til

LIBRARY

ST. ALPHC :MI

WOODST

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LIBRARY

>'T. ALPHONSUS WOODSTOCK,

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THE WORKS

OF

FRANCIS BACON

THE

WORKS

OF

FRANCIS

•

BARON OF VERULAM, VISCOUNT ST. /LBANg, A LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND

ODollecten anO JSDite

BY

JAMES SPEDDING, M. AT

OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE;

ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS, M.A.

LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; AND

DOUGLAS DENON HEATH,

BARRISTER-AT-LAW; LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

VOLUME XIII.

VOL. III. OF THE LITERARY AND PROFESSIONAL WORKS.

BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY BROWN AND TAGGARD.

M DCCC LX.

RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY

H. 0. IIOUGIITON.

CONTENTS

OP

THE THIRTEENTH VOLUME.

LITERARY WORKS — CONTINUED.

PAGE

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM — (continued.}

Soror Gigantum, sive Fama ...... 9

Actaeon et Pentheus, sive Curiosus . . . . 10

Orpheus, sive Philosophia . . . . . .11

Ccelum, sive Origines ...... 15

Proteus, sive Materia . . . . . . .17

Memnon, sive Praematurus . . . . . 19

Tithonus, sive Satias ....... 20

Procus Junonis, sive Dedecus . . . . . 21

Cupido, sive Atomus . . . . . . .22

Diomedes, sive Zelus ....... 26

Daedalus, sive Mechanicus 28

Erichthonius, sive Impostura . . . . . 31

Deucalion, sive Restitutio 32

Nemesis, sive Vices Rerum ..... 38

Achelous, sive Praalium '35

Dionysus, sive Cupiditas ...... 36

Atalanta, sive Lucrum ....... 40

Prometheus, sive Status Hominis . . . . 42

Icarus Volans, item Scylla et Charybdis, sive Via Media 53 Sphinx, sive Scientia ....... 54

Proserpina, sive Spiritus 58

Metis, sive Consilium . . . . . . 62

Sirenes, sive Voluptas 63

The same translated into English 67

vi CONTENTS OF THE THIRTEENTH VOLUME.

PAGE

ADVERTISEMENT TOUCHING A HOLY WAR . . .173 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS OF BRITAIN . . .219 COLOURS OF GOOD AND P^VIL 257

LETTER AND DISCOURSE TO SIR HENRY SAVILL, TOUCH ING HELPS FOR THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS . 291

SHORT NOTES FOR CIVIL CONVERSATION . . . 305 APOPHTHEGMS . . . . . . . . .311

EDITOR'S PREFACE 313

APOPHTHEGMS NEW AND OLD, AS ORIGINALLY PUB LISHED IN 1625 325

APOPHTHEGMS FROM THE RESUSCITATIO, ED. 1661 . 388 APOPHTHEGMS PUBLISHED BY TENISON IN THE BA-

CONIANA 399

SOME ADDITIONAL APOPHTHEGMS SELECTED FROM

A COMMON-PLACE BOOK OF DR. RAWLEY'S . 406 SPURIOUS APOPHTHEGMS .415

DE SAPIENTIA VETEEUM.

(CONTINUED.)

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

(CONTINUED.)

IX.

SOROR GIGANTUM,

8IVE FAMA.1

MEMORANT2 poetse, Gigantes e terra procreates bellum Jovi et superis intulisse, et fulmine disjectos et devictos fmsse. Terrain autem, deorum ira irrita- tam, in vindictam natorum suorum Famam progenu- isse, extremam Gigantibus sororem.

Illam Terra parens, ira irritata Deorum,

Extremam (ut perhibent) Coeo Enceladoque sororem,

Progenuit.3

Hujus fabulag ea sententia videtur esse : per Ter rain, naturam vulgi significarunt, perpetuo tumidam et malignam versus imperantes, et res novas parturi- entem: hsec ipsa occasionem adepta rebelles parit et

1 This fable, with the few variations which I have noticed where they occur, forms Cogitatio Qta in the MS. fragment. Brit. Mus. Addit. 4258. See Preface to the Cogitationes de Scientia Humana.

zjinxere, MS.

8 The quotation is omitted in the MS.; as are also, in the next sentence, the words, et res novas parturientem, ausu nefario, and et tranquillitatis im- patiens.

10 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

seditiosos, qui principes ausu nefario exturbare et de- jicere machinantur ; quibus oppressis, eadem plebis natura, deterioribus favens et tranquillitatis impatiens, rumores gignit, et susurros malignos, et famas queru- las, et famosos libellos, et csetera id genus, ad invid- iam eoruin qui rebus prassunt : ut actiones rebellium et famoi seditlosaj genere et stirpe non differant, sed veluti sexu tantum ; cum istae muliebres videantur, illa3 viriles.

X.

ACTION ET PENTHEUS,

SIVE CURIOS US.

CURIOSITAS humana in secretis rimandis, et eorum notitia appetitu male sano concupiscenda et prensanda, duplici exemplo apud antiques coercetur : altero Ac- tauonis, altero Penthei. Action cum Dianam impru- dens et casu sine veste vidisset, in cervum versus, a canibus quos alebat dilaceratus est. Pentheus cum sac- rificiorum Bacchi occultorum, conscensa arbore, spec tator esse voluisset, furore percitus est. Fuit autem Penthei dementia ejus generis, ut res congeminasse existimaret, et duo soles et rursus dua3 Thebas ei ob oculos versarentur ; adeo ut cum Thebas properaret, statim alteris Tliebis conspectis retraheretur : atque hoc modo perpetuo et irriquiete sursum et deorsum ferretur.

Eumenidum demens qua! is videt agmina Pentheus, Et solem geminum, et duplices se ostendere Thebas.

Fabularum prima, ad secreta principum ; secunda, ad secreta divina per tin ere videtur. Qui enim prin-

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 11

cipibus non adrnissi, et praeter eorum voluntatem, sec- retorum conscii sunt, odium certissimum apud eos con- sequuntur. Itaque gnari se peti et occasiones captari, vitam degunt cervorum more timidam et suspicionibus plenam. Quin et illud sajpius accidit, ut a servis et domesticis, in gratiam principum, accusentur et sub- vertantur. Ubi enim principis offensio manifesta est, quot servi, tot fere proditores esse consueverunt ; ut Actaeonis fatum illos man eat. Alia est Penthei calam- itas. Qui enim ausu temerario, mortalitatis parum memores, per excelsa naturae et philosophic fastigia (tanquam arbore conscensa) ad mysteria divina aspi rant, his poena proposita est perpetuae inconstantiae et judicii vacillantis et perplexi. Cum enim aliud sit lumen naturae, aliud divinum ; ita cum illis fit, ac si duos soles viderent. Cumque actiones vitae et decreta voluntatis ab intellectu pendeant ; sequitur etiam ut non minus voluntate quam opinione haesitent, nee sibi omnino constent : itaque et duas Thebas similiter vi- dent. Per Thebas enim actionum fines describuntur (cum Thebis Pentheo esset domus et perfugium). Hinc fit, ut nesciant quo se vertant, sed de summa rerum incerti et fluctuantes, tantum subitis mentis impulsibus in singulis circumagantur.

XI.

ORPHEUS,

SIVE PHILOSOPHIA.

FABULA de Orpheo vulgata, nee tamen interpretem fidum per omnia sortita, Philosophiae universae imagi-

12 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

nem rcferre videtur. Persona' enim Orphei, viri ad- mirandi et plane divini, et omnis harmoniae periti, et modis suavibus cuncta vincentis et trahentis, ad Phil osophise descriptionem facili transitu traducitur. La- bores enim Orphei labores Herculis, quemadmodum opera sapiential opera fortitudinis, dignitate et poten- tia superant. Orpheus ob amorem uxoris morte im- matura prsereptae, fretus lyra, ad inferos descendere sibi in animum induxit, ut Manes deprecaretur ; ne- que spe sua decidit. Nam placatis Manibus et deli- nitis suavitate cantus et modulationibus, tantum apud eos potuit, ut ei uxorem secum l abducere indultum sit : ea tarn en lege, ut ilia eum a tergo sequeretur, ipse autem antequam ad luminis oras perventum esset, ne respiceret. Quod cum ille nihilominus amoris et cime impatientia (postquam fere in tuto esset) fecis- set, rupta sunt foedera : atque ilia ad inferos gradu prascipiti relapsa est. Ab illo tempore Orpheus moes- tus et mulierum osor in solitudines profectus est, ubi eadem cantus et lyrae dulcedine, primo feras omnige- nas ad se traxit, adeo ut naturam suam exuentes, nee irarum aut ferocitatis memores, nee libidinis stimulis et furor ibus praecipites ache,2 nee ingluviem satiare, aut prsedae inhiare amplius curantes, in morem the- atri, ilium circumstarent, benignaB et mansuetfc inter se facta^, et tantum lyraj concentui aures pra^bentes. Neque is finis, sed tanta musica? vis et potentia fuit, ut etiam sylvas move ret et lapides ipsos, ut ilia quo- que se transferrent, et secies suas circa eum ordine et modo decenti ponerent. Ha3c ei cum ad tempus feli-

1 et suavitate cantus et modulationis delinitis, tantum valuit, ut ei illam secum, cfc. ' Kd. 1(!09.

2 acti. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 13

citer et magna cum admiratione cessissent, tandem Thraciae mulieres, stimulis Bacclii percitse, primo cornu raucum et immane sonans inflarunt: ex eo, propter strepitum, musicae sonus amplius audiri non potuit : turn demum soluta virtute quae ordinis et so- cietatis istius erat vinculum, turbari coeptum est, et ferae singulae ad naturam suam redierunt, et se invi- cem ut prius persecutae sunt ; neque lapides aut sylvag suis mansere locis : Orpheus autem ipse tandem a mulieribus furentibus discerptus est, et sparsus per agros : ob cujus mortis moerorem, Helicon (fluvius Musis sacer) aquas sub terrain indignatus condidit, et per alia loca caput rursus extulit.

Sententia fabulae ea videtur esse. Duplex est Or- phei Cantio : altera ad placandos Manes ; altera ad trahendas feras et sylvas. Prior ad naturalem philo- sophiam, posterior ad moralem et civilem aptissime refertur. Opus enim naturalis philosopliias longe no- bilissimum est ipsa restitutio et instauratio rerum corruptibilium, et (hujusce rei tanquam gradus mino- res) corporum in statu suo conservatio, et dissolutionis et putredinis retardatio. Hoc si oinnino fieri detur, certe non aliter effici potest quam per debita et exqui- sita naturae temperamenta, tanquam per harmoniam lyrae, et modos accuratos. Et tamen cum sit res om nium maxime ardua, effectu plerunque frustratur ; idque (ut verisimile est) non magis aliam ob causam, quam per curiosam et intempestivam sedulitatem et impatientiam. Itaque Philosophia, tantae rei fere im- par, atque idcirco merito moesta, vertit se ad res hu- manas, et in animos hominum suasu et eloquentia virtutis et aequitatis et pacis amorem insinuans, popu- lorum coetus in unum coire facit, et juga legum ac-

14 DE SAPIENTIA VETEKUM

cipere, et imperils se subrnittere, et affectuum indomi- torum oblivisci, dum praeceptis ct discipline auscul- tant ct obtemperant : unde paulo post sedificia ex- truuntur,1 oppida conduntur, agri et horti arboribus conseruntur ; ut lapides et sylvas non abs re convo- cari et transferri dictum sit. Atque ista reruin civil- ium cura rite atque ordine ponitur post experimen- tuin corporis mortalis restituendi sedulo tentatum, et ad extremum frustration : quia mortis necessitas inevitabilis evidentius proposita, hominibus ad seterni- tatem mentis et nominis fama quaerendam animos addit. Etiam prudenter in fabula additur, Orpheum a mulieribus et nuptiis alieno aniino fuisse, quia nup- tiarum delinimenta et liberorum charitates homines plerunque a magnis et excelsis erga respublicas meri- tis avertunt, dum immortalitatem propagine, non fac- tis, assequi satis liabent. Verum et ipsa sapientiae opera, licet inter humana excellant, tamen et suis periodis clauduntur. Evenit enim ut postquam regna et respublicae ad tempus floruerint, subinde perturba- tiones et seditiones et bella oriantur ; inter quorum strepitus, primo leges conticescunt, et homines ad na turae sua) depravationes redeunt ; atque etiam in agris atque oppidis vastitas conspicitur. Neque ita multo post (si hujusmodi furores continuentur) literaa etiam et Philosophia certissime discerpitur : adeo ut frag- menta tantum ejus in paucis locis, tanquam naufragii tabula, inveniantur, et barbara tempora ingruant; Heliconis aquis sub terra mersis ; donee debita rebus vicissitudine, non iisdem fortasse locis, sed apud alias nationes erurnpant et emanent.

