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    1192 THE LEADER. [No , 403, December 12 ...

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    NEW NOVELS. White Lies. A Story. By Char...

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    Montaigne The Essayist. Montaigne The Es...

    have been an exuberant lover ; according to his own account he was almost a Rousseau in the precocity and variety of his passions . Later , he took the taint that corrupted the Court of Francis the First ; he gambled , gave wajr to the wildest licence , made himself ridiculous b y the fanciful variety of his costume , and yet -was sublimely pure in comparison with the generations that followed . Here is a sketch in Lower-Roman colours : — It is impossible to paint , except for a secret gallery , copies of the manners of a period when it seems to have be « n the custom for ladies to overwhelm their lovers , otherwise coy , with presents ; when an Italian prince marvelled to receive a young girl in marriage from France uncorrupted ; -when that strange instrument , so ludicrously exhibited at the Museum of Cluny , was publicly bought at the fair of St . Germain by husbands forced to leave their wivesunguarded , until lovers threatened to murder the dealer if he did not decamp ; and when men-servants dressed and undressed their noble mistresses , put on their stockings , and handed them their chemises . Tbe records we have of the mingled naivete and coarseness of that age are astonishing . It was firmly believed by many that a magician , onceto please Francis I .

    ^ , , made the toilettes of all the ladies of that prince ' s court invisible or transparent . Impassioned lovers , when they bought silk stockings , used to go to their mistresses and beg them to wear them for a few days before they put them on . The court transacted its affairs quite in a family way . Mademoiselle de Limeuil wrote a clever satire when she came to court to- attend on the queen , and waa whipped with two accomplices for her impertinence . At this time the French ladies had not yet acquired their reputation for elegance and taste in dress . They were taught the art of the toilette by the Queen of Navarre , -who carried out the views of her sagacious mother . Indeed , as soon as the influence of Catherine de Medici began to be felt in reality , the corruption of France increased , but became more gorgeous and refined . There was then a perfect fury for adornments and costumes ; and , as an historian naively remarks , ' modesty suffered . I sbould think so , when at the banquet of Plessis-les-Tours , given by Henry III ., all the ladies were dressed as men , in green silk ; and at one immediately following , given by the Queen-Mother at Chenonceaux , they served at table almost without any dresses at all !

    It is more pleasant to -watch the growth of Montaigne ' s heroic friendship with Estienne de la Boetie , a sentiment that influenced his life , his mind , his works , and became the admiration of his posterity . Such passages are rare , even in the biographies of the most illustrious men . We agree with Mr .. St . John , that some account of La Boetie was essential to a Life of Montaigne ; certainly no personage mentioned in the history of literature has been more elaborately caricatured ; few deserve better to be justly known than the eloquent Sarladais . We shall await with curiosity Dr . Fayen ' s repl y to Mr . St , John ' s chapter , headed * Two Ingenious Writers contrasted ; ' ify > indeed , a reply be possible . The famous treatise against despotism—which we would gladly see republished in England—is thus estimated : — _ I need scarcely enter into any criticism of the literary character of the Treatise . By common consent , it is classed now among the masterpieces of the French language . Wo one denies it to be fall of eloquent amplifications and fiery apostrophes , of sentences , of images , of turns of phraseology that render it a marvel , no matter at what age written . Its influence has been great , especially on the style of republican writers in troublous times .

    There are passages in Milton ' s prose works which would seem written under that inspiration , if Milton , equally imbued with classical literature , and more copious , more enthusiastic , more republican still , did not rather naturally fall into the same tone . Ve find reminiscences of La BoStie in Rousseau , in Lamennais , in all who have had occakion to attack Monarchy . On English readers , who neglect to carry lack their imaginations three centuries , and into another country , hia tone sometimes produces an unpleasant effect . Misled hy the name of the office of our chief magistrate , against whom boys of sixteen , less cultivated than La BoStie , perhaps now imitatively declaim , they are offended by this terrific attack on Monarchy ; which is , of course , as inapplicable to any part of our . institutions as a diatribe against an elector of Hanover -would be if applied to an elector of Westminster .

