Not ftimulated by any Hope of Glory, as the vulgar and effeminate Judgments of fome Men have concluded; for the Confideration is too mean to touch a Mind fo generous, fo afpiring, and fo obftinate, but for the very Beauty of the Thing in itself, which he, who had the Management of its Springs, difcerned more clearly, and in its Perfection, than we are able to do. It gives me a Pleasure, to find it is the Judgment of Philofophy, that fo brave an Action would have been indecent in any other Life than Cato's, and that it only became his to have fuch a Period. However, as Reafon required, he commanded his Son, and the Senators who accompanied him, to take another Courfe. Catoni, quum incredibilem Natura tribuiffet gravitatem, eamque ipfe perpetua conftantiâ roboraviffet, femperque in propofito confilio permanfiffet, moriendum potiùs quàm tyranni vultus afpiciendus erat; i. e. Cato having been endowed by Nature with an incredible Gravity, which he had fortified by a perpetual Conftancy, without ever departing from what he had once determined, he muft, of Neceffity, rather die than fee the Face of the Tyrant. Every Man's Death must be proportionable to his Life: We do not become other Men by dying. I always judge of the Death by the Life preceding, and if any one tells me of a Death that, in Appearance, was accompanied with Fortitude, after a Life that was feeble, I conclude the Cause that produced it to be feeble, and fuitable to the Life before it. The Eafinefs therefore of this Death, and the Facility which he had acquired, in dying, by the Vigour of his Mind, fhall we fay that it ought to be the leaft Abatement The Chearful of the Luftre of his Virtue? And who, that nefs of Socra has his Brain ever fo little tinctured with true tes at his Philofophy, can be content to imagine SoDeath rendered it fupecrates only free from Fear and Paffion in the rior to Cato's Accident of his Prifon, Fetters, and ConDeath, demnation? And, who is there that does not discover not only his Stability and Conftancy (which was · his f This is what Cicero fays, in his Offices, lib. i. c. 31. Nonnunquam mortem fibi ipfi confcifcere alius debet, alius in eadem causâ non debet. Nam enim alia in causà M. Cato fuit, aliâ cæteri qui fe in Africa Cæfari tradiderunt ? Atqui cæteris forfitan vitio datum efet fife interemissent, &c. his common Quality) but, moreover, I know not what fresh Satisfaction and a joyous Alacrity in his laft Words and Actions? At the Start he gave, with the Pleasure of fcratching his Leg, after his Irons were taken off, does he not dilcover the like Serenity and Joy of his Soul, to find himself difengaged from the paft Inconveniencies, and on the Point of entering into the Knowledge of Futurity? Cato may be pleased to pardon me, when I fay his Death was more tragical and lingering, but yet that of Socrates was, I know not how, more defirable, infomuch that Ariftippus, hearing fome pitying the manner of his Death, faid, May the Gods grant me fuch a Death . We difcern in the Souls of these two great Men, and their Imitators, (for I very much doubt whether they ever had their Equals) fo perfect a Habit in Virtue, that it was conftitutional to them. 'Tis not that painful Virtue, nor the Law of Reason, to preferve which, the Soul must be, as it were, on the Rack; but 'tis the very Effence of their Souls, their natural and common Practice: They have rendered it fuch by a long Adherence to the Precepts of Philofophy, imbibed by a rich Genius, and a generous Nature. The vicious Paffions, that are born in us, can find no Entrance into their Breafts: The Fortitude and Steadiness of their Souls ftifle and extinguifh carnal Appetites as foon as they begin to be in Motion. grees of Vir-' tue. Now, that it is not more Noble, by a fublime and divine Refolution, to hinder the Birth of Different DeTemptations, and to be fo formed to Virtue, that the very Seeds of the Vices may be eradicated, than by mere Force to hinder their Growth, and, by giving Way to the first Motions of the Paffions, be obliged to arm and to oppose their Progrefs, and to conquer them; and that this fecond Effect is not also much more Noble than to be only furnished with an easy debonnair Temper, difgufted of itself with Debauchery and Vice, I do not think can be doubted. As to this third and last fort of Virtue, it feems, indeed, to render a Man innocent, but not virtuous; free from doing Ill, but not apt enough to do Good. Befides, this is a Condition fo Diog. Laert, in the Life of Ariftippus, lib. ii, fect. 76, near near approaching to Imperfection and Frailty, that I know not, very well, how to diftinguish and separate the Confines. The very Names of Goodness and Innocence are, for this Reason, in fome fort, Names of Contempt. I perceive, that feveral Virtues, as Chastity, Sobriety, and Temperance, may happen to us through bodily Defects. Conftancy in Danger, (if it must be fo called) the Contempt