1 urule postea sequi ut cecftficia extrvantur, $c. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 15

XII. CCELUM,

SIVE ORIGINES.1

TRADUNT 2 poetae Coelum antiquissimum deorum ex- stitisse. Hujus partes generationis a filio Saturno falce demessas fuisse. Saturnum autem sobolem numerosam generasse ; sed filios continue devorasse : tandem vero Jovem exitium effugisse, et adultum, patrem Saturnum in Tartarum detrusisse, et regnum accepisse ; quinetiam patris genitalia eadem falce qua ille Coelum execuerat abscidisse, atque in mare projecisse : inde Venerem natam esse. Postea vero Jovis regnum vix confirma- tum duo memorabilia bella excepisse. Primum Tita- num, in quibus debellandis Solis operam (qui solus ex Titanibus Jovis rebus favebat) egregiam fuisse ; secun- dum Gigantum, qui et ipsi fulmine et Jovis armis dis- jecti sunt; quibus domitis, Jovem securum regnasse.

Fabula videtur senigma de origine rerum, non multum discrepans ab ea philosophia, quam postea Democritus amplexus est.3 Qui apertissime omnium a3ternitatem materiae asseruit, seternitatem mundi ne- gavit ; in quo aliquanto propius ad veritatem verbi divini accessit, cujus narratio materiam informem ante opera dierum statuit. Sententia fabulas hujusmodi est. Coelum esse concavum illud, sive ambitum, quod ma teriam complectitur. Saturnum autem materiam ip- sam, quae omnem generandi vim parenti prsescidit. Summam enim materiae perpetuo eandem esse ; neque ipsum quantum naturae crescere aut minni. Agita-

1 This forms Cogitatio 1 a in the MS. fragment. ifinxere. MS. 3 excepit. Ed. 1609.

16 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

tiones autem et motus materiaa, primo imperfectas et male cohasrentes rerum compages produxisse, et veluti tentamenta niundorum j dein am processu fabricam ortam esse, quae fbrmain siiani tueri et conservare pos set. Itaque priorem a3vi distributionem per regnum Saturni significari, qui ob frequentes rerum dissolu- tiones et breves durationes, filiorum suorum devorator habitus est : secundam autem per regnum Jovis, qui continuas istas et transitorias mutationes in Tartaram. detrusit ; qui locus perturbationem significat. Is locus videtur esse spatium inter ima cosli et interiora terrse medium ; quo intervallo perturbatio, et fragilitas, et mortalitas, sive corruptio, maxime versatur. Atque durante priore ilia generatione rerum quae sub regno Saturni tenuit, Venerem natam non fuisse. Donee enim in universitate materise discordia esset concordia potior et valentior, mutatio per totum necessario facta est, atque in ipsa fabrica integrali. Tales vero genera- tiones rerum extiterunt, antequam1 Saturnus exsectus esset. Hunc vero generationis modum cessantem alter ille modus continue excepit,2 qui per Venerem fit ; adulta et praevalida rerum concordia : ut mutatio tan- turn per partes procedat,3 Integra et inconcussa fabrica universal!. Saturnuin tamen detrusum et deturbatum, non peremptum et extincturn narrant, quia mundum in antiquam confusionem et interregna relabi posse, opinio Democriti4 erat ; quod Lucretius ne suis temporibus eveniret deprecatus est :

Quod procul a nobis flectat Fortuna gubernans, Et ratio potius, quam res persuadeat ipsa.

1 uttfue in ipsa fabrica ; atque hujusmodi genemtiones rerum extitisse ante- qua m (J-c. Ed. 1609.

2 ejcce/tigse. Ed. 1609. 3 This clause is not in the MS. 4 Ed. 1609 omits Dtmocriti,

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 17

Postquam autem mundus mole et vi sua consisteret, tanien otium ab initio non fuisse. Nam secutos pri- mum in coelestibus regionibus motus notabiles, qui virtute solis in coelestibus prsedominante ita sopiti sunt, ut mundi status conservaretur : postea similiter in infe- rioribus, per inundationes, tempestates, ventos, terras motus magis universales ; quibus etiam oppressis et dissipatis, magis pacata ac durabilis rerum conspiratio et tranquillitas accrevit. Verum de ista fabula utrum- que pronunciari potest, et fabulam philosophiam con- tinere, et philosophiam rursus fabulam. Novimus enim (ex fide) haec omnia nil aliud esse quam sensus jam- pridem cessantia et deficientia oracula : cum mundi et materia et fabrica ad Creatorem verissime referatur.

XIII. PROTEUS,

SIVE MATERIA.1

NARRANT poetse Proteum Neptuno pastorem fuisse ; eundemque senem et vatem ; vatem scilicet praestantis- simum et veluti ter-maximum. Noverat enim non futura solummodo, sed et praeterita et praesentia, adeo ut praster divinationem, etiam omnis antiquitatis et omnium secretorum nuncius ac interpres esset. Mor- abatur autem sub ingenti specu. Ibi ei mos erat sub meridiem gregem suum phocarum numerare, atque deinde somno se dare. Qui autem opera ejus aliqua in re uti volebat, is non alio modo apud eum valere poterat, nisi eum manicis comprehensum vinculis con-

1 This forms Cogitatio 8a in the MS. fragments.

18 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

stringeret. Ille contra, ut se liberaret, in omnes formas atque rerum miracula, ignem, lympham,1 feras, se ver- tere solebat ; donee tandem in pristinam formam resti- tueretur.

Sensus fabulae ad abdita naturaB et conditiones ma- terias pertinere videtur. Sub Protei enim persona Materia significatur, omnium rerum post Deum anti- quissima. Materia autem sub coeli concavo tanquam sub specu habitat. Neptimi autem mancipium est, quia omnis materiae operatic et dispensatio in liquidis praecipue exercetur. Pecus autem, sive grex Protei, non aliud videtur esse, quam species ordinariae anima- lium, plantarum, metallorum, in quibus Materia videtur se diffundere et quasi consumere ; adeo ut postquam istas species effinxerit et absolverit (tanquam penso completo) dormire et quiescere videatur, nee alias am- plius species moliri, tentare, aut parare. Atque haec est Protei pecoris numeratio, et subinde somnus. Hoc autem sub meridiem, non auroram et vesperum, fieri dicitur ; id est, cum tempus jam venerit quod speciebus ex materia debite pra3parata et proedisposita perficiendis et excludendis maturuin sit et quasi legitimum, et inter rudimenta earum et declinationes medium ; quod nos satis scimus ex historia sacra sub tempus ipsum cre- ationis fuisse. Turn enim per virtutem illam divini verbi (Prodmai), Materia ad imperium Creatoris, non per ambages suas sed subito confluxit, et opus suum in actum affatim perduxit, ac species constituit. Atque hucusque fabula narration em suam de Proteo libero et soluto cum pecore suo complet. Nam universitas re rum, cum structuris et fabricis specierum ordinariis, est materia3 non constricts aut devincts et gregis mate-

^fluvium. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTA VETERUM. 19

riatorum facies. Nihilominus si quis peritus Naturae Minister vim adhibeat materiae, et materiam vexet atque urgeat, tanquam hoc ipso destinato et proposito, ut illam in nihilum redigat ; ilia contra (cum annihi- latio aut interitus verus nisi per Dei omnipotentiam fieri non possit), in tali necessitate posita, in miras re- rum transformationes et effigies se vertit : a adeo ut tan dem veluti in orbem se mutet, et periodum impleat,2 et quasi se restituat, si vis continuetur. Ejus autem constrictionis seu alligationis ratio magis facilis erit et expedita, si materia per manicas comprehendatur, id est per extremitates. Quod autem additur in fabula, Proteum vatem fuisse, et trium temporum gnarum, id cum materiae natura optime consentit. Necesse est enim, ut qui materiae passiones et processus noverit, rerum summam et earum quae factae sunt, et quae fiunt, et quae insuper futurae sunt, comprehendat, licet ad partes et singularia cognitio non extendatur.

XIV.

MEMNON,

SIVE PR^MATURUS.

MEMORANT poetae Memnonem Aurorae filium fuisse. Ille armorum pulchritudine insignis, et aura populari Celebris, ad bellum Trojanum venit, et ad summa ausu praecipiti festinans et anhelans, cum Achille, Graecorum fortissimo, certamen singulare iniit, atque ejus dextra occubuit. Hunc Jupiter miseratus aves lugubre quid- dam et miserabile perpetuo quiritantes ad exequias ejus

l volvit et vertit. Ed. 1609. 2 absolutam faciat. MS

20 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

et funeris decus excitavit ; ejusdem statua quoque soils orientis radiis percussa, sonum flebilem edere solita fuisse perhibetur.

Fabula ad adolescentum summae spei calamitosos ex- itus pertinere videtur. Illi enim tanquam Aurora? filii sunt ; atque inanium et externorum specie tumidi, ma- jora fere viribus audent, atque heroes fortissimos laces- sunt, et in certamen deposcunt, et impari congressu succumbentes extinguuntur. Horum autem mortem in- finita commiseratio sequi solet; nil enim inter fata mor- talium tarn flebile est, tamque potens ad misericordiam commovendam, quam virtutis flos immaturo exitu prae- cisus. Neque enim prima getas ad satietatem scilicet, aut ad individiam usque duravit, qua? moestitiam in obitu lenire, aut misericordiam temperare possit ; quine- tiam lamentationes et planctus non solum tanquam aves ilia? funebres circa rogos eorum volitant, sed et durat hujusmodi miseratio et producitur : maxime autem per occasiones et novos motus et initia magnarum rerum, veluti per solis radios matutinos, desideria eorum ren- ovantur.

XV.

TITHONUS,

SIVE S ATIAS.

ELEGANS fabula narratur de Tithono, eum ab Aurora adamatum fuisse, qua? perpetuam ejus consuetudinem exoptans, a Jove petiit ut Titlionus nunquam mori pos set : verum incuria muliebri oblita est petitioni sua? et illud inserere, ut nee senectute gravaretur. Itaque moriendi conditio ei erepta est, senium autem secutum

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 21

est minim et miserandum, quale consentaneum est evenire ei, cui mors negatur, setas perpetuo ingravescit. Adeo ut Jupiter, hujusmodi sortem miseratus, tandem eum in cicadam converterit.

Haec fabula ingeniosa adumbratio et descriptio vol- uptatis esse videtur ; quaa a principio, velut sub tempus aurorae, adeo grata est, ut homines vota faciant ut gaudia hujusmodi sibi perpetua et propria sint ; obliti satietatem et taedium eorum, instar senii, ipsis non cogi- tantibus obventura. Adeo ut ad extremum, cum ac- tiones voluptariae homines deserant, cupido vero et affectus non moriantur,1 fieri soleat ut homines ser- monibus tantum et commemorationibus earum rerum quse eis integra setate voluptati fuerunt se oblectent. Quod in libidinosis et viris militaribus fieri videmus, cum illi impudicos sermones, hi facinora sua retractent, cicadarum more, quarum vigor tantum in voce est.

XVI. PROCUS JUNONIS,

SIVE DEDECUS.

N ARRANT poetae Jovem, ut amoribus suis potiretur, multas et varias formas sumpsisse, tauri, aquilae, cycni, imbris aurei ; cum autem Junonem sollicitaret, vertisse se in formam maxime ignobilem, atque contemptui et ludibrio expositam. Ea fuit miseri cuculi, imbre et tempestate madefacti et attoniti, tremebundi, et semimortui.

Prudens fabula est, et ex intimis moribus desumpta.

l moriatur. Ed. 1609.

22 DE SAPIENT1A VETERUM.

Sensus vero tails : Ne homines nimium sibi placeant, existimantes virtutis sua3 specimen eos apud omnes in pretio et gratia ponere posse. Id enim succedere pro natura et moribus eorum quos ambiunt et colunt ; qui si homines sunt nullis ipsi dotibus et ornamentis insig- niti, sed tantum ingenio sunt superbo et maligno (id quod sub figura Junonis reprassentatur) , turn vero norint sibi exuendam prorsus esse omnem personam quaB vel minimum praa se ferat decoris et dignitatis : atque desipere se plane, si alia via insistant ; neque satis esse si obsequii defbrmitatem praestant, nisi om- nino se in personam abjectam et degenerem mutent.

