The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman - Laurence Sterne [307]
6. Attic salt: wit.
7. ’Tis … All must die: verbatim from the same page in Burton where he found the comments on Cicero (2.3.5, 339).
8. could not … with us: verbatim, with omissions, from Joseph Hall, “Consolations of immoderate griefe for the death of friends,” Epistles, Decad. 2, Epistle IX (London, 1608), 1:179. The topics from Burton and Hall, along with topical similarities elsewhere, suggest that Sterne was using a commonplace book, something recommended for preachers generally.
9. debt … nature: The notion of death as a debt to nature was a commonplace and appears also in several of Sterne’s sermons.
10. tombs and monuments … Kingdoms … periods: The first phrase and the rhetorical question following the parenthesis come nearly verbatim from Burton (2.3.5, 340).
11. obtruncated: the head having been lopped off.
12. evolutions: in military use, generally “any movement or change of position, such as counter-marching, wheeling, etc.” (OED).
13. Where is Troy … perpetual night: verbatim, with abridgment, paraphrase, and additions, from Burton (2.3.5, 340). All of the cities but Mitylenæ are mentioned.
14. Returning … man: verbatim from Burton (2.3.5, 340). Tristram immediately identifies the letter of Servius Sulpicius Rufus (105–43 BCE), an orator, found in Cicero’s Epistles by Burton.
15. Zant … Asia: an Ionian island (Zykanthos) off the west coast of Greece controlled in the early eighteenth century by the Venetians, who traded with the Ottoman Turks; “the Archipelago” was the name used for the Aegean Sea at this time. Walter would have been sailing toward the southeast mainland of Greece below Athens, had he taken such a trip.
16. wandering Jew: in legend, condemned to wander the earth undying until Judgment Day for mocking Christ on his way to be crucified.
17. Labour … life: the epitaph (abridged) of Jovianus Pontanus in Burton (2.3.2, 309).
18. in such … anchor: verbatim from Burton (2.3.5, 340–41).
19. he is gone … child was born: These consoling topics are all adapted from the same page in Burton, except that on the Thracians (2.3.5, 340, 342).
20. Death opens … envy after it: Francis Bacon, “Of Death,” Essays. First noted by Ferriar, 1:108. Except for Bacon’s “extinguisheth envy,” Sterne’s statement is nearly verbatim.
21. Shew me … liberty: roughly adapted from Hall, Epistles, Decad. III, Epistle II, 317.
22. Is it not better, my dear … melancholy: adapted, largely verbatim, from Burton’s quotation of Lucian (2.3.5, 340–41).
23. traveller … afresh: adapted, largely verbatim, from Burton’s quotation of Lucian (2.3.5, 340).
24. groans and convulsions … mechanic aids: apart from the verbatim first phrase, a free and comic paraphrase of Bacon, “Of Death.” Toby’s interjection on the preference of battle to bed comes from Montaigne, “Of Experience” (3:437). “Mutes” are professional mourners.
25. when we are … are not: Burton quotes Seneca (2.3.5, 337).
26. ’tis worthy … wife: Walter closely follows Bacon, “Of Death.” Severus was asking if anything remained to be done. Augustus’s compliment was “Livia, conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale” (“Livia, remember our marriage, live and farewell”).
CHAP. IV
1. Cornelius Gallus … wife: Montaigne (“That to study Philosophy, is to learn to dye,” 1.19.109), from whom this anecdote, derived from Pliny, comes, says “And betwixt the very Thighs of Women Cornelius Gallus, the prætor” and others died, including a Stoic philosopher and a pope. Walter’s asterisked phrase is therefore “betwixt Thighs.”
CHAP. V
1. listening slave: Known by a number of names, though best from the seventeenth century on as Arrotino (the knife grinder), this widely admired statue at the Uffizi in Florence, depicting a kneeling man rising from