'Tis
ridiculous
to speak, or write, or preach in Verse.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v22 - Sac to Sha
I, pained and abashed at my own indiscretion, wanted to
withdraw, murmuring words of excuse.
"Who are you? What do you want? he said in a strong
voice, holding my arm.
"I am Sir Bernard of Roche-Bernard; and I have just arrived
from Bretagne. "
"I know, I know," he said, and threw himself into my arms;
then made me sit beside him, talking so eagerly of my father
and all my family that I did not doubt he was the owner of the
castle.
"You are M. de C-? " I asked.
He rose and looked at me excitedly. "I was, but I am no
longer; I am nothing! " And seeing my astonishment, he ex-
claimed, "Not another word, young man: do not question me! "
"But, sir, I have unintentionally witnessed your sorrow; and
if my friendship, my devotion, can bring you any comfort-»
"Yes, yes, you're right. Not that you can change my fate,
but at least you can receive my last wishes. That is all I ask of
you! "
He closed the door; then sat down again beside me, who,
trembling and agitated, awaited his words. His physiognomy
bore an expression I had never seen on any one. The brow I
studied seemed marked by fatality. His face was pale; his black
eyes flashed; from time to time his features, changed by suffer-
ing, contracted with an ironic, infernal smile.
"What I am going to tell you," he continued, "will confound
your reason. You will doubt you will not believe I myself
still doubt very often, at least I try to: but there are the
proofs; and in all our surroundings in our very organization —
there are many other mysteries that we have to accept without
understanding. "
――――――
He stopped a moment as though to collect his ideas, passed a
hand over his brow, and went on:-
"I was born in this castle. I had two brothers, both older,
who would inherit the property and titles of our family. There
was nothing for me but an abbé's mantle; and yet thoughts of
glory and ambition fermented in my head, and made my heart
## p. 13094 (#528) ##########################################
13094
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
beat. Unhappy in obscurity, hungry for renown, I dreamed only
how to acquire it, and was insensible to all the pleasures and
sweetness of life. The present was nothing to me; I lived only
in the future, and that presented itself to me in darkest colors.
"I was almost thirty, and had accomplished nothing. At that
time, in the capital, literary reputations whose fame reached even
our province were springing up everywhere.
"Ah! I often said to myself, if I could only win a name in
letters! That would give me the glory which is the only happi-
ness!
"As confidant of my sorrows I had an old servant, an aged
negro, who had been in the castle before I was born, and was
certainly the most ancient inmate, for no one remembered his
coming. The country people declared even that he had known
Marshal Fabert, and had witnessed his death. "
I started; and the speaker asked me what was the matter.
"Nothing," I answered; but I could not help thinking of the
black man about whom my landlord had been talking the evening
before.
M. de C continued: "One day, before Yago (that was the
negro's name), I yielded to the despair inspired by my obscurity
and useless existence, and cried out, I would give ten years of
my life to be placed in the first rank of our authors! '
"Ten years,' he said coldly: 'that is a great deal. That is
a large price for a slight thing. Never mind. I accept your ten
I will take them. Remember your promise; I will keep
years.
mine. '
"I cannot paint my surprise at hearing this. I thought the
years must have enfeebled his reason. I smiled and shrugged
my shoulders; and a few days later I left this castle to go to
Paris. There I found myself launched in literary circles. Their
example encouraged me; and I published several works whose
success I won't recount now. All Paris hastened to applaud
them; the journals resounded with my praises; the new name I
had adopted became famous: and even yesterday, young man,
you yourself were admiring it-»
Here another gesture of surprise from me interrupted him.
"Then you are not the Duke de C-? " I exclaimed.
"No," he answered coldly.
And I said to myself, "A celebrated author! -is he Marmon-
tel? is he D'Alembert? is he Voltaire ? "
## p. 13095 (#529) ##########################################
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
13095
My unknown smiled; a sigh of regret and contempt touched
his lips, and he continued:-
"The literary reputation I had desired soon ceased to satisfy
a spirit as ardent as mine. I aspired to nobler success; and I
said to Yago, who had followed me to Paris: 'There is no real
glory or veritable fame except in the career of arms. What is
a man of letters, a poet? Nothing at all. Tell me of a great
captain, a general,- that is the destiny for me; and for a grand.
military reputation I would give ten of the years which remain
to me. '
"I accept them,' answered Yago. 'I take them. They be-
long to me. Don't forget it. '»
At this point the unknown stopped again, seeing the trouble
and hesitation in my face.
"I told you, young man, you could not believe me. This
seems a dream, a chimera, to you- to me also! And yet the
rank, the honors I obtained, were no illusion: the soldiers I led
under fire, the redoubts captured, the flags conquered, the vic-
tories with which all France resounded, were all my work;-all
this glory was mine! "
While he was walking up and down, talking thus with heat
and enthusiasm, my surprise increased, and I thought: "Who
is beside me? Is it Coigny? is it Richelieu? is it Marshal
Saxe? "
From a state of exaltation, my unknown fell into depression;
and drawing near, he said gloomily:-
-
"Yago was right; and later, when disgusted with the vain
incense of military glory, I aspired to what is alone of real and
positive value in this world,-when, at the price of five or six
years of existence, I desired gold and riches, he granted them to
me. Yes, young man; yes, I have seen fortune second and sur-
pass all my wishes,-lands, forests, castles. This very morning
all was still in my power; and if you don't believe me, if you
doubt Yago, wait-wait-he is coming, and you will see for
yourself, with your own eyes, that what confounds your reason
and mine is unhappily only too real. "
-
The unknown approached the mantelpiece, looked at the clock,
made a gesture of horror, and said in a low voice:-
"This morning at dawn I felt so weak and exhausted that I
could scarcely rise. I rang for my valet. Yago appeared.
"What is the matter with me? ' I said to him.
## p. 13096 (#530) ##########################################
13096
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
"Master, nothing that is not very natural. The hour is
approaching; the moment is at hand. '
"And which-? '
"Can't you guess? Heaven had accorded you sixty years of
life; you had had thirty when I began to obey you. '
"Yago! I cried in terror, are you speaking seriously? '
"Yes, master; in five years you have expended in glory
twenty-five years of existence. You gave them to me.
belong to me, and will now be added to mine. '
They
"What! That was the price of your services? '
"Others have paid still more; for example, Fabert, whom
also I protected. '
"Be quiet! Be quiet! ' I said to him.
"This isn't possible.
It isn't true! '
"As you will: but prepare yourself; for you have only half
an hour to live. '
"You are mocking me; you are deceiving me! '
"Not at all. Calculate it yourself. Thirty-five years which
you have really lived, and twenty-five that you have lost! Total,
sixty. That is your account. To every one his own! '
"And he wanted to go-and I felt myself growing weaker; I
felt life escaping from me.
«Yago! Yago! Give me a few hours-a few hours more! '
"No, no,' he answered. 'That would shorten my account,
and I know better than you the price of life. There is no treas-
ure worth two hours of existence. '
"And I could scarcely speak; my eyes were clouding, the
coldness of death was chilling my veins.
"Ah! ' I said with an effort, 'take back the gifts for which
I have sacrificed everything. For four hours more I will re-
nounce my gold and all the opulence I so desired. '
"So be it. You have been a good master, and I will grant
you that. '
"I felt my strength coming back; and I cried, 'Four hours
is so little! Yago! Yago! grant me four more, and I will give
up my literary fame, and all the works which placed me so high
in the esteem of the world. '
«Four hours for that! ' said the negro disdainfully. 'It is a
great deal.
Never mind: I will not refuse this last grace. ’
"No, not the last,' I said clasping my hands. Yago! Yago!
I implore you, give me until evening,-the entire day, and let
-
## p. 13097 (#531) ##########################################
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
13097
my exploits and victories, my military fame, be forever effaced
from the memory of men! This day, Yago, this whole day, and
I will be content! '
«You abuse my goodness,' he answered; 'and I am making
a foolish bargain. But never mind again. You shall live till sun-
set. Ask no more. Then good-by until evening! I will come
for you. '
"And he went away," continued the unknown despairingly,
"and this day is the last which remains to me! " Then approach-
ing the glass door which opened upon the park, he cried: “I
shall no longer see this beautiful sky, these green lawns, this
sparkling water; I shall no longer breathe the air fragrant with
spring! Fool that I was! For twenty-five years longer I might
still enjoy the good things which God bestows upon all, and
whose sweetness I appreciate now for the first time! And I
have exhausted my days! I have sacrificed them to a vain
chimera, to a sterile fame, which did not make me happy, and
which is dead before me! See-see" he said, pointing to the
peasants who were singing as they crossed the park to their
work: "what would I not give to share their labor and poverty!