XVII. CUPIDO,

SI VE ATOMUS.1

QILE de Cupidine sive Amore dicta sunt a poetis in eandem personam proprie convenire non possunt ; ita tamen discrepant, ut confusio personarum rejiciatur, similitude recipiatur. Narrant itaque Amorem omni um deorum fuisse antiquissimum, atque adeo omnium rerum ; excepto Chao, quod ei coaevum perhibetur ; Chaos autem a priscis viris nunquam divino honore aut nomine Dei insignitur. Atque Amor ille prorsus sine parente introducitur ; nisi quod a nonnullis ovum Noctis fuisse traditur. Ipse autem ex Chao et deos et res universas progenuit. Ejus autem attributa ponun- tur numero quatuor, ut sit infans perpetuus, caucus,

1 For the commencement of a larger exposition of this fable, with Mr. Ellis's preface and notes, see Preface to De Principiis atque Originibus.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 23

nudus, Sagittarius. Fuit et Amor quidam alter, deo- rum natu minimus, Veneris filius ; in quern etiam antiquioris attributa transferuntur, et quodam modo competunt.

Fabula ad cunabula naturae pertinet et penetrat. Amor iste videtur esse appetitus sive stimulus materiae primae, sive (ut explicatius loquamur) motus naturalis Atomi. Haec enim est ilia vis antiquissima et unica, quae ex materia omnia constituit et effingit. Ea om- nino sine parente est ; id est, sine causa. Causa enim effectus veluti parens est : hujus autem virtutis causa nulla potest esse in natura (Deum enim semper ex- cipimus). Nihil enim hac ipsa prius ; itaque efficiens nulla : neque aliquid naturae notius ; ergo nee genus nee forma ; quamobrem quaecunque ea tandem sit, positiva est et surda. Atque etiam si modus ejus et processus sciri daretur ; tamen per causam sciri non potest ; cum sit post Deum causa causarum, ipsa in- causabilis. Neque fortasse modum ejus intra inqui- sitionem humanam sisti aut comprehendi posse spe- randum est ; itaque merito fingitur ovum a Nocte exclusum ; certe sanctus philosophus ita pronuntiat : Cuncta fecit pulchra tempestatibus suis, et mundum tradr- idit disputationibus eorum, ita tamen ut non inveniat homo opus quod operatus est Deus a principio usque ad finem. Lex enim summaria Naturae, sive virtus istius Cupidinis indita primis rerum particulis a Deo ad coi- tionem, ex cujus repetitione et nmltiplicatione omnis rerum varietas emergit et conflatur, cogitationem mor- talium perstringere potest, subire vix potest. Philo- sophia autem Graecorum invenitur in rerum materiatis principiis investigandis magis acuta et solicita ; in prin- cipiis autem motus (in quibus omnis operationis vigor

24 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

consistit) negligens et languida. In hoc autem de quo agimus, prorsus caacutire et balbutirc videtur. Etenim Peripateticorum opinio, de stimulo materice per privar- tionem, fere non ultra verba tendit, et rem potius sonat quam signat. Qui autem hoc ad Deum referunt, op- time illi quidem, sed saltu, non gradu ascendunt. Est enim proculdubio unica et summaria lex in quam na- tura coit Deo substitute : ea ipsa, qua? in superiore textu illo verborum complexu demonstratur, Opus, quod ope- ratus est Deus a principio usque ad finem. Democritus autem, qui altius rem perpendit, postquam Atomum dimensione nonnulla et figura instruxerat, unicum Cu- pidinem sive motum primum ei attribuit simpliciter, et ex comparatione alterum. Omnia enim ad centrum mundi ferri putavit proprie : quod autem plus materiae habet, cum celerius ad centrum feratur, illud quod minus habet percussione summovere et in contrarium pellere. Verum ista meditatio angusta fuit, et ad pauciora quam par erat respiciens. Neque enim aut corporum cselestium in orbem conversio, aut rerum contractiones et expansiones, ad hoc principium reduci aut accommodari posse videntur. Epicuri autem opinio de declinatione atomi et agitatione fortuita, ad nugas rursus et ignorationem rei lapsa est. Itaque nimio plus quam optaremus illud apparet, istum Cupidinem nocte involvi. Itaque de attributis videamus. Elegantissime describitur Cupido infans, pusillus et perpetuus ; com- posita enim grandiora sunt et aetatem patiuntur ; prima autem rerum semina, sive atomi, minuta sunt, et in perpet.ua infantia permanent. Etiam illud verissime, quod nudus ; cum composita universa recte cogitanti personata et induta sint ; nihilque proprie nudum sit praeter primas rerum particulas. Ilia autem de casci-

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 25

tate Cupidinis sapientissima allegoria est. Iste enim Cupido (qualiscunque is sit) minimum videtur habere providentiaa ; sed secundum illud quod proximum sen- tit, gressum et motum suum dirigere, ut caeci palpando solent ; quo magis admirabilis est providentia ilia sum- ma divina, quia ex rebus providentia maxime vacuis et expertibus, et quasi cascis, certa tamen et fatali lege istum ordinem et pulchritudinem rerum educit. Ulti- mum attributum ponitur, quod Sagittarius sit, hoc est, quod ista virtus talis sit ut operetur ad distans. Quod enim ad distans operatur, tanquam sagittam emittere videtur : quisquis autem atomum asserit atque vacuum (licet istud vacuum intermistum ponat, non segrega- tum),1 necessario virtutem atomi ad distans introducit ; neque enim hac dempta, aliquis motus (propter vacuum interpositum) excitari posset, sed omnia torperent et immobilia manerent. Quod autem ad juniorem ilium Cupidinem attinet, merito ut minimus deorum natu traditur, cum non ante species constitutas vigere pot- uisset. In illius autem descriptione allegoria ad mores deflectit et traducitur. Subest tamen quaedam ejus cum illo antiquo conformitas. Venus enim generaliter affectum conjunctionis et procreationis excitat ; Cupido ejus films affectum ad individuum applicat. Itaque a Venere est generalis dispositio, a Cupidine magis ex- acta sympathia : atque ilia a causis magis propinquis pendet ; haec autem a principiis magis altis et fatali- bus, et tanquam ab antiquo illo Cupidine, a quo omnis exquisita sympathia pendet.

1 The words within the parentheses are not in Ed. 1609.

26 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

XVIII. DIOMEDES,

S I V E Z E L U 8 .

DIOMEDES cum magna et eximia gloria floreret, et Palladi purcharus esset, exstimulatus ab ea est (et ipse promptior quam oportebat) ut si forte Veneri in pugna occurreret, illi neutiquam parceret ; quod et ille audac- ter executus est, et Vcneris dextram vulneravit. Hoc facinus ille ad ternpus impune tulit, et rebus gestis cla- rus et inclytus in patriam rediit ; ubi domestica mala expertus, ad exteros in Italiam profugit. Ibi quoque initia satis prospera habuit, et regis Dauni hospitio et donis cultus et ornatus est, et multse illi statuae per earn regionem exstructae. Sed sub primam calamitatem, quaa populum ad quern diverterat afflixit, statim subiit Daunum cogitatio, se intra penates suos duxisse homi- nem impium et diis invisum et theomachum, qui deam, quam vel tangere religio erat, ferro invaserat et violav- erat. Itaque ut patriam suam piaculo obstrictam libe- raret, nihil hospitii jura reveritus, cum ei jus religionis videretur antiquius, Diomedem subito obtruncat ; stat- uas et honores ejus prosterni et aboleri jubet. Neque hujusmodi gravem casum vel miserari tutum erat ; sed et ipsi comites ejus, cum mortem ducis sui lugerent et questibus omnia implerent, in aves quasdam ex genere olorum mutati sunt, qui et ipsi sub mortem suam quid- dam dulce et lugubre sonant.

Habet hasc fabula subjectum rarum, et fere singulare. Neque enim memoria? proditum est in aliqua alia fab ula, heroem ullum, prater unum Diomedem, ferro vio- lasse aliquem ex diis. Atque certe videtur fabula imag-

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 27

inem in illo depinxisse hominis et fortunae ejus, qui ex professo hunc finem actionum suarum sibi proponit et destinat, ut cultum aliquem divinum, sive sectam re- ligionis, licet vanam et levem, vi et ferro insectetur et debellet. Quamquam enira cruenta religionis dissidia veteribus incognita essent (cum dii ethnici zelotypia, quod est Dei veri attributum, non tangerentur), tamen tanta et tarn lata videtur fuisse prisci sseculi sapientia, ut quae experiundo non nossent, tamen meditatione et simulachris comprehenderent. Qui itaque sectam ali- quam religionis, licet vanam et corruptam et infamem (id quod sub persona Veneris significatur), non vi ra- tionis et doctrinse, et sanctitate vitse, atque exemplorum et authoritatum pondere, corrigere et convincere ; sed ferro et flamma et poenarum acerbitate exscindere et exterminare nituntur ; incenduntur fortasse ad hoc ip- sum a Pallade ; id est, prudentia quadam acri et judicii severitate, quarum vigore et efficacia hujusmodi erro- rum fallacias et commenta penitus introspiciunt ; et ab odio pravitatis et zelo bono : et ad tempus fere magnam gloriam adipiscuntur, atque a vulgo (cui nihil modera- tum gratum esse potest) ut unici veritatis et religionis vindices (cum caeteri tepidi videantur et meticulosi) celebrantur et fere adorantur. Attamen hsec gloria et felicitas raro ad exitum durat : sed omnis fere violentia, nisi morte celeri vicissitudines rerum effugiat, sub finem improspera est. Quod si eveniat ut rerum commutatio fiat, et secta ilia prescripts, et depressa vires acquirat et insurgat, turn vero hujusmodi hominum zeli et conten- tiones damnantur, et nomen ipsum odio est, et omnes honores eorum in opprobrium desinunt. Quod autem ab hospite interfectus est Diomedes ; id eo spectat, quod religionis dissidium, etiam inter conjunctissimos, insid-

28 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

ias et proditiones excitet. Illud vero de luctu ipso, et querimoniis minime toleratis, sed supplicio affectis, hu- jusmodi est, ut moneat, in omni fere scelere miserationi hominum locum esse, ut etiam qui crimina oderunt, personas tamen et calamitates reorum, humanitatis causa, commiserentur ; extremum autem malorum esse, si misericordia3 commercia interdicantur. Atque tamen in causa religionis et impietatis, etiam miserationes hominurn notari et suspectas esse. Contra vero, comi- tum Diomedis, id est, hominum qui ejusdem sunt sectae et opinionis, querimoniae et deplorationes argutae admo- dum et canoraa esse solent, instar olorum, aut avium Diomedis ; in quo etiam ilia pars allegories nobilis est et insignis ; eorum qui propter causam religionis sup- plicia subeunt, voces sub tempus mortis, tanquam cyc- neas cantiones, animos hominum mirum in modum flectere, et in memoriis et sensibus eorum diutissime inhaerere et permanere.

XIX.

D^DALUS,

SIVE MECHANICUS.

SAPIENTIAM atque industriam Meclianicam, atque in ilia artificia illicita et ad pravos usus detorta, antiqui admnbraverunt sub persona Dyedali, viri ingeniosissimi, sed execrabilis. Hie ob condiscipulum et semulum occisum exulaverat, gratus tamen in exilio regibus et civitatibus erat. Atque multa quidem et egregia opera tarn in honorem deorum, quam ad exornationem et

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 29

magnificentiam urbium et locorum publicorum exstrux- erat et effinxerat ; sed tamen nomen ejus maxime cele- bratur ob illicita. Fabricam enim libidini Pasiphaes subministravit, ut cum tauro misceretur ; adeo ut ab hujus viri scelerata industria et ingenio pernicioso mon- strum illud Minotaurus, pubem ingenuam devorans, or turn traxerit infelicem ac infamem. Atque ille, malum malo tegens et cumulans, ad securitatem hujus pestis Labyrinthum excogitavit et exstruxit : opus fine et destinatione nefarium, artificio insigne et praeclarum : ac postea rursus, ne malis artibus tantum innotesceret, atque ut scelerum remedia (non solum instrumenta) ab eodem peterentur ; etiam consilii ingeniosi author erat de filo, per quod errores labyrinth! retexerentur. Hunc Da3dalum Minos magna cum severitate atque diligentia et inquisitione persecutus est ; ille tamen semper et perfugia et effugia reperiebat. Postremo cum volandi peritiam filium Icarum edocuisset, ille novitius, et ar- tem ostentans, a coelo in aquam decidit.

