TUn^er a 2)OQWoob witb iflDontafgne 



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 effort to do the impossible. 

 Pater, in his chapter on Montaigne in 

 " Gaston de Latour," almost surpasses 

 255 



