"dnSer a H)ogwooC> wftb /iDontatgne 



The pursuit is really more satisfactory than 

 the killing, in that the actor seems less 

 conscious of himself currente calamo than 

 when he stops to jab at a conclusion that 

 must be impaled. 



Indeed, the essay is not best troubled 

 with a bulb at its end ; nor do statements 

 obviously ex cathedra suit its main need, 

 which is disclosure rather than demonstra- 

 tion. Montaigne opened a subject, as 

 lightning opens a cloud, by frequent and 

 forceful illumination from within, while 

 running all through it. He had system, 

 but not regularity nor order; for is not 

 artistic disorder an organic law of the 

 essay ? The art which plays hide-and-go- 

 seek with its subject tantalizes us to the 

 last refinement. Montaigne knew the 

 trick of it. " Le vray champ et subiect 

 de I'imposture sont les choses incogneues," 

 he says, in his quaint old French; and 

 he was a master of jugglery with recon- 

 dite scraps. 



A considerable part of his recipe con- 

 sisted of his own experience, which he 

 used to illustrate and also to decorate 

 272 



