How to Live (57 page)

1
The jurats’ two letters and his journey to Rome: Travel Journal 1246–55.

2
“I excused myself”: III:10 934. The king’s letter: translated in Frame,
Montaigne
224.

3
Arrival home: Travel Journal 1270, and Montaigne,
Le Livre de raison
, entry for Nov. 30.

4
On his tasks as mayor, and the difficulties of the time: Lazard 282–3; Lacouture 227–8; Cocula, A.-M.,
Montaigne, maire de Bordeaux
(Bordeaux: Horizon chimérique, 1992). Ears to everyone and judgment to no one: III:8 855.

5
On Matignon, see Cooper, R., “Montaigne dans l’entourage du maréchal de Matignon,”
Montaigne Studies
13 (2001), 99–140; and his “Matignon, Maréchal de” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
640–4.

6
On Pierre’s exhaustion by travel: III:10 935. Montaigne’s travels as mayor: Frame,
Montaigne
230. His work at the château: Nakam,
Montaigne et son temps
311.

7
“This was done in my case”: III:10 934. On his reelection, against opposition: Frame,
Montaigne
230.

8
Montaigne as go-between: Frame,
Montaigne
232–4.

9
Vaillac rebellion and exile from Bordeaux: Frame,
Montaigne
238–40. Letters from Montaigne to Matignon, May 22 and 27, 1585, in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1323–7.

10
Contemporary admiration: Thou, J.-A. de,
Mémoires
(1714), and Duplessis-Mornay to Montaigne, Nov. 25, 1583, translated in Frame,
Montaigne
, 229, 233.

11
“Order” and “gentle and mute tranquillity”: III:10 953.

12
“A languishing zeal” and “That’s a good one!”: III:10 950. Keeping a city uneventful during “innovation”: III:10 953. True motives for apparent commitment: III:10 951.

13
What duty commanded: III:10 954.

14
Shakespeare, W.,
King Lear
(written c. 1603–6). “I mortally hate to seem a flatterer”: I:40 225–6.

15
“I frankly tell them my limits”: III:1 731. Openness draws people out, and not difficult to get on between two parties: III:1 730.

16
Not everyone understood: III:1 731. “When all is said and done”: III:8 854.

17
Matignon to Henri III, June 30, 1585, and to Montaigne, July 30, 1585, both translated in Frame,
Montaigne
240.

18
Montaigne’s letters to the jurats of Bordeaux, July 30 and 31, 1585, in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1328–9.

19
Order forbidding entry to the city: see Bonnet, P., “Montaigne et la peste de Bordeaux,” in Blum and Moreau (eds),
Études montaignistes
59–67, this 64.

20
Criticism of Montaigne’s decision: Detcheverry, Grün, Feugère, and Lecomte, all cited in Bonnet, P., “Montaigne et la peste de Bordeaux,” in Blum and Moreau (eds),
Études montaignistes
59–67, this 59–62. The letters were first published in Detcheverry, A.,
Histoire des Israélites de Bordeaux
(Bordeaux: Balzac jeune, 1850).

21
“I hold back”: II:12 454.

22
On nihilism in this period, see Gillespie, M. A.,
Nihilism before Nietzsche
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).

23
Faguet: his writings are collected with a preface by A. Compagnon as Faguet,
Autour de Montaigne
. Champion: Champion, E.,
Introduction aux
Essais
de Montaigne
(Paris, 1900): see Compagnon, A., Preface to Faguet 16.

24
Guizot: Guizot, G.,
Montaigne: études et fragments
. “He will not make us into the kind of men our times require”: ibid. 269. Guizot worked for 25 years to produce an edition of the
Essays
and a study of Montaigne’s life, and completed neither, but his friends assembled this collection of fragments after his death.

25
Michelet: Michelet,
Histoire de France
(1861) VIII: 429 (“Feeble and negative” idea) and X: 397–8 (“watch himself dream”). Both as cited in Frame,
Montaigne in France
42–3.

26
Church, R. W., “The Essays of Montaigne,” in
Oxford Essays Contributed by Members of the University. 1857
(London: John Parker, 1857), 239–82. “The nothingness of man … the idea of duty”: ibid. 265. “Indolence and want of moral tone”: ibid. 280. On Church, see Dédéyan I: 295–308.

27
Halifax’s remarks are reproduced in Hazlitt’s 1842 edition of Montaigne,
The Complete Works
xxxv.

28
Honoria’s edition: Montaigne,
Essays
, ed. Honoria (1800) (see “Sources”). It was a project along the lines of Henrietta Maria Bowdler’s
The Family Shakespeare
(1807), which gave the word “bowdlerize” to the English language. “If, by separating the pure ore” and “He is also so often unconnected”: Honoria’s introduction, xix. Montaigne rebuked for not mentioning the St. Bartholomew’s massacre: Honoria’s edition, 104n. Do not try waking children with music: ibid. 157n. Montaigne’s regulation of his life, his conformism, and his “many excellent religious sentiments”: Honoria’s introduction, xviii.

29
“I doubt if I can decently admit”: III:12 975.

