Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 081
Total number of words is 4763
Total number of unique words is 1615
42.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words
57.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words
66.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
interested and injured in it, kill such as only approach a little too
near them: insomuch that the ignoble are obliged to cry out as they walk,
like the gondoliers of Venice, at the turnings of streets for fear of
jostling; and the nobles command them to step aside to what part they
please: by that means these avoid what they repute a perpetual ignominy,
those certain death. No time, no favour of the prince, no office, or
virtue, or riches, can ever prevail to make a plebeian become noble: to
which this custom contributes, that marriages are interdicted betwixt
different trades; the daughter of one of the cordwainers’ gild is not
permitted to marry a carpenter; and parents are obliged to train up their
children precisely in their own callings, and not put them to any other
trade; by which means the distinction and continuance of their fortunes
are maintained.
A good marriage, if there be any such, rejects the company and conditions
of love, and tries to represent those of friendship. ‘Tis a sweet
society of life, full of constancy, trust, and an infinite number of
useful and solid services and mutual obligations; which any woman who has
a right taste:
“Optato quam junxit lumine taeda”--
[“Whom the marriage torch has joined with the desired light.”
--Catullus, lxiv. 79.]
would be loth to serve her husband in quality of a mistress. If she be
lodged in his affection as a wife, she is more honourably and securely
placed. When he purports to be in love with another, and works all he
can to obtain his desire, let any one but ask him, on which he had rather
a disgrace should fall, his wife or his mistress, which of their
misfortunes would most afflict him, and to which of them he wishes the
most grandeur, the answer to these questions is out of dispute in a sound
marriage.
And that so few are observed to be happy, is a token of its price and
value. If well formed and rightly taken, ‘tis the best of all human
societies; we cannot live without it, and yet we do nothing but decry it.
It happens, as with cages, the birds without despair to get in, and those
within despair of getting out. Socrates being asked, whether it was more
commodious to take a wife or not, “Let a man take which course he will,”
said he; “he will repent.” ‘Tis a contract to which the common
saying:
“Homo homini aut deus aut lupus,”
[“Man to man is either a god or a wolf.”--Erasmus, Adag.]
may very fitly be applied; there must be a concurrence of many qualities
in the construction. It is found nowadays more convenient for simple and
plebeian souls, where delights, curiosity, and idleness do not so much
disturb it; but extravagant humours, such as mine, that hate all sorts of
obligation and restraint, are not so proper for it:
“Et mihi dulce magis resoluto vivere collo.”
[“And it is sweet to me to live with a loosened neck.”
--Pseudo Gallus, i. 61.]
Might I have had my own will, I would not have married Wisdom herself, if
she would have had me. But ‘tis to much purpose to evade it; the common
custom and usance of life will have it so. The most of my actions are
guided by example, not by choice, and yet I did not go to it of my own
voluntary motion; I was led and drawn to it by extrinsic occasions; for
not only things that are incommodious in themselves, but also things
however ugly, vicious, and to be avoided, may be rendered acceptable by
some condition or accident; so unsteady and vain is all human resolution!
and I was persuaded to it, when worse prepared and less tractable than I
am at present, that I have tried what it is: and as great a libertine as
I am taken to be, I have in truth more strictly observed the laws of
marriage, than I either promised or expected. ‘Tis in vain to kick, when
a man has once put on his fetters: a man must prudently manage his
liberty; but having once submitted to obligation, he must confine himself
within the laws of common duty, at least, do what he can towards it.
They who engage in this contract, with a design to carry themselves in it
with hatred and contempt, do an unjust and inconvenient thing; and the
fine rule that I hear pass from hand to hand amongst the women, as a
sacred oracle:
[“Serve thy husband as thy master, but guard thyself against him as
from a traitor.”]
which is to say, comport thyself towards him with a dissembled, inimical,
and distrustful reverence (a cry of war and defiance), is equally
injurious and hard. I am too mild for such rugged designs: to say the
truth, I am not arrived to that perfection of ability and refinement of
wit, to confound reason with injustice, and to laugh at all rule and
order that does not please my palate; because I hate superstition, I do
not presently run into the contrary extreme of irreligion.
(If a man hate superstition he cannot love religion. D.W.)
If a man does not always perform his duty, he ought at least to love and
acknowledge it; ‘tis treachery to marry without espousing.
Let us proceed.
Our poet represents a marriage happy in a good accord wherein
nevertheless there is not much loyalty. Does he mean, that it is not
impossible but a woman may give the reins to her own passion, and yield
to the importunities of love, and yet reserve some duty toward marriage,
and that it may be hurt, without being totally broken? A serving man may
cheat his master, whom nevertheless he does not hate. Beauty,
opportunity, and destiny (for destiny has also a hand in’t),
“Fatum est in partibus illis
Quas sinus abscondit; nam, si tibi sidera cessent,
Nil faciet longi mensura incognita nervi;”
[“There is a fatality about the hidden parts: let nature have
endowed you however liberally, ‘tis of no use, if your good star
fails you in the nick of time.”--Juvenal, ix. 32.]
have attached her to a stranger; though not so wholly, peradventure, but
that she may have some remains of kindness for her husband. They are two
designs, that have several paths leading to them, without being
confounded with one another; a woman may yield to a man she would by no
means have married, not only for the condition of his fortune, but for
those also of his person. Few men have made a wife of a mistress, who
have not repented it. And even in the other world, what an unhappy life
does Jupiter lead with his, whom he had first enjoyed as a mistress!
‘Tis, as the proverb runs, to befoul a basket and then put it upon one’s
head. I have in my time, in a good family, seen love shamefully and
dishonestly cured by marriage: the considerations are widely different.
We love at once, without any tie, two things contrary in themselves.
Socrates was wont to say, that the city of Athens pleased, as ladies do
whom men court for love; every one loved to come thither to take a turn,
and pass away his time; but no one liked it so well as to espouse it,
that is, to inhabit there, and to make it his constant residence. I have
been vexed to see husbands hate their wives only because they themselves
do them wrong; we should not, at all events, methinks, love them the less
for our own faults; they should at least, upon the account of repentance
and compassion, be dearer to us.
They are different ends, he says, and yet in some sort compatible;
marriage has utility, justice, honour, and constancy for its share;
a flat, but more universal pleasure: love founds itself wholly upon
pleasure, and, indeed, has it more full, lively, and sharp; a pleasure
inflamed by difficulty; there must be in it sting and smart: ‘tis no
longer love, if without darts and fire. The bounty of ladies is too
profuse in marriage, and dulls the point of affection and desire: to
evade which inconvenience, do but observe what pains Lycurgus and Plato
take in their laws.