Parabola videtur esse ejusmodi. In ipso introitu ejus, ea quae apud excellentes artifices excubat et miris modis dominatur invidia notatur. Nullum enim genus hominum ex invidia, eaque acerba et tanquam inter- neciva, magis laborat. Accedit nota de genere poense inflicto minus politice et provide : ut Daedalus exulet. Etenim opifices praeclari id habent, ut apud omnes fere populos sint acceptissimi : adeo ut exilium prsestanti artifici vix supplicii loco sit. Nam alise vitse conditio- nes et genera extra patriam non facile florere possunt. Artificum autem admiratio propagatur et augetur apud exteros et peregrines, cum insitum animis hominum sit illud, ut populares suos, quoad opificia mechanica, in mi- nori pretio habeant. De usu autem artium mechanica-

30 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

rum quae sequuntur rnanifesta sunt ; multum enim illis debet vita humana, cum plurima et ad religionis appara- tum, et ad civilium decus, et ad universse vitae culturam, ex illarum thesauris collata sint. Veruntamen ex eo- dem fonte emanant instrumenta libidinis, atque etiam instrumenta mortis. Missa enim arte lenonum, venena qusesitissima, atque tormenta bellica, atque hujusmodi pestes (quse mechanicis inventis debentur) probe novi- mus quantum Minotaurum ipsum sasvitia et pernicie superarint. Pulcherrima autem allegoria est de laby- rintho, qua natura generalis Mechanicse adumbratur. Omnia enim mechanica, quaa magis sunt ingeniosa et accurata, instar labyrinthi censeri possint ; propter sub- tilitatem et variam implication em, et obviam similitudi- nem, quas vix ullo judicio, sed tan turn experiential filo, regi et discriminari possunt. Nee minus apte adjicitur, quod idem ille qui labyrinthi errores invenit, etiam fili commoditatem monstravit. Sunt enim artes mechanicae veluti usus ambigui, atque faciunt et ad nocumentum et ad remedium, et fere virtus earum seipsam solvit et re- texit. Artificia autem illicita, atque adeo artes ipsas, saapius persequitur Minos ; hoc est, leges, quae illas damnant et earum usum populis interdicunt. Nihilom- inus illaa occultantur et retinentur, et ubique et late- bras et receptum habent ; quod et bene notatum est in re non multum dissimili a Tacito suis temporibus de Mathematicis et Genethliacis, genus (inquit) hominum, quod in civitate nostra semper et retinebitur et vetabitur. Et tamen artes illicitae et curiosas cujuscunque generis, tractu temporis, cum fere quae polliceantur non praa- stant,1 (tanquam Icari de coelo) de existimatione sua decidunt, et in contemptum veniunt, et nimia ipsa os-

iprcestent. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 31

tentatione pereunt. Et certe si verum omnino dicen- dum est, non tarn feliciter legum frasnis coercentur, quam coarguuntur ex vanitate propria.

XX.

ERICHTHONIUS,

SIVE IMPOSTURA.

FABULANTUR poetae Vulcanum pudicitiam Minervae sollicitasse, atque subinde cupidine incensum vim adhib- uisse, atque in ipsa lucta semen in terram effiidisse, ex quo Erichthonium natum esse, qui (partes superiores) decora et grata erat corporis compage, femora autem et tibias suberant in anguillse similitudinem, exilia et de- formia : cujus deformitatis cum ipse sibi conscius esset, eum primum curruum usum invenisse, ut quod in cor- pore magnificum erat ostentaret, probrum autem tege- ret.

Hujus fabulae mirae et prodigiosae ea sententia esse videtur. Artem (quas sub persona Vulcani ob multip- licem ignis usum repraasentatur) quoties per corpo- rum omnimodas vexationes naturae vim facere, eamque vincere ac subigere contendat (natura autem sub per sona Miner vas ob operum solertiam adumbratur), ad votum et finem destinatum raro pertingere ; sed ta- men multa machinatione et molitione (tanquam lucta) intercidere atque emitti generationes imperfectas, et opera quaedam manca, aspectu speciosa, usu infirma et claudicantia ; quae tamen impostores multo et fallaci apparatu ostentant, et veluti triumphantes circumdu-

32 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

cunt. Qualia fere et inter productiones chymicas, et inter subtilitates et novitates mechanicas saspius notare licet; prsesertim cum homines potius propositum ur- gentes, quam ab erroribus suis se recipientes, cum na- tura colluctentur magis, quam debito obsequio et cultu ejus amplexus petant.

XXI.

DEUCALION,

SIVE RESTITUTIO.

NARRANT poetse, extinctis prorsus prisci orbis inco- lis per diluvium universale, cum soli restarent Deuca lion et Pyrrha, qui ardebant desiderio pio et inclyto instaurandi generis humani, eos liujusmodi oraculum excepisse ; voti compotes futuros, si ossa matris accip- erent et post se jacerent : quod illis primo magnam tristitiam et desperationem incussit : cum sequata re- rum facie per diluvium, sepulchri perscrutatio omnino res sine exitu esset : sed tandem intellexerunt lapides terras (cum tellus omnium mater habeatur) ab oraculo sign in car i.

Fabula arcanum naturaa recludere videtur, et erro- rem ammo liumano familiarem corrigere. Hominis enim imperitia judicat rerum renovationes sive instau- rationes ex earundem putredine et reliquiis (ut plioeni- cen ex cinere propria) suscitari posse, quod nullo modo convenit ; cum hujusmodi materise spatia sua confece- rint, et ad initia ipsarum rerum prorsus ineptse sint. Itaque retrocedendum ad principia magis communia.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 33

XXII.

NEMESIS,

S I V E VICES RE RUM.

NEMESIS traditur fuisse dea, omnibus veneranda, po- tentibus et fortunatis etiam metuenda. Ea Noctis et Ocean! filia fuisse perhibetur. Effigies autem ejus de- scribitur talis. Alata erat, etiam coronata ; in mani- bus autem gestabat, dextra hastam e fraxino, sinistra phialam, in qua inclusi erant JEthiopes ; insidebat au tem cervo.

Parabola ejusmodi esse videtur ; nomen ipsum Nem esis vindictam, sive retributionem, satis aperte signi- ficat : hujus enim deaj officium et administratio in hoc sita erat, ut beatorum constant! et perpetuae feli- citati instar tribuni plebis intercederet, ac illud suum Veto interponeret ; neque solum insolentiam castigaret, verum etiam rebus prosperis, licet innocentibus et moderatis, rerum adversarum vices rependeret : ac si neminem humanae sortis ad convivia deorum admitti mos esset, nisi ad ludibrium. Equidem cum illud capitulum apud C. Plinium perlego, in quo ille infor- tunia et miserias August! Cyesaris collegit, quern om nium hominum fortunatissimum existimabam, quique artem etiam quandam utendi [et] fruendi ] fortuna habebat, ac cujus in animo nil tumidum, nil leve, nil molle, nil confusum, nil melancholicum, annotare licet (ut ille etiam sponte mori aliquando destinasset) ; hanc deam magnam et praepotentem esse judicavi, ad cujus aram talis victima tracta esset. Parentes hujus dese

1 utendi fruendi in both copies. In the original edition fruendi begins a fresh page, so that the omission of the et might easily be overlooked.

VOL. XIII. 3

34 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

fuere Oceanus et Nox ; hoc est, rerum vicissitude, et judiciurn divinum obscurum et secreturn ; etenirn vices rerum per oceanum apte reprassentantur, ob perpetuum fluxum et refluxum : occulta autem providentia per noctem rite proponitur. Nam etiam apud ethnicos nocturna ilia Nemesis, cum scilicet judicium huma- iiuin a divine discors esset, in observations erat.

— Cadit et Ripheus, justissimus unus Qui fuit ex Teucris, et servantissimus sequi. Diis aliter visum.

Alata autem describitur Nemesis, ob subitas rerum conversion es, nee ante prsevisas ; nam in omni rerum memoria illud fere usuvenit, ut homines magni et pru- dentes per ea discrimina perierint quse maxime con- tempserint. Certe, cum M. Cicero a Dec. Bruto de Octavii Caesaris minus sincera fide et animo exulce- rato monitus esset, illud tantum rescripsit : Te autem mi Brute sicut debeo amo, quod istud quicquid est nu- garum me scire volidsti. Etiam corona Nemesis insig- nitur, ob naturam vulgi invidam et malignam : quando enim fortunati et potentes ruunt, turn fere vulgus ex- ultat, et Nemesin coronat. Hasta autem in dextra ad eos pertinet quos Nemesis actu percutit et transfigit. Quos autem calamitate et infortunio non mactat, illis tamen spectrum illud atrum et infaustum in sinistra ostentat: obversantur enim proculdubio mortalibus eti am in summo fastigio felicitatis positis, mors et inorbi, et infortunia, et amicorum perfidiae, et inimicorum in- sidia3, et rerum mutationes, et hujusmodi ; veluti ^thi- opes illi in phiala. Certe Virgilius, cum praelium Ac- tiacum describit, de Cleopatra illud eleganter subjungit :

Regina in mediis patrio vocat agmina sistro, Necdum etiam gemiuos a tergo respicit angues.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 35

Verum non multo post quocunque se ilia verteret tola agmina ^Ethiopum obversabantur. Ad extremum pru- clenter adclitur, Nemesin cervo insidere ; quia vivax admodum animal est cervus ; atque fieri fortasse po- test ut qui juvenis fato ereptus sit Nemesin prsevertat et effugiat ; cui autem diuturna obvenit felicitas et po- tentia, is proculdubio Nemesi subjicitur, ac veluti sub- sternitur.

XXIII. ACHELOUS,

SIVE PR.ELIUM.

NARRANT antiqui, cum Hercules et Achelous de nuptiis Dejanirae contenderent, rem ad certamen de- ductam esse. Achelous autem, cum varias et multip- lices formas tentasset (nam hoc ei facere licebat), tandem Herculi sub forma tauri torvi et frementis occurrit, et ad pugnam se paravit. Hercules vero, solitam retinens figuram humanam, in eum impetum fecit. Res cominus gesta est. Eventus autem talis fuit, ut Hercules alterum ex cornibus tauro fregerit : ille majorem in modum dolens et perterritus, ut cornu illud suum redimeret, permutatione facta cornu Amal- theae sive Copiaa Herculi largitus est.

Fabula ad belli expeditiones pertinet. Apparatus enim belli ex parte defensiva (qui per Acheloum pro- ponitur) varius admodum et multiformis est. Nam invadentis species unica est et simplex, cum ex exer- citu solo aut classe fortasse constet : regio autem, quae in solo proprio hostem expectat, infinita molitur, op- pida munit, diruit, plebem ex agris et villis in urbes

36 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

et castella cogit, pontes extruit, prosternit, copias et commeatus comparat, distribuit, in fluviis, portibus, collium faucibus, sylvis, et aliis rebus innumeris occu- pata est, ut novas rerum facies quotidie induat et ex- periatur ; ac tandem cum abunde munita et instructa fiierit,1 tauri pugnacis formam et minas ad vivum rep- rsesentet. Ille autem qui invadit, praelium captat, et in hoc maxime incumbit, inopiam in terra hostili metu- ens. Quod si fiat ut praelio commisso acie victor sit, et tanquam cornu hosti frangat ; turn proculdubio il- lud assequitur, ut hostis trepidus et existimatione dim- inutus, ut se explicet et vires suas reparet, in muni- tiora se recipiat ; atque urbes et regiones victori ad populandum et diripiendum relinquat ; quod vere in- star cornu illius Amalthese censeri possit.

XXIV.

DIONYSUS,

SIVE CUPIDITAS.

NARRANT Semelen Jovis pellicem, postquam jura- Fabuiahajc mento eum inviolabili ad votum indefinitum h?bronsccundo obstrhixisset, petiisse ut ad amplexus suos

De Augmentis , ,. 1.

scientiarum, accederet tans qualis cum Junone consues-

aucta et locu- ... n

pietata. set i itaque ilia ex connagratione pernt.