But I have no longer anything to give nor anything to hope,
here below-not even unhappiness! "
At that moment a ray of sun, of the sun of May, lighted up
his pale distracted features. He seized my arm with a kind of
delirium and said:-
"See see them! How beautiful the sun is! How beautiful
the country is! I must leave all that! Ah, at least let me enjoy
it once more! Let me catch the full savor of this pure beautiful
day for me there will be no morrow! "
He rushed out into the park, and disappeared down a winding
path before I could stop him.
In truth I had not strength to do it. I had fallen back on
the sofa, overcome with what I had seen and heard. I rose and
walked, to assure myself that I was not dreaming. Then the
door opened, and a servant said to me:-
"Here is my master, the Duke de C. ”
A man of about sixty, of distinguished appearance, came for-
ward, offering me his hand, and apologizing for keeping me wait-
ing.
"I was not at home," he said. "I have just come from town,
where I have been seeking advice upon the health of my younger
brother. "
## p. 13098 (#532) ##########################################
13098
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
"Is his life in danger? " I exclaimed.
"No, monsieur, thank Heaven," answered the duke: "but in
his youth, thoughts of glory and ambition exalted his imagina-
tion; and recently a severe illness has left him prey to a kind of
delusion, in which he is constantly convinced that he has only one
day longer to live. It is his mania. ”
All was explained!
«<
"Now as to you, young man," continued the duke: we must
see what we can do to advance you. We will start for Versailles
at the end of the month. I will present you. "
"I know your kind disposition toward me, monsieur, and wish
to thank you; but-"
"What! you have not renounced the court, and the advan-
tages which await you there? "
"Yes, monsieur. "
"But remember that with my help you can make your way
rapidly; and that with a little patience and perseverance you can
in ten years—"
"Ten lost years! " I exclaimed.
"But then," he continued in astonishment, "is that too dear
a price for glory and fortune and honors? Come, come, young
man, we will go to Versailles. "
"No, duke: I am going back to Bretagne; and once more I
beg you to receive my thanks, and those of my family. "
"It is madness! " exclaimed the duke.
And thinking of what I had seen and heard, I said to myself.
"It is wisdom! "
The next day I started; and with what delight I saw again
my noble castle of Roche-Bernard, the old trees of my park, the
glorious Bretagne sun! I had recovered my vassals, my sisters,
my mother-and happiness! which has never deserted me since;
for one week later I married Henrietta.
## p. 13099 (#533) ##########################################
13099
JOHN SELDEN
(1584-1654)
F SELDEN, Milton wrote, "The chief of learned men reputed
in this land, John Selden. " So our own Sumner: "John
Selden, unsurpassed for learning and ability in the whole
splendid history of the English bar. " And Edward Hyde, Earl of
Clarendon: "Mr. Selden was a person whom no character can flat-
ter, or transmit in any expressions equal to his merit and virtue. "
Selden was the writer of many learned books: books upon the law,
books upon the customs of the Hebrews, books upon all manner of
abstruse subjects, books in English and in
Latin; that which remains of him is a book
which he neither published nor wrote. Like
White's Natural History of Selborne,' and
not a few other books which "were not
born to die," Selden's Table-Talk' was
a work which came without observation.
Much of his deliberate work is dry as dry
could be. Aubrey, who is relied upon in
some measure for his biography, says that
he was a poet, and quotes Sir John Suck-
ling as authority; nothing would seem more
improbable from what he has to say upon
poetry: "Tis a fine thing for Children to
learn to make Verse; but when they come
to be men they must speak like other men, or else they will be
laught at.
'Tis ridiculous to speak, or write, or preach in Verse. As
'tis good to learn to dance, a man may learn his Leg, learn to go
handsomely; but 'tis ridiculous for him to dance when he should go. "
JOHN SELDEN
His father was "a sufficient plebeian," of the village of Salvington
in Sussex, and proficient in music; by which he is said to have won
his wife, who was of somewhat higher station in life. John was born
in his cottage at Salvington, December 16th, 1584, in the latter part
of the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and died, a man of great distinction
and wealth, at Whitefriars in London, November 30th, 1654, in the
sixth year of the Commonwealth. It was a rich period in English
literature; the period of Shakespeare and Bacon and Milton and Jon-
son and their companions. And it was a stirring period in history,
## p. 13100 (#534) ##########################################
13100
JOHN SELDEN
covering as it did the reigns of James I. and Charles I. , the trial
and beheading of the latter, and the ascendency of Cromwell and
the Puritans. The boy John Selden, educated at the Free School in
Chichester, and at Hart Hall, Oxford, had hardly more than settled
himself at the Inner Temple and reached man's estate, when he had
"not only run through the whole body of the law, but become a
prodigy in most parts of learning; especially in those which were
not common, or little frequented or regarded by the generality of
students of his time. So that in a few years his name was wonder-
fully advanced, not only at home, but in foreign countries; and was
usually styled the great dictator of learning of the English nation. "
In 1618, after issuing several other works, he published a 'History
of Tithes,' which had been licensed without question by the censor,
but nevertheless excited such an outcry that its author was sum-
moned before the King, and subsequently before the High Commis-
sion Court, and forced to recant. He acknowledged the error that
he had committed in publishing the book, but appears not to have
acknowledged any error in the book. The book was suppressed, and
afterward "confuted" by Dr. Montagu; and King James told Selden,
"If you or your friends write anything against his confutation, I will
throw you into prison. " He soon had an opportunity to test the
King's prisons for other reasons. He was incarcerated for five weeks
in 1621, for his share in the protest of the House of Commons in
respect to the rights and privileges of the members; and again in
1629 he was imprisoned in the Tower for many months on the charge
of sedition. He entered Parliament in 1624, and with the exception
of Charles's first Parliament, and the Short Parliament, he appears to
have been a member until his death. In the Long Parliament he
represented Oxford University, being returned without opposition.
Selden was always a conservative, not so much in the political
as in the natural, the literal, sense. During the earlier years of the
long contest between the King and the Commons, he leaned toward
the latter; but in after years his attitude was less satisfactory to
them. He was the arch-supporter of the law,- of human law: for
the Higher Law-at all events for the Jus Divinum as interpreted by
the clergy - he had slight esteem as against the law of the land. In
this he represented to the full one side of the shield: the other, that
which exhibits the supreme inner right of the individual, he seemed
sometimes wholly to ignore.
His reputation was so great that his support was sought on all
sides; but his independence caused him to reject some overtures,
while it prevented others. King Charles thought to make him Keeper
of the Great Seal; but was dissuaded on the ground that "he would
absolutely refuse the place if it were offered to him. " In 1647 he
## p. 13101 (#535) ##########################################
JOHN SELDEN
13101
It is
was elected Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, but declined.
said that he was so bent on preserving his thoughts that he would
sometimes write while under the barber's hands; which seems to show
that the barber did not make it a point to be so entertaining in those
days as of latter time.
For the last twenty years of his life, the Rev. Richard Milward
was his amanuensis; and it was by him that the Table-Talk' was
taken down bit by bit. It was not published until many years
after the death of both. Says Milward in his dedication: "I had the
opportunity to hear his Discourse twenty years together; and least all
those Excellent things that usually fell from him might be lost, some
of them from time to time I faithfully committed to writing.
Truly the Sense and Notion here is wholly his, and most of the
words. » The book is a rich storehouse. Coleridge says: "There is
more weighty bullion sense in this book than I ever found in the
same number of pages of any uninspired writer. "
In taking passages from it here and there, it should be premised
that other samples might be found of a sense quite different.
•
FROM THE TABLE-TALK'
THE SCRIPTURES
THE
'HE Text serves only to guess by: we must satisfie our selves
fully out of the Authors that liv'd about those times.
In interpreting the Scripture, many do as if a man
should see one have ten pounds, which he reckoned by 1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10,- meaning four was but four Unities, and five,
five Unities, etc. , and that he had in all but ten pounds; the
other that sees him, takes not the Figures together as he doth,
but picks here and there, and thereupon reports that he hath
five pounds in one Bag, and six pounds in another Bag, and
nine pounds in another Bag, &c. , whenas in truth he has but ten
pounds in all. So we pick out a Text here and there to make
it serve our turn; whereas, if we take it all together, and con-
sider'd what went before and what followed after, we should
find it meant no such thing.
THE BISHOPS
THE Bishops were too hasty, else with a discreet slowness
they might have had what they aim'd at. The old Story of the
## p. 13102 (#536) ##########################################
13102
JOHN SELDEN
Fellow that told the Gentleman that he might get to such a
place if he did not ride too fast, would have fitted their turn.
Bishops are now unfit to Govern, because of their Learning.
They are bred up in another Law; they run to the Text for
something done amongst the Jews that nothing concerns England.
'Tis just as if a Man would have a Kettle, and he would not go
to our Brazier to have it made as they make Kettles, but he
would have it as Hiram made his Brass work, who wrought in
Solomon's Temple.