Women are not to blame at all, when they refuse the rules of life that
are introduced into the world, forasmuch as the men make them without
their help. There is naturally contention and brawling betwixt them and
us; and the strictest friendship we have with them is yet mixed with
tumult and tempest. In the opinion of our author, we deal
inconsiderately with them in this: after we have discovered that they
are, without comparison, more able and ardent in the practice of love
than we, and that the old priest testified as much, who had been one
while a man, and then a woman:
“Venus huic erat utraque nota:”
[“Both aspects of love were known to him,”
--Tiresias. Ovid. Metam., iii. 323.]
and moreover, that we have learned from their own mouths the proof that,
in several ages, was made by an Emperor and Empress of Rome,--[Proclus.]
--both famous for ability in that affair! for he in one night deflowered
ten Sarmatian virgins who were his captives: but she had five-and-twenty
bouts in one night, changing her man according to her need and liking;
“Adhuc ardens rigidae tentigine vulvae
Et lassata viris, nondum satiata, recessit:”
[“Ardent still, she retired, fatigued, but not satisfied.”
--Juvenal, vi. 128.]
and that upon the dispute which happened in Cataluna, wherein a wife
complaining of her husband’s too frequent addresses to her, not so much,
as I conceive, that she was incommodated by it (for I believe no miracles
out of religion) as under this pretence, to curtail and curb in this,
which is the fundamental act of marriage, the authority of husbands over
their wives, and to shew that their frowardness and malignity go beyond
the nuptial bed, and spurn under foot even the graces and sweets of
Venus; the husband, a man truly brutish and unnatural, replied, that even
on fasting days he could not subsist with less than ten courses:
whereupon came out that notable sentence of the Queen of Arragon, by
which, after mature deliberation of her council, this good queen, to give
a rule and example to all succeeding ages of the moderation required in
a just marriage, set down six times a day as a legitimate and necessary
stint; surrendering and quitting a great deal of the needs and desires of
her sex, that she might, she said, establish an easy, and consequently, a
permanent and immutable rule. Hereupon the doctors cry out: what must
the female appetite and concupiscence be, when their reason, their
reformation and virtue, are taxed at such a rate, considering the divers
judgments of our appetites? for Solon, master of the law school, taxes
us but at three a month,--that men may not fail in point of conjugal
frequentation: after having, I say, believed and preached all this, we go
and enjoin them continency for their particular share, and upon the last
and extreme penalties.
There is no passion so hard to contend with as this, which we would have
them only resist, not simply as an ordinary vice, but as an execrable
abomination, worse than irreligion and parricide; whilst we, at the same
time, go to’t without offence or reproach. Even those amongst us who
have tried the experiment have sufficiently confessed what difficulty, or
rather impossibility, they have found by material remedies to subdue,
weaken, and cool the body. We, on the contrary, would have them at once
sound, vigorous plump, high-fed, and chaste; that is to say, both hot and
cold; for the marriage, which we tell them is to keep them from burning,
is but small refreshment to them, as we order the matter. If they take
one whose vigorous age is yet boiling, he will be proud to make it known
elsewhere;
“Sit tandem pudor; aut eamus in jus;
Multis mentula millibus redempta,
Non est haec tua, Basse; vendidisti;”
[“Let there be some shame, or we shall go to law: your vigour,
bought by your wife with many thousands, is no longer yours: thou
hast sold it.--“Martial, xii. 90.]
Polemon the philosopher was justly by his wife brought before the judge
for sowing in a barren field the seed that was due to one that was
fruitful: if, on the other hand, they take a decayed fellow, they are in
a worse condition in marriage than either maids or widows. We think them
well provided for, because they have a man to lie with, as the Romans
concluded Clodia Laeta, a vestal nun, violated, because Caligula had
approached her, though it was declared he did no more but approach her:
but, on the contrary, we by that increase their necessity, forasmuch as
the touch and company of any man whatever rouses their desires, that in
solitude would be more quiet. And to the end, ‘tis likely, that they
might render their chastity more meritorious by this circumstance and
consideration, Boleslas and Kinge his wife, kings of Poland, vowed it by
mutual consent, being in bed together, on their very wedding day, and
kept their vow in spite of all matrimonial conveniences.
We train them up from their infancy to the traffic of love; their grace,
dressing, knowledge, language, and whole instruction tend that way: their
governesses imprint nothing in them but the idea of love, if for nothing
else but by continually representing it to them, to give them a distaste
for it. My daughter, the only child I have, is now of an age that
forward young women are allowed to be married at; she is of a slow, thin,
and tender complexion, and has accordingly been brought up by her mother
after a retired and particular manner, so that she but now begins to be
weaned from her childish simplicity. She was reading before me in a
French book where the word ‘fouteau’, the name of a tree very well known,
occurred;--[The beech-tree; the name resembles in sound an obscene
French word.]--the woman, to whose conduct she is committed, stopped her
short a little roughly, and made her skip over that dangerous step. I
let her alone, not to trouble their rules, for I never concern myself in
that sort of government; feminine polity has a mysterious procedure; we
must leave it to them; but if I am not mistaken the commerce of twenty
lacquies could not, in six months’ time, have so imprinted in her memory
the meaning, usage, and all the consequence of the sound of these wicked
syllables, as this good old woman did by reprimand and interdiction.
“Motus doceri gaudet Ionicos
Matura virgo, et frangitur artibus;
Jam nunc et incestos amores
De tenero, meditatur ungui.”
[“The maid ripe for marriage delights to learn Ionic dances, and to
imitate those lascivious movements. Nay, already from her infancy
she meditates criminal amours.”--Horace, Od., iii. 6, 21., the text
has ‘fingitur’.]
Let them but give themselves the rein a little, let them but enter into
liberty of discourse, we are but children to them in this science. Hear
them but describe our pursuits and conversation, they will very well make
you understand that we bring them nothing they have not known before, and
digested without our help.
[This sentence refers to a conversation between some young women in
his immediate neighbourhood, which the Essayist just below informs
us that he overheard, and which was too shocking for him to repeat.
It must have been tolerably bad.--Remark by the editor of a later
edition.]
Is it, perhaps, as Plato says, that they have formerly been debauched
young fellows? I happened one day to be in a place where I could hear
some of their talk without suspicion; I am sorry I cannot repeat it.
