In all Sorts of Magnifi that of Flesh, at least to me. cence, Debauchery, and voluptuous Inventions of Effeminacy and Expence, we do in Truth all we can to parallel them, for our Wills are as corrupt as theirs : But we cannot come up to them; nor are we more able to reach them in their vicious, than, in their virtuous Qualilities, for both the one and the other, proceed from a Vigour of Mind, which was without Comparison greater in them than in us: And by how much the weaker the Mind is, fo much the lefs Power has it to do much good or harm. The most bonourable Place at Table among the Romans. Whether they named them felves before or after those to whom they Spoke ar wrote, The highest Place of Honour amongst them was the Middle; the Name going before, and that following after, either in Writing or Speaking, had no Signification of Grandeur, as is evident by their Writings; they will as foon fay Oppius and Cafar, as Cæfar and Oppius, and Me, and Thee, as Thee, and Me. This made me formerly take Notice in the Life of. Flaminius*, in our French Plutarch, of one Paffage, where it feems as if the Author, fpeaking of the Jealoufy of Honour betwixt the Etolians and Romans, about the winning of a Battle, which they had with their joint Forces obtained, made it of fome Importance, that in the Greek Songs, they had put the Etolians before the Romans; if there be no Amphibology, in the Words of the French Translation. The Men and The Ladies in their Baths, made no fcruple Women bathed of admitting Men amongst them, and moretogether. over made Ufe or their Serving-Men to rub and anoint them: Inguina fuccin&tus nigra tibi fervus alluta Stat, quoties calidis nuda foveris aquis †. They all powdered themfelves with a certain Powder, to moderate their Sweats. The ancient Gauls, fays Sido *Chap. 5. of Amyet's Tranflation. níus Mart. lib. vii. epig. 34. v. 1, 2. nius Apollinaris, wore their Hair long before, and the hinder Part of the Head fhaved fhort, a Fashion that begins to be revived in this Vicious and effeminate Age. The Romans used to pay the Watermen their Fare, at their firft ftepping into the Boat, which we never do till after Landing * Dum as exigitur, dum mula ligatur, The Romans paid their Watermen at embarking, Whilft the Fare's paying, and the Mule is ty'd, The Women used to lie on that Side the Bed, next the Wall: And for that Reafon, they called Cæfar, Spondam Regis Nicomedis, one of the greatest Blemishes in his Life, and that gave Occafion to his Solders to fing to his Face, 4 Gallias Cæfar fubegit, Nicomedes Cæfarem. i. e. Cæfar the Gauls fubdu'd 'tis true, But Nicomedes Cæfar did fubdue. Ecce Cafar nunc triumphat, qui fubegit Gallias, See Cæfar triumphs now for conqu❜ring Gaul, They took Breath in their Drinking, and dafhed their -Quis puer ociùs Reftinguet ardentis falerni Pocula prætereunte lympha §? i. e. What *In Holland they pay the Watermen their Fare, in about half Way of their Voyage. + Suet. in Hor. lib. i. Sat. 5. v. 13, 14. Id. eod. not quoted by Montaigne. Hor. lib. ii. Ode 11. v. 18. What Boy is ready there to bring, And their Lackeys had the fame knavish Looks as ours, O fane, à tergo quem nulla ciconia pinfit, O Fanus, who both ways a Spy doft wear, The Ladies of Argos and Rome always mourned in White, as ours did formerly here; and fhould do ftill, were I to have my Will. But there are whole Books written upon this Argument. The Judgment active in every Thing. T HE Judgment is a Tool or rather a Touch-Stone to try all Subjects by, and will have an Oar in every Boat: Which is the Reason that, in thefe Effays, I take hold of all Occafions to exercife it. If it happen to be a Subject I do not understand, I try however, founding at a Distance, and finding it too deep for my Stature, I keep on the Shore: And this Knowledge that a Man can proceed no further, is one Effect of its Operation, even in those who are the most conceited. One while in an idle and frivolous Subject, I try if it will find out Matter whereof to compofe a Body, and then to prop, and fupport it. Another while I employ it in a noble but knotty Subject, wherein the Judgment has nothing to introduce of its own, the Way