Page:Thoughts from Montaigne.djvu/15

 PREFACE

, the great essayist and philosopher, is comparatively so little known, so seldom studied, by the English reading public, that I have interested myself in selecting and translating extracts from his work which strike me as giving the truest insight into the character and feelings of that wonderful man.

Knowing that many people have been deterred from a study of Montaigne by the voluminous character of his essays, that others have been alarmed by the mistaken idea that his teachings are of an atheistical character, it seems to me that this little work may have its use. I humbly offer it to the public. May it inspire in those who read it a desire to know Montaigne in his entiretymay such as have been led to distrust him see for themselves how unfounded is such a feeling!

I have prefaced the extracts with a short account of his career; also with a Rh