By’rlady, said I, we had need go study the phrases of Amadis, and the
tales of Boccaccio and Aretin, to be able to discourse with them: we
employ our time to much purpose indeed. There is neither word, example,
nor step they are not more perfect in than our books; ‘tis a discipline
that springs with their blood,
“Et mentem ipsa Venus dedit,”
[“Venus herself made them what they are,”
--Virg., Georg., iii. 267.]
which these good instructors, nature, youth, and health, are continually
inspiring them with; they need not learn, they breed it:
“Nec tantum niveo gavisa est ulla columbo,
Compar, vel si quid dicitur improbius,
Oscula mordenti semper decerpere rostro,
Quantum praecipue multivola est mulier.”
[“No milk-white dove, or if there be a thing more lascivious,
takes so much delight in kissing as woman, wishful for every man
she sees.”--Catullus, lxvi. 125.]
So that if the natural violence of their desire were not a little
restrained by fear and honour, which were wisely contrived for them, we
should be all shamed. All the motions in the world resolve into and tend
to this conjunction; ‘tis a matter infused throughout: ‘tis a centre to
which all things are directed. We yet see the edicts of the old and wise
Rome made for the service of love, and the precepts of Socrates for the
instruction of courtezans:
“Noncon libelli Stoici inter sericos
Jacere pulvillos amant:”
[“There are writings of the Stoics which we find lying upon
silken cushions.”--Horace, Epod., viii. 15.]
Zeno, amongst his laws, also regulated the motions to be observed in
getting a maidenhead. What was the philosopher Strato’s book Of Carnal
Conjunction?--[ Diogenes Laertius, v. 59.]--And what did Theophrastus
treat of in those he intituled, the one ‘The Lover’, and the other ‘Of
Love?’ Of what Aristippus in his ‘Of Former Delights’? What do the so
long and lively descriptions in Plato of the loves of his time pretend
to? and the book called ‘The Lover’, of Demetrius Phalereus? and
‘Clinias’, or the ‘Ravished Lover’, of Heraclides; and that of
Antisthenes, ‘Of Getting Children’, or, ‘Of Weddings’, and the other,
‘Of the Master or the Lover’? And that of Aristo: ‘Of Amorous Exercises’
What those of Cleanthes: one, ‘Of Love’, the other, ‘Of the Art of
Loving’? The amorous dialogues of Sphaereus? and the fable of Jupiter
and Juno, of Chrysippus, impudent beyond all toleration? And his fifty
so lascivious epistles? I will let alone the writings of the
philosophers of the Epicurean sect, protectress of voluptuousness. Fifty
deities were, in time past, assigned to this office; and there have been
nations where, to assuage the lust of those who came to their devotion,
they kept men and women in their temples for the worshippers to lie with;
and it was an act of ceremony to do this before they went to prayers:
“Nimirum propter continentiam incontinentia necessaria est;
incendium ignibus extinguitur.”
[“Forsooth incontinency is necessary for continency’s sake; a
conflagration is extinguished by fire.”]
In the greatest part of the world, that member of our body was deified;
in the same province, some flayed off the skin to offer and consecrate a
piece; others offered and consecrated their seed. In another, the young
men publicly cut through betwixt the skin and the flesh of that part in
several places, and thrust pieces of wood into the openings as long and
thick as they would receive, and of these pieces of wood afterwards made
a fire as an offering to their gods; and were reputed neither vigorous
nor chaste, if by the force of that cruel pain they seemed to be at all
dismayed. Elsewhere the most sacred magistrate was reverenced and
acknowledged by that member and in several ceremonies the effigy of it
was carried in pomp to the honour of various divinities. The Egyptian
ladies, in their Bacchanalia, each carried one finely-carved of wood
about their necks, as large and heavy as she could so carry it; besides
which, the statue of their god presented one, which in greatness
surpassed all the rest of his body.--[Herodotus, ii. 48, says “nearly
as large as the body itself.”]--The married women, near the place where
I live, make of their kerchiefs the figure of one upon their foreheads,
to glorify themselves in the enjoyment they have of it; and coming to be
widows, they throw it behind, and cover it with their headcloths. The
most modest matrons of Rome thought it an honour to offer flowers and
garlands to the god Priapus; and they made the virgins, at the time of
their espousals, sit upon his shameful parts. And I know not whether I
have not in my time seen some air of like devotion. What was the meaning
of that ridiculous piece of the chaussuye of our forefathers, and that is
still worn by our Swiss? [“Cod-pieces worn”--Cotton]--To what end do we
make a show of our implements in figure under our breeches, and often,
which is worse, above their natural size, by falsehood and imposture?
I have half a mind to believe that this sort of vestment was invented in
the better and more conscientious ages, that the world might not be
deceived, and that every one should give a public account of his
proportions: the simple nations wear them yet, and near about the real
size. In those days, the tailor took measure of it, as the shoemaker
does now of a man’s foot. That good man, who, when I was young, gelded
so many noble and ancient statues in his great city, that they might not
corrupt the sight of the ladies, according to the advice of this other
ancient worthy:
“Flagitii principium est, nudare inter gives corpora,”
[“‘Tis the beginning of wickedness to expose their persons among the
citizens”--Ennius, ap. Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 33.]
should have called to mind, that, as in the mysteries of the Bona Dea,
all masculine appearance was excluded, he did nothing, if he did not geld
horses and asses, in short, all nature:
“Omne adeo genus in terris, hominumque, ferarumque,
Et genus aequoreum, pecudes, pictaeque volucres,
In furias ignemque ruunt.”
[“So that all living things, men and animals, wild or tame,
and fish and gaudy fowl, rush to this flame of love.”
--Virgil, Georg., iii. 244.]
