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to trust more to his right Hand than to his left. Now, 'tis
only the not being used to wear it, that makes us think
the Weight of our Armour insupportable.

L'busbergo in dosso haveamo: et l'elmo in testa,
Duc di quelli guerier dei quali io canto,
Ne notte è di, doppo ch' entraro in questa
Stanza, gl haveano mai mesi da canto,
Che facile a portar come la vesta
Era lor, percha in uso l'havean tanto".

i. e.

Two of these Heroes*, whom I fing, had on
Each his bright Helm, and strong Habergeon;
And Night nor Day, nor one poor Minute's Space,
Once laid them by whilst they were in this Place :
So long accustomed this Weight to bear,
Their Cloaths to them not lighter did appear.

The Emperor Caracalla used to march, on Foot, thro'
the Country, at the Head of his Forces, and The Armour of
armed Cap-a-pee. The Roman Infantry not the Roman In-
only carried the Helmet, Sword, and Shield, fantry.
(for as to Armour, says Cicero, they were so accustomed
to have it on, that it was no more troublesome to them
than their Limbs, Arma enim, membra militis esse dicunt')
but also a Fortnight's Provision, and a certain Number
of Poles to make their Ramparts, so that each Man car-
ried fixty Pounds Weight to his own Share. And Ma-
rius's Soldiers, loaden in like manner, were forced to tra-
vel five Leagues in five Hours, and upon an urgent Oc-
casion six. Their military Discipline was much more fevere
than ours, and accordingly produced quite different Ef-
fects. When young Scipio disbanded his Soldiers in Spain,
he ordered them to eat always standing, and nothing that
was dressed 2. The Reproach which was given to a Lace-
demonian Soldier, that, when he was on a military Expe-
dition, he was seen under the Roof of a House, is won-

VOL. II.

H

derfully

Ariosto, Cant. xii. Stanz. 30. * Orlando and Sacripante. y Cic. Tufc. Quæst. lib. ii. c. 16.

* Plutarch in his notable Sayings of the ancient Kings, Princes, and Generals, in the Article of Stipio the Younger,

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derfully pertinent to this Purpose; for they were so inured to Hardship, that it was a Shame for them to be feen under any Roof but that of Heaven, be the Weather what it would. We should not be able to carry our Men far upon these Terms.

As for the rest, Marcellinus, a Man bred up in the Roman Wars, makes a curious Remark on the manner of the Parthians themselves, and takes Notice of it the rather for being so different from that of the Romans. • Their

The Parthians in the Field were all covered with Iron.

6

• Armour, fays be, was so artfully connected, that the Plates of Iron fell over one another like so many small Feathers, which did not at all retard the Mo* tion of their Bodies, and yet they were so strong that ' our Darts, after striking their Armour, rebounded up' on us. These were the Coats of Mail which our An• cestors used to wear.' And, in another Place, 'They had strong hardy Horses, says he, covered with thick Leather, and themselves were armed, Cap-a-pee, with great scaly Plates of Iron, so artificially ranged, that, at the Joints of all the Limbs, they yielded to their Mo• tion. One would have said, that they were Men of Iron, having the Head-geer so neatly fitted on, and so natu• rally representing the Form and Parts of the Face, that * there was no touching them but by little round Holes • made for their Eyes to receive the Light, and by Chinks • about their Nostrils, through which, with great Difficulty, they drew their Breath.'

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Flexilis inductis animatur lamina membris,
Horribilis vifu, credas fimulacra moveri
Ferrea, cognatoque viros fpirare metallo ;
Par vestitus equis, ferrata fronte minantur,
Ferratosque movent fecuri vulneris armos .

i. e.

b

Stiff Plates of Steel, over the Body laid,
By Arm'rers Skill so flexible were made,

That,

* Ammianus Maximus, a Latin Hiftorian, though by Birth a Greek, who bore Arms under the Emperors Constance, Julian, &c. lib. xxiv. c. 7.

Claudian in Ruff. lib. ii. v. 358,

That, dreadful to be seen, you would them guess
Not to be Men, but moving Images :
The Horse, like arm'd, Spikes bore in Fronts above,
And fearless they their Iron Shoulders move.

A Description this very much like the Equipage of a French-
man in Armour, with all his Horse Accoutrements. Plu-
tarch says, that Demetrius caused two compleat Suits of
Armour to be made, for himself and for Alcimus, the chief
Officer about him, of fixscore Pounds Weight, whereas
the common Suits weighed but half as much.

I

CHAP. Χ.

Of BOOKS.