of Death, Patience under Misfortunes may happen, and are often found in Men, for Want of well judging of fuch Accidents, and conceiving of them as they really are. The Dulness of Apprehenfion and Stupidity are therefore, fometimes, the Counterfeit of virtuous Deeds. As I have often seen it happen, that Men have had Praise for what deferved Cenfure. An Italian Nobleman once made this Remark, in my Prefence, to the Disadvantage of his Countrymen, viz. That the Italians were fo fubtle, and fo quick of Apprehenfion, that they forefaw Dangers and Accidents, which might happen to them, at fo great a Distance, that 'tis not to be thought ftrange, if they often went to War to provide for their Security, even before they had discovered the Danger: That We (the French) and the Spaniards, who were not fo cunning, were ftill more to be blamed, for that we must both fee and feel the Danger before it could alarm us, and that, even then, we were not refolute; but that the Germans and the Swiss, being more heavy and dull of Apprehenfion, had not the Senfe to look round them, even when the Blows were dealt about their Ears. Peradventure he only talked at this Rate by Way of Banter; yet certain it is, that, in the Trade of War, thofe who have not yet learned it, often rush into Dangers with more Temerity than they do after they are well warmed in it. baud ignarus quantum nova gloria in armis Why the Italians are deficient in Bra very. Et prædulce decus primo certamine poffit. i. e. Knowing how much the Hope of Glory warms ▲ Æneid. lib. xi, v. 154, 155, For 1 For that Reason, therefore, when we would give Judgment of any particular Action, we must confider the feveral Circumftances, and the whole Man, by whom it is performed, before we give it a Name. In what con fifted Montaigne's Vir To fay one Word of myself, I have fometimes known my Friends commend that for Prudence in me which was mere Fortune, and afcribe that to Courage and Patience, which was owing to Judgment and Opinion, giving me one tue. Title for another, fometimes to my Advantage, at other times to my Detriment: As to the reft, I am so far from being arrived to this firft and more perfect Degree of Excellence, where Virtue is become a Habit, that I have scarce made any Trial of the fecond. I have made no great Efforts to curb the Defires by which I have been importuned. My Virtue is Virtue, or rather cafual and accidental Innocence. If I had been born of a more irregular Constitution, I fear my Cafe would have been very lamentable; for I have fcarce ever experienced a Fortitude of Mind to refift Paffions that were ever fo little vehement. I know not how to nourish Quarrels and Debates in my own Breaft, fo that I owe no Thanks to myfelf if I am exempt from feveral Vices. Si vitiis mediocribus, et mea paucis Mendofa eft natura, alioqui re&ta, (velut fi Egregio infperfos reprehendas corpore nævos i. ) i. e. If trivial Faults deform my upright Soul, I owe it more to my Fortune than to my Reason. I happened to be descended from a Race famous for Probity, and from a very good Father. I know not whether he has intailed any of his Humours upon me, or whether domeftic Examples, and the good Inftruction I received in my Infancy, have infenfibly contributed to it, or else whether I was born fo. Horat. lib. i. Sat. 6. v. 65, c. Sen Seu Libra, feu me Scorpius afpicit Formidolofus, pars violentior i. e. Whatever Star did at my Birth prevail, Thofe Tyrants of the Western Seas. But fo it is, that I have a natural Abhorrence for moft of the Vices. The Anfwer which Antifthenes made to one who asked him, What was the best Thing to learn, viz. To unlearn Evil', feems very fimilar to this Representation. I have them in Abhorrence, I say, from an Opinion so natural, and fo much my own, that the very Inftinct and Impreffion of them, which I brought with me from my Nurfe, I ftill retain, no Motive whatfoever having been effectual to make me alter it; nay, not my own Difcourfes, which, by rambling, in fome Things, from the common Road, might eafily licenfe me to commit Actions, which fuch natural Inclination gives me an Averfion to. What I am going to say is monftrous, yet I will say it. I Montaigne's find myself, in many Things, more curb'd and Opinions not fo regulated by my Manners than my Opinion, regular as bis and my Concupifcence not fo debauched as Manners. my Reafon. Ariftippus eftablished fuch bold Opinions, in Favour of Pleasure and Riches, as made all the Philofophers declaim against him: But, as to his Manners, Dionyfius, the Tyrant, having prefented three beautiful Wenches to him, for his Choice of one, he made Answer, that he would have them all; and that Paris was in the Wrong, for preferring one before her other two Companions: But, when he carried them home to his Houfe, he fent them back untouched: His Ser * Hor. lib. ii. Ode, 17. v. 17, 5. Antifthenes, lib. vi. fect. 7. vant Diog. Laert. in the Life of |