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78 MONTAIGNE'S ESSAYES
land as sea, and doe his prince as good service, in court
or elsewhere, as his sonne : He hath need of all his parts
and ought truly to impart them, hut so that he forget
not himselfe for others : And to such may justly that
answer serve which fathers have commonly in their
mouthes: ' I will not put off my clothes before I be
ready to go to bed.' But a father over-burthened with
yeares and crazed through sicknesse and by reason of
weaknesse and want of health barred from the common
society of men, doth both wrong himself, injure his,
idly and to no use to hoord up and keepe close a great
heape of riches and deal of pelfe. He is in state good
enough, if he be wise to have a desire to put off his
clothes to goe to bed. I will not say to his shirt, but to
a good warme night gowne. As for other pomp and
trash whereof hee hath no longer use or need, hee
ought willingly to distribute and bestow them amongst
those to whom by naturall degree they ought to belong.
It is reason he should have the use and bequeath the
fruition of them, since nature doth also deprive him of
them, otherwise without doubt there is both envy and
malice stirring. The worthiest action that ever the
Emperour Charles the fifth performed was this, in imitation
of some ancients of his quality, that he had the
discretion to know that reason commanded us to strip
or shift our selves when our cloathes trouble and are
too heavy for us, and that it is high time to go to bed
when our legs faile us. He resigned his meanes, his
greatnesse and Kingdome to his Sonne, at what time he
found his former undanted resolution to decay, and
force to conduct his affaires to droope in himselfe,
together with the glory he had thereby acquired.
Solve senescentem mature tanus equum, ne
Peccet ad extremum ridendus, et ilia ducat. 1
If you be wise, the horse growne-old betimes cast-off,
Lest he at last fall lame, ioulter, and breed a skoffe.
This fault for a man not to be able to know himselfe
betimes, and not to feele the impuissance and extreme
1 HOR, 1. i, Epist, i. 8.