Make no Doubt but I often happen to speak of Things that are much better and more truly handled by those who are Masters of the Profession. This here is purely an Effay of my natural Parts, and not of those acquired: And whoever shall catch me tripping in my Ignorance, will do me no manner of Harm; for I, who am not responsable to myself for my Writings, nor pleased with them, should be loth to be answerable for them to another. He that seeks after Knowledge, let him fish for it where it is to be found; there being nothing which I fo little profess. These are Fancies of my own, by which I do not aim to discover Things, but myself. They will, peradventure, be known to me one Day or other, or have formerly been so, according as my Fortune brought me to the Places where they were manifested, but now I have forgot them: And, tho' I am a Man of tome Reading, yet I am a Man of no Retention; so that I can promise nothing certain, unless it be to discover at what Degree the scientific Barometer of my Knowledge now stands. Let not the Subjects I write on be so much attended to,

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• In all Montaigne's Editions, and in Mr. Cotton's Translation 'tis spelt Alcinus, whereas the true Reading is Alcimus. See Plutarch's Life of Demetrius, Chap. 6.

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as my manner of treating them. Let it be observed, whether, in what I borrow from others, I have chose what tends to set off or support the Invention, which is always my own: For I make others say for me what, either for Want of Language, or of Senfe, I cannot, myself, fo well express. I do not count what I borrow, but I weigh it. And, if I had aimed to make a Merit by the Quantity, I should have borrowed twice as much as I have. They are all, or within a few, fuch celebrated ancient Authors, as, I think, are too well known for me to mention them.

In Reasons, Comparisons, and Arguments, if I tranfplant any, from elsewhere, into my Soil, and confound them with my own, I purposely conceal the Author, to check the Prefumption of those hasty Censures that are caft upon all kind of Writings, particularly the juve

Why Montaigne did not chufe to name the Authors from whom be quoted.

nile ones, of Men yet living, and composed in the vulgar Tongue, which capacitates every Man to speak of them, and seems to intimate, that there is nothing but what is vulgar, both as to Design and Conception, in those Works. I am content that they give Plutarch a Rap upon my Knuckles, and that they burn their Fingers by lashing Seneca thro' my Sides. There was a Neceffity of screening my Weakness by those great Characters. I shall love the Man that can strip me of my Plumage, I mean, by the Clearness of the Discernment, and by the fole Distinction of the Strength and Beauty of the Arguments. For I who, for Want of Memory, am, every now and then, at a Loss to chuse them by an exact Knowledge of the Places where they are to be found in the Originals, am yet wise enough to know, by the Measure of my own Abilities, that my Soil is incapable of producing any of those rich Flowers that I fee planted there, and that they are worth more than all the Fruits of my own Growth. For this I hold myself responsable,

It was not till after Montaigne's Death, that his Editors undertook to name the Authors whose Words he had quoted. But I will presume to say, this was rather attempted than executed before this Edition; which not only shews the Places from whence Montaigne quoted those Passages, but also many others, which he had only referred to in a very loose manner, though he had inferted the Sense of them in his Work.

responsable, though the Confession makes against me, if there be any Vanity and Vice in my Discourses, which I do not of myself perceive, or which I am not capable of perceiving when pointed out to me by another: For many Faults escape our Eye, but the Infirmity of Judgment confists in not being able to difcern them when detected to us by another. We may possess Knowledge and Truth without Judgment, and Judgment without them; nay, the Confeffion of Ignorance is one of the fairest and furest Testimonies of Judgment that I know of. I have no Herald to marshal my Essays but Chance. As fast as Thoughts come into my Head, which fometimes they do in whole Bodies, and fometimes in single Files, I pile them one upon another. I am content that every one should fee my natural and ordinary Pace, be it ever so much out of the Way. I fuffer myself to jog on in my old Track: Nor are these such Subjects that a Man shall be condemned for being ignorant of them, and for treating them casually and presumptuously. I could wish to have a more perfect Knowledge of Things, but I don't care to purchase it at so dear a Rate. I would fain pass the Remainder of my Days easily, and not laboriously. There is nothing that I chuse to cudgel my Brains about, no, not for Science, how valuable soever.

What he aimed to find in Books.

All that I read Books for is to divert myself by an honest Amusement; or, if I study, it is for no other Science than what teaches me to know myself, and how to live and die well.

Has meus ad metas fudet oportet equus *. i. e.

This is the only Course

In which I think I ought to breathe my Horse.

If any Difficulties occur in Reading, I do not bite my Nails about them, but, after an Essay or two to explain them, I give them over: Should I infist upon them, I should lose both myself and my Time, for I have a Gepius that is extremely volatile; and what I don't difcern at the first Effay, becomes the more obfcure to me the longer

H 3

• Propert. lib. iv. Eleg. 1.

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