The gods, says Plato, have given us one disobedient and unruly member
that, like a furious animal, attempts, by the violence of its appetite,
to subject all things to it; and so they have given to women one like a
greedy and ravenous animal, which, if it be refused food in season, grows
wild, impatient of delay, and infusing its rage into their bodies, stops
the passages, and hinders respiration, causing a thousand ills, till,
having imbibed the fruit of the common thirst, it has plentifully bedewed
the bottom of their matrix. Now my legislator--[The Pope who, as
Montaigne has told us, took it into his head to geld the statues.]--
should also have considered that, peradventure, it were a chaster and
more fruitful usage to let them know the fact as it is betimes, than
permit them to guess according to the liberty and heat of their own
fancy; instead of the real parts they substitute, through hope and
desire, others that are three times more extravagant; and a certain
friend of mine lost himself by producing his in place and time when the
opportunity was not present to put them to their more serious use. What
mischief do not those pictures of prodigious dimension do that the boys
make upon the staircases and galleries of the royal houses? they give the
ladies a cruel contempt of our natural furniture. And what do we know
but that Plato, after other well-instituted republics, ordered that the
men and women, old and young, should expose themselves naked to the view
of one another, in his gymnastic exercises, upon that very account? The
Indian women who see the men in their natural state, have at least cooled
the sense of seeing. And let the women of the kingdom of Pegu say what
they will, who below the waist have nothing to cover them but a cloth
slit before, and so strait, that what decency and modesty soever they
pretend by it, at every step all is to be seen, that it is an invention
to allure the men to them, and to divert them from boys, to whom that
nation is generally inclined; yet, peradventure they lose more by it than
they get, and one may venture to say, that an entire appetite is more
sharp than one already half-glutted by the eyes. Livia was wont to say,
that to a virtuous woman a naked man was but a statue. The Lacedaemonian
women, more virgins when wives than our daughters are, saw every day the
young men of their city stripped naked in their exercises, themselves
little heeding to cover their thighs in walking, believing themselves,
says Plato, sufficiently covered by their virtue without any other robe.
But those, of whom St. Augustin speaks, have given nudity a wonderful
power of temptation, who have made it a doubt, whether women at the day
of judgment shall rise again in their own sex, and not rather in ours,
for fear of tempting us again in that holy state. In brief, we allure
and flesh them by all sorts of ways: we incessantly heat and stir up
their imagination, and then we find fault. Let us confess the truth;
there is scarce one of us who does not more apprehend the shame that
accrues to him by the vices of his wife than by his own, and that is not
more solicitous (a wonderful charity) of the conscience of his virtuous
wife than of his own; who had not rather commit theft and sacrilege, and
that his wife was a murderess and a heretic, than that she should not be
more chaste than her husband: an unjust estimate of vices. Both we and
they are capable of a thousand corruptions more prejudicial and unnatural
than lust: but we weigh vices, not according to nature, but according to
our interest; by which means they take so many unequal forms.
The austerity of our decrees renders the application of women to this
vice more violent and vicious than its own condition needs, and engages
it in consequences worse than their cause: they will readily offer to go
to the law courts to seek for gain, and to the wars to get reputation,
rather than in the midst of ease and delights, to have to keep so
difficult a guard. Do not they very well see that there is neither
merchant nor soldier who will not leave his business to run after this
sport, or the porter or cobbler, toiled and tired out as they are with
labour and hunger?
“Num tu, qux tenuit dives Achaemenes,
Aut pinguis Phrygiae Mygdonias opes,
Permutare velis crine Licymnim?
Plenas aut Arabum domos,
Dum fragrantia detorquet ad oscula
Cervicem, aut facili sxvitia negat,
Quae poscente magis gaudeat eripi,
Interdum rapere occupet?”
[“Wouldst thou not exchange all that the wealthy Arhaemenes had,
or the Mygdonian riches of fertile Phrygia, for one ringlet of
Licymnia’s hair? or the treasures of the Arabians, when she turns
her head to you for fragrant kisses, or with easily assuaged anger
denies them, which she would rather by far you took by force, and
sometimes herself snatches one!”--Horace, Od., ii. 12, 21.]
I do not know whether the exploits of Alexander and Caesar really surpass
the resolution of a beautiful young woman, bred up after our fashion, in
the light and commerce of the world, assailed by so many contrary
examples, and yet keeping herself entire in the midst of a thousand
continual and powerful solicitations. There is no doing more difficult
than that not doing, nor more active:
I hold it more easy to carry a suit of armour all the days of one’s life
than a maidenhead; and the vow of virginity of all others is the most
noble, as being the hardest to keep:
“Diaboli virtus in lumbis est,”
says St. Jerome. We have, doubtless, resigned to the ladies the most
difficult and most vigorous of all human endeavours, and let us resign to
them the glory too. This ought to encourage them to be obstinate in it;
‘tis a brave thing for them to defy us, and to spurn under foot that vain
near them: insomuch that the ignoble are obliged to cry out as they walk,
like the gondoliers of Venice, at the turnings of streets for fear of
jostling; and the nobles command them to step aside to what part they
please: by that means these avoid what they repute a perpetual ignominy,
those certain death. No time, no favour of the prince, no office, or
virtue, or riches, can ever prevail to make a plebeian become noble: to
which this custom contributes, that marriages are interdicted betwixt
different trades; the daughter of one of the cordwainers’ gild is not
permitted to marry a carpenter; and parents are obliged to train up their
children precisely in their own callings, and not put them to any other
trade; by which means the distinction and continuance of their fortunes
are maintained.
A good marriage, if there be any such, rejects the company and conditions
of love, and tries to represent those of friendship. ‘Tis a sweet
society of life, full of constancy, trust, and an infinite number of
useful and solid services and mutual obligations; which any woman who has
a right taste:
“Optato quam junxit lumine taeda”--
[“Whom the marriage torch has joined with the desired light.”
--Catullus, lxiv. 79.]
would be loth to serve her husband in quality of a mistress. If she be
lodged in his affection as a wife, she is more honourably and securely
placed. When he purports to be in love with another, and works all he
can to obtain his desire, let any one but ask him, on which he had rather
a disgrace should fall, his wife or his mistress, which of their
misfortunes would most afflict him, and to which of them he wishes the
most grandeur, the answer to these questions is out of dispute in a sound
marriage.
And that so few are observed to be happy, is a token of its price and
value. If well formed and rightly taken, ‘tis the best of all human
societies; we cannot live without it, and yet we do nothing but decry it.
It happens, as with cages, the birds without despair to get in, and those
within despair of getting out. Socrates being asked, whether it was more
commodious to take a wife or not, “Let a man take which course he will,”
said he; “he will repent.” ‘Tis a contract to which the common
saying:
“Homo homini aut deus aut lupus,”
[“Man to man is either a god or a wolf.”--Erasmus, Adag.]
may very fitly be applied; there must be a concurrence of many qualities
in the construction. It is found nowadays more convenient for simple and
plebeian souls, where delights, curiosity, and idleness do not so much
disturb it; but extravagant humours, such as mine, that hate all sorts of
obligation and restraint, are not so proper for it:
“Et mihi dulce magis resoluto vivere collo.”
[“And it is sweet to me to live with a loosened neck.”
