xan&er a 2)ogwooJ> wttb /iDontaigne 



Emerson in our day, he uttered pithy and 

 immensely suggestive sentences, some- 

 times not particularly related one to an- 

 other. His reader finds almost every page 

 curiously entertaining and fertilizing — a 

 mixture of boldness and timidity, unques- 

 tionably human, often exasperatingly frank 

 where reserve would be beautiful, and re- 

 served where caution seems cowardice. 



Montaigne was not a coward: judged 

 by the whole body of his writings, far 

 from it; no man of his time was bolder, 

 and, to my understanding, he greatly over- 

 states the case of his selfishness. " I mas- 

 ter and consider nothing but myself," he 

 remarked, and " Si j'en prenois qui me 

 guidast, ma mesure pourroit faillir a la 

 sienne " (" If I should take a guide, my 

 measure would not be his ") ; and yet, 

 while asserting selfishness and insisting 

 that he mentions others only to exhibit 

 himself, he leaves the impression of a free- 

 hearted, kindly, and just man. He says, 

 " I cannot hold a grudge," and that he 

 was incapable of very violent feelings; he 

 despises a liar, avoids maudhn people, and 

 275 