They that would pull down the Bishops and erect a new
way of Government, do as he that pulls down an old House and
builds another in another fashion: there's a great deal of do, and
a great deal of trouble; the old rubbish must be carryed away,
and new materials must be brought; Workmen must be provided:
and perhaps the old one would have serv'd as well.
Books
IN ANSWERING a Book, 'tis best to be short; otherwise he that
I write against will suspect I intend to weary him, not to satisfy
him. Besides, in being long I shall give my Adversary a huge
advantage: somewhere or other he will pick a hole.
To quote a modern Dutch Man where I may use a Classic
Author, is as if I were to justify my Reputation, and I neglect
all Persons of Note and Quality that know me, and bring the
Testimonial of the Scullion in the Kitchen.
CEREMONY
•
CEREMONY keeps up all things. 'Tis like a Penny-Glass to a
rich Spirit, or some Excellent Water: without it the water were
spilt, the Spirit lost.
Of all people, Ladies have no reason to cry down Ceremonies,
for they take themselves slighted without it. And were they
not used with Ceremony,- with Compliments and Addresses, with
Legs, and Kissing of Hands,- they were the pittyfullest Creat-
ures in the World; but yet methinks to kiss their Hands after
their Lips as some do, is like little Boys, that after they eat the
Apple, fall to the paring, out of a Love they have to the Apple.
## p. 13103 (#537) ##########################################
JOHN SELDEN
13103
CLERGY
THE Clergy would have us believe them against our own Rea-
son, as the Woman would have her Husband against his own
Eyes. "What! will you believe your own Eyes before your own
sweet Wife ? »
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
THE House of Commons is called the Lower House in Twenty
Acts of Parliament; but what are Twenty Acts of Parliament
amongst Friends?
COMPETENCY
THAT which is a Competency for one Man, is not enough for
another: no more than that which will keep one Man warm, will
keep another Man warm; one man can go in Doublet and Hose,
when another Man cannot be without a Cloak and yet have no
more Cloaths than is necessary for him.
-
CONSCIENCE
HE THAT hath a Scrupulous Conscience is like a Horse that is
not well weigh'd: he starts at every Bird that flies out of the
Hedge.
A Knowing Man will do that which a tender Conscience Man
dares not do, by reason of his Ignorance: the other knows there
is no hurt,- as a Child is afraid to go into the dark, when a
Man is not, because he knows there is no danger.
CONSECRATED PLACES
ALL things are God's already: we can give him no right by
consecrating any, that he had not before; only we set it apart to
his Service. Just as when a Gardiner brings his Lord and Mas-
ter a Basket of Apricocks, and presents them, his Lord thanks
him, perhaps gives him something for his pains; and yet the
Apricocks were as much his Lord's before as now.
COUNCIL
THEY talk (but blasphemously enough) that the Holy Ghost is
President of their General Councils; when the truth is, the odd
man is still the Holy Ghost.
## p. 13104 (#538) ##########################################
13104
JOHN SELDEN
DEVILS
A PERSON of Quality came to my Chamber in the Temple,
and told me he had two Devils in his head (I wonder'd what
he meant), and just at that time one of them bid him kill me
(with that I begun to be afraid, and thought he was mad); he
said he knew I could Cure him, and therefore entreated me to
give him something, for he was resolv'd to go to nobody else. I,
perceiving what an Opinion he had of me, and that 'twas only
Melancholy that troubl'd him, took him in hand, warranted him
if he would follow my directions to Cure him in a short time.
I desired him to let me be alone about an hour, and then to
come again, which he was very willing to. In the mean time
I got a Card, and lapt it up handsome in a piece of Taffata, and
put strings to the Taffata, and when he came, gave it to him to
hang about his Neck; withal charged him that he should not dis-
order himself, neither with eating or drinking, but eat very little
of Supper, and say his Prayers duly when he went to Bed, and
I made no question but he would be well in three or four days.
Within that time I went to Dinner to his House, and askt him
how he did? He said he was much better, but not perfectly
well; for in truth he had not dealt clearly with me: he had four
Devils in his head, and he perceiv'd two of them were gone,
with that which I had given him, but the other two troubled him
still. Well, said I, I am glad two of them are gone; I make no
doubt but to get away the other two likewise. So I gave him
another thing to hang about his Neck: three days after, he came
to me to my Chamber and protest he was now as well as ever
he was in his life, and did extreamly thank me for the great
care I had taken of him. I, fearing lest he might relapse into
the like Distemper, told him that there was none but my self
and one Physitian more in the whole Town, that could Cure
the Devils in the head; and that was Dr. Harvey (whom I had
prepared), and wisht him if ever he found himself ill in my
absence to go to him, for he could Cure his Disease, as well
as my self. The Gentleman lived many Years, and was never
troubl'd after.
FRIENDS
OLD Friends are best. King James us'd to call for his Old
Shoos: they were easiest for his Feet.
## p. 13105 (#539) ##########################################
JOHN SELDEN
13105
HUMILITY
HUMILITY is a Vertue all preach, none practice; and yet every
body is content to hear. The Master thinks it good Doctrine for
his Servant, the Laity for the Clergy, and the Clergy for the
Laity.
JEWS
TALK what you will of the Jews, that they are Cursed, they
thrive where e'er they come; they are able to oblige the Prince
of their Country by lending him money; none of them beg;
they keep together: and for their being hated, my life for yours,
Christians hate one another as much.
THE KING
THE King calling his Friends from the Parliament, because he
had use of them at Oxford, is as if a man should have use of a
little piece of wood, and he runs down into the Cellar, and takes
the Spiggot; in the mean time all the Beer runs about the House:
when his Friends are absent the King will be lost.
THE COURT OF ENGLAND
THE Court of England is much alter'd. At a solemn Dan-
cing, first you had the grave Measures, then the Corrantoes and
the Galliards, and this is kept up with Ceremony, at length to
French-more, and the Cushion-Dance, and then all the Company
Dance, Lord and Groom, Lady and Kitchen-Maid, no distinction.
So in our Court in Queen Elizabeth's time Gravity and State
were kept up. In King James's time things were pretty well.
But in King Charles's time, there has been nothing but French-
more and the Cushion-Dance, omnium gatherum, tolly, polly, hoite
come toite.
LANGUAGE
IF YOU look upon the Language spoken in the Saxon time,
and the Language spoken now, you will find the difference to
be just as if a man had a Cloak that he wore plain in Queen
Elizabeth's days, and since, here has put in a piece of Red,
and there a piece of Blew, and here a piece of Green, and there
XXII-820
## p. 13106 (#540) ##########################################
13106
JOHN SELDEN
a piece of Orange-tawny.
We borrow words from the French,
Italian, Latine, as every Pedantick man pleases.
We have more words than Notions,- half a dozen words for
the same thing. Sometime we put a new signification to an old
word, as when we call a Piece a Gun. The word Gun was in
use in England for an Engine to cast a thing from a man, long
before there was any Gun-powder found out.
Words must be fitted to a man's mouth: 'twas well said of
the Fellow that was to make a Speech for my Lord Mayor, he
desir'd to take the measure of his Lordship's mouth.
LIBELS
THO' Some make slight of Libels, yet you may see by them
how the wind fits: as take a straw and throw it up into the
Air, you shall see by that which way the Wind is; which you
Ishall not do by casting up a Stone. More solid things do not
show the Complexion of the times so well as Ballads and Libels.
MARRIAGE
OF ALL Actions of a man's life, his Marriage does least con-
cern other people; yet of all Actions of our Life, 'tis most
medled with by other people.
MEASURE OF THINGS
WE MEASURE the Excellency of other men by some Excel-
lency we conceive to be in our selves. Nash, a Poet, poor enough
(as Poets us'd to be), seeing an Alderman with his Gold Chain,
upon his great Horse, by way of scorn said to one of his Com-
panions, Do you see yon fellow, how goodly, how big he looks:
why, that fellow cannot make a blank Verse!
NUMBER
ALL those misterious things they observe in numbers, come
to nothing, upon this very ground; because number in it self is
nothing, has not to do with Nature, but is merely of Human
Imposition, a meer sound. For Example, when I cry one a
Clock, two a Clock, three a Clock,- that is but Man's division of
time; the time itself goes on, and it had been all one in Nature
if those Hours had been call'd nine, ten, and eleven. So when
## p. 13107 (#541) ##########################################
JOHN SELDEN
13107
they say the Seventh Son is Fortunate, it means nothing; for
if you count from the seventh backwards, then the first is the
seventh: why is not he likewise Fortunate?
OATHS
WHEN men ask me whether they may take an Oath in their
own Sense, 'tis to me as if they should ask whether they may
go to such a place upon their own Legs: I would fain know how
they can go otherwise.
