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He could have come dangerously near 

 making a silk purse out of a sow's ear; 

 but, to his immortal credit, he did not try 

 to do it. What he said he said with ab- 

 solute mastery of verbal art; but he 

 obscured no meaning with a mist of 

 fascinating diction. The worst and the 

 best of his thoughts are taken at a glance ; 

 they stand out from the page like jeweled 

 bosses on a shield, or like repellent gar- 

 goyles on a medieval building. 



Still, Montaigne has tremendously af- 

 fected the world's attitude in the seat of 

 philosophy. His chat was a skirmish-fire 

 by which a great battle was opened. He 

 knew his place, moreover, and fairly esti- 

 mated the character of his work. In the 

 frankest mood he laid bare the inmost 

 peculiarities of his own mind. He called 

 himself " un philosophe impremedite et 

 fortuite " (" an unpremeditated and hap- 

 hazard philosopher "), which is a self-defi- 

 nition quite as satisfactory as his system of 

 skeptical analysis. We find him ready 

 with a doubt on most subjects of supreme 

 moment; but the story of the halcyon's 

 17 257 