    La Boetie -was Montaigne ' s friend . His associates , of course , were numerous . He could not live in Paris without being fascinated by the fame of Ronsard , at whose feet a king had , in a poem , laid a crown ; and there are grounds for assuming that Montaigne , introduced by Pibrac , attended the Academy of Poets established by Ba'if ; he was personally acquainted with Taaso , with Catherine de Medici , and with the three kings , her sons , and lived long enough in brilliant circles to be disgusted with them . In 1571 , retiring to a learned solitude at his chateau , he explored all living literature ; and taking advantage of this event , his biographer devotes a most interesting chapter to the Chateau de Montaigne , especially the Tower : — There are two stories of the tower , which is round and massive like a dungeon , and attached to a square tower , smaller , but of about equal height . On the ground-floor ,

    which Montaigne counts as a story , we find the chapel alluded to in the Essays . There we are shown the altar , and an aperture communicating with a recess on the first-floor , where Montaigne , according to local tradition , used sometimes to ait and hear mass ; perhaps with a Seneca slily in his hand , or a nightcap on his head . On the summit of the building may still be seen the little chamber where hung a huge bell , which every day , morning and evening , used to ring the Ave Maria with such violence that the tower itaelf waa astonished ; ' yet Montaigne by degrees got accustomed to it , and was no more kept awake than by the sermons of his chaplain—if he had one , and did not rather depend upon some neighbour or chance passenger for spiritual food . Perhapa there was no other chapel for his retainers and farmers in the dutrict .

    Here were composed tie Essays : — The Essays bear many marks of having ljeen written by a country gentleman . The murmur from the farmyard sometimes reoounda through Montaigne ' s aentences ; and breezes from orchard , and kill , and valley , fan our cheeks as we nutter hia leaves . He is no minute deacriber : he does not paint the roughnesses of tree bark or count the veins of a leaf ; but the masses around cast impressions into his mind which he reproduces . " When I dance , I dance , " » aya he ; explaining how each purauit absorbed him in its turn . " When I slumber , I slumber ; and when I stroll alone beneath the branches of a fair orchard , if I allow my thoughts to commune awhile -with

    things remote and foreign , » ome other while I recal them to my stroll , to the orchard , to the sweetness of the solitude , and to myself . " TIub fair orchard belonged to him and still exists behind the cliateau , gently spread on the eastern slope of the hill . All Ws illustrations of a similar kind seem gathered under the shadow of his entitle , on the day ha uses them . They axe like freah-picked flowers , which have not yet felt the warmth of the bosom on which they glow . He finds them in every corner of tho valley : * 'Wedo not advance in this life , wo are carried along , like trifles floating on a tream ; now lapsing gently , now hurrying rapidly , as the water is lively or slow . " He ta « ridently down on the banks of the Didoiro , which indeed , when I last ruffled

    its grassy banks , creating an image to flit by me through those solitmW r minds are the tombs from which ghosts come out to haunt the wotlA-S-h i ? ing autumn leaves along in a narrow bed , tliere allowing them to rest in « J 7 *™ 1 ! But he goes further , and notices the progress which the Dordome is mljVJ- " ^ - away its banks , so as to carry off many houses by the foundations Thi . * ! v destruction of his brother ' s estate in Medoc by the sea , enabled him to im ! wt j !^ supposed disappearance of the Atlantis . "" uersrana U 13 His wife and children supply materials for two chapters ; then tom ,, household experiences—very characteristic ; next , neighbours and friend ^ then , books in the Essayist ' s library . It is particularly interests to tr- £ , \ the studies of such a man , and wander over the fields which weretfs liter *!* pastures : — ^" J

    Montaigne , like Shakspeare , and Butler , and Milton , owed debts , even in matter that appear most personal , on every side . Not only classical , but Italian and French poetry , furnished him with colours , which lie used without scruple . There have been earnest , self-sacrificing men , who have disdained this process , fancying that thev were bound to get their silk out of their own entrails , and that mulberry-trees were made for nothing . But it has been followed by all great national writers , and it is nee > sary to point out that it was followed especially by Montaigne , v " The Essayist read poetry , he says , for pleasure only ; but other boohs for intel lectual profit , too , as Plutarch and Seneca . Both these Moralists had that notable convenience for him , that they wrote in a broken manner , and did not require anv obstinate reading . The 'Opuscules' of Plutarch , and the 'Epistles' of Seneca h > considered the finest and most profitable part of their writings Their instruction is the cream of philosophy , and is presented in a simple and pertinent fashion . Plutarch is more uniform and constant ; Seneca more : undulating and diverse This ontroubles himself , and makes violent efforts , to arm virtue against weakness , fear ami the vicious appetitesThe other not to estimate the '