--Pseudo Gallus, i. 61.]
Might I have had my own will, I would not have married Wisdom herself, if
she would have had me. But ‘tis to much purpose to evade it; the common
custom and usance of life will have it so. The most of my actions are
guided by example, not by choice, and yet I did not go to it of my own
voluntary motion; I was led and drawn to it by extrinsic occasions; for
not only things that are incommodious in themselves, but also things
however ugly, vicious, and to be avoided, may be rendered acceptable by
some condition or accident; so unsteady and vain is all human resolution!
and I was persuaded to it, when worse prepared and less tractable than I
am at present, that I have tried what it is: and as great a libertine as
I am taken to be, I have in truth more strictly observed the laws of
marriage, than I either promised or expected. ‘Tis in vain to kick, when
a man has once put on his fetters: a man must prudently manage his
liberty; but having once submitted to obligation, he must confine himself
within the laws of common duty, at least, do what he can towards it.
They who engage in this contract, with a design to carry themselves in it
with hatred and contempt, do an unjust and inconvenient thing; and the
fine rule that I hear pass from hand to hand amongst the women, as a
sacred oracle:
[“Serve thy husband as thy master, but guard thyself against him as
from a traitor.”]
which is to say, comport thyself towards him with a dissembled, inimical,
and distrustful reverence (a cry of war and defiance), is equally
injurious and hard. I am too mild for such rugged designs: to say the
truth, I am not arrived to that perfection of ability and refinement of
wit, to confound reason with injustice, and to laugh at all rule and
order that does not please my palate; because I hate superstition, I do
not presently run into the contrary extreme of irreligion.
(If a man hate superstition he cannot love religion. D.W.)
If a man does not always perform his duty, he ought at least to love and
acknowledge it; ‘tis treachery to marry without espousing.
Let us proceed.
Our poet represents a marriage happy in a good accord wherein
nevertheless there is not much loyalty. Does he mean, that it is not
impossible but a woman may give the reins to her own passion, and yield
to the importunities of love, and yet reserve some duty toward marriage,
and that it may be hurt, without being totally broken? A serving man may
cheat his master, whom nevertheless he does not hate. Beauty,
opportunity, and destiny (for destiny has also a hand in’t),
“Fatum est in partibus illis
Quas sinus abscondit; nam, si tibi sidera cessent,
Nil faciet longi mensura incognita nervi;”
[“There is a fatality about the hidden parts: let nature have
endowed you however liberally, ‘tis of no use, if your good star
fails you in the nick of time.”--Juvenal, ix. 32.]
have attached her to a stranger; though not so wholly, peradventure, but
that she may have some remains of kindness for her husband. They are two
designs, that have several paths leading to them, without being
confounded with one another; a woman may yield to a man she would by no
means have married, not only for the condition of his fortune, but for
those also of his person. Few men have made a wife of a mistress, who
have not repented it. And even in the other world, what an unhappy life
does Jupiter lead with his, whom he had first enjoyed as a mistress!
‘Tis, as the proverb runs, to befoul a basket and then put it upon one’s
head. I have in my time, in a good family, seen love shamefully and
dishonestly cured by marriage: the considerations are widely different.
We love at once, without any tie, two things contrary in themselves.
Socrates was wont to say, that the city of Athens pleased, as ladies do
whom men court for love; every one loved to come thither to take a turn,
and pass away his time; but no one liked it so well as to espouse it,
that is, to inhabit there, and to make it his constant residence. I have
been vexed to see husbands hate their wives only because they themselves
do them wrong; we should not, at all events, methinks, love them the less
for our own faults; they should at least, upon the account of repentance
and compassion, be dearer to us.
They are different ends, he says, and yet in some sort compatible;
marriage has utility, justice, honour, and constancy for its share;
a flat, but more universal pleasure: love founds itself wholly upon
pleasure, and, indeed, has it more full, lively, and sharp; a pleasure
inflamed by difficulty; there must be in it sting and smart: ‘tis no
longer love, if without darts and fire. The bounty of ladies is too
profuse in marriage, and dulls the point of affection and desire: to
evade which inconvenience, do but observe what pains Lycurgus and Plato
take in their laws.
Women are not to blame at all, when they refuse the rules of life that
are introduced into the world, forasmuch as the men make them without
their help. There is naturally contention and brawling betwixt them and
us; and the strictest friendship we have with them is yet mixed with
tumult and tempest. In the opinion of our author, we deal
inconsiderately with them in this: after we have discovered that they
are, without comparison, more able and ardent in the practice of love
than we, and that the old priest testified as much, who had been one
while a man, and then a woman:
“Venus huic erat utraque nota:”
[“Both aspects of love were known to him,”
--Tiresias. Ovid. Metam., iii. 323.]
and moreover, that we have learned from their own mouths the proof that,
in several ages, was made by an Emperor and Empress of Rome,--[Proclus.]
--both famous for ability in that affair! for he in one night deflowered
ten Sarmatian virgins who were his captives: but she had five-and-twenty
bouts in one night, changing her man according to her need and liking;
“Adhuc ardens rigidae tentigine vulvae
Et lassata viris, nondum satiata, recessit:”
[“Ardent still, she retired, fatigued, but not satisfied.”
--Juvenal, vi. 128.]
and that upon the dispute which happened in Cataluna, wherein a wife
complaining of her husband’s too frequent addresses to her, not so much,
as I conceive, that she was incommodated by it (for I believe no miracles
out of religion) as under this pretence, to curtail and curb in this,
which is the fundamental act of marriage, the authority of husbands over
their wives, and to shew that their frowardness and malignity go beyond
the nuptial bed, and spurn under foot even the graces and sweets of
Venus; the husband, a man truly brutish and unnatural, replied, that even
on fasting days he could not subsist with less than ten courses:
whereupon came out that notable sentence of the Queen of Arragon, by
which, after mature deliberation of her council, this good queen, to give
a rule and example to all succeeding ages of the moderation required in
a just marriage, set down six times a day as a legitimate and necessary
stint; surrendering and quitting a great deal of the needs and desires of
her sex, that she might, she said, establish an easy, and consequently, a
permanent and immutable rule. Hereupon the doctors cry out: what must
the female appetite and concupiscence be, when their reason, their
reformation and virtue, are taxed at such a rate, considering the divers
judgments of our appetites? for Solon, master of the law school, taxes
us but at three a month,--that men may not fail in point of conjugal
frequentation: after having, I say, believed and preached all this, we go
and enjoin them continency for their particular share, and upon the last
and extreme penalties.
