any extraordinary parts1 and made profession of the ,catholic religion1 that it was but outwardly2 maintaining1 moreover1 to do him honour forsooth1 that whatever he might pretend to the contrary he could not but in his heart be of their reformed opinion4 ,an untoward disease1 that a man should be so riveted to his own belief as to fancy that others cannot believe otherwise than as he does2 and yet worse1 that they should entertain so vicious an opinion of such great parts as to think any man so qualified1 should prefer any present advantage of fortune to the promises of eternal life and the menaces of eternal damnation4 ,they may believe me3 could anything have tempted my youth1 the ambition of the danger and difficulties in the late commotions had not been the least motives4 ,it is not without very good reason1 in my opinion1 that the ,church interdicts the promiscuous1 indiscreet1 and irreverent use of the holy and divine ,psalms1 with which the ,holy ,ghost inspired ,king ,david4 ,we ought not to mix ,god in our actions1 but with the highest reverence and caution2 that poesy is too holy to be put to no other use than to exercise the lungs and to delight our ears2 it ought to come from the conscience1 and not from the tongue4 ,it is not fit that a prentice in his shop1 amongst his vain and frivolous thoughts1 should be permitted to pass away his time and divert himself with such sacred things4 ,neither is it decent to see the ,holy ,book of the holy mysteries of our belief tumbled up and down a hall or a kitchen they were formerly mysteries1 but are now become sports and recreations4 ',tis a book too serious and too venerable to be cursorily or slightly turned over3 the reading of the scripture ought to be a temperate and premeditated act1 and to which men should always add this devout preface1 'sursum corda'1 preparing even the body to so humble and composed a gesture and countenance as shall evidence a particular veneration and attention4 ,neither is it a book for everyone to fist1 but the study of select men set apart for that purpose1 and whom ,almighty ,god has been pleased to call to that office and sacred function3 the wicked and ignorant grow worse by it4 ',tis1 not a story to tell1 but a history to revere1 fear1 and adore4 ,are not they then pleasant men who think they have rendered this fit for the people's handling by translating it into the vulgar tongue8 ,does the understanding of all therein contained only stick at words8 ,shall ,i venture to say further1 that by coming so near to understand a little1 they are much wider of the whole scope than before4 ,a pure and simple ignorance and wholly depending upon the exposition of qualified persons1 was far more learned and salutary than this vain and verbal knowledge1 which has only temerity and presumption4 ,and ,i do further believe that the liberty every one has taken to disperse the sacred writ into so many idioms carries with it a great deal more of danger than utility4 ,the ,jews1 ,mohammedans1 and almost all other peoples1 have reverentially espoused the language wherein their mysteries were first conceived1 and have expressly1 and not without colour of reason1 forbidden the alteration of them into any other4 ,are we assured that in ,biscay and in ,brittany there are enough competent judges of this affair to establish this translation into their own language8 ,the universal ,church has not a more difficult and solemn judgment to make4 ,in preaching and speaking the interpretation is vague1 free1 mutable1 and of a piece by itself2 so 'tis not the same thing4 ,one of our ,greek historians age justly censures the he lived in1 because the secrets of the ,christian religion were dispersed into the hands of every mechanic1 to expound and argue upon1 according to his own fancy1 and that we ought to be much ashamed1 we who by ,god's especial favour enjoy the pure mysteries of piety1 to suffer them to be profaned by the ignorant rabble2 considering that the ,gentiles expressly forbad ,socrates1 ,plato1 and the other sages to inquire into or so much as mention the things committed to the priests of ,delphi2 and he says1 moreover1 that the factions of princes upon theological subjects are armed not with zeal but fury2 that zeal springs from the divine wisdom and justice1 and governs itself with prudence and moderation1 but degenerates into hatred and envy1 producing tares and nettles instead of corn and wine when conducted by human passions4 ,and it was truly said by another1 who1 advising the ,emperor ,theodosius1 told him that disputes did not so much rock the schisms of the ,church asleep1 as it roused and animated heresies2 that1 therefore1 all contentions and dialectic disputations were to be avoided1 