TUn^er a BoG^voo^ wttb /iDontalgne 



We could have an accurate one, with 

 the English reading up to date in com- 

 position and spelling, punctuation and dic- 

 tion. Much depends upon the wisest 

 choice of words to make Montaigne's 

 subtle meanings clear. In the French 

 text there is no excuse for blundering; 

 the style, once you have the key, gives a 

 light, each word a glow-worm, a firefly, 

 showing its deepest significance with a 

 flash. The old French is a trifle difficult 

 in its spelling, at first ; so a few of Mon- 

 taigne's words, long ago modified or aban- 

 doned, call for the reader's patience : but 

 very soon all trouble is banished ; then who 

 would have a single phrase altered ? 



One of the most interesting things in 

 connection with the study of Montaigne 

 is that none of the critics has been able to 

 make head or tail of his philosophy; yet 

 all of them avow that he was a great phi- 

 losopher. Emerson and Walter Pater have 

 given us their utmost of acumen and ex- 

 pression in the efi'ort to do the impossible. 

 Pater, in his chapter on Montaigne in 

 '* Gaston de Latour," almost surpasses 

 255 