OPINION
OPINION and Affection extremely differ: I may affect a Woman
best, but it does not follow I must think her the Handsomest
Woman in the World. I love Apples the best of any Fruit, but
it does not follow I must think Apples to be the best Fruit.
Opinion is something wherein I go about to give Reason why
all the World should think as I think. Affection is a thing
wherein I look after the pleasing of myself.
'Tis a vain thing to talk of an Heretick; for a man for his
heart can think no otherwise than he does think. In the Primi-
tive times there were many Opinions, nothing scarce but some
or other held. One of these Opinions being embrac'd by some
Prince, and received into his Kingdom, the rest were Condemn'd
as Heresies; and his Religion, which was but one of the several
Opinions, first is said to be Orthodox, and so have continu'd ever
since the Apostles.
PEACE
THOUGH We had Peace, yet 'twill be a great while e'er things
be settled. Tho' the Wind lye, yet after a Storm the Sea will
work a great while.
PLEASURE
WHILST you are upon Earth enjoy the good things that are
here (to that end were they given), and be not melancholly, and
wish yourself in Heaven. If a King should give you the keeping
of a Castle, with all things belonging to it,—Orchards, Gardens,
etc. ,- and bid you use them; withal promise you that after
twenty years to remove you to Court, and to make you a Privy
## p. 13108 (#542) ##########################################
13108
JOHN SELDEN
Councillor, if you should neglect your Castle, and refuse to eat
of those fruits, and sit down, and whine, and wish you were a
Privy Councillor, do you think the King would be pleased with
you?
――――
PRAYER
"God hath given gifts unto men. General Texts prove noth-
ing: let him shew me John, William, or Thomas in the Text, and
then I will believe him. If a man hath a voluble Tongue, we
say, He hath the gift of Prayer. His gift is to pray long,— that
I see; but does he pray better?
We take care what we speak to men, but to God we may say
any thing.
Prayer should be short, without giving God Almighty Rea-
sons why he should grant this or that: he knows best what is
good for us. If your Boy should ask you a Suit of Cloaths, and
give you Reasons, "otherwise he cannot wait upon you, he cannot
go abroad, but he shall discredit you,” would you endure it? You
know it better than he: let him ask a Suit of Cloaths.
>>
PREACHING
THE main Argument why they would have two Sermons a
day, is, because they have two Meals a Day; the Soul must
be fed as well as the Body. But I may as well argue, I ought
to have two Noses because I have two Eyes, or two Mouths
because I have two Ears. What have Meals and Sermons to do
one with another?
PREFERMENT
WHEN the Pageants are a coming there's a great thrusting
and a riding upon one another's backs, to look out at the Win-
dow: stay a little, and they will come just to you; you may see
them quietly. So 'tis when a new Statesman or Officer is chosen:
there's great expectation and listening who it should be; stay a
while, and you may know quietly.
REASON
THE Reason of a Thing is not to be inquired after, till you
are sure the Thing it self be so. We commonly are at "What's
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JOHN SELDEN
13109
the Reason of it? " before we are sure of the Thing. 'Twas an
excellent Question of my Lady Cotten, when Sir Robert Cotten
was magnifying of a Shooe which was Moses's or Noah's, and
wondring at the strange Shape and Fashion of it: But Mr. Cot-
ten, says she, are you sure it is a Shooe?
RELIGION
MEN say they are of the same Religion for Quietness's sake;
but if the matter were well Examin'd, you would scarce find
Three any where of the same Religion in all Points.
Disputes in Religion will never be ended, because there wants
a Measure by which the Business would be decided. The Puri-
tan would be judged by the Word of God: if he would speak
clearly, he means himself, but he is ashamed to say so; and he
would have me believe him before a whole Church, that has
read the Word of God as well as he. One says one thing, and
another another; and there is, I say, no Measure to end the
Controversie. 'Tis just as if Two men were at Bowls, and both
judg'd by the Eye: one says 'tis his Cast, the other says 'tis
my Cast; and having no Measure, the Difference is Eternal.
Ben Jonson Satyrically express'd the vain Disputes of Divines
by Inigo Lanthorne, disputing with his Puppet in a Bartholomew
Fair: It is so; It is not so; It is so; It is not so,-crying thus
one to another a quarter of an Hour together.
'Tis to no purpose to labor to Reconcile Religions, when the
Interest of Princes will not suffer it. 'Tis well if they could be
Reconciled so far that they should not cut one another's Throats.
THANKSGIVING
AT FIRST We gave Thanks for every Victory as soon as ever
'twas obtained; but since we have had many now we can stay
a good while. We are just like a Child: give him a Plum, he
makes his Leg; give him a second Plum, he makes another Leg;
at last when his Belly is full, he forgets what he ought to do:
then his Nurse, or somebody else that stands by him, puts him
in mind of his Duty- Where's your Leg?
## p. 13110 (#544) ##########################################
13110
JOHN SELDEN
WIFE
HE THAT hath a handsome Wife, by other men is thought
happy; 'tis a pleasure to look upon her and be in her company:
but the Husband is cloy'd with her. We are never content with
what we have.
You shall see a Monkey sometime, that has been playing up
and down the Garden, at length leap up to the top of the Wall,
but his Clog hangs a great way below on this side; the Bishop's
Wife is like that Monkey's Clog,- himself is got up very high,
takes place of the Temporal Barons, but his wife comes a great
way behind.
'Tis reason
a man that will have a Wife should be at the
charge of her Trinkets, and pay all the scores she sets on him.
He that will keep a Monkey, 'tis fit he should pay for the
Glasses he breaks.
WISDOM
NEVER tell your Resolution before hand; but when the Cast is
thrown, Play it as well as you can to win the Game you are at.
'Tis but folly to study how to Play Size-ace, when you know not
whether you shall throw it or no.
## p. 13111 (#545) ##########################################
13111
ÉTIENNE PIVERT DE SENANCOUR
(1770-1846)
NE work of Senancour's has lived. The others- moral and
philosophical treatises, and one feeble novel, 'Isabelle,' writ-
ten in his old age as a sequel to his famous 'Obermann'-
are now forgotten. "But Obermann,>» says Matthew Arnold, "has
qualities which make it permanently valuable to kindred minds. "
Arnold himself, while suffering the spiritual isolation there portrayed,
did not go off alone to suffer; but did a great and practical work in
the world of men. Other noble minds have sympathized with Ober-
mann, among them George Sand and Sainte-Beuve; but for most
people, such writing, however noble and eloquent, must needs be
somewhat futile. It must after all be healthy instinct which guides
men as well as children to turn from abstractions to accounts of
positive achievement. Heroic action is far more thrilling than even
its prompting impulse, unfulfilled. It is so much more satisfactory
to receive some practical lesson in living, some stimulus to richer
sensation, than to be disheartened by the wailings of failure.
Senancour early showed a want of adaptability to existing social
conditions. He was born at Paris in November 1770, of a noble
family, to whom the Revolution brought ruin. Sickly from child-
hood, he was destined to the Church. Obliged by his father to enter
St. Sulpice, he rebelled against the monastic constraint, and aided by
his mother, escaped to Switzerland. There he married, and lived till
toward the end of the century; when, after his wife's death, he
returned to Paris.
'Obermann' appeared in 1804. It is a treatise on disillusion and
hopelessness, lacking in vitality; and although noble in tone, has not
been widely appreciated. It is less a novel than an exposition, in a
series of letters, of Senancour's own point of view. Obermann, the
hero, is Senancour in very slight disguise. He is "a man who does
not know what he is, what he likes, what he wants; who sighs with-
out cause; who desires without object; and who sees nothing except
that he is not in his place: in short, who drags himself through
empty space and in an infinite tumult of vexations. "
'Obermann' is valuable and interesting as a pathological study; as
a reflection of the spirit of revolt and discouragement which swept
over Europe, and spurred on Rousseau, Byron, and many others.
## p. 13112 (#546) ##########################################
13112
ÉTIENNE PIVERT DE SENANCOUR
Senancour strongly felt himself a product of his time. Voltairean
cynicism struggled in him with Rousseauesque sensibility,-the lat-
ter augmenting a longing to believe, while the former made faith
impossible. He had the terrible controlling self-consciousness which
prevented a moment's escape from his own unsatisfied desires. He
was too noble, too much of an idealist, to enjoy what was petty and
possible; but there are envious tones in Obermann, who sometimes
seems half to despise himself that he cannot do and feel like other
men.
The strong note of Senancour's character was an uncompromising
need of sincerity. He detested hypocrisy in himself and others. He
sought truth at the price of all pleasant illusion. His work evidences
Rousseau's influence; but unlike Rousseau, he never posed. His con-
fidences are genuinely unreserved. His constant unhappiness-as
George Sand pointed out in an appreciation which prefaces the later
editions of 'Obermann'. was caused by want of proportion between
his power of conception and his capacity to perform. He had a life-
long realization of failure. He was akin to Amiel, but less scholarly;
more emotional and less intellectual.
withdraw, murmuring words of excuse.
