a borrowed form, nevertheless by habituating themselves, and settling their countenances to the occasion, 'tis most certain they are often really affected with a true and real sorrow. I was one, among several other of his friends, who conveyed the body of Monsieur de Grammont1 to Soissons, from the siege of la Fere, where he was slain; I observed that in all places we passed through we filled the people with tears and lamentations, by the mere solemn pomp of our convoy, for there the name of the deceased was not so much as known. Quintilian reports 2 to have seen players so deeply engaged in a mourning part, that they could not give over weeping when they came home; and of himself, that having undertaken to stir up that passion in another, he himself espoused it to that degree as to find himself surprised not only into tears, but even with paleness, and the port of a man really overwhelmed with grief. A pleasant method grief. 3 In a place near our mountains the women play Priest Martin; for as they augment the regret of the of diverting one's deceased husband, by the remembrance of the good and agreeable qualities he was master of, they also at the same time make a register of and publish his imperfections; as if of themselves to enter into some compensation, and so divert themselves from compassion to disdain; and yet with much better grace than we do, who, when we lose an old acquaintance, strive to give him new and false praises, and to make him quite another thing when we have lost sight of him, than he seemed to be when we had him ; as if regret was an instructive thing, or as if tears enlightened our understanding by washing it. For my part I renounce all favourable testimonies men would hereafter give of me, not because I shall be worthy of them, but because I shall be dead. 1 Philibert, Count of Grammont and Guiche, husband of La Belle Corisande, already referred to. He was killed in 1580, at the siege of la Fere, undertaken on the part of the League by the Marshal de Matignon. 2 Instit. Orat. vi. 2. 3 A proverb, founded on the story of a priest, named Martin, who himself acted as both parson and clerk. Whoever shall ask a man, "What interest have you in this siege?" "The interest of example," he will Vain objects of say, "and of common obedience to my prince; tions, without such a upon mere imagina determine the human mind. I pretend to no profit by it; and for glory, I reality, strike and know how small a part can reflect private man as I am; I have here neither passion nor quarrel in it." And yet you shall see him the next day, quite another man, chafing and red with fury, ranged in battle for the assault; 'tis the glittering of so much steel, the fire and noise of our cannons and drums, that have infused this new rancour and fury into his veins. A frivolous cause, you will say: how a cause? There needs none to agitate the soul; a mere whimsey, without body and without subject, will rule and sway it. Let me set about building castles in the air, my imagination suggests to me conveniences and pleasures with which my soul is really tickled and pleased. How often do we torment our mind with anger or sorrow by such shadows, and engage ourselves in fantastic passions that alter both the soul and body? What astonished, fleering, and confused grimaces does this raving put our faces into ! What sallies and agitation, both of members and voices, does it occasion! Does it not seem that this individual man has false visions from a crowd of other men with whom he has to do, or that he is possessed with some internal demon that persecutes him? Enquire of yourself, where is the object of this mutation? Is there any thing but us in nature that nullity sustains, over which nullity has power? Cambyses, for having dreamt that his brother should be one day king of Persia, put him to death; a brother whom he tenderly loved, in whom he had always confided.1 Aristodemus, king of the Messenians, killed himself out of a fancy of ill omen, from I know not what howling of his dogs; 2 and King Midas did as much upon account of some foolish dream he had. prize life at its just value to abandon it for a dream. 1 Herod. iii. 30. 2 Plutarch, On Superstition, c. 9. 3 Id. ib. 