Infans autem quern in utero gestabat, a patre ex- ceptus, in femur ejus insutus est, donee menses fbetui destinatos compleret; ex quo tamen onere Jupiter nonnihil claudicabat : itaque puer, quod Jovem dum in femore ejus portaretur gravaret et pungeret, Di-

1 instructa sit. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 37

onysi nomen accepit. Postquam autem editus esset, apud Proserpinam per aliquot annos nutritus est. Cum vero adultus esset, ore fere muliebri conspicie- batur, ut sexus videretur tanquam ambigui. Etiam ex- tinctus et sepultus erat ad tempus, et non ita multo post revixit. Atque prima juventa vitis culturam, atque adeo vini confectionem et usum, primus invenit et edoc- uit ; ex quo Celebris factus et inclytus, orbem terrarum subjugavit, et ad ultimos Indorum terminos perrexit. CUITU autem vehebatur a tigribus tracto. Circa eum subsultabant doamones deformes Cobali vocati, Acra- tus, et alii. Quin et Musae comitatui ejus se adde- bant. Uxorem autem sibi sumpsit Ariadnen a Theseo desertam et relictam. Arbor ei sacra erat hedera. Etiam sacrorum et caeremoniarum inventor et institu- tor habebatur, ejus tamen generis qua? et fanaticas erant et plena? corruptelarum, atque insuper crudeles. Furores quoque immittendi potestatem habebat. Certe in orgiis ejus a mulieribus furore percitis duo viri in- signes discerpti narrantur, Pentheus et Orpheus ; ille dum arbore conscensa spectator eorum quse agerentur esse voluisset ; hie cum lyram pulsaret. Atque hujus Dei res gestse cum Jo vis rebus fere confunduntur.

Fabula videtur ad mores pertinere, ut nihil in philo- sophia morali melius inveniatur. Describitur autem sub persona Bacchi natura Cupiditatis, sive affectus et perturbationis. Mater enim cupiditatis omnis, licet nocentissimse, non alia est quam appetitus et desideri- um Boni Apparentis. Concipitur vero semper Cupid- itas in voto illicito, prius temere concesso quam intel- lecto et judicato. Postquam autem affectus effervescere caaperit, mater ejus (natura scilicet boni) ex nimio incendio destruitur et perit. Cupiditas autem dum

38 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

immatura est, in anima humana (qua3 ejus genitor est, et per Jovem repra3sentatur) et nutricatur et oc- cultatur, prascique in anima3 parte inferiore, tanquam femore ; atque animum pungit et convellit et deprimit ; adeo ut decreta et actiones ex ea impediantur et clau- dicent. Atque etiam postquam consensu et habitu confirmata est, et in actus erumpit, tarn en apud Pro- serpinam ad tempus educatur ; id est, latebras quserit, atque clandestina est et quasi subterranea, donee re- motis pudoris et metus fhenis, et coalita audacia, aut virtutis alicujus prsetextum suinit, aut infamiam ipsam contemnit. Atque illud verissimum est, omneni af- fectum vehementiorem tanquam ambigui sexus esse. Habet enim impetum virilem, impotentiam autem mu- liebrem. Etiam illud prseclare, Bacchum mortuum reviviscere. Videntur enim affectus quandoque sopiti atque extincti, sed nulla fides habenda est eis, ne se- pultis quidem ; siquidem prsebita materia et occasione resurgunt. Atque de inventione vitis parabola prudens est : omnis enim affectus ingeniosus est et sagax ad investigandum fomites suos ; ante omnia autem quae hominibus innotuere, vinum ad perturbationes cujus- cunque generis excitandas et inflammandas potentissi- mum est et maxime efficax ; atque est eis instar fomitis communis. Elegantissinie autem ponitur affectus pro- vinciarum subjugator, et expeditionis infinite susceptor. Nunquam enim partis acquiescit, sed appetitu infinite neque satiabili ad ulteriora tendit, et novis inliiat. Etiam tigres apud affectus stabulant et ad currum jugantur. Postquam enim affectus aliquis curulis esse coepit non pedestris, et victor rationis et triumphator ; in omnia qure adversantur aut se opponunt crudelis est et indomitus et immitis. Facetum autem est, quod

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 39

circa currum subsultant illi daemones ridiculi. Omnis enim affectus progignit motus in oculis et ore ipso et gestu indecoros et inconditos, subsultorios et deformes, adeo ut qui sibi in aliquo affectu, veluti ira, insulta- tione,1 amore, videatur magnificus et tumidus, aliis tamen sit turpis et ridiculus. Conspiciuntur etiam in affectus comitatu Musae. Neque enim reperitur ullus fere affectus, cui non blandiatur aliqua doctrina. Hac enim in re ingeiiiorum indulgentia Musarum majes- tatem minuit, ut cum duces vitae esse debeant, sint affectuum pedissequae. Atque imprimis nobilis est ilia allegoria, Bacchum amores suos in earn effudisse quae ab alio relicta erat. Certissimum enim est, affectum id petere et ambire quod experientia repudiavit. Atque norint omnes, qui affectibus suis servientes et indul- gentes, pretium potiundi in immensum augent, sive honores appetant, sive fortunas, sive amores, sive glo- riam, sive scientiam, sive alia quaecunque, se res relictas petere, et a compluribus per omnia fere saecula post experimentum dimissas et fastiditas. Neque mysterio caret, quod hedera Baccho sacra fuerit. Hoc enim duplici modo convenit. Primum, quod hedera hieme virescat; deinde, quod circa tot res, arbores, parie- tes, aedificia serpat, ac circumfundatur, ac se attollat. Quod ad primum enim attinet, omnis affectus per ren- itentiam et vetitum et tanquam antiperistasin (veluti per frigus brumac hedera), virescit et vigorem acquirit. Secundo, affectus praedominans omnes humanas actiones et omnia humana decreta tanquam hedera circumfundi- tur, atque iis se addit et adjungit et immiscet. Neque mirum est si superstitiosi ritus Baccho attribuantur, cum omnis fere male sanus affectus in pravis religioni- bus luxurietur : aut si furores ab eo immitti putentur,

1 arrogantia. Ed. 1609.

40 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

cum omnis affectus et ipse furor brevis sit, ot si vehe- mentius obsideat et incumbat, in insania terarinetur. Illud autein de Pentheo et Orpheo laceratis evidentem habet parabolam ; cum affectus prsevalidus et inquisi tion! curiosse et admonitioni salutari et liberaB asper- rimus atque infensissimus sit. Postremo ilia confusio personarum Jo vis et Bacchi ad parabolam recte traduci potest ; quandoquidem res gesta3 nobiles et clara?, et merita insignia et gloriosa, interdum a virtute et recta ratione et magnanimitate, interdum a latente affectu et occulta cupiditate (utcunque famae et laudis celebritate efferantur) proveniant : ut non facile sit distinguere facta Bacchi a factis Jovis.

XXV.

ATALAOTA,

SI VE LUCRUM.

ATALANTA cum velocitate excelleret, de victoria cur- sus cum Hippomene certamen iniit. Conditiones cer- taminis erant ; victori Hippomeni conjugium Atalantae, mors victo. Neque dubia victoria videbatur, cum Ata- lantaj insaperabilis in cursu praestantia multorum exitio insignita fuisset. Itaque Hippornenes ad dolos animum adjecit. Paravit autem tria mala aurea, eaque secum portavit.1 Res geri coepit ; prsecurrit Atalanta ; ille cum se a tergo relictum cerneret, artis non immemor, ex malis aureis unum ante conspectum Atalantae pro- jecit ; non recta quidem, sed ex transverse, ut illam et moraretur, atque insuper de via deduceret ; ilia, cu piditate muliebri, et mali pulcln-itudine illecta, omisso

1 circa se Imbuit. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 41

stadio post malum cucurrit, et ad illud tollendum se submisit. Hippomenes interim spatium stadii non parvum confecit, eamque post se reliquit. Ilia tamen rursus naturali pernicitate jacturam temporis resarcivit, atque iterum emicuit : sed cum Hippomenes secundo et tertio hujusmodi moras ei injecisset, tandem victor astutia non virtute evasit.

Fabula videtur allegoriam insignem proponere de certamine Artis cum Natura. Ars enim, per Ata- lantam significata, virtute propria, si nihil obstet et impediat, longe natura velocior est, et veluti cursus citations ; et celerius ad metam pervenit. Hoc enim in omnibus fere effectis patet. Cernas fructus ex nucleis tarde, ex insitione celeriter provenire ; cernas lutum in generatione lapidum tarde, in torrefactione laterum cito durescere : etiam in moralibus, dolorum oblivionem et solatia diuturnitas temporis quasi ex beneficio naturse inducit ; philosophia autem (quae veluti ars vivendi est) diem non expectat, sed prasstat et repraesentat. Yerum istam artis prserogativam et vigorem, infinite rerum humanarum detrimento, mala aurea retardant. Neque reperitur ex scientiis aut ar- tibus aliqua, quae cursum suum verum et legitimum ad finem suum, tanquam ad metam, constanter pro- duxerit ; sed perpetuo artes incoepta praecidunt, et stadium deserunt, et ad lucrum et commodum decli- nant, instar Atalantae :

Declinat cursus, aurumque volubile tollit.

Itaque mirum minime est, si arti non datum sit na- turam vincere, et victam ex pacto illo et lege certam- inis perimere aut destruere ; sed contrarium eveniat, ut ars in naturae potestate sit, atque veluti nupta mulier conjugi pareat.

42 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

XXVI.

PROMETHEUS,

S I V K STATUS H O M I N I S .

TKADUNT antiqui Hominem fuisse opus Promethei, atque ex luto factum, nisi quod Prometheus particulas ex diversis animalibus massae admiscuerit. Ille autern cum opus suum beneficio suo tueri vellet, neque con- ditor solum generis human! videri, verum etiam ampli- ficator, ad coelum ascendit furtim, fasces secum portans ex ferula, quibus ad currum solis admotis et accensis, ignem ad terrain detulit, atque cum hominibus com- municavit. Ob tan turn Promethei meritum memorant homines parum gratos fuisse. Quinetiam conspiratione facta, et Prometheum et inventum ejus apud Jovem ac- cusarunt. Ea res non perinde accepta, atque requum videri possit. Nam ipsa accusatio Jovi et superis ad- modum cordi fuit. Itaque delectati non solum ignis usum hominibus indulserunt, verum et novum munus omnium maxime amabile et optabile (perpetuam nimi- rum juventam) hominibus donarunt. Illi gestientes et inepti, donum deorum asello imposuerunt. Inter rede- undum autem laborabat asellus siti gravi et vehement! ; cumque ad fontem quendam pervenisset, serpens font! custos additus, eum a potu prohibuit, nisi illud, quod- cunque esset, quod in dorso portaret, pacisci vellet : asellus miser conditionem accepit, atque hoc modo in- stauratio juventutis, in pretium haustus pusillas aquae, ab hominibus ad serpentes transmissa est. Verum Prometheus a malitia sua non abscedens, atque homin ibus post premium illud eorum frustratum reconcil- iatus, animo vero erga Jovem exulcerato, dolos etiam

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 43

ad sacrificium adhibere veritus non est. Atque duos aliquando tauros Jovi dicitur immolasse, ita tamen ut in alterius pelle carnes et adipem amborum incluserit, alteram pellem ossibus tantummodo sufFarcinarit ; atque delude religiosus scilicet et benignus Jovi optionem concessit. Jupiter, vafritiem et malam fidem ejus detestatus, sed nactus occasionem ultionis, ludibrium illud tauri elegit ; atque ad vindictam conversus, cum se insolentiam Promethei reprimere non posse ani- madverteret, nisi homimum genus (quo opere ille im- mensum turgebat et efferebatur) afflixisset, Vulcano imperavit, ut foeminam componeret pulchram et ve- nustam, cui etiam dii singuli dotes suas impertierunt, qua3 idcirco Pandora vocata est. Huic fbemina? inter manus vasculum elegans posuerunt, in quo omnia mala et serumnas incluserant ; subsidebat autem in imo vase Spes. Ilia cum vasculo suo ad Prometheum primo se contulit ; eum captans, si forte ille vas accipere vellet et aperire : quod ille cautus et astutus rejecit. Itaque ad Epimetheum Promethei fratrem (sed diversae admo- dum indolis) spreta deflexit. Ille nihil cunctatus vas temere aperuit ; cumque mala ilia omnigena evolare cerneret, sero sapiens, magna contentione et festina- tione vasi operculum suum rursus indere conatus est, vix tamen ultimam et in fundo residentem Spem ser- vare potuit. Postremo Prometheo Jupiter plurima et gravia imputans, quod ignis olim furtum fecisset, quod Jovis majestatem in sacrificio illo doloso ludibrio hab- uisset, quod donum ejus aspernatus esset, novo etiam additio crimine, quod Palladem vitiare tentasset, eum in vincula conjecit, et ad perpetuos cruciatus damnavit. Erat enim jussu Jovis adductus ad montem Caucasum, atque ibi columnar alligatus, ut nullo pacto se movere

44 DE SAPIENTIA YETERUM.

posset: aderat autem aquila, quie jecur ejus intercliu ros- tro tundebat atquc consumebat, noctu autem quantum comesum erat renascebatur, ut nunquam doloris materia deficeret. Memorant tamen hoc supplicium aliquando finem habuisse : Hercules enim in poculo quod a Sole acceperat, navigato oceano, ad Caucasum pervenit, atque Prometheum liberavit, aquila sagittis confixa. Instituta autem sunt in honorem Promethei, apud nonnullos populos, lampadiferorum certamina, in qui- bus decurrentes accensas faces ferebant, quas si extin- gui contigisset, victoriam sequentibus cedebant et se subducebant, atque is demum palmam accepit, qui primus facem accensam ad metam usque detulisset.