and men absolutely to acquiesce in the prescriptions and formulas of faith established by the ancients4 ,and the ,emperor ,andronicus having overheard some great men at high words in his palace with ,lapodius about a point of ours of great importance1 gave them so severe a check as to threaten to cause them to be thrown into the river if they did not desist4 ,the very women and children nowadays take upon them to lecture the oldest and most experienced men about the ecclesiastical laws2 whereas the first of those of ,plato forbids them to inquire so much as into the civil laws1 which were to stand instead of divine ordinances2 and1 allowing the old men to confer amongst themselves or with the magistrate about those things1 he adds1 provided it be not in the presence of young or profane persons4 ,a bishop has left in writing that at the other end of the world there is an isle1 by the ancients called ,dioscorides1 abundantly fertile in all sorts of trees and fruits1 and of an exceedingly healthful air2 the inhabitants of which are ,christians1 having churches and altars1 only adorned with crosses without any other images1 great observers of fasts and feasts1 exact payers of their tithes to the priests1 and so chaste1 that none of them is permitted to have to do with more than one woman in his life--,what ,osorius says is that these people only had one wife at a time4--as to the rest1 so content with their condition1 that environed with the sea they know nothing of navigation1 and so simple that they understand not one syllable of the religion they profess and wherein they are so devout3 a thing incredible to such as do not know that the ,pagans1 who are so zealous idolaters1 know nothing more of their gods than their bare names and their statues4 ,the ancient beginning of ',menalippus'1 a tragedy of ,euripides1 ran thus3 ,o ,jupiter6 for that name alone ,of what thou art to me is known4 ,i have also known in my time some men's writings found fault with for being purely human and philosophical1 without any mixture of theology2 and yet1 with some show of reason1 it might1 on the contrary1 be said that the divine doctrine1 as queen and regent of the rest1 better keeps her state apart1 that she ought to be sovereign throughout1 not subsidiary and suffragan1 and that1 peradventure1 grammatical1 rhetorical1 logical examples may elsewhere be more suitably chosen1 as also the material for the stage1 games1 and public entertainments1 than from so sacred a matter2 that divine reasons are considered with greater veneration and attention by themselves1 and in their own proper style1 than when mixed with and adapted to human discourse2 that it is a fault much more often observed that the divines write too humanly1 than that the humanists write not theologically enough4 ,philosophy1 says ,st4 ,chrysostom1 has long been banished the holy schools1 as an handmaid altogether useless and thought unworthy to look1 so much as in passing by the door1 into the sanctuary of the holy treasures of the celestial doctrine2 that the human way of speaking is of a much lower form and ought not to adopt for herself the dignity and majesty of divine eloquence4 ,let who will 'verbis indisciplinatis' talk of fortune1 destiny1 accident1 good and evil hap1 and other suchlike phrases1 according to his own humour2 ,i for my part propose fancies merely human and merely my own1 and that simply as human fancies1 and separately considered1 not as determined by any decree from heaven1 incapable of doubt or dispute2 matter of opinion1 not matter of faith2 things which ,i discourse of according to my own notions1 not as ,i believe1 according to ,god2 after a laical1 not clerical1 and yet always after a very religious manner1 as children prepare their exercises1 not to instruct but to be instructed4 ,and might it not be said1 that an edict enjoining all people but such as are public professors of divinity1 to be very reserved in writing of religion1 would carry with it a very good colour of utility and justice --and to me1 amongst the rest peradventure1 to hold my prating8 ,i have been told that even those who are not of our ,church nevertheless amongst themselves expressly forbid the name of ,god to be used in common discourse1 nor so much even by way of interjection1 exclamation1 assertion of a truth1 or comparison2 and ,i think them in the right3 upon what occasion soever we call upon ,god to accompany and assist us1 it ought always to be done with the greatest reverence and devotion4 ,there is1 as ,i remember1 a passage in ,xenophon where he tells us that we ought so much the more seldom to call upon ,god1 by how much it is hard to compose our souls to such a degree of calmness1 patience1 and devotion