30
The succession question, and the preference of the
politiques:
Nakam,
Montaigne et son temps
329–32.

31
Visit of Navarre, including the stag hunt: Montaigne,
Le Livre de raison
, entry for Dec. 19, as translated in Frame,
Montaigne
235.

32
Still working on task: Montaigne to Matignon, Jan. 18, 1585, in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1314–15.

33
“Guelph to the Ghibellines”: III:12 972. “There were no formal accusations”: III:12 972. Siege of Castillon: Frame,
Montaigne
256.

34
“A mighty load of our disturbances”: III:12 969. Plague: III:12 976.

35
Watching people dig their own graves: III:12 979.

36
“I, who am so hospitable”: III:12 976. On Montaigne’s political work during and after his refugee wanderings: Frame,
Montaigne
247.

37
The invitation to Montaigne and his wife, and the allowance, are alluded to in a letter from Catherine de’ Medici to a treasurer on Dec. 31, 1586: see Frame,
Montaigne
267.

38
Montaigne working with Corisande: Frame,
Montaigne
269–70.

39
Montaigne’s mission, and letters mentioning it: Frame,
Montaigne
270–3. English anxieties: ibid. 276.

40
Attack in the forest: Montaigne to Matignon, Feb. 16 [1588?], in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1330–1.

41
Henri III and Guise in Paris, and the Day of the Barricades: see Knecht,
Rise and Fall
523–4. The Pope’s comment: cited Neale, J. E.,
The Age of Catherine de Medici
, new edn (London: Jonathan bCape, 1957), 96.

42
“I have never seen”: Pasquier to Sainte-Marthe, May 1588, in Pasquier,
Lettres historiques
286–97.

43
Montaigne’s arrest and release: Montaigne,
Le Livre de raison
, entries for July 10 and 20; latter as translated in Frame,
Montaigne
281. As usual Montaigne mixed up his dates: he wrote the entry first on the page for July 20, then realized his mistake and rewrote it on the page for July 10. The second version is briefer; either he found it tedious to write it out twice, or revision made him more concise. “No prison has received me”: III:13 999–1000.

44
Brach: Pierre de Brach to Justus Lipsius, Feb. 4, 1593, translated in Frame,
Montaigne
282. On Brach, see Magnien, M., “Brache, Pierre de,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
126–8.

45
On Marie de Gournay, see Chapter 18 above.

46
Pasquier’s advice on style, and Montaigne’s ignoring of it: Pasquier to A. M. de Pelgé, 1619, in Pasquier,
Choix de lettres
45–6, as translated in Frame,
Montaigne
283. “Oh, miserable spectacle!”: Pasquier,
Lettres historiques
286–97. On Étienne Pasquier, see Magnien, C., “Estienne Pasquier ‘familiar’ de Montaigne?”
Montaigne Studies
13 (2001), 277–313.

47
Preachers urging killing of king: e.g. Boucher, J.,
De justa Henrici tertii abdicatione
(Aug. 1589). See Holt 132.

48
A city gone mad: L’Estoile and Thou, both cited in Nakam,
Montaigne et son temps
341–2.

49
“This proposition, so solemn”: II:12 392.

50
“The most express ways that we have”: III:12 971.

51
Montaigne’s letters to Henri IV: Montaigne to Henri IV, Jan. 18 [1590?] and Sept. 2 [1590?], in
The Complete Works
, tr. D. Frame, 1332–6.

52
“I look upon our kings”: III:1 728.

53
On Henri IV’s manly habits: Knecht,
Rise and Fall
559–61.

54
Henri IV’s speech of 1599: cited Knecht,
Rise and Fall
545–7.

1
“Free and unruly”: II:17 587. Halifax: letter included in original edition of Cotton’s translation (1685–86), and reproduced in Hazlitt’s 1842 edition, unnumbered prelim. leaf. Hazlitt: Hazlitt, W., “On old English writers and speakers,” Essay X in
The Plain Speaker
(London: H. Colburn, 1826), II: 277–307, this 305.

2
“The English mind”: Woolf, V., “Reading,” in
Essays
, ed. A. McNeillie (London: Hogarth, 1986–), III:141–61, this 154. “In taking up his pen”: Hazlitt 180.

3
“Unpremeditated and accidental philosopher,” and explanation of what he means by this: II:12 496–7.

4
On Florio: Yates,
John Florio;
Pfister, M., “Inglese italianato—Italiano anglizzato: John Florio,” in Höfele, A. and Koppenfels, W. von (eds),
Renaissance Go-Betweens: Cultural Exchange in Early Modern Europe
(Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2005), 31–54. His conversational primers and dictionary: Florio, J.,
Firste Fruites
(London: T. Woodcock, [1578]),
Second Frutes
(London: T. Woodcock, 1591), and
A Worlde of Wordes
(London: E. Blount, 1598). His translation of the
Essays:
Montaigne,
Essayes
(1603): see “Sources” for full details.

5
“So do hir attributes”: Montaigne,
Essayes
(1915–21), I: 2.