Fabula contemplationes plurimas veras atque graves et prae se fert et premit. Nonnulla enim in ea jam- pridem recte notata, alia plane intacta sunt. Prome theus Providentiam liquido et diserte significat : atque in rerun! universitate sola desumpta et delecta est ab antiquis Hominis fabrica et constitutio, quaa provi dential attribuatur tanquam opus proprium. Hujus rei non solum illud in causa esse videtur, quod hominis natura mentem suscipit atque intellectum providentia? sedein, atque durum quodammodo videtur et incredibile ex principiis brutis et surdis excitare et educere ratio- nem et mentem ; ut fere necessario concludatur provi- dentia animoQ humanae indita esse non sine exemplari et intentione et authoramento providentise majoris : ve- rum et hoc prsecipue proponitur, quod homo veluti centrum mundi sit, quatenus ad causas finales ; adeo ut sublato e rebus homine, reliqua vagari sine proposito videantur et fluctuari, atque quod aiunt scopas dissolutae esse, nee finem petere. Omnia enim subserviunt hom- ini, isque nsum et fructum ex singulis elicit et capit.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 45

Etenim astrorum conversiones et period! et ad distinc- tiones temporum et ad plagarum mundi distributionem faciunt ; et meteora ad praesagia tempestatum ; et venti turn ad navigandum, turn ad molas et macliinas ; et plantae atque animalia cujuscunque generis, aut ad do- micilia hominis et latebras, aut ad vestes, aut ad victum, aut ad medicinam, aut ad levandos labores, aut denique ad delectationern et solatium referuntur: adeo ut omnia prorsus non suam rem agere videantur, sed hominis. Neque temere additum est, in massa ilia et plasmate particulas ex diversis animantibus desumptas, atque cum luto illo temperatas et confusas fuisse ; quia ve- rissimum est, omnium rerum quas universum compleo titur hominem rem maxime compositam esse et decom- positam, ut non immerito ab antiquis Mundus Minor vocatus sit. Quamvis enim verbi Microcosmi elegan- tiam chymici nimis putide et ad literam acceperint et detorserint, dum in homine omnem mineram, omne vegetabile, et reliqua, aut aliquid eis proportionatum, subesse volunt ; manet tamen illud solidurn et sanum quod diximus, corpus hominis omnium entium et max ime mistum et maxime organicum reperiri, quo magis admirandas virtutes et facultates suscipit et nanciscitur. Simplicium enim corporum vires paucae sunt, licet certae et rapidaa, quia minime per mixturam refractse, et com minute, et libratae existunt: virtutis autem copia et ex- cellentia in mistura et compositione habitat. Atque nihi- lominus homo in originibus suis videtur esse res inermis et nuda, et tarda in juvamentum sui, denique quae plu- rimis rebus indigeat. Itaque festinavit Prometheus ad inventionem ignis, qui omnibus fere humanis necessi- tatibus et usibus suppeditat et ministrat levamenta et auxilia : ut si forma formarum anima, si instrumentum

46 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

instrumentorum manus, etiam auxilium auxiliorum sive opis opium ignis dici mereatur. Hinc enim operationes quamplurimae,1 hinc artes mechanics, hinc scientise ipstE infinitis modis adjuvantur. Modus autem furti ignis apte describitur, atque ex natura rei. Is fuisse perhibetur per virgam ex ferula ad currum solis ad- motam. Ferula enim ad percussionem et plagas adhi- betur, ut luculenter significetur, ignis generationem per corporum violentas percussiones et collisiones fieri, ex quibus attermantur materiae, et in motu ponuntur, et ad calorem coelestium suscipiendum pra^parantur, ignem- que veluti ex curru solis modis clandestinis ac quasi furtim decerpunt et rapiunt. Sequitur paraboke pars insignis. Homines, loco gratulationis et gratiarum ac- tionis, ad indignationem et expostulationem versos esse, atque accusationem et Promethei et ignis apud Jovem instituisse ; earnque rem Jovi acceptissimam fuisse, adeo ut hominum commoda ob hoc nova munificentia cu- mulaverit. Quorsum enim ista criminis inorati erga

*^ O O

authorem suum animi (quod vitium omnia fere com- plectitur) approbatio et remuneratio? Res alio spectare videtur. Hoc enim vult allegoria ; incusationem et naturae suae et artis per homines factam, ex optimo mentis statu proficisci, atque in bonum cedere ; con- trarium diis invisum et infaustum esse. Qui enim naturam humanam vel artes receptas in immensum extollunt, et effusi sunt in admirationem earum rerum quas habent et possident, et scientias quas profitentur aut colunt perfectas prorsus censeri volunt, illi primo adversus divinam naturam minus reverentes sunt, cujus perfection! sua fere aaquiparant ; deinde iidem erga homines magis sunt infructuosi, cum se ad fastigium

1 Hinc enim omnis inditstria. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 47

rerum jam pervenisse putent, et tanquam perfuncti ulteriora mm quairant. Contra qui naturam et artes deferunt et accusant, et querimoniarum pleni sunt, illi vere et magis modestum animi sensum retinent, et perpetuo ad novam industriam et nova inventa ex- timulantur. Quo mihi magis mirari libet hominum inscitiam et malum genium, qui paucorum arrogantiae servuli, istam Peripateticorum philosophiam, portionem Graecae sapientiae, nee earn magnam, in tanta venera- tione habent, ut omnem ejus incusationem non solum inutilem sed suspectam et fere periculosam reddiderint. Atque magis probandus est et Empedocles, qui tan quam furens, et Democritus, qui magna cum verecun- dia, queruntur, omnia abstrusa esse, nihil nos scire, nil cernere,' veritatem in profundis puteis immersam, veris falsa miris modis adjuncta atque intorta esse (nam Aca- demia nova modum prorsus excessit), quam Aristotelis schola fidens et pronuntiatrix. Itaque monendi sunt homines, delationem naturae et artis diis cordi esse, et novas eleemosynas et donaria a divina benignitate impe- trare ; et incusationem Promethei licet authoris et ma- gistri, eamque acrem et vehementem, magis sanam et utilem quam gratulationem eiFusam esse ; denique opini- onem copiae inter maximas causas inopiae reponi. Quod vero attinet ad doni genus quod homines in praemium accusationis dicuntur accepisse (florem juventutis vide licet non deciduum), ejusmodi est, ut videantur antiqui de modis et medicinis ad senectutis retardationem et vi- tac prolongationem facientibus non desperasse; sed ilia utique numerasse potius inter ea quae per hominum inertiam et incuriam, licet semel accepta, periere aut frustrata sunt, quam inter ea quae plane negata et nun- quam concessa fuerint. Significant enim et innuunt,

48 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

ex ignis vero usu, atque ex artis erroribus bene et strenue accusatis et convictis, munificentiam divinam ad hujusmodi dona hominibus non defuisse ; ipsos sibi deesse, cnm hoc deorum munus asello imposuerint lento et tardigrade ; ea videtur esse Experientia, res stupida et plena morae, ex cujus gradu tardo et tes- tudineo antiqua ilia querimonia de vita brevi et arte lonya nata est. Atque certe nos in ea sumus opin- ione, facilitates illas dnas, Dogmaticam et Empir- icam, adlmc non bene conjunctas et copnlatas fuisse ; sed nova deorum munera aut philosophiis abstractis, tanquam levi volucri, aut lentae et tardac experientiae, tanquam asello, imposita esse. In quo tamen de asello illo non male ominandum est, nisi interveniat illud accidens vije et sit is. Existimamus enim, si quis ex perientiae veluti certa lege et metliodo constanter mili- tet, neque inter viam experimenta quse vel ad lucrum faciunt vel ad ostentationem hauriendi siti corripiatur, adeo ut1 ad ea comparanda onus suum deponat et dis- traliat ; eum munificentiaa divinae auctos et novae baj- ulum non inutilem fore. Quod vero donum illud ad serpentes transierit, ea videtur adjectio ad fabulam ornatus fere gratia ; nisi forte illud inseruerint, ut hom ines pudeat, se cum igne illo suo et tot artibus ea in se transferre non posse quae natura ipsa compluribus aliis animalibus largita est. Etiam ilia subita hominum cum

O

Promethea reconciliatio postquam spe sua decidissent, monitum habet utile et prudens. Notat enim hominum levitatem et temeritatem in experimentis novis. Ea enim si statim non succedant et ad vota respondeant, praepropera festinatione homines incepta deserunt, et praecipites ad vetera recurrunt, iisque reconciliantur.

i sitiat, ut. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 49

Descripto statu hominis quoad artes et intellectualia, parabola transit ad Religionem ; culturam enim artium cultus divinorum comitatus est ; quern statim hypocri- sis occupavit et polluit. Itaque sub duplici illo sacri- ficio, eleganter repraesentatur persona vere religiosi et hypocritae. Alteri enim inest adeps, Dei nimirum por- tio, ob inflammationem et suffitum, per quod afFectus et zelus ad gloriam Dei incensus atque alta petens signi- ficatur; insunt viscera charitatis, insunt carnes bonae et utiles. In altero nihil praeter ossa arida et nuda repe- riuntur, quae nihilominus pellem farciunt, et hostiam pulcherrimam et magnificam imitantur ; per quaa recte notantur extern! et inanes ritus et caeremoniae jejunae, quibus homines cultum divinum onerant et inflant, res ad ostentationem potius compositae, quam ad pietatem facientes. Neque satis est hominibus hujusmodi lu- dibria Deo offerre, nisi ea etiam illi imponant et im- putent, ac si ipse ilia elegerit et praescripserit. Certe propheta sub Dei persona de hac optione expostulat : Num tandem hoc est illud jejunium, quod ELEGI, ut ho mo animam suam in diem unum affligat, et caput instar juncece demittat ? Post statum religionis, parabola se vertit ad mores et humanae vitae conditiones. Atque pervulgatum est illud, et tamen recte positum, per Pandoram significari Voluptatem et Libidinem, quae post vitae civilis artes et cultum et luxum, veluti ex dono ignis et ipsa incensa est. Itaque Vulcano, qui similiter ignem repraesentat, opificium voluptatis depu- tatur. Ab ilia autem infinita mala et in animos et in corpora et fortunas hominum, una cum sera poenitentia, fluxerunt ; neque tantum in status singulorum, verum etiam in regna et respublicas. Ab eodem enim fonte bella et tumultus et tyrannides ortum traxere. Verum

50 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

opera? pretium est animadvertere, quam belle et ele- ganter fabula duas humana? vita? conditiones, et veluti tabulas sive exempla, sub personis Promethei et Epi- methei depinxerit. Qui enim sectara Epimethei se- quuntur, illi improvidi, neque in longum consulentes, qua? in pra?sentia suavia sunt prima habent, atque multis sane propter hoc angustiis et difficultatibus et calami- tatibus premuntur, et perpetuo fere cum illis conflic- tantur ; interim tamen genium suum placant, atque insuper ob rerum imperitiam multas inanes spes intra animum volvunt, quibus tamen veluti suavibus insom- niis se delectant, atque miserias vita? sua? condiunt. Promethei autem schola, homines nimirum prudentes, et in futurum prospicientes, multa scilicet mala et in- fortunia caute submovent et rejiciunt ; verum cum hoc bono illud conjunctum est, ut multis voluptatibus et varia rerum jucunditate se privent, et genium suum fraudent, atque quod multo pejus est, curis et solicitu- dine et timoribus intestinis se crucient et conficiant. Alligati enim Necessitates columnse, innumeris cogita- tionibus (qua?, quia volucres admodurn sunt, per aqui- lam significantur) iisque pungentibus et jecur morden- tibus et corrodentibus vexantur ; nisi forte aliquando veluti noctu exiguam quampiam animi remissionem et quietem nanciscantur ; ita tamen ut statim subinde redeant novae anxietates et formidines. Itaque paucis admodum utriusque sortis beneficium contigit, ut pro- videntiae commoda retinuerint, sollicitudinis et pertur- bationis malis se liberarint : neque id quisquam assequi potest, nisi per Hercnlem, id est, fortitudinem et animi constantiam, qua? in omnem eventum parata, et cuicun- que sorti a?qua, prospicit sine metu, fruitur sine fastidio, et tolerat sine impatientia. Atque illud notatu dignum

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 51

est, virtutem hanc Prometheo non innatam sed adven- titiam fuisse, atque ex ope aliena. Nulla enim ingen- ita et naturalis fortitude tantaa rei par esse possit. Sed haec virtus ab ultimo oceano atque a sole accepta et advecta est : prajstatur enim a sapientia, tanquam a sole, et a meditatione inconstantiae ac veluti undarum humanae vitae, tanquam a navigatione oceani ; quas duo Virgilius bene conjunxit :

Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas, Quique inetus omnes et inexorabile fatum Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.

