Besides, comprehending enough of human nature to know that whoever amuses is listened to, whatever atrocities he may utter, they were careful to invest their doctrine with a light and graceful exterior. No man ever excelled them at a joke. They in fact managed matters so that in their hands every thing became a joke, and to overthrow an antagonist demanded nothing more than to be able to raise a laugh at his expense; for, all the world over, in the opinion of the vulgar, whoever is ridiculous is wrong. From calculation, they eschewed the uphill task of correcting error, or advancing truth, or reforming manners. To upbraid men for their faults and counsel amendment, is to incur their enmity. Reformers, prophets, apostles of truth have always been persecuted, often put to death. The sophists felt no ambition to be martyrs. Poverty, too, and obscurity, spare diet, a coarse mantle, and the solitude in which the poor great man walks the world, they could not away with. To their happiness crowds of admirers, opulence, costly robes[832] and all the refinements of luxury formed a _sine quâ non_; and accordingly in the choice of their doctrines they were guided by one consideration only, viz. how they might amuse mankind, and reap all the advantages of popularity. Footnote 832: Herault de Sechelles, who, had he lived, would have excelled Boswell in biography, describes with singular felicity the passion of that arch-sophist, Buffon, for the splendours of dress. Even among the peasants of Montbar, a race of primitive simplicity, the French Hippias would never appear but in an embroidered suit, curled and decorated as if at court. He had nicely calculated the effect of external appearances on the mind; and we must forgive him, since he shared the weakness with Lord Bacon and Aristotle.—See Voyage à Montbar, p. 42, seq.