There is no passion so hard to contend with as this, which we would have
them only resist, not simply as an ordinary vice, but as an execrable
abomination, worse than irreligion and parricide; whilst we, at the same
time, go to’t without offence or reproach. Even those amongst us who
have tried the experiment have sufficiently confessed what difficulty, or
rather impossibility, they have found by material remedies to subdue,
weaken, and cool the body. We, on the contrary, would have them at once
sound, vigorous plump, high-fed, and chaste; that is to say, both hot and
cold; for the marriage, which we tell them is to keep them from burning,
is but small refreshment to them, as we order the matter. If they take
one whose vigorous age is yet boiling, he will be proud to make it known
elsewhere;
“Sit tandem pudor; aut eamus in jus;
Multis mentula millibus redempta,
Non est haec tua, Basse; vendidisti;”
[“Let there be some shame, or we shall go to law: your vigour,
bought by your wife with many thousands, is no longer yours: thou
hast sold it.--“Martial, xii. 90.]
Polemon the philosopher was justly by his wife brought before the judge
for sowing in a barren field the seed that was due to one that was
fruitful: if, on the other hand, they take a decayed fellow, they are in
a worse condition in marriage than either maids or widows. We think them
well provided for, because they have a man to lie with, as the Romans
concluded Clodia Laeta, a vestal nun, violated, because Caligula had
approached her, though it was declared he did no more but approach her:
but, on the contrary, we by that increase their necessity, forasmuch as
the touch and company of any man whatever rouses their desires, that in
solitude would be more quiet. And to the end, ‘tis likely, that they
might render their chastity more meritorious by this circumstance and
consideration, Boleslas and Kinge his wife, kings of Poland, vowed it by
mutual consent, being in bed together, on their very wedding day, and
kept their vow in spite of all matrimonial conveniences.
We train them up from their infancy to the traffic of love; their grace,
dressing, knowledge, language, and whole instruction tend that way: their
governesses imprint nothing in them but the idea of love, if for nothing
else but by continually representing it to them, to give them a distaste
for it. My daughter, the only child I have, is now of an age that
forward young women are allowed to be married at; she is of a slow, thin,
and tender complexion, and has accordingly been brought up by her mother
after a retired and particular manner, so that she but now begins to be
weaned from her childish simplicity. She was reading before me in a
French book where the word ‘fouteau’, the name of a tree very well known,
occurred;--[The beech-tree; the name resembles in sound an obscene
French word.]--the woman, to whose conduct she is committed, stopped her
short a little roughly, and made her skip over that dangerous step. I
let her alone, not to trouble their rules, for I never concern myself in
that sort of government; feminine polity has a mysterious procedure; we
must leave it to them; but if I am not mistaken the commerce of twenty
lacquies could not, in six months’ time, have so imprinted in her memory
the meaning, usage, and all the consequence of the sound of these wicked
syllables, as this good old woman did by reprimand and interdiction.
“Motus doceri gaudet Ionicos
Matura virgo, et frangitur artibus;
Jam nunc et incestos amores
De tenero, meditatur ungui.”
[“The maid ripe for marriage delights to learn Ionic dances, and to
imitate those lascivious movements. Nay, already from her infancy
she meditates criminal amours.”--Horace, Od., iii. 6, 21., the text
has ‘fingitur’.]
Let them but give themselves the rein a little, let them but enter into
liberty of discourse, we are but children to them in this science. Hear
them but describe our pursuits and conversation, they will very well make
you understand that we bring them nothing they have not known before, and
digested without our help.
[This sentence refers to a conversation between some young women in
his immediate neighbourhood, which the Essayist just below informs
us that he overheard, and which was too shocking for him to repeat.
It must have been tolerably bad.--Remark by the editor of a later
edition.]
Is it, perhaps, as Plato says, that they have formerly been debauched
young fellows? I happened one day to be in a place where I could hear
some of their talk without suspicion; I am sorry I cannot repeat it.
By’rlady, said I, we had need go study the phrases of Amadis, and the
tales of Boccaccio and Aretin, to be able to discourse with them: we
employ our time to much purpose indeed. There is neither word, example,
nor step they are not more perfect in than our books; ‘tis a discipline
that springs with their blood,
“Et mentem ipsa Venus dedit,”
[“Venus herself made them what they are,”
--Virg., Georg., iii. 267.]
which these good instructors, nature, youth, and health, are continually
inspiring them with; they need not learn, they breed it:
“Nec tantum niveo gavisa est ulla columbo,
Compar, vel si quid dicitur improbius,
Oscula mordenti semper decerpere rostro,
Quantum praecipue multivola est mulier.”
[“No milk-white dove, or if there be a thing more lascivious,
takes so much delight in kissing as woman, wishful for every man
she sees.”--Catullus, lxvi. 125.]
So that if the natural violence of their desire were not a little
restrained by fear and honour, which were wisely contrived for them, we
should be all shamed. All the motions in the world resolve into and tend
to this conjunction; ‘tis a matter infused throughout: ‘tis a centre to
which all things are directed. We yet see the edicts of the old and wise
Rome made for the service of love, and the precepts of Socrates for the
instruction of courtezans:
“Noncon libelli Stoici inter sericos
Jacere pulvillos amant:”
[“There are writings of the Stoics which we find lying upon
silken cushions.”--Horace, Epod., viii. 15.]
Zeno, amongst his laws, also regulated the motions to be observed in
getting a maidenhead. What was the philosopher Strato’s book Of Carnal
Conjunction?--[ Diogenes Laertius, v. 59.]--And what did Theophrastus
treat of in those he intituled, the one ‘The Lover’, and the other ‘Of
Love?’ Of what Aristippus in his ‘Of Former Delights’? What do the so
long and lively descriptions in Plato of the loves of his time pretend
to? and the book called ‘The Lover’, of Demetrius Phalereus? and
‘Clinias’, or the ‘Ravished Lover’, of Heraclides; and that of
Antisthenes, ‘Of Getting Children’, or, ‘Of Weddings’, and the other,
‘Of the Master or the Lover’? And that of Aristo: ‘Of Amorous Exercises’
What those of Cleanthes: one, ‘Of Love’, the other, ‘Of the Art of
Loving’? The amorous dialogues of Sphaereus? and the fable of Jupiter
and Juno, of Chrysippus, impudent beyond all toleration? And his fifty
so lascivious epistles? I will let alone the writings of the
philosophers of the Epicurean sect, protectress of voluptuousness. Fifty
deities were, in time past, assigned to this office; and there have been
nations where, to assuage the lust of those who came to their devotion,
they kept men and women in their temples for the worshippers to lie with;
and it was an act of ceremony to do this before they went to prayers:
“Nimirum propter continentiam incontinentia necessaria est;
incendium ignibus extinguitur.”