"Who are you? What do you want? he said in a strong
voice, holding my arm.
"I am Sir Bernard of Roche-Bernard; and I have just arrived
from Bretagne. "
"I know, I know," he said, and threw himself into my arms;
then made me sit beside him, talking so eagerly of my father
and all my family that I did not doubt he was the owner of the
castle.
"You are M. de C-? " I asked.
He rose and looked at me excitedly. "I was, but I am no
longer; I am nothing! " And seeing my astonishment, he ex-
claimed, "Not another word, young man: do not question me! "
"But, sir, I have unintentionally witnessed your sorrow; and
if my friendship, my devotion, can bring you any comfort-»
"Yes, yes, you're right. Not that you can change my fate,
but at least you can receive my last wishes. That is all I ask of
you! "
He closed the door; then sat down again beside me, who,
trembling and agitated, awaited his words. His physiognomy
bore an expression I had never seen on any one. The brow I
studied seemed marked by fatality. His face was pale; his black
eyes flashed; from time to time his features, changed by suffer-
ing, contracted with an ironic, infernal smile.
"What I am going to tell you," he continued, "will confound
your reason. You will doubt you will not believe I myself
still doubt very often, at least I try to: but there are the
proofs; and in all our surroundings in our very organization —
there are many other mysteries that we have to accept without
understanding. "
――――――
He stopped a moment as though to collect his ideas, passed a
hand over his brow, and went on:-
"I was born in this castle. I had two brothers, both older,
who would inherit the property and titles of our family. There
was nothing for me but an abbé's mantle; and yet thoughts of
glory and ambition fermented in my head, and made my heart
## p. 13094 (#528) ##########################################
13094
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
beat. Unhappy in obscurity, hungry for renown, I dreamed only
how to acquire it, and was insensible to all the pleasures and
sweetness of life. The present was nothing to me; I lived only
in the future, and that presented itself to me in darkest colors.
"I was almost thirty, and had accomplished nothing. At that
time, in the capital, literary reputations whose fame reached even
our province were springing up everywhere.
"Ah! I often said to myself, if I could only win a name in
letters! That would give me the glory which is the only happi-
ness!
"As confidant of my sorrows I had an old servant, an aged
negro, who had been in the castle before I was born, and was
certainly the most ancient inmate, for no one remembered his
coming. The country people declared even that he had known
Marshal Fabert, and had witnessed his death. "
I started; and the speaker asked me what was the matter.
"Nothing," I answered; but I could not help thinking of the
black man about whom my landlord had been talking the evening
before.
M. de C continued: "One day, before Yago (that was the
negro's name), I yielded to the despair inspired by my obscurity
and useless existence, and cried out, I would give ten years of
my life to be placed in the first rank of our authors! '
"Ten years,' he said coldly: 'that is a great deal. That is
a large price for a slight thing. Never mind. I accept your ten
I will take them. Remember your promise; I will keep
years.
mine. '
"I cannot paint my surprise at hearing this. I thought the
years must have enfeebled his reason. I smiled and shrugged
my shoulders; and a few days later I left this castle to go to
Paris. There I found myself launched in literary circles. Their
example encouraged me; and I published several works whose
success I won't recount now. All Paris hastened to applaud
them; the journals resounded with my praises; the new name I
had adopted became famous: and even yesterday, young man,
you yourself were admiring it-»
Here another gesture of surprise from me interrupted him.
"Then you are not the Duke de C-? " I exclaimed.
"No," he answered coldly.
And I said to myself, "A celebrated author! -is he Marmon-
tel? is he D'Alembert? is he Voltaire ? "
## p. 13095 (#529) ##########################################
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
13095
My unknown smiled; a sigh of regret and contempt touched
his lips, and he continued:-
"The literary reputation I had desired soon ceased to satisfy
a spirit as ardent as mine. I aspired to nobler success; and I
said to Yago, who had followed me to Paris: 'There is no real
glory or veritable fame except in the career of arms. What is
a man of letters, a poet? Nothing at all. Tell me of a great
captain, a general,- that is the destiny for me; and for a grand.
military reputation I would give ten of the years which remain
to me. '
"I accept them,' answered Yago. 'I take them. They be-
long to me. Don't forget it. '»
At this point the unknown stopped again, seeing the trouble
and hesitation in my face.
"I told you, young man, you could not believe me. This
seems a dream, a chimera, to you- to me also! And yet the
rank, the honors I obtained, were no illusion: the soldiers I led
under fire, the redoubts captured, the flags conquered, the vic-
tories with which all France resounded, were all my work;-all
this glory was mine! "
While he was walking up and down, talking thus with heat
and enthusiasm, my surprise increased, and I thought: "Who
is beside me? Is it Coigny? is it Richelieu? is it Marshal
Saxe? "
From a state of exaltation, my unknown fell into depression;
and drawing near, he said gloomily:-
-
"Yago was right; and later, when disgusted with the vain
incense of military glory, I aspired to what is alone of real and
positive value in this world,-when, at the price of five or six
years of existence, I desired gold and riches, he granted them to
me. Yes, young man; yes, I have seen fortune second and sur-
pass all my wishes,-lands, forests, castles. This very morning
all was still in my power; and if you don't believe me, if you
doubt Yago, wait-wait-he is coming, and you will see for
yourself, with your own eyes, that what confounds your reason
and mine is unhappily only too real. "
-
The unknown approached the mantelpiece, looked at the clock,
made a gesture of horror, and said in a low voice:-
"This morning at dawn I felt so weak and exhausted that I
could scarcely rise. I rang for my valet. Yago appeared.
"What is the matter with me? ' I said to him.
## p. 13096 (#530) ##########################################
13096
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
"Master, nothing that is not very natural. The hour is
approaching; the moment is at hand. '
"And which-? '
"Can't you guess? Heaven had accorded you sixty years of
life; you had had thirty when I began to obey you. '
"Yago! I cried in terror, are you speaking seriously? '
"Yes, master; in five years you have expended in glory
twenty-five years of existence. You gave them to me.
belong to me, and will now be added to mine. '
They
"What! That was the price of your services? '
"Others have paid still more; for example, Fabert, whom
also I protected. '
"Be quiet! Be quiet! ' I said to him.
"This isn't possible.
It isn't true! '
"As you will: but prepare yourself; for you have only half
an hour to live. '
"You are mocking me; you are deceiving me! '
"Not at all. Calculate it yourself. Thirty-five years which
you have really lived, and twenty-five that you have lost! Total,
sixty. That is your account. To every one his own! '
"And he wanted to go-and I felt myself growing weaker; I
felt life escaping from me.
«Yago! Yago! Give me a few hours-a few hours more! '
"No, no,' he answered. 'That would shorten my account,
and I know better than you the price of life. There is no treas-
ure worth two hours of existence. '
"And I could scarcely speak; my eyes were clouding, the
coldness of death was chilling my veins.
"Ah! ' I said with an effort, 'take back the gifts for which
I have sacrificed everything. For four hours more I will re-
nounce my gold and all the opulence I so desired. '
"So be it. You have been a good master, and I will grant
you that. '
"I felt my strength coming back; and I cried, 'Four hours
is so little! Yago! Yago! grant me four more, and I will give
up my literary fame, and all the works which placed me so high
in the esteem of the world. '
«Four hours for that! ' said the negro disdainfully. 'It is a
great deal.
Never mind: I will not refuse this last grace. ’
"No, not the last,' I said clasping my hands. Yago! Yago!
I implore you, give me until evening,-the entire day, and let
-
## p. 13097 (#531) ##########################################
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
13097
my exploits and victories, my military fame, be forever effaced
from the memory of men! This day, Yago, this whole day, and
I will be content! '
«You abuse my goodness,' he answered; 'and I am making
a foolish bargain. But never mind again. You shall live till sun-
set. Ask no more. Then good-by until evening! I will come
for you. '
"And he went away," continued the unknown despairingly,
"and this day is the last which remains to me! " Then approach-
ing the glass door which opened upon the park, he cried: “I
shall no longer see this beautiful sky, these green lawns, this
sparkling water; I shall no longer breathe the air fragrant with
spring! Fool that I was! For twenty-five years longer I might
still enjoy the good things which God bestows upon all, and
whose sweetness I appreciate now for the first time! And I
have exhausted my days! I have sacrificed them to a vain
chimera, to a sterile fame, which did not make me happy, and
which is dead before me! See-see" he said, pointing to the
peasants who were singing as they crossed the park to their
work: "what would I not give to share their labor and poverty!