being fo trodden, that it muft of Neceffity walk * Perfius Sat. 1. v. 58, &c, in in the Steps of another. In fuch a Cafe, the Judgment is to take the Way that feems beft, and of a thousand Paths, to determine that this or that was the best chofen. I take that Argument which Fortune firft prefents me; they are all alike to me, I never defign to go through any of them; for I never fee the whole of any Thing: Neither do they who Promise to let us fee it. Of a hundred Members and Faces that every Thing has, I take one fometimes to look it over only, another while to ripple up the Skin, and fometimes to pinch it to the Bones: I give a Stab, not fo wide, but as deep as I can; and am, for the most Part, tempted to take it in Hand by fome abfolute Gracefulness I difcover in it. Did I know myfelf lefs, and was I mistaken in my Inability, I might, perhaps, venture to handle fomething or other to the Bottom; but fprinkling here one Word, and there another, Patterns from feveral Pieces, and fcattered without Defign, and without a Promife, I am not refponfible for them, or obliged to keep close to them, without deviating at my own Liberty and Pleafure, and giving up myfelf to Doubt and Uncertainty, and to my own predominant Ignorance. The Mind is tions. Every Motion lays us open. The very fame Soul of Cæfar, that discovered itself fo plainly in Marshalling the Battle of Pharfalia, was as confpicuous in indolent and amorous Affairs. We judge of a Horfe, not only by his Gallop, by his very Walk, nay, and by feeing him ftand in the Stable. Amongst the Functions of the Soul, there are fome of a low Form. He who does not fee her in those inferior Offices alfo, does not fully discover her; and peradventure, fhe is best known, when he moves her own natural Pace. The Winds of the Paffions take moft hold of her in her high Flights; and, moreover, the wholly applies herself to, and exercises herself intirely upon every Subject, and never handles more than one Thing at a Time, and that not according to it, but according to herself. It gives Things what Shape and Colour it pleafes. Things taken apart, have, peradventure, their Weights, Measures and Conditions; but when we once take them into us, the Soul forms them as the conceives of them. Death is terrible to Cicero, defireable by Cato, and indifferent to Socrates. Health, Confcience, Authority, Knowledge, Riches, Beauty, and their Contraries, do all ftrip themfelves at their entering into us, and receive a new Robe, and of another Fashion, from every distinct Soul, and of what Colour, as Brown, Bright, Green, Dark; and of what Quality, as Sharp, Sweet, Deep, or Superficial, beft pleases them; for they are not yet agreed upon any com mon Standard of Forms, Rules, or Proceedings; every one is a Queen in her own Dominions. Let us therefore no more excuse ourselves upon the external Qualities of Things, it belongs to us to give ourselves an Account of them. Our Good or Ill, has no other dependence but on ourselves. It is there that our Offerings and our Vows are due, and not to Fortune, which has no Power over our Manners, on the contrary, they draw her in their Train, and caft her in their own Mould. Montaigne's Why fhall not I judge of Alexander, rantOpinion of the ing and drinking, as he fometimes did, ať Game at Chefs. Table? Or, if he played at Chefs, what String of his Soul was not touched and employed by this idle, childish Game? I hate and avoid it, becaufe it is not merry enough, but too ferious a Diverfion, and I am afhamed to spend as much Thought upon that, as would ferve to much better Ufes. He did not more pump his Brains to form his glorious Expedition to the Indies; and another took not more Pains to clear a Paffage, upon which depends the Safety of all Mankind. Do but see how we confound this filly Diverfion, if the Soul be not all Attention to it, and what a Field is hereby opened for every one to know, and to make a right Judgment of himself? I do not more thoroughly fift myself in any other Pofture. The Game may help us to know ourfelves. What Paffion are we exempted from in this Game? Anger, Spite, Malice, Impatience, and a vehement Defire of getting the |