He wrote a journal of his tour, evidently not intended for publication ; but the manuscript, when discovered after nearly two centuries in an old chest in the cha- teau of his familv, was published (in 1774) under the title o{ Journal du Voyaf/e de Michel de Montaigne en Ita- lie, par la Suisse et VAllemagne, en 1580-81. It is one of the earliest descriptions of Italy written in a modern language. While he was aijroad he was elected may- or of Bordeaux by the votes of the citizens, an honor which he would have declined had not the king, Henri III, insisted upon his accepting the office. At the ex- piration of two years Montaigne was re-elected for an equal period. On his retiring from office he returned I to his patrimonial estate. The war of the League was I then raging in the country, and Montaigne had some difficulty in saving his family and property from the violence of the contending factions. At this time the plague also broke out in his neighborhood (in 1586), and obliged him to leave his residence and wander ' about various parts of the country. He was at Paris in 1588, busy with a new edition of the Kssais. It appears from De Thou's account that about this time Montaigne was employed in negotiations with a view to conclude a peace between Henri of Navarre, after- wards Henri IV, and the duke of Guise. At Paris he J became acquainted with Mademoiselle de Gournay, a young lady wiio had conceived a kind of sentimental I afiection for him from reading his book. Attended by J her mother she visited him, and introduced liersclf to I him, and from that time he called her his "fille d'alli- , ance," or adopted daughter, a title which she retained for the rest of her life, as she never married. Mon- ! taigne was then fifty-five years of age. Tliis attach- [ ment, which, though warm and reciprocal, has every I appearance of having been of a purely Platonic nature, is one of the remarkable incidents of Montaigne's life. At the time of his death, Mademoiselle Gournaj' and her mother crossed one half of France, notwithstand- ing the civil troubles and the insecurity of the roads, to repair to Montaigne's residence and mingle their tears with those of his widow and daughter. On his return from Paris in the latter part of 1588, ^lontaigne stopped at Blois with De Thou, Pasquier, and other ! friends. The States-General were then assembled in that city, in which the duke de Guise and his brother the cardinal were treacherouslj' murdered, on the 23d and 24th of December of that j-ear. ^lontaigne had long foreseen that the civil dissensions could only ter- mini-;te with the death of one of the great party lead- ers. He had also said to De Thou that Henri of Na- varre was inclined to adopt the Roman Catholic faith, but that he was afraid of being forsaken by his party; ' and that, on the other side. Guise himself would not have been averse to emliracing the Protestant relig- ion, if he could thereby have promoted his ambitious I views. After the catastrophe Montaigne returned to liis cliateau. In the following year he became ac- quainted with Pierre Charron, a theological writer of considerable reputation, and formed an intimate friend- ship with him. Charron, in his book De la Sagesse, borrowed many ideas from Montaigne's Essais. Mon- taigne by his will empowered Charron to assume the coat of arms of his family, as he himself had no male issue. Montaigne's health was in a declining state for a consideralde time before his death ; he was af- flicted with the gravel and the colic, and he obstinate- ly refused to consult medical men, of whom he had i generally an indiflerent opinion. In September, 15l>2, 1 he fell ill of a malignant quinsy, Avhich kept him ' speechless for three days, during which he had re- j course to his pen to signify his last wishes. He in- ! vited several gentlemen of the neighborhood, in order that he might take leave of them, and wlien they wore all assembled in his room, a priest said mass, and at the elevation of the host, Montaigne, while half raised ! iij) in his lied, with his hands joined together as in j prayer, expired. Sept, 13, 1592. His body was buried
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at Bordeaux in the church of the Feuillants. The char- acter of Montaigne is amply delineated in his Essais. They contain much that an advanced Christianity can hardly approve, yet, notwithstanding these inconsist- encies, it is impossible to avoid admiring the continued benignity and pensive gayety which distinguished his temper. The amiableness of his private life is attest- ed by the fact that, under the five monarchs who dur- ing his time successively swayed the sceptre of a king- dom torn with fanatical divisions, his person and prop- ertv were always respected by both parties ; and <:ew at an advanced age can say, like him, that they are yet untainted with a quarrel or a lawsuit.