But I have no longer anything to give nor anything to hope,
here below-not even unhappiness! "
At that moment a ray of sun, of the sun of May, lighted up
his pale distracted features. He seized my arm with a kind of
delirium and said:-
"See see them! How beautiful the sun is! How beautiful
the country is! I must leave all that! Ah, at least let me enjoy
it once more! Let me catch the full savor of this pure beautiful
day for me there will be no morrow! "
He rushed out into the park, and disappeared down a winding
path before I could stop him.
In truth I had not strength to do it. I had fallen back on
the sofa, overcome with what I had seen and heard. I rose and
walked, to assure myself that I was not dreaming. Then the
door opened, and a servant said to me:-
"Here is my master, the Duke de C. ”
A man of about sixty, of distinguished appearance, came for-
ward, offering me his hand, and apologizing for keeping me wait-
ing.
"I was not at home," he said. "I have just come from town,
where I have been seeking advice upon the health of my younger
brother. "
## p. 13098 (#532) ##########################################
13098
AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE
"Is his life in danger? " I exclaimed.
"No, monsieur, thank Heaven," answered the duke: "but in
his youth, thoughts of glory and ambition exalted his imagina-
tion; and recently a severe illness has left him prey to a kind of
delusion, in which he is constantly convinced that he has only one
day longer to live. It is his mania. ”
All was explained!
«<
"Now as to you, young man," continued the duke: we must
see what we can do to advance you. We will start for Versailles
at the end of the month. I will present you. "
"I know your kind disposition toward me, monsieur, and wish
to thank you; but-"
"What! you have not renounced the court, and the advan-
tages which await you there? "
"Yes, monsieur. "
"But remember that with my help you can make your way
rapidly; and that with a little patience and perseverance you can
in ten years—"
"Ten lost years! " I exclaimed.
"But then," he continued in astonishment, "is that too dear
a price for glory and fortune and honors? Come, come, young
man, we will go to Versailles. "
"No, duke: I am going back to Bretagne; and once more I
beg you to receive my thanks, and those of my family. "
"It is madness! " exclaimed the duke.
And thinking of what I had seen and heard, I said to myself.
"It is wisdom! "
The next day I started; and with what delight I saw again
my noble castle of Roche-Bernard, the old trees of my park, the
glorious Bretagne sun! I had recovered my vassals, my sisters,
my mother-and happiness! which has never deserted me since;
for one week later I married Henrietta.
## p. 13099 (#533) ##########################################
13099
JOHN SELDEN
(1584-1654)
F SELDEN, Milton wrote, "The chief of learned men reputed
in this land, John Selden. " So our own Sumner: "John
Selden, unsurpassed for learning and ability in the whole
splendid history of the English bar. " And Edward Hyde, Earl of
Clarendon: "Mr. Selden was a person whom no character can flat-
ter, or transmit in any expressions equal to his merit and virtue. "
Selden was the writer of many learned books: books upon the law,
books upon the customs of the Hebrews, books upon all manner of
abstruse subjects, books in English and in
Latin; that which remains of him is a book
which he neither published nor wrote. Like
White's Natural History of Selborne,' and
not a few other books which "were not
born to die," Selden's Table-Talk' was
a work which came without observation.
Much of his deliberate work is dry as dry
could be. Aubrey, who is relied upon in
some measure for his biography, says that
he was a poet, and quotes Sir John Suck-
ling as authority; nothing would seem more
improbable from what he has to say upon
poetry: "Tis a fine thing for Children to
learn to make Verse; but when they come
to be men they must speak like other men, or else they will be
laught at.
'Tis ridiculous to speak, or write, or preach in Verse. As
'tis good to learn to dance, a man may learn his Leg, learn to go
handsomely; but 'tis ridiculous for him to dance when he should go. "
JOHN SELDEN
His father was "a sufficient plebeian," of the village of Salvington
in Sussex, and proficient in music; by which he is said to have won
his wife, who was of somewhat higher station in life. John was born
in his cottage at Salvington, December 16th, 1584, in the latter part
of the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and died, a man of great distinction
and wealth, at Whitefriars in London, November 30th, 1654, in the
sixth year of the Commonwealth. It was a rich period in English
literature; the period of Shakespeare and Bacon and Milton and Jon-
son and their companions. And it was a stirring period in history,
## p. 13100 (#534) ##########################################
13100
JOHN SELDEN
covering as it did the reigns of James I. and Charles I. , the trial
and beheading of the latter, and the ascendency of Cromwell and
the Puritans. The boy John Selden, educated at the Free School in
Chichester, and at Hart Hall, Oxford, had hardly more than settled
himself at the Inner Temple and reached man's estate, when he had
"not only run through the whole body of the law, but become a
prodigy in most parts of learning; especially in those which were
not common, or little frequented or regarded by the generality of
students of his time. So that in a few years his name was wonder-
fully advanced, not only at home, but in foreign countries; and was
usually styled the great dictator of learning of the English nation. "
In 1618, after issuing several other works, he published a 'History
of Tithes,' which had been licensed without question by the censor,
but nevertheless excited such an outcry that its author was sum-
moned before the King, and subsequently before the High Commis-
sion Court, and forced to recant. He acknowledged the error that
he had committed in publishing the book, but appears not to have
acknowledged any error in the book. The book was suppressed, and
afterward "confuted" by Dr. Montagu; and King James told Selden,
"If you or your friends write anything against his confutation, I will
throw you into prison. " He soon had an opportunity to test the
King's prisons for other reasons. He was incarcerated for five weeks
in 1621, for his share in the protest of the House of Commons in
respect to the rights and privileges of the members; and again in
1629 he was imprisoned in the Tower for many months on the charge
of sedition. He entered Parliament in 1624, and with the exception
of Charles's first Parliament, and the Short Parliament, he appears to
have been a member until his death. In the Long Parliament he
represented Oxford University, being returned without opposition.
Selden was always a conservative, not so much in the political
as in the natural, the literal, sense. During the earlier years of the
long contest between the King and the Commons, he leaned toward
the latter; but in after years his attitude was less satisfactory to
them. He was the arch-supporter of the law,- of human law: for
the Higher Law-at all events for the Jus Divinum as interpreted by
the clergy - he had slight esteem as against the law of the land. In
this he represented to the full one side of the shield: the other, that
which exhibits the supreme inner right of the individual, he seemed
sometimes wholly to ignore.
His reputation was so great that his support was sought on all
sides; but his independence caused him to reject some overtures,
while it prevented others. King Charles thought to make him Keeper
of the Great Seal; but was dissuaded on the ground that "he would
absolutely refuse the place if it were offered to him. " In 1647 he
## p. 13101 (#535) ##########################################
JOHN SELDEN
13101
It is
was elected Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, but declined.
said that he was so bent on preserving his thoughts that he would
sometimes write while under the barber's hands; which seems to show
that the barber did not make it a point to be so entertaining in those
days as of latter time.
For the last twenty years of his life, the Rev. Richard Milward
was his amanuensis; and it was by him that the Table-Talk' was
taken down bit by bit. It was not published until many years
after the death of both. Says Milward in his dedication: "I had the
opportunity to hear his Discourse twenty years together; and least all
those Excellent things that usually fell from him might be lost, some
of them from time to time I faithfully committed to writing.
Truly the Sense and Notion here is wholly his, and most of the
words. » The book is a rich storehouse. Coleridge says: "There is
more weighty bullion sense in this book than I ever found in the
same number of pages of any uninspired writer. "
In taking passages from it here and there, it should be premised
that other samples might be found of a sense quite different.
•
FROM THE TABLE-TALK'
THE SCRIPTURES
THE
'HE Text serves only to guess by: we must satisfie our selves
fully out of the Authors that liv'd about those times.
In interpreting the Scripture, many do as if a man
should see one have ten pounds, which he reckoned by 1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10,- meaning four was but four Unities, and five,
five Unities, etc. , and that he had in all but ten pounds; the
other that sees him, takes not the Figures together as he doth,
but picks here and there, and thereupon reports that he hath
five pounds in one Bag, and six pounds in another Bag, and
nine pounds in another Bag, &c. , whenas in truth he has but ten
pounds in all. So we pick out a Text here and there to make
it serve our turn; whereas, if we take it all together, and con-
sider'd what went before and what followed after, we should
find it meant no such thing.
THE BISHOPS
THE Bishops were too hasty, else with a discreet slowness
they might have had what they aim'd at. The old Story of the
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13102
JOHN SELDEN
Fellow that told the Gentleman that he might get to such a
place if he did not ride too fast, would have fitted their turn.
Bishops are now unfit to Govern, because of their Learning.
They are bred up in another Law; they run to the Text for
something done amongst the Jews that nothing concerns England.
'Tis just as if a Man would have a Kettle, and he would not go
to our Brazier to have it made as they make Kettles, but he
would have it as Hiram made his Brass work, who wrought in
Solomon's Temple.