as it ought to be in at such a time2 otherwise our prayers are not only vain and fruitless1 but vicious3 forgive us1 we say1 our trespasses1 as we forgive them that trespass against us2 what do we mean by this petition but that we present to ,god a soul free from all rancour and revenge8 ,and yet we make nothing of invoking ,god's assistance in our vices1 and inviting ,him into our unjust designs3 ,quae1 nisi seductis1 nequeas committere divis ,which you can only impart to the gods1 when you have gained them over4--,persius1 ii4 #d4 the covetous man prays for the conservation of his vain and superfluous riches2 the ambitious for victory and the good conduct of his fortune2 the thief calls ,him to his assistance1 to deliver him from the dangers and difficulties that obstruct his wicked designs1 or returns ,him thanks for the facility he has met with in cutting a man's throat2 at the door of the house men are going to storm or break into by force of a petard1 they fall to prayers for success1 their intentions and hopes of cruelty1 avarice1 and lust4 ,hoc igitur1 quo to ,jovis aurem impellere tentas1 ,dic agedum ,staio3 'proh ,jupiter6 ,o bone1 clamet1 ,jupiter6' ,at sese non clamet ,jupiter ipse4 ,this therefore1 with which you seek to draw the ear of ,jupiter1 say to ,staius4 ',o ,jupiter6 ,o good ,jupiter6' let him cry4 ,think you ,jupiter himself would not cry out upon it8--,persius1 ii4 #ba4 ,marguerite1 ,queen of ,navarre1--,in the ,heptameron4--tells of a young prince1 who1 though she does not name him1 is easily enough by his great qualities to be known1 who going upon an amorous assignation to lie with an advocate's wife of ,paris1 his way thither being through a church1 he never passed that holy place going to or returning from his pious exercise1 but he always kneeled down to pray4 ,wherein he would employ the divine favour1 his soul being full of such virtuous meditations1 ,i leave others to judge1 which1 nevertheless1 she instances for a testimony of singular devotion4 ,but this is not the only proof we have that women are not very fit to treat of theological affairs4 ,a true prayer and religious reconciling of ourselves to ,almighty ,god cannot enter into an impure soul1 subject at the very time to the dominion of ,satan4 ,he who calls ,god to his assistance whilst in a course of vice1 does as if a cut-purse should call a magistrate to help him1 or like those who introduce the name of ,god to the attestation of a lie4 ,tacito mala vota susurro ,concipimus4 ,we whisper our guilty prayers4---,lucan1 v4 #ajd4 ,there are few men who durst publish to the world the prayers they make to ,almighty ,god3 ,haud cuivis promptum est1 murmurque1 humilesque susurros ,tollere de templis1 et aperto vivere voto ',tis not convenient for every one to bring the prayers he mutters out of the temple1 and to give his wishes to the public ear4 --,persius1 ii4 #f4 and this is the reason why the ,pythagoreans would have them always public and heard by every one1 to the end they might not prefer indecent or unjust petitions as this man3 ,clare quum dixit1 ,apollo6 ,labra movet1 metuens audiri3 ,pulcra ,laverna1 ,da mihi fallere1 da justum sanctumque videri2 ,noctem peccatis1 et fraudibus objice nubem4 ,when he has clearly said ,apollo6 he moves his lips1 fearful to be heard2 he murmurs3 ,o fair ,laverna1 grant me the talent to deceive2 grant me to appear holy and just2 shroud my sins with night1 and cast a cloud over my frauds4--,horace1 ,ep41 i4 #af1 #ei4--7,laverna was the goddess of thieves47 ,the gods severely punished the wicked prayers of ,o,edipus in granting them3 he had prayed that his children might amongst themselves determine the succession to his throne by arms1 and was so miserable as to see himself taken at his word4 ,we are not to pray that all things may go as we would have them1 but as most concurrent with prudence4 ,we seem1 in truth1 to make use of our prayers as of a kind of jargon1 and as those do who employ holy words about sorceries and magical operations2 and as if we reckoned the benefit we are to reap from them as depending upon the contexture1 sound1 and jingle of words1 or upon the grave composing of the countenance4 ,for having the soul contaminated with concupiscence1 not touched with repentance1 or comforted by any late reconciliation with ,god1 we go to present ,him such words as the memory suggests to the tongue1 and hope from thence to obtain the remission of our sins4 ,there is nothing so easy1 so sweet1 and so favourable1 as the divine law3 it calls and invites us to her1 guilty and abominable as we are2 extends her arms and receives us into her bosom1 foul and polluted as we at present are1 and are for the future to be4 ,but then1 in