'Tis to Hear now our soul triumphs over the body, and the weakness that exposes it to every injury and alteration; truly, she has just reason to laugh at it! O prima infelix fingenti terra Prometheo! "O, 'twas for man a most unhappy day, When rash Prometheus form'd him out of clay! Did indiscreetly the main thing neglect. To form the mind, the first and noblest part." CHAPTER V. UPON SOME VERSES OF VIRGIL. In proportion as useful thoughts are full and solid, so are they also more cumbersome and heavy; vice, death, poverty, disease, are grave and grievous subjects. A man must have his soul instructed in the means to sustain and to contend with evil, and in the rules of living and believing well; he must likewise often rouse it up, and exercise it in this noble study. But in a vulgar soul, it must be by intervals, and with moderation; it will otherwise grow besotted, if continually intent. When I was young, I had need of frequent self-solicitations and admonitions to keep me to my duty; gayety and health, it is said, do not so well agree with those grave and serious meditations; I am at present in another condition; the indispositions of age do but too much advertise and preach to me. From the excess of sprightliness I am fallen into that of 1 Propertius, iii. 5, 7. gravity, which is more troublesome; and for that reason I now purposely suffer myself to run into some little liberties, and sometimes unbend my mind with youthful and foolish thoughts, in which to divert itself. I am grown now but too full, too heavy, and too ripe; my years read every day new lectures to me of coldness and temperance. This body of mine avoids disorder, and dreads it; 'tis now my body's time to guide my mind towards reformation; it governs in its turn, and more rudely and imperiously than the other; it lets me not an hour alone, sleeping or waking; but is always preaching to me death, patience, and repentance. I now defend myself from temperance, as I formerly did from voluptuousness; it draws me too much back, even to stupidity. Now I will be master of myself to all intents and purposes; wisdom has its excess, and has no less need of moderation than folly. Therefore, lest I should wither, dry up, and overcharge myself with prudence, in the intervals and truces which my infirmities allow me, Mens intenta suis ne siet usque malis,1 "Lest that my mind should evermore be bent, I gently decline it, and turn away my eyes from the stormy and frowning sky I have before me, which, thanks be to God, I consider without fear, but not without meditation and debate, and amuse myself in the remembrance of my past youth : Animus quod perdidit optat, Atque in præteritâ se totus imagine versat.2 "The mind longs to regain what it has lost, Let infancy look forward and age backward; is not this the signification of Janus's double face? Let years haul me along, if they will, but it shall be backward! As long as my eyes can discern the pleasant season expired, I shall now and 1 Ovid, Trist. i. 4. The text has ne foret 2 Petronius, Satiric. c. i. 28. then turn them that way; though it escapes from my blood and my veins, I shall not however root the image of it out of my memory : Hoc est Vivere bis, vitâ posse priore frui.1 "The man lives twice, who can the gift retain Old men should pastimes and exer be present at the cises of youth. Of mem'ry, to enjoy past life again." 2 Plato ordains that old men should be present at the exercises, dances, and sports of young people, that they may rejoice, in others, for the activity and beauty of body which is no more in themselves, and recall to memory the grace and comeliness of that flourishing age; and wills that in these recreations, the honour of the prize should be given to that young man who has most diverted the company. I formerly used to mark cloudy and gloomy days for extraordinary; those are now my ordinary ones; the extraordinary are the clear and bright; I am ready to leap out of my skin for joy, as for an uncommon favour, when nothing ails me. Let me tickle myself presently after, I cannot force a poor smile from this wretched body of mine; I am only merry in fancy, or dreaming, by artifice to divert the melancholy of age; but, certes, it requires another remedy than the efficacy of a dream. A weak contest of art against nature! 'Tis great folly to lengthen and anticipate human inconveniences, as every one does. I had rather be a less while old, than be old before I am really so. I seize on even the least occasions of pleasure I can meet. I know very well by hearsay several sorts of prudent pleasures, that are effectually so, and glorious to boot; but opinion has not power enough over me to give me an appetite to them. I covet not so much to have them magnanimous, magnificent, and lofty, as I do to have them soft, easy, and ready: a naturâ discedimus; populo nos da 1 Mart. x. 23. 2 Laws, ii. sage in Cicero (de Senect. c. 14), for which Montaigne (book ii. c. 10), criticizes that 8 This is word for word the same pas- author. |