    . seems danger so greatlyand disdains to hurry his step and take up a posture of defence . Plutarch has Platonic opinions , gentle and accommodated to Civil Society ; the other has Stoical and Epicurean opinions , further removed from common use , but in Montaigne ' opinion more adapted to private use , and firmer . "It appears in Seneca , that he gives way a little to the tyranny of the emperors of his time ( for I hold it as certain that it was by a forced judgment that he condemned the cause of those generous murderers of Caesar ") whilst Plutarch is free everywhere . Sene « a is full of points and sallies ; Plutarch of things . The former warms us and moves us jnore ; the latter gives more content , and repays us -best .- - He leads , whilst the other pushes . " Elsewhere Montaigne says that his Essays are built up with the spoils of Plutarch and Seneca . Never was author so scrupulous in acknowledging his general obligations to others as Montaigne . Indeed he far exaggerates them . He rarely , however , gives references , and sometimes melts extracts so completely into his own speculations that We aie not aware they are not original . Writers have be « n accused of plagiarising the Essays , wlio have merely imitated the ancients .

    This quotation is but a fragment , separated froni an elaborate account of Montaigne ' s researches among books . To an analysis of the Essays , Mr . St . John adds : — An endeavour to sketch some of the chief features of the Essays in a way suited to the undidactic character of this work has led me into a desultory chapter . It would , however , be difficult to describe so varied and complicated a work in a manner more connected . If my account be incomplete vit suggests ' at any rate the idea of incompleteness ; and if an apparent contradiction sometimes occurs , it is because Montaigne is full of contradictions , which can be explained in only one way . "If I paint myself diversely , " he says , "it is because I see myself diversely . " How imprison a judgment of such a mail ' s productions in a few even , and consistent sentences ? Those who have endeavoured to do so , have generally been content to take a portion of Montaigne for Montaigne himself . For my part , I feel an uncertainty about some of his doctrines , which I should with regret see displaced by absolute conviction . When

    a definite critical conviction is formed , it is often put aside and allowed to grow rusty . Doubt keeps the mind active . —Was , then , the Essayist an absolute unbeliever , hiding behind the mask of false piety ; or was he half a Christian , half a Pagan—an admirer sometimes of the Apostate Julian , sometimes a worshipper of ' Truth itself ?* Both opinions , as the Jesuits say , are probable ; and 1 often feel inclined to lean towards the one , often towards the other . Morally and philosophically , however , it is a venturesome task to judge any man in the last resort ; and , after some years' communion with a professed doubter , I have learned to doubt my infallibility as a critic . We must remember , finally , that Montaigne would not say " I am ignorant , " or " I doubt ; " for this was affirmation ; but adopted as his device the interrogation , Qua sqa-y-jk ?

    And with this perpetual question on his lips he passed through life The story of his travels is delightful . Montaigne had a rare way of describing his own peregrinations , and hia choicest passages intersperse Mr . St . John ' s narration . The biography contains so much that is new and informing , that it is impossible to do more than indicate its general characteristics . We have described the basis upon which Mr . St . John has built , and the proportions of his work ; more , it is not for us to say , except , perhaps , that this is obviously the book upon which he has bestowed the chief thought and labour of fifteen years .

    1192 The Leader. [No , 403, December 12 ...

    1192 THE LEADER . [ No , 403 , December 12 1857 ,

    New Novels. White Lies. A Story. By Char...

    NEW NOVELS . White Lies . A Story . By Charles Reade . 3 rols . ( Trubner and Co . )—A rAVovKiTB authoress , we believe , wrote a story entitled White Lies . Mr . Reade ' s belongs to a different class . It is based upon French materials , and sprinkled with French idioms ; the names of places and persons are French , while the characters and conversations are such as are generally found in three volumes . Published originally in a penny journal , this tale seems to have been written down to an imaginary level upon which the author supposed that the intellects and sympathies of his readers would range . The idea was a mistake—we believe it was a failure . White Lies was not popular in competition with its predecessors in the same scries . It

    is now presented , in a shape more conventional , to tlie circulating-library reader . Tho narrative is of the lust century , the chief locality is a chateau in Brittany ; the principal personages are Madame de Beiiurcpaire , her daughters Laure and Josephine , Jncintha a maid , St . Aubin a friend of the family , a hero or two of iron fabric , and lovers proper for each of the damsels . These gentry become involved in misfortunes , and a long history unwinds in order to make them all happy again . In the first volume , many chapters pass without tho sli g htest dramatic action ; they are mado up almost wholly of description , ejaculation , and dialogue ; in the second thu narrative moves with more spirit ; in tho third , although interrupted hy large digressive passages , it becomes comparatively interesting . Strictly speaking , however , White Lies is excessively bare of incident , and this , wo are afraid .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 12, 1857, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12121857/page/16/