6
“Our Germans, drowned in wine”: II:2 298. “Our carowsing tospot German souldiers”: Montaigne,
Essayes
(1915–21), II:2 17. “Werewolves, goblins, and chimeras”: I:18 62. “Larves, Hobgoblins, Robbin-good-fellowes”: Montaigne,
Essayes
(1915–21), I:17 67. The chapter number differs in Florio because it is based on a different text, that of Marie de Gournay’s 1595 edition. On this issue, see Chapter 18 above.

7
Gonzalo’s speech:
The Tempest
II. i.145–52. The similarity is to a passage from Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals”: Montaigne,
Essayes
(1915–21), I:30 220. Again, chapter numbering differs because the editions are based on different texts. “Traffic” means commerce; “letters,” literature; “use of service,” keeping servants; “succession,” inheritance; “bourn,” land boundaries; and “tilth,” tilling land, i.e. agriculture. The similarity was first noticed by Edward Capell, in his
Notes and Various Readings to Shakespeare
(London: H. Hughs, [1775]), II:63.

8
Comparison with
Hamlet:
“We are, I know not how, double within ourselves”: II:16 570. “Bashful, insolent; chaste”: II:1 294. Too much thinking makes action impossible: II:20 622. On this question, see Boutcher, W., “Marginal commentaries: the cultural transmission of Montaigne’s
Essais
in Shakespeare’s England,” in Kapitaniak and Maguin (eds),
Shakespeare et Montaigne
, 13–27, and his “ ‘Learning mingled with Nobilitie’: directions for reading Montaigne’s
Essais
in their institutional context,” in Cameron and Willett (eds),
Le Visage changeant de Montaigne
, 337–62, esp. 337–9; and Peter Mack’s forthcoming
Shakespeare, Montaigne, and Renaissance Ethical Reading
. Much work has been done recently on the dating of
Hamlet;
it is now thought to date from late 1599 or early 1600, which creates a problem if Shakespeare is thought to have read Florio’s translation. But we know that manuscript copies of the latter were in circulation well before the publication date: Shakespeare’s contemporary William Cornwallis mentioned their “going from hand to hand” in 1599.

9
Shared theme: Robertson, J. M.,
Montaigne and Shakespeare
(London: The University Press, 1891), cited in Marchi 193. Shared atmosphere also discussed in Sterling 321–2.

10
Bacon wrote Montaigne: Donnelly, I.,
The Great Cryptogram: Francis Bacon’s Cipher in the So-called Shakespeare Plays
(London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1888), II: 955–65, 971–4. “Bacon” and “white breasts”: Donnelly II: 971. “Mountaines”: II: 972–3. “Can anyone believe
that all this is the result of accident?” II: 974. Role of Anthony Bacon: II:955.

11
On the Bacon brothers: See Banderier, G., “Bacon, Anthony,” and Gontier, T., “Bacon, Francis,” in Desan,
Dictionnaire
89–90. Francis Bacon does mention Montaigne in his
Essays
, but not in its first edition.

12
Cornwallis: Cornwallis, W.,
Essayes
, ed. D. C. Allen (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1946).

13
Burton: Burton, R.,
The Anatomy of Melancholy
(New York: NYRB Classics, 2001), I: 17.

14
Browne: Browne, Thomas,
The Major Works
(Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977). See Texte, J., “La Descendance de Montaigne: Sir Thomas Browne,” in his
Etudes de littérature européenne
(Paris: A. Colin, 1898), 51–93.

15
Cotton: Montaigne,
Essays
, tr. Cotton (1685–86): see “Sources” for full details. On Cotton, see Nelson, N., “Montaigne with a Restoration voice: Charles Cotton’s translation of the
Essais,” Language and Style
24, no. 2 (1991), 131–44; and Hartle, P., “Cotton, Charles,” in
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/6410
), from which the poem is also taken.

16
Pope: cited Coleman 167.

17
Spectator: Spectator
no. 562 (July 2, 1714), cited Dédéyan I: 28. Doing it agreeably: Dédéyan I: 29.

18
The Montaignesque element: Pater, W., “Charles Lamb,” in
Appreciations
(London: Macmillan, 1890), 105–23, this 116–17.

19
Leigh Hunt’s comment: Montaigne,
Complete Works
(1842), 41, British Library’s copy (C.61.h.5). This passage is I:22 95 in Frame’s edition

20
Hazlitt on essay-writing: Hazlitt 178–80.

21
Hazlitt’s Cotton’s Montaigne: Montaigne,
Complete Works
(1842). Hazlitt’s Hazlitt’s Cotton’s Montaigne: Montaigne,
Essays
, tr. C. Cotton, ed. W. Hazlitt and W. C. Hazlitt (London: Reeves & Turner, 1877). On the Hazlitt family business, see Dédéyan I: 257–8.

22
Sterne: Sterne, L.,
Tristram Shandy
, ed. I. Campbell Ross (Oxford: Oxford Paperbacks, 1998). References to Montaigne: 38, 174, 289–90 (Vol. 1 chap. 4, Vol. 2 chap. 4, Vol. 4 chap. 15). The line diagrams: 453–4 (Vol. 6, chap. 40). Promised chapters: 281 (Vol. 4, chap. 9). “Could a historiographer”: 64–5 (Vol. 1, chap. 14).