Page:Essays Vol 1 (Ives, 1925).pdf/197

Rh so long, to save himself from the constant and careful search for him that was made in all directions, and [reflecting upon] the little pleasures that he could hope for in such a life, and how much better it would be for him to go once the way of all flesh, than to live always in this extreme fear, he himself recalled them and betrayed his hiding-place, voluntarily abandoning himself to their cruelty, in order to relieve them and himself from further trouble. To summon the hands of one’s enemies is a somewhat fantastic step; nevertheless do I believe that it would still be better to take it than to remain in perpetual feverish fear of a casualty which has no remedy. Also, since the preparations we can make for that are full of uneasiness and uncertainty, the better way is to make ourselves ready with becoming assurance for whatever may happen, and derive some consolation from the fact that we are not sure that it will happen.

 

is one of the simplest in construction of the Essays; it is really about “pedantry.” First, Montaigne considers the character of pedants, and the esteem, or rather disesteem, in which they are held, and its causes; and the differences between the pedants of his day and the philosophers of old days. He thinks that men of learning have become contemptible because of the mistaken character of their education, and that neither masters nor scholars are more able because of learning. “We labour only to fill the memory,” he says, “and we leave the understanding and the conscience empty.” And then, with a droll little return on himself, he says that this is just what he does in this book; “it is a wonder how nicely this folly finds an example in me.” This is a most unmerited little humorous piece of self-blame! His criticism here of works that have no nourishment in them is peculiarly inapplicable to his own writings. The sentence, — a very characteristic one, — “a parrot could speak as wisely,” shows how little Montaigne could fall into any parrotry of thought or expression.

The next page is the story of a wealthy Roman who fancied himself a man of learning because he had in his pay learned men who talked for