[“Forsooth incontinency is necessary for continency’s sake; a
conflagration is extinguished by fire.”]
In the greatest part of the world, that member of our body was deified;
in the same province, some flayed off the skin to offer and consecrate a
piece; others offered and consecrated their seed. In another, the young
men publicly cut through betwixt the skin and the flesh of that part in
several places, and thrust pieces of wood into the openings as long and
thick as they would receive, and of these pieces of wood afterwards made
a fire as an offering to their gods; and were reputed neither vigorous
nor chaste, if by the force of that cruel pain they seemed to be at all
dismayed. Elsewhere the most sacred magistrate was reverenced and
acknowledged by that member and in several ceremonies the effigy of it
was carried in pomp to the honour of various divinities. The Egyptian
ladies, in their Bacchanalia, each carried one finely-carved of wood
about their necks, as large and heavy as she could so carry it; besides
which, the statue of their god presented one, which in greatness
surpassed all the rest of his body.--[Herodotus, ii. 48, says “nearly
as large as the body itself.”]--The married women, near the place where
I live, make of their kerchiefs the figure of one upon their foreheads,
to glorify themselves in the enjoyment they have of it; and coming to be
widows, they throw it behind, and cover it with their headcloths. The
most modest matrons of Rome thought it an honour to offer flowers and
garlands to the god Priapus; and they made the virgins, at the time of
their espousals, sit upon his shameful parts. And I know not whether I
have not in my time seen some air of like devotion. What was the meaning
of that ridiculous piece of the chaussuye of our forefathers, and that is
still worn by our Swiss? [“Cod-pieces worn”--Cotton]--To what end do we
make a show of our implements in figure under our breeches, and often,
which is worse, above their natural size, by falsehood and imposture?
I have half a mind to believe that this sort of vestment was invented in
the better and more conscientious ages, that the world might not be
deceived, and that every one should give a public account of his
proportions: the simple nations wear them yet, and near about the real
size. In those days, the tailor took measure of it, as the shoemaker
does now of a man’s foot. That good man, who, when I was young, gelded
so many noble and ancient statues in his great city, that they might not
corrupt the sight of the ladies, according to the advice of this other
ancient worthy:
“Flagitii principium est, nudare inter gives corpora,”
[“‘Tis the beginning of wickedness to expose their persons among the
citizens”--Ennius, ap. Cicero, Tusc. Quaes., iv. 33.]
should have called to mind, that, as in the mysteries of the Bona Dea,
all masculine appearance was excluded, he did nothing, if he did not geld
horses and asses, in short, all nature:
“Omne adeo genus in terris, hominumque, ferarumque,
Et genus aequoreum, pecudes, pictaeque volucres,
In furias ignemque ruunt.”
[“So that all living things, men and animals, wild or tame,
and fish and gaudy fowl, rush to this flame of love.”
--Virgil, Georg., iii. 244.]
The gods, says Plato, have given us one disobedient and unruly member
that, like a furious animal, attempts, by the violence of its appetite,
to subject all things to it; and so they have given to women one like a
greedy and ravenous animal, which, if it be refused food in season, grows
wild, impatient of delay, and infusing its rage into their bodies, stops
the passages, and hinders respiration, causing a thousand ills, till,
having imbibed the fruit of the common thirst, it has plentifully bedewed
the bottom of their matrix. Now my legislator--[The Pope who, as
Montaigne has told us, took it into his head to geld the statues.]--
should also have considered that, peradventure, it were a chaster and
more fruitful usage to let them know the fact as it is betimes, than
permit them to guess according to the liberty and heat of their own
fancy; instead of the real parts they substitute, through hope and
desire, others that are three times more extravagant; and a certain
friend of mine lost himself by producing his in place and time when the
opportunity was not present to put them to their more serious use. What
mischief do not those pictures of prodigious dimension do that the boys
make upon the staircases and galleries of the royal houses? they give the
ladies a cruel contempt of our natural furniture. And what do we know
but that Plato, after other well-instituted republics, ordered that the
men and women, old and young, should expose themselves naked to the view
of one another, in his gymnastic exercises, upon that very account? The
Indian women who see the men in their natural state, have at least cooled
the sense of seeing. And let the women of the kingdom of Pegu say what
they will, who below the waist have nothing to cover them but a cloth
slit before, and so strait, that what decency and modesty soever they
pretend by it, at every step all is to be seen, that it is an invention
to allure the men to them, and to divert them from boys, to whom that
nation is generally inclined; yet, peradventure they lose more by it than
they get, and one may venture to say, that an entire appetite is more
sharp than one already half-glutted by the eyes. Livia was wont to say,
that to a virtuous woman a naked man was but a statue. The Lacedaemonian
women, more virgins when wives than our daughters are, saw every day the
young men of their city stripped naked in their exercises, themselves
little heeding to cover their thighs in walking, believing themselves,
says Plato, sufficiently covered by their virtue without any other robe.
But those, of whom St. Augustin speaks, have given nudity a wonderful
power of temptation, who have made it a doubt, whether women at the day
of judgment shall rise again in their own sex, and not rather in ours,
for fear of tempting us again in that holy state. In brief, we allure
and flesh them by all sorts of ways: we incessantly heat and stir up
their imagination, and then we find fault. Let us confess the truth;
there is scarce one of us who does not more apprehend the shame that
accrues to him by the vices of his wife than by his own, and that is not
more solicitous (a wonderful charity) of the conscience of his virtuous
wife than of his own; who had not rather commit theft and sacrilege, and
that his wife was a murderess and a heretic, than that she should not be
more chaste than her husband: an unjust estimate of vices. Both we and
they are capable of a thousand corruptions more prejudicial and unnatural
than lust: but we weigh vices, not according to nature, but according to
our interest; by which means they take so many unequal forms.
The austerity of our decrees renders the application of women to this
vice more violent and vicious than its own condition needs, and engages
it in consequences worse than their cause: they will readily offer to go
to the law courts to seek for gain, and to the wars to get reputation,
rather than in the midst of ease and delights, to have to keep so
difficult a guard. Do not they very well see that there is neither
merchant nor soldier who will not leave his business to run after this
sport, or the porter or cobbler, toiled and tired out as they are with
labour and hunger?
