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286 ESSAYS OF MONTAIGNE

many men he was followed. He indicated a certain extent of ground, as if to signify that it was by as many men as that space would hold — perhaps four or five thousand. Whether, when there was no war, all his authority was at an end. He said that he still retained the right, when he visited the vil- lages that were in his dependence, to have paths made for him through the thickets of their forests, by which he could travel easily.

All this does not seem too much amiss; but then, they do not wear breeches!

CHAPTER XXXII

THAT IT IS WITH SOBRIETY THAT WE SHOULD UNDERTAKE TO JUDGE OF THE DIVINE DECREES

Tuis short Essay, which was written in 1572, is one of the contempla- tions of human affairs in relation to religious theories which Montaigne fell into oftener in his earlier than in his Jater writings; and which he more or less summed up in the “Apologie.” The chief point he makes here is that no support or authority is given to religious beliefs by any course of present events; and in proof of this he alleges the recent battles of the civil war. The arrangement of his sentences does not represent the dates of these battles quite accurately. The battle of Jarnac was fought the 13th of March, 1569, by the duc d’Anjou (afterward Henri IIT) on the part of the king (Charles IX) and the Catholics, against the prince de Condé and the amiral de Coligny, the Protestant chiefs. The excellent Castelnau — one of the most skilful and celebrated diplo- matists of the sixteenth century, and equally distinguished for his char- acter of wisdom and moderation — took part in the battle, and in his “Mémoires” has given an account of it. One of the first things that he says is: ‘The duke, seeing that this day he should be prepared to meet the enemy, having followed his good and praiseworthy habit of begin- ning his morning by placing himself under the protection of God, de- sired to receive the precious body of our Lord, as did the princes and some of the officers of our army.” Equally fervent prayers we may be sure were not lacking on the Huguenot side: Montaigne was not far from believing that

The prayers of Christian, Turk and Jew Have one sound up there in the blue;

certainly he did not believe that either Catholic or Protestant prayers had much influence that day at Jarnac.

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