return1 we are to look upon her with a respectful eye2 we are to receive this pardon with all gratitude and submission1 and for that instant at least1 wherein we address ourselves to her1 to have the soul sensible of the ills we have committed1 and at enmity with those passions that seduced us to offend her2 neither the gods nor good men 7says ,plato7 will accept the present of a wicked man3 ,immunis aram si terigit manus1 ,non sumptuosa blandior hostia ,mollivit aversos ,penates ,farre pio et saliente mica4 ,if a pure hand has touched the altar1 the pious offering of a small cake and a few grains of salt will appease the offended gods more effectually than costly sacrifices4 --,horace1 ,od41 iii4 #bc1 #ag4 ,,chapter ,,lvii ,,of ,,age ,i cannot allow of the way in which we settle for ourselves the duration of our life4 ,i see that the sages contract it very much in comparison of the common opinion3 what1 said the younger ,cato to those who would stay his hand from killing himself1 am ,i now of an age to be reproached that ,i go out of the world too soon8 ,and yet he was but eight-and-forty years old4 ,he thought that to be a mature and advanced age1 considering how few arrive unto it4 ,and such as1 soothing their thoughts with ,i know not what course of nature1 promise to themselves some years beyond it1 could they be privileged from the infinite number of accidents to which we are by a natural subjection exposed1 they might have some reason so to do4 ,what am idle conceit is it to expect to die of a decay of strength1 which is the effect of extremest age1 and to propose to ourselves no shorter lease of life than that1 considering it is a kind of death of all others the most rare and very seldom seen8 ,we call that only a natural death2 as if it were contrary to nature to see a man break his neck with a fall1 be drowned in shipwreck1 be snatched away with a pleurisy or the plague1 and as if our ordinary condition did not expose us to these inconveniences4 ,let us no longer flatter ourselves with these fine words2 we ought rather1 peradventure1 to call that natural which is general1 common1 and universal4 ,to die of old age is a death rare1 extraordinary1 and singular1 and1 therefore1 so much less natural than the others2 'tis the last and extremest sort of dying3 and the more remote1 the less to be hoped for4 ,it is1 indeed1 the bourn beyond which we are not to pass1 and which the law of nature has set as a limit1 not to be exceeded2 but it is1 withal1 a privilege she is rarely seen to give us to last till then4 ',tis a lease she only signs by particular favour1 and it may be to one only in the space of two or three ages1 and then with a pass to boot1 to carry him through all the traverses and difficulties she has strewed in the way of this long career4 ,and therefore my opinion is1 that when once forty years we should consider it as an age to which very few arrive4 ,for seeing that men do not usually proceed so far1 it is a sign that we are pretty well advanced2 and since we have exceeded the ordinary bounds1 which is the just measure of life1 we ought not to expect to go much further2 having escaped so many precipices of death1 whereinto we have seen so many other men fall1 we should acknowledge that so extraordinary a fortune as that which has hitherto rescued us from those eminent perils1 and kept us alive beyond the ordinary term of living1 is not like to continue long4 ',tis a fault in our very laws to maintain this error3 these say that a man is not capable of managing his own estate till he be five-and-twenty years old1 whereas he will have much ado to manage his life so long4 ,augustus cut off five years from the ancient ,roman standard1 and declared that thirty years old was sufficient for a judge4 ,servius ,tullius superseded the knights of above seven-and-forty years of age from the fatigues of war2 ,augustus dismissed them at forty-five2 though methinks it seems a little unreasonable that men should be sent to the fireside till five-and-fifty or sixty years of age4 ,i should be of opinion that our vocation and employment should be as far as possible extended for the public good3 ,i find the fault on the other side1 that they do not employ us early enough4 ,this emperor was arbiter of the whole world at nineteen1 and yet would have a man to be thirty before he could be fit to determine a dispute about a gutter4 ,for my part1 ,i believe our souls are adult at twenty as much as they are ever like to be1 and as capable then as ever4 ,a soul that has not by that time given evident earnest of its force and virtue will never after come to proof4 ,the natural qualities and virtues produce what they have of vigorous and fine1 within that term or never1 ,si