They that would pull down the Bishops and erect a new
way of Government, do as he that pulls down an old House and
builds another in another fashion: there's a great deal of do, and
a great deal of trouble; the old rubbish must be carryed away,
and new materials must be brought; Workmen must be provided:
and perhaps the old one would have serv'd as well.
Books
IN ANSWERING a Book, 'tis best to be short; otherwise he that
I write against will suspect I intend to weary him, not to satisfy
him. Besides, in being long I shall give my Adversary a huge
advantage: somewhere or other he will pick a hole.
To quote a modern Dutch Man where I may use a Classic
Author, is as if I were to justify my Reputation, and I neglect
all Persons of Note and Quality that know me, and bring the
Testimonial of the Scullion in the Kitchen.
CEREMONY
•
CEREMONY keeps up all things. 'Tis like a Penny-Glass to a
rich Spirit, or some Excellent Water: without it the water were
spilt, the Spirit lost.
Of all people, Ladies have no reason to cry down Ceremonies,
for they take themselves slighted without it. And were they
not used with Ceremony,- with Compliments and Addresses, with
Legs, and Kissing of Hands,- they were the pittyfullest Creat-
ures in the World; but yet methinks to kiss their Hands after
their Lips as some do, is like little Boys, that after they eat the
Apple, fall to the paring, out of a Love they have to the Apple.
## p. 13103 (#537) ##########################################
JOHN SELDEN
13103
CLERGY
THE Clergy would have us believe them against our own Rea-
son, as the Woman would have her Husband against his own
Eyes. "What! will you believe your own Eyes before your own
sweet Wife ? »
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
THE House of Commons is called the Lower House in Twenty
Acts of Parliament; but what are Twenty Acts of Parliament
amongst Friends?
COMPETENCY
THAT which is a Competency for one Man, is not enough for
another: no more than that which will keep one Man warm, will
keep another Man warm; one man can go in Doublet and Hose,
when another Man cannot be without a Cloak and yet have no
more Cloaths than is necessary for him.
-
CONSCIENCE
HE THAT hath a Scrupulous Conscience is like a Horse that is
not well weigh'd: he starts at every Bird that flies out of the
Hedge.
A Knowing Man will do that which a tender Conscience Man
dares not do, by reason of his Ignorance: the other knows there
is no hurt,- as a Child is afraid to go into the dark, when a
Man is not, because he knows there is no danger.
CONSECRATED PLACES
ALL things are God's already: we can give him no right by
consecrating any, that he had not before; only we set it apart to
his Service. Just as when a Gardiner brings his Lord and Mas-
ter a Basket of Apricocks, and presents them, his Lord thanks
him, perhaps gives him something for his pains; and yet the
Apricocks were as much his Lord's before as now.
COUNCIL
THEY talk (but blasphemously enough) that the Holy Ghost is
President of their General Councils; when the truth is, the odd
man is still the Holy Ghost.
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JOHN SELDEN
DEVILS
A PERSON of Quality came to my Chamber in the Temple,
and told me he had two Devils in his head (I wonder'd what
he meant), and just at that time one of them bid him kill me
(with that I begun to be afraid, and thought he was mad); he
said he knew I could Cure him, and therefore entreated me to
give him something, for he was resolv'd to go to nobody else. I,
perceiving what an Opinion he had of me, and that 'twas only
Melancholy that troubl'd him, took him in hand, warranted him
if he would follow my directions to Cure him in a short time.
I desired him to let me be alone about an hour, and then to
come again, which he was very willing to. In the mean time
I got a Card, and lapt it up handsome in a piece of Taffata, and
put strings to the Taffata, and when he came, gave it to him to
hang about his Neck; withal charged him that he should not dis-
order himself, neither with eating or drinking, but eat very little
of Supper, and say his Prayers duly when he went to Bed, and
I made no question but he would be well in three or four days.
Within that time I went to Dinner to his House, and askt him
how he did? He said he was much better, but not perfectly
well; for in truth he had not dealt clearly with me: he had four
Devils in his head, and he perceiv'd two of them were gone,
with that which I had given him, but the other two troubled him
still. Well, said I, I am glad two of them are gone; I make no
doubt but to get away the other two likewise. So I gave him
another thing to hang about his Neck: three days after, he came
to me to my Chamber and protest he was now as well as ever
he was in his life, and did extreamly thank me for the great
care I had taken of him. I, fearing lest he might relapse into
the like Distemper, told him that there was none but my self
and one Physitian more in the whole Town, that could Cure
the Devils in the head; and that was Dr. Harvey (whom I had
prepared), and wisht him if ever he found himself ill in my
absence to go to him, for he could Cure his Disease, as well
as my self. The Gentleman lived many Years, and was never
troubl'd after.
FRIENDS
OLD Friends are best. King James us'd to call for his Old
Shoos: they were easiest for his Feet.
## p. 13105 (#539) ##########################################
JOHN SELDEN
13105
HUMILITY
HUMILITY is a Vertue all preach, none practice; and yet every
body is content to hear. The Master thinks it good Doctrine for
his Servant, the Laity for the Clergy, and the Clergy for the
Laity.
JEWS
TALK what you will of the Jews, that they are Cursed, they
thrive where e'er they come; they are able to oblige the Prince
of their Country by lending him money; none of them beg;
they keep together: and for their being hated, my life for yours,
Christians hate one another as much.
THE KING
THE King calling his Friends from the Parliament, because he
had use of them at Oxford, is as if a man should have use of a
little piece of wood, and he runs down into the Cellar, and takes
the Spiggot; in the mean time all the Beer runs about the House:
when his Friends are absent the King will be lost.
THE COURT OF ENGLAND
THE Court of England is much alter'd. At a solemn Dan-
cing, first you had the grave Measures, then the Corrantoes and
the Galliards, and this is kept up with Ceremony, at length to
French-more, and the Cushion-Dance, and then all the Company
Dance, Lord and Groom, Lady and Kitchen-Maid, no distinction.
So in our Court in Queen Elizabeth's time Gravity and State
were kept up. In King James's time things were pretty well.
But in King Charles's time, there has been nothing but French-
more and the Cushion-Dance, omnium gatherum, tolly, polly, hoite
come toite.
LANGUAGE
IF YOU look upon the Language spoken in the Saxon time,
and the Language spoken now, you will find the difference to
be just as if a man had a Cloak that he wore plain in Queen
Elizabeth's days, and since, here has put in a piece of Red,
and there a piece of Blew, and here a piece of Green, and there
XXII-820
## p. 13106 (#540) ##########################################
13106
JOHN SELDEN
a piece of Orange-tawny.
We borrow words from the French,
Italian, Latine, as every Pedantick man pleases.
We have more words than Notions,- half a dozen words for
the same thing. Sometime we put a new signification to an old
word, as when we call a Piece a Gun. The word Gun was in
use in England for an Engine to cast a thing from a man, long
before there was any Gun-powder found out.
Words must be fitted to a man's mouth: 'twas well said of
the Fellow that was to make a Speech for my Lord Mayor, he
desir'd to take the measure of his Lordship's mouth.
LIBELS
THO' Some make slight of Libels, yet you may see by them
how the wind fits: as take a straw and throw it up into the
Air, you shall see by that which way the Wind is; which you
Ishall not do by casting up a Stone. More solid things do not
show the Complexion of the times so well as Ballads and Libels.
MARRIAGE
OF ALL Actions of a man's life, his Marriage does least con-
cern other people; yet of all Actions of our Life, 'tis most
medled with by other people.
MEASURE OF THINGS
WE MEASURE the Excellency of other men by some Excel-
lency we conceive to be in our selves. Nash, a Poet, poor enough
(as Poets us'd to be), seeing an Alderman with his Gold Chain,
upon his great Horse, by way of scorn said to one of his Com-
panions, Do you see yon fellow, how goodly, how big he looks:
why, that fellow cannot make a blank Verse!
NUMBER
ALL those misterious things they observe in numbers, come
to nothing, upon this very ground; because number in it self is
nothing, has not to do with Nature, but is merely of Human
Imposition, a meer sound. For Example, when I cry one a
Clock, two a Clock, three a Clock,- that is but Man's division of
time; the time itself goes on, and it had been all one in Nature
if those Hours had been call'd nine, ten, and eleven. So when
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JOHN SELDEN
13107
they say the Seventh Son is Fortunate, it means nothing; for
if you count from the seventh backwards, then the first is the
seventh: why is not he likewise Fortunate?
OATHS
WHEN men ask me whether they may take an Oath in their
own Sense, 'tis to me as if they should ask whether they may
go to such a place upon their own Legs: I would fain know how
they can go otherwise.
OPINION
OPINION and Affection extremely differ: I may affect a Woman
best, but it does not follow I must think her the Handsomest
Woman in the World. I love Apples the best of any Fruit, but
it does not follow I must think Apples to be the best Fruit.
Opinion is something wherein I go about to give Reason why
all the World should think as I think. Affection is a thing
wherein I look after the pleasing of myself.
'Tis a vain thing to talk of an Heretick; for a man for his
heart can think no otherwise than he does think. In the Primi-
tive times there were many Opinions, nothing scarce but some
or other held. One of these Opinions being embrac'd by some
Prince, and received into his Kingdom, the rest were Condemn'd
as Heresies; and his Religion, which was but one of the several
Opinions, first is said to be Orthodox, and so have continu'd ever
since the Apostles.
PEACE
THOUGH We had Peace, yet 'twill be a great while e'er things
be settled. Tho' the Wind lye, yet after a Storm the Sea will
work a great while.
PLEASURE
WHILST you are upon Earth enjoy the good things that are
here (to that end were they given), and be not melancholly, and
wish yourself in Heaven. If a King should give you the keeping
of a Castle, with all things belonging to it,—Orchards, Gardens,
etc. ,- and bid you use them; withal promise you that after
twenty years to remove you to Court, and to make you a Privy
## p. 13108 (#542) ##########################################
13108
JOHN SELDEN
Councillor, if you should neglect your Castle, and refuse to eat
of those fruits, and sit down, and whine, and wish you were a
Privy Councillor, do you think the King would be pleased with
you?
――――
PRAYER
"God hath given gifts unto men. General Texts prove noth-
ing: let him shew me John, William, or Thomas in the Text, and
then I will believe him. If a man hath a voluble Tongue, we
say, He hath the gift of Prayer. His gift is to pray long,— that
I see; but does he pray better?
We take care what we speak to men, but to God we may say
any thing.
Prayer should be short, without giving God Almighty Rea-
sons why he should grant this or that: he knows best what is
good for us. If your Boy should ask you a Suit of Cloaths, and
give you Reasons, "otherwise he cannot wait upon you, he cannot
go abroad, but he shall discredit you,” would you endure it? You
know it better than he: let him ask a Suit of Cloaths.
>>
PREACHING
THE main Argument why they would have two Sermons a
day, is, because they have two Meals a Day; the Soul must
be fed as well as the Body. But I may as well argue, I ought
to have two Noses because I have two Eyes, or two Mouths
because I have two Ears. What have Meals and Sermons to do
one with another?
PREFERMENT
WHEN the Pageants are a coming there's a great thrusting
and a riding upon one another's backs, to look out at the Win-
dow: stay a little, and they will come just to you; you may see
them quietly. So 'tis when a new Statesman or Officer is chosen:
there's great expectation and listening who it should be; stay a
while, and you may know quietly.
REASON
THE Reason of a Thing is not to be inquired after, till you
are sure the Thing it self be so. We commonly are at "What's
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JOHN SELDEN
13109
the Reason of it? " before we are sure of the Thing. 'Twas an
excellent Question of my Lady Cotten, when Sir Robert Cotten
was magnifying of a Shooe which was Moses's or Noah's, and
wondring at the strange Shape and Fashion of it: But Mr. Cot-
ten, says she, are you sure it is a Shooe?
RELIGION
MEN say they are of the same Religion for Quietness's sake;
but if the matter were well Examin'd, you would scarce find
Three any where of the same Religion in all Points.
Disputes in Religion will never be ended, because there wants
a Measure by which the Business would be decided. The Puri-
tan would be judged by the Word of God: if he would speak
clearly, he means himself, but he is ashamed to say so; and he
would have me believe him before a whole Church, that has
read the Word of God as well as he. One says one thing, and
another another; and there is, I say, no Measure to end the
Controversie. 'Tis just as if Two men were at Bowls, and both
judg'd by the Eye: one says 'tis his Cast, the other says 'tis
my Cast; and having no Measure, the Difference is Eternal.
Ben Jonson Satyrically express'd the vain Disputes of Divines
by Inigo Lanthorne, disputing with his Puppet in a Bartholomew
Fair: It is so; It is not so; It is so; It is not so,-crying thus
one to another a quarter of an Hour together.
'Tis to no purpose to labor to Reconcile Religions, when the
Interest of Princes will not suffer it. 'Tis well if they could be
Reconciled so far that they should not cut one another's Throats.
THANKSGIVING
AT FIRST We gave Thanks for every Victory as soon as ever
'twas obtained; but since we have had many now we can stay
a good while. We are just like a Child: give him a Plum, he
makes his Leg; give him a second Plum, he makes another Leg;
at last when his Belly is full, he forgets what he ought to do:
then his Nurse, or somebody else that stands by him, puts him
in mind of his Duty- Where's your Leg?
## p. 13110 (#544) ##########################################
13110
JOHN SELDEN
WIFE
HE THAT hath a handsome Wife, by other men is thought
happy; 'tis a pleasure to look upon her and be in her company:
but the Husband is cloy'd with her. We are never content with
what we have.
You shall see a Monkey sometime, that has been playing up
and down the Garden, at length leap up to the top of the Wall,
but his Clog hangs a great way below on this side; the Bishop's
Wife is like that Monkey's Clog,- himself is got up very high,
takes place of the Temporal Barons, but his wife comes a great
way behind.
'Tis reason
a man that will have a Wife should be at the
charge of her Trinkets, and pay all the scores she sets on him.
He that will keep a Monkey, 'tis fit he should pay for the
Glasses he breaks.
WISDOM
NEVER tell your Resolution before hand; but when the Cast is
thrown, Play it as well as you can to win the Game you are at.
'Tis but folly to study how to Play Size-ace, when you know not
whether you shall throw it or no.
## p. 13111 (#545) ##########################################
13111
ÉTIENNE PIVERT DE SENANCOUR
(1770-1846)
NE work of Senancour's has lived. The others- moral and
philosophical treatises, and one feeble novel, 'Isabelle,' writ-
ten in his old age as a sequel to his famous 'Obermann'-
are now forgotten. "But Obermann,>» says Matthew Arnold, "has
qualities which make it permanently valuable to kindred minds. "
Arnold himself, while suffering the spiritual isolation there portrayed,
did not go off alone to suffer; but did a great and practical work in
the world of men. Other noble minds have sympathized with Ober-
mann, among them George Sand and Sainte-Beuve; but for most
people, such writing, however noble and eloquent, must needs be
somewhat futile. It must after all be healthy instinct which guides
men as well as children to turn from abstractions to accounts of
positive achievement. Heroic action is far more thrilling than even
its prompting impulse, unfulfilled. It is so much more satisfactory
to receive some practical lesson in living, some stimulus to richer
sensation, than to be disheartened by the wailings of failure.
Senancour early showed a want of adaptability to existing social
conditions. He was born at Paris in November 1770, of a noble
family, to whom the Revolution brought ruin. Sickly from child-
hood, he was destined to the Church. Obliged by his father to enter
St. Sulpice, he rebelled against the monastic constraint, and aided by
his mother, escaped to Switzerland. There he married, and lived till
toward the end of the century; when, after his wife's death, he
returned to Paris.
'Obermann' appeared in 1804. It is a treatise on disillusion and
hopelessness, lacking in vitality; and although noble in tone, has not
been widely appreciated. It is less a novel than an exposition, in a
series of letters, of Senancour's own point of view. Obermann, the
hero, is Senancour in very slight disguise. He is "a man who does
not know what he is, what he likes, what he wants; who sighs with-
out cause; who desires without object; and who sees nothing except
that he is not in his place: in short, who drags himself through
empty space and in an infinite tumult of vexations. "
'Obermann' is valuable and interesting as a pathological study; as
a reflection of the spirit of revolt and discouragement which swept
over Europe, and spurred on Rousseau, Byron, and many others.
## p. 13112 (#546) ##########################################
13112
ÉTIENNE PIVERT DE SENANCOUR
Senancour strongly felt himself a product of his time. Voltairean
cynicism struggled in him with Rousseauesque sensibility,-the lat-
ter augmenting a longing to believe, while the former made faith
impossible. He had the terrible controlling self-consciousness which
prevented a moment's escape from his own unsatisfied desires. He
was too noble, too much of an idealist, to enjoy what was petty and
possible; but there are envious tones in Obermann, who sometimes
seems half to despise himself that he cannot do and feel like other
men.
The strong note of Senancour's character was an uncompromising
need of sincerity. He detested hypocrisy in himself and others. He
sought truth at the price of all pleasant illusion. His work evidences
Rousseau's influence; but unlike Rousseau, he never posed. His con-
fidences are genuinely unreserved. His constant unhappiness-as
George Sand pointed out in an appreciation which prefaces the later
editions of 'Obermann'. was caused by want of proportion between
his power of conception and his capacity to perform. He had a life-
long realization of failure. He was akin to Amiel, but less scholarly;
more emotional and less intellectual.