Elegantissime autem additur ad hominum animos con- solandos et confirmandos, heroem istum ingentem in poculo sive urceo navigasse : ne forte naturae suaa an- gustias et fragilitatem minium pertimescant aut causen- tur, ac si hujusmodi fortitudinis et constantiae capax omnino non esset ; de quo ipso Seneca bene ominatus est, cum dicat, Magnum est habere simul fragilitatem hominis, et securitatem Dei. Sed jam retrocedendum est ad illud, quod consulto praeterivimus, ne ea quas inter se connexa sunt abrumperemus : hoc est, de novissimo illo Promethei crimine, quod pudicitiam Minervae sollicitasset. Nam et ob hoc delictum, gra- vissimum certe et maximum, illam poenam laniationis viscerum subiit. Illud non aliud esse videtur, quam quod homines artibus et scientia multa inflati, etiam sapientiam divinam sensibus et rationi subjicere saepius tentent ; ex quo certissime sequitur mentis laceratio et stimulatio perpetua et irrequieta. Itaque mente sobria et submissa distinguenda sunt humana et divina ; at que oracula sensus et fidei ; nisi forte et religio haeret- ica et philosophia commentitia horninibus cordi sit. Restat ultimum illud de ludis Promethei cum taedis

52 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

ardentibus. Hoc rursus ad artes et scientias pertinet, sicut ignis ille ad cujus memoriam et celebrationem hujusmodi ludi instituti sunt ; atque continet in se monitum, idque prudentissimum ; ut perfectio scien- tiarum a successione, non ab unius alicujus pernicitate aut facultate, expectetur. Etenim qui ad cursum et contentionem velocissimi et validissimi sunt, ii ad facem suam accensam servandam fortasse minus sunt habiles, cum a cursu rapido seque ac nimis tardo periculum extinctionis immineat. Isti autem Luminum cursus et certamina jampridem interrnissa videntur, cum scien- tiae in primis quibusque authoribus, Aristotele, Galeno, Euclide, Ptolomseo, maxime florere cernantur; atque successio nil magni effecerit aut fere tentaverit. Atque optandum esset, ut isti ludi in honorem Promethei sive Humanae Naturae instaurarentur, atque res certamen et semulationem et bonam fortunam reciperet, neque ex unius cujuspiam face tremula atque agitata pen- deret. Itaque homines monendi sunt, ut se ipsi ex- suscitent, et vires atque etiam vices suas experiantur, neque in paucorum liominum animulis et cerebellis omnia ponant. Ha3C sunt ilia, qua? in fabula ista vul- gari et decantata nobis adumbrari videntur ; neque tamen inficiamur, illi subesse baud pauca, quse ad Christianas fidei mysteria miro consensu innuant ; ante omnia navio;atio ilia Herculis in urceo ad liberandum

O

Prometheum, imaginem Dei Verbi, in carne tanquam fragili vasculo ad redemptionem generis humani prop- era.ntis, prae se ferre videtur. Verurn nos omnem in hoc genere licentiam nobis ipsi interdicimus, ne forte igne extraneo ad altare Domini utamur.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 53

XXVII.

ICARUS VOLANS, ITEM SCYLLA ET CHARYBDIS,

SI VE VIA MEDIA. 1

MEDIOCRITAS, sive Via Media, in moralibus lauda- tissima est ; in intellectualibus minus celebrata, sed non minus utilis et bona ; in politicis tantum suspecta, et cum judicio adliibenda. Morum autem mediocri- tates per viam Icaro praescriptam, intellectualium au tem per viam inter Scyllam et Charybdim ob difficul- tatem et periculum decantatam, ab antiquis notantur. Icaro prascepit pater, cum mare esset praatervolandum, ut viam aut nimis sublimem aut nimis humilem cave- ret. Cum enim alae cera essent conglutinatae, peric ulum erat, si altius efferretur, ne cera ex solis ardore liquefieret ; sin ad vaporem maris propius se submit- teret, ne ab humore cera minus tenax efficeretur. Ille vero ausu juvenili in celsiora contendit, atque in prae- ceps lapsus est.

Parabola facilis et vulgata est : virtutis enim via inter excessum et defectum recto tramite aperitur. Neque mirum erat si Icarum, juvenili alacritate ges- tientem,2 excessus perdiderit. Excessus enim fere ju- venum ; defectus senum vitia esse solent. Ex semitis tamen malis et nocivis elegit Icarus (si plane pereun- dum erat) meliorem.3 Defectus enim recte aestiman- tur excessibus praviores. Quandoquidem 4 excessui nonnihil magnanirnitatis subsit et cognationis cum

1 In Ed. 1609, the title of this fable, both here and in the table of con tents, is " SCYLLA et ICARUS, sive via media."

2 This clause is not in Ed. 1609.

3 potiwem elegit. Ed. 1609.

4 Defectus enim praviores cestimantur ; cum, $c. Ed. 1609.

54 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

coelo, ad instar volucris : defectus vero humi serpat instar reptilis. Praeclare Heraclitus ; Lumen siccum, optima anima. Nam l si ex Immo humorem contra- hat anima, prorsus deprimitur et degenerat : interim ta- men2 modus adhibendus est, ut ab ilia siccitate laudata lumen reddatur subtilius, non corripiatur incendium. Atque haec cuivis fere nota sunt. At via ilia in in- tellectualibus, inter3 Scyllam et Cliarybdim, certe et peritiam navigandi et felicitatem desiderat. Si enim in Scyllam incidant naves, illiduntur cautibus : sin in Cliarybdim, absorbentur. Cujus parabolae ea videtur esse vis (quam nos breviter perstringemus, tametsi in- finitam traliat contemplationem), ut in omni doctrina et scientia, earumque regulis et axiomatibus, modus teneatur inter distinctionum scopulos, et universalium voragines. Haec enim duo naufragiis ingeniorum et artium famosa sunt.

XXVIII. SPHINX,

SIVE SCIENTIA.

TRADITUR Sphinx fuisse monstrum specie multifor- me ; facie et voce virginis ; pennis volucris ; unguibus gryphi : jugum autem mentis in agro Thebano tene- bat, et vias obsidebat : mos autem ei erat, viatores ex insidiis invadere ac comprehendere, quibus in potesta- tem redactis, aenigmata qusedam obscura et perplexa proponebat, quoe a Musis praebita et accepta putaban-

1 etenim. Ed. 1609.

2 prorsus degenerat. Etiam ex altera parte modus cfc. Ed. 1609. 8 via autem ilia inter. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 55

tur. Ea si solvere et interpretari miseri captivi non possent, hassitantes et confuses in illis,1 magna saevitia dilaniabat. Haec calamitas cum diu grassaretur, prae- mium propositum est a Thebanis (ipsum Thebarum imperium) viro qui Sphingis asnigmata explicare pos- sit, (neque enim alia superandse illius ratio erat.) Tanto pretio excitatus (Edipus, vir acer et prudens, sed pedibus laasis et perforatis, conditionem accepit, et experiri statuit. Postquam autem fidcns animi et al- acer se coram Sphinge stitisset; ilia ab eo quaesivit, quale tandem illud animal esset, quod primo quad- rupes natum, postea bipes factum esset, deinde tripes, ad extremum rursus quadrupes. Ille praesenti animo respondit, illud in Hominem competere, qui sub ipsum partum et infantiam quadrupes provolvitur, et vix re- pere tentat ; nee ita multo post erectus et bipes incedit ; in senectute autem baculo innititur et se sustentat, ut tanquam tripes videatur ; extrema autem aatate de- crepitus senex, labantibus nervis, quadrupes decumbit, et lecto affigitur. Itaque vero response victoriam adep- tus, Sphingem interemit ; cujus corpus asello imposi- tum, veluti in triumpho ducebatur: ipse autem ex pactis rex Thebanorum creatus est.

Fabula elegans, nee minus prudens est : atque vide- tur conficta de Scientia, prassertim conjuncta practicae. Siquidem scientia non absurde monstrum dici possit, cum ignorantibus et imperitis prorsus admirationi sit. Figura autem et specie multiformis est, ob immensam varietatem subjecti in qua scientia versatur : vultus et vox affingitur muliebris ob gratiam et loquacitatem ; adduntur ahe, quia sciential et earum inventa mo- mento discurrunt et volant ; cum communicatio scien-

i in illis is omitted in Ed. 1609.

56 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

tia3 sit instar luminis de lurnine, quod affatim incendi- tur. Elegantissime autem attribuuntur ungues acuti et adunci ; quia scientiaB axiomata et argumenta pene- trant mentein, eainque prehendunt et tenent, ut mo- vere et elabi non possit : quod et sanctus philosophus notavit : Verba sapientum (inquit) sant tanquam aculei, et veluti clam in altum defixi. Omnis autem scientia collocata videtur in arduis et editis montium. Nam res sublimis merito putatur et excelsa, et ignorantiam tanquam ex superiore loco despiciens, atque etiam late et undequaque speculatur et prospicit, ut in vertici- bus montium fieri solet. Vias autem obsidere fingi- tur scientia, quia ubique in itinere isto sive peregrina- tione vitae humane, materia et occasio contemplationis se ingerit et occurrit. Proponit autem Sphinx quges- tiones et senigmata mortalibus varia et difficilia, quaa accepit a Musis. Ea tamen quamdiu apud Musas manent, saevitia fortasse carent. Donee enim nullus alius finis meditationis et disquisitionis sit, prater ipsum Scire, intellectus non premitur, nee in arcto ponitur, sed vagatur et expatiatur ; atque in ipsa du- bitatione et varietate nonnullam jucunditatem et de- lectationem sentit : sed postquarn a Musis hujusmodi senigmata ad Spliingem transmissa sunt, id est ad practicam, ut instet et urgeat actio et electio et de- cretum ; turn demum senigmata molesta et saeva esse incipiunt, et nisi solvantur et expediantur, animos hominum miris modis torquent et vexant, et in omnes partes distrahunt, et plane lacerant. Proinde in a3iiig- matibus Sphingis duplex semper proponitur conditio ; non solvent! mentis laceratio ; solventi imperium. Qui enim rem callet, is fine suo potitur, atque omnis arti- fex operi suo imperat. JEnigmatum autem Sphingis

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 57

duo in universum sunt genera ; aenigmata de natura rerum, atque aenigmata de natura hominis : atque si- militer in praemium solutionis sequuntur duo imperia ; imperium in naturam, et imperium in homines : verae enim philosophise naturalis finis proprius et ultimus est, imperium in res naturales, corpora, medicinas, mechanica, alia infinita ; licet Schola, oblatis contenta et sermonibus tumefacta, res et opera negligat et fere projiciat. Verum aenigma illud GEdipodi propositum, ex quo ille imperium Thebanum adeptus est, pertine- bat ad naturam hominis : quisquis enim naturam hom- inis prorsus introspexit, ille faber fere fortunae suae esse potest, et ad imperandum natus est. Id quod de Romanis artibus bene pronuntiatum est :

Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento ; Hae tibi erunt artes.