l'espine rion picque quand nai1 ,a pene que picque jamai1 ,if the thorn does not prick at its birth1 'twill hardly ever prick at all4 as they say in ,dauphin4 ,of all the great human actions ,i ever heard or read of1 of what sort soever1 ,i have observed1 both in former ages and our own1 more were performed before the age of thirty than after2 and this ofttimes in the very lives of the same men4 ,may ,i not confidently instance in those of ,hannibal and his great rival ,scipio8 ,the better half of their lives they lived upon the glory they had acquired in their youth2 great men after1 'tis true1 in comparison of others2 but by no means in comparison of themselves4 ,as to my own particular1 ,i do certainly believe that since that age1 both my understanding and my constitution have rather decayed than improved1 and retired rather than advanced4 ',tis possible1 that with those who make the best use of their time1 knowledge and experience may increase with their years2 but vivacity1 promptitude1 steadiness1 and other pieces of us1 of much greater importance1 and much more essentially our own1 languish and decay3 ,ubi jam validis quassatum est viribus aevi ,corpus1 et obtusis ceciderunt viribus artus1 ,claudicat ingenium1 delirat linguaque1 mensque4 ,when once the body is shaken by the violence of time1 blood and vigour ebbing away1 the judgment halts1 the tongue and the mind dote4--,lucretius1 iii4 #deb4 ,sometimes the body first submits to age1 sometimes the mind2 and ,i have seen enough who have got a weakness in their brains before either in their legs or stomach2 and by how much the more it is a disease of no great pain to the sufferer1 and of obscure symptoms1 so much greater is the danger4 ,for this reason it is that ,i complain of our laws1 not that they keep us too long to our work1 but that they set us to work too late4 ,for the frailty of life considered1 and to how many ordinary and natural rocks it is exposed1 one ought not to give up so large a portion of it to childhood1 idleness1 and apprenticeship4 ,which ,cotton thus renders3 ,birth though noble1 ought not to share so large a vacancy1 and so tedious a course of education4 ,florio 7#afac7 makes the passage read as-follows3 ,methinks that1 considering the weakness of our life1 and seeing the infinite number of ordinary rocks and natural dangers it is subject unto1 we should not1 so soon as we come into the world1 allot so large a share thereof unto unprofitable wantonness in youth1 ill-breeding idleness1 and slow-learning prentisage4 ,,etext ,,editor',s ,,bookmarks3 ,advise to choose weapons of the shortest sort ,an ignorance that knowledge creates and begets ,ashamed to lay out as much thought and study upon it ,can neither keep nor enjoy anything with a good grace ,change of fashions ,chess3 this idle and childish game ,death is terrible to ,cicero1 coveted by ,cato ,death of old age the most rare and very seldom seen ,diogenes1 esteeming us no better than flies or bladders ,do not to pray that all things may go as we would have them ,excel above the common rate in frivolous things ,expresses more contempt and condemnation than the other ,fancy that others cannot believe otherwise than as he does ,gradations above and below pleasure ,greatest apprehensions1 from things unseen1 concealed ,he did not think mankind worthy of a wise man's concern ,home anxieties and a mind enslaved by wearing complaints ,how infirm and decaying material this fabric of ours is ,i do not willingly alight when ,i am once on horseback ,led by the ears by this charming harmony of words ,little knacks and frivolous subtleties ,men approve of things for their being rare and new ,must of necessity walk in the steps of another ,natural death the most rare and very seldom seen ,not to instruct but to be instructed4 ,present ,him such words as the memory suggests to the tongue ,psalms of ,king ,david3 promiscuous1 indiscreet ,rhetoric3 an art to flatter and deceive ,rhetoric3 to govern a disorderly and tumultuous rabble ,sitting betwixt two stools ,sometimes the body first submits to age1 sometimes the mind ,stupidity and facility natural to the common people ,the ,bible3 the wicked and ignorant grow worse by it4 ,the faintness that surprises in the exercises of ,venus ,thucydides3 which was the better wrestler ,to die of old age is a death rare1 extraordinary1 and singular ,to make little things appear great was his profession ,to smell1 though well1 is to stink ,valour will cause a trembling in the limbs as well as fear ,viscid melting kisses of youthful ardour in my wanton age ,we can never be despised according to our full desert ,when we have got it1 we want something else ,women who paint1 pounce1 and plaster up their ruins