“Num tu, qux tenuit dives Achaemenes,
Aut pinguis Phrygiae Mygdonias opes,
Permutare velis crine Licymnim?
Plenas aut Arabum domos,
Dum fragrantia detorquet ad oscula
Cervicem, aut facili sxvitia negat,
Quae poscente magis gaudeat eripi,
Interdum rapere occupet?”
[“Wouldst thou not exchange all that the wealthy Arhaemenes had,
or the Mygdonian riches of fertile Phrygia, for one ringlet of
Licymnia’s hair? or the treasures of the Arabians, when she turns
her head to you for fragrant kisses, or with easily assuaged anger
denies them, which she would rather by far you took by force, and
sometimes herself snatches one!”--Horace, Od., ii. 12, 21.]
I do not know whether the exploits of Alexander and Caesar really surpass
the resolution of a beautiful young woman, bred up after our fashion, in
the light and commerce of the world, assailed by so many contrary
examples, and yet keeping herself entire in the midst of a thousand
continual and powerful solicitations. There is no doing more difficult
than that not doing, nor more active:
I hold it more easy to carry a suit of armour all the days of one’s life
than a maidenhead; and the vow of virginity of all others is the most
noble, as being the hardest to keep:
“Diaboli virtus in lumbis est,”
says St. Jerome. We have, doubtless, resigned to the ladies the most
difficult and most vigorous of all human endeavours, and let us resign to
them the glory too. This ought to encourage them to be obstinate in it;
‘tis a brave thing for them to defy us, and to spurn under foot that vain
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- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 017Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4913Total number of unique words is 151142.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words60.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words68.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 018Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4865Total number of unique words is 158241.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words67.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 019Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4860Total number of unique words is 152640.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words57.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words65.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 020Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4766Total number of unique words is 145044.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 021Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4804Total number of unique words is 147543.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words60.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words68.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 022Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4967Total number of unique words is 153045.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 023Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5004Total number of unique words is 152948.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words68.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 024Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4791Total number of unique words is 161742.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words60.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words68.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 025Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4729Total number of unique words is 145543.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words69.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 026Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4895Total number of unique words is 151546.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 027Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4959Total number of unique words is 155746.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 028Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4818Total number of unique words is 158641.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 029Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4939Total number of unique words is 155044.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words70.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 030Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4888Total number of unique words is 155443.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 031Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4799Total number of unique words is 155843.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 032Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4784Total number of unique words is 166741.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words57.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 033Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4887Total number of unique words is 153143.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 034Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4763Total number of unique words is 149343.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words69.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 035Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4777Total number of unique words is 164541.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words59.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words68.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 036Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4812Total number of unique words is 156642.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words59.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words67.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 037Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4976Total number of unique words is 146249.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words69.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 038Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4949Total number of unique words is 144146.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 039Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5086Total number of unique words is 141551.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words69.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 040Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5052Total number of unique words is 141248.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 041Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4988Total number of unique words is 142545.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 042Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4890Total number of unique words is 142745.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 043Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4805Total number of unique words is 153242.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words70.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 044Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4969Total number of unique words is 141643.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 045Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4977Total number of unique words is 147845.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 046Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4918Total number of unique words is 166839.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words57.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words65.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 047Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4959Total number of unique words is 160942.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 048Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4840Total number of unique words is 163539.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words55.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words63.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 049Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4930Total number of unique words is 143640.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 050Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4742Total number of unique words is 153038.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words56.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words65.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 051Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4932Total number of unique words is 151539.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words55.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words63.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 052Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4878Total number of unique words is 157839.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words56.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words63.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 053Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4811Total number of unique words is 152337.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words55.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words63.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 054Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4864Total number of unique words is 153440.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words67.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 055Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5000Total number of unique words is 141944.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 056Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4864Total number of unique words is 159241.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words67.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 057Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4881Total number of unique words is 151840.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 058Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4940Total number of unique words is 147243.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words59.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 059Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4669Total number of unique words is 155741.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 060Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4782Total number of unique words is 150542.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words59.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 061Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4884Total number of unique words is 146542.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words60.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words69.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 062Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4856Total number of unique words is 155544.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words69.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 063Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5006Total number of unique words is 146246.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 064Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4849Total number of unique words is 149143.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 065Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4893Total number of unique words is 151146.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 066Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4875Total number of unique words is 153343.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words69.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 067Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4837Total number of unique words is 156644.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 068Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4970Total number of unique words is 152046.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 069Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4964Total number of unique words is 144646.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 070Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4908Total number of unique words is 146945.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 071Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4980Total number of unique words is 141251.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words68.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 072Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4907Total number of unique words is 144945.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 073Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4977Total number of unique words is 140946.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 074Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5152Total number of unique words is 139948.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 075Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4857Total number of unique words is 143845.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 076Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4965Total number of unique words is 145445.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 077Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5078Total number of unique words is 142345.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 078Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4990Total number of unique words is 145845.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 079Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4812Total number of unique words is 156446.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 080Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4787Total number of unique words is 162140.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words57.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 081Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4763Total number of unique words is 161542.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words57.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words66.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 082Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4779Total number of unique words is 154844.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words60.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words67.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 083Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4866Total number of unique words is 155542.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 084Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4776Total number of unique words is 155742.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words70.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 085Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4785Total number of unique words is 157145.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 086Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4747Total number of unique words is 156741.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words70.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 087Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5022Total number of unique words is 145547.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 088Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4935Total number of unique words is 142746.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 089Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4966Total number of unique words is 139148.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 090Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4888Total number of unique words is 149743.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words69.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 091Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4903Total number of unique words is 145544.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 092Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5068Total number of unique words is 150346.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 093Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4993Total number of unique words is 145847.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 094Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4866Total number of unique words is 147544.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 095Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4816Total number of unique words is 144045.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 096Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4894Total number of unique words is 154343.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words70.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 097Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4901Total number of unique words is 146346.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 098Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4772Total number of unique words is 161040.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words65.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 099Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4909Total number of unique words is 145147.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 100Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4899Total number of unique words is 148047.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 101Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4939Total number of unique words is 145244.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 102Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5068Total number of unique words is 144246.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 103Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4987Total number of unique words is 147947.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 104Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 5081Total number of unique words is 148248.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 105Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4841Total number of unique words is 152741.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words60.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words68.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 106Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4628Total number of unique words is 141048.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words68.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words78.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 107Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4543Total number of unique words is 144747.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words68.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- Essays of Michel de Montaigne - 108Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 2607Total number of unique words is 90156.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words75.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words82.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words