Itaque apposite illud, quod Augustus Caesar signo Sphingis sive de industria sive fortuito usus est. Ille enim (si quis unquam) in politica excelluit, et in vitae suae curriculo plurima nova aenigmata de natura homi nis felicissime solvit, quae nisi dexter et paratus sol- visset, multoties non procul ab imminente pernicie et exitio abfuisset. Atque additur in fabula, Sphingis de- victae corpus in asellum impositum fuisse. Elegantis- sime certe, cum nihil sit tain acutum et abstrusum, quin postquam plane intellectum et deinceps pervul- gatum sit, etiam tardo imponi possit. Neque illud praetermittendum, debellatam esse Sphingem a viro pedibus clavato : etenim nimis cito pede et celeri gradu ad aenigmata Sphingis homines properare solent ; unde fit ut (praevalente Sphinge) potius per disputationes ingenia et animos lacerent, quam per opera et effectus imperent.

58 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

XXIX.

PROSERPINA,

SIVE SPIRITUS.

NARRANT Plutonem, postquam regnum inferorum ex partitione ilia memorabili accepisset, de nuptiis alicu- jus e superis desperasse, si eas per colloquia aut modes suaves tentaret ; ut ad raptum consilia sua dirigere ei fuerit nccesse. Itaque captata opportunitate, Proser- pinam Cereris filiam, virginem pulcherrimam, dum flores Narcissi in Sicilian pratis colligeret, subito incursu rapnit, atque quadrigis secum ad subterranea asporta- vit. Ei magna reverentia pra^bita est, ut et Domina Ditis vocata sit. Ceres autcm ejus mater, cum filia sibi unice dilecta nusquam comparuisset, supra modum moesta et anxia, tasdam accensam ipsa manu pr?e se ferens, universum orbis terrarum ambitum peragravit, ut filiam investigaret et recuperaret. Id cum frustra fuisset, accepto forte indicio quod ad inferos devecta esset, multis lachrymis et lamentationibus Jovem fati- gavit, ut ilia ei restitueretur. Atque tandem pervicit, ut si ilia nihil ex iis quie apud inferos essent degus- tasset, turn earn abducere liceret. Ea conditiq matris desiderio adversa fuit ; Proserpina enim grana tria ex malo granato gustasse comperta est. Neque idcirco Ceres destitit, quin preces et ploratus de integro re- sumeret. Postremo itaque ei indultum est, ut Pro serpina, dispertitis temporibus et alternis vicibus, sex menses cum marito, alteris sex cum matre esset. Hanc Proserpinam postea Theseus et Peritlious eximia auda- qia tlialamo Ditis deducere tentarunt. Cum autem in itinere super saxo apud inferos defessi consedissent, eis

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 59

resurgere minime licuit, sed asternum sedebant. Pro serpina itaque Inferorum Regina mansit ; in cujus ho- norem etiam additum est privilegium magnum ; cum enim ab inferis revocare gradum illis qui eo descendis- sent fas non esset, ascripta est huic legi exceptio singu- laris ; ut si quis ramum aureum in donum Proserpinae attulisset, ei ob hoc ire et redire liceret. Is ramus uni- cus erat in ingenti et opaco luco, neque stirps erat, sed visci instar in aliena arbore frondebat, atque avulso illo alter non deficiebat.

Fabula ad naturam pertinere videtur, atque vim et copiam illam in subterraneis divitem et frugiferam, ex qua base nostra pullulant, et in quam rursus solvuntur et redeunt, perscrutari. Per Proserpinam antiqui sig- nificarunt spiritum ilium aethereum, qui sub terra (per Plutonem repraesentata) clauditur et detinetur, a supe- riore globo divulsus ; quod non male expressit ille :

Sive recens tellus, seductaque nuper ab alto J^there, cognati retinebat semina coeli.

Ille spiritus raptus a terra fingitur, quia minime cohi- betur, ubi tempus et moram habet ad evolandum, sed subita confractione et comminutione tan turn l compin- gitur et figitur, perinde ac si quis ae'rem aquae com- miscere tentet ; quod 2 nullo modo efficere possit nisi per agitationem celerem et rapidam : hac enim ratione videmus ilia corpora conjungi in spuma, aere tanquam rapto ab aqua. Neque ineleganter additur, Proser pinam flores Narcissi in vallibus colligentem raptam fuisse ; quia Narcissus a torpore sive stupore nomen sumit ; atque turn demum spiritus ad raptum materiae terrestris magis praeparatus est et opportunus, cum

l subita distractivne. Ed. 1609. 2 hoc. Ed. 1609.

60 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

coagulari incipit, ac veluti torporem colligere. Recte autem tribuitur honor ille Proserpinae, qualis nulli uxori deorum, ut Ditis domina sit ; quia ille spiritus plane omnia in illis regionibus administrat, stupido et quasi ignaro Plutone. Hunc autem spiritum aether ac vis coelestium (per Cererem adumbrata) infinita sed- ulitate elicere, atque sibi restituere contendit. Fax autem ilia agtheris, sive tasda ardens in manu Cereris, proculdubio solem denotat ; qui circa terras ambitum luminis officio fungitur, atque maximi omnium esset ad Proserpinam recuperandam momenti, si omnino hoc fieri posset. Ilia tamen haeret, et manet : cujus ratio sequitur accurate et excellenter proposita in pactis illis Jovis et Cereris. Primum enim certissimum est, duos esse modos spiritus in materia solida et terrestri cohi- bendi : alterum per constipationem sive obstructionem, qui est mera incarceratio et \dolentia : alterum per min- istrationem proportionati alimenti, atque id fit sponte et libenter. Postquam enim spiritus inclusus depascere incepit atque se alere, evolare protinus non festinat : sed veluti in terra sua figitur : atque hasc est degustatio Proserpinae ex malo granato ; quse si non ftiisset, jam- pridem a Cerere cum face ilia sua orbem terrarum peragrante abducta fuisset. Spiritus enim qui subest metallis et mineralibus compingitur fortasse praecipue per massaa soliditatem ; qui autem in plantis est et ani- mantibus, in corpore poroso habitat, et aperta effugia habet, nisi per ilium modum degustationis libenter detineretur. Secundum autem pactum de semestri consuetudine non aliud est, quam elegans descriptio dispertitionis anni ; cum spiritus ille per terrain per- fusus, quoad res vegetables mensibus aestatis apud su- periora degat, atque mensibus hiemis ad subterranea

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 61

redeat. Quod vero attinet ad conatum ilium Thesei et Perithoi abducendse Proserpinae, id eo spectat, quod saepius fiat, ut spiritus subtiliores qui ad terrain in mul- tis corporibus descendunt, neutiquam illud efficiant ut spiritum subterraneum exsugant, et secum uniant, et evehant ; sed contra ipsi coagulentur, neque amplius resurgant ; ut Proserpina per eos aucta incolis et irn- perio sit. De virga autem ilia aurea, vix videmur sustinere posse impetum Chymistarum, si in nos hac ex parte irruant ; cum illi ab eodem lapide suo, et auri montes et restitutionem corporum naturalium veluti a portis inferorum promittant. Verum de chymica, at- que lapidis illius procis perpetuis, certo scimus theor- icam eorum esse sine fundamento ; suspicamur etiam practicam esse sine certo pignore. Itaque missis illis, de ista postrema parabolae parte haec nostra sententia est. Nobis certe compertum est ex compluribus anti- quorum figuris, eos conservationem atque instauratio- nem quadantenus corporum naturalium pro re desperata non habuisse, sed potius pro re abstrusa et quasi avia. Atque idem sentire hoc etiam loco videntur, cum vir- gulam istam inter infinita virgulta ingentis et densis- simae sylvae collocarunt ; auream autem finxere, quia aurum durationis tessera est ; insitivam, quia ab arte hujusmodi effectus sperandus est, non ab aliqua medi- cina, aut modo simplici aut naturali.

62 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

XXX.

METIS,

SIVE CONSILIUM.

NARRANT poetas antiqui Jovem cepisse in uxorem Metin, cujus nomen non obscure Consilium significat : earn autem ex illo gravidam factam fuisse : quod cum ille sensisset, par turn ejus nullo modo expectasse, sed utique eam devorasse, unde et ipse prsegnans factus sit : puerperium autem mirum fuisse ; nam ex capite, sive cerebro, Palladem armatam peperisse.

Hujus fabulae monstrosae, et primo auditu insul- sissimrc, sensus arcanum imperil continere videtur, qua arte scilicet reges se versus consilia sua 1 gerere soleant, ut autlioritas et majestas eorum non solum illibata conservetur, verum apud populum2 augeatur et extollatur. Nam reges se cum consiliis suis vinclo veluti nuptiali copulare et conjungere,3 et de rebus maximis cum eis deliberare, recto et prudente insti tute consueverunt ; idque majestatem eorum 4 neuti- quam imminuere haud abs re judicant : verum cum res jam ad decretum spectat, quod instar partus est, consilii partes non ultra tendere sinunt, ne acta ex consilii arbitrio pendere videantur. Verum, turn de- mum reges (nisi hujusmodi res sit, ut invidiam a se derivare cupiant) quicquid a consilio elaboratum et veluti in utero efFormatum est, in se transferre con sueverunt, ut decretum et executio (quae quia cum potestate procedit et necessitatem infert, eleganter sub

1 sive senatus stios. MS. 2 populum versus. MS.

3 copulari et conjunyi. Ed. 1609.

4 majestatem suam (omitting the words recto .... idque.) Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 63

figura Palladis armatae involvitur) ab ipsis emanare videatur. Neque satis est ut hoc ab auctoritate re- gum et eorum voluntate soluta, et libera, et non ob noxia, profectum videatur ; nisi etiam hoc sibi reges sumant,1 ut ex capite eorum, id est ex judicio et pru- dentia propria, decreta nata existimentur.

XXXI.

SIRENES,

8IVE VOLUPTAS.

FABULA de Sirenibus ad perniciosas illecebras vol- uptatis recte, sed sensu vulgatissimo, transfertur. No- bis autem videtur Sapientia Veterum tanquam uva3 male calcatas ; ex quibus licet nonnihil exprimitur, tamen potissima quaeque resident et prsetermittuntur. Sirenes Acheloi, et Terpsichores unius ex Musis, filiae fuisse narrantur. Ese primis temporibus alatae erant ; sed iiiito temere cum Musis certamine victae, alis mulc- tatae sunt. Ex pennis autem evulsis Musae coronas sibi fecerunt ; adeo ut ab eo tempore Musae cum capit- ibus alatis procederent, praeter unam Sirenum matrem. Mora autem Sirenum erat in insulis quibusdam amoe- nis : illse vero e specula naves adventantes cum con- spicerent, cantu navigantes primo detinebant, deinde alliciebant, exceptos autem necabant. Neque simplex erat cantilena, sed singulos modis maxime naturae eorum convenientibus captabant. Tanta autem pestis

1 ut authoritos regum accedat, et voluntas soluta et libera, et non obnoxia. nisi etiam hoc sibi sumant. Ed. 1609. The MS. has et aliorum consen- sui non obnoxia.

64 DE SAPIENTIA YETERUM.

erat, ut insulas Sirenum etiam longe intuentibus albe- rent ex ossibus cadaverum inhumatorum. Huic malo remedium repertum est genere et modo duplex ; alte- rum ab Ulysse, alterum ab Orpheo : Ulysses, sociis omnino aures cera obturari jussit ; ipse, cum experi- mentum rei facere vellet, periculum autem depellere, se ad malurn navis alligari voluit, interminatus, ne quis eum, licet rogatus, solveret : Orpheus vero, missis hujusmodi vinclis, clara voce deorum laudes cantans ad lyram, voces Sirenum retudit, et extra omne periculum fuit.

Fabula ad mores pertinet, atque minime obscura sane, nee tamen inelegans l parabola videtur. Volup- tates ex copia rerum ac affluentia ; atque ex hilaritate sive exultation e animi proveniunt. Illse olim primis ipsis illecebris subito, et tanquam alatas, mortales rap- ere solebant. Doctrina autem et eruditio hoc sal tern effecit, ut animus humanus se nonnihil cohibeat, et exitum rei secum perpendat ; itaque alas voluptati- bus detraxit. Hoc autem in Musarum decus et hono- rem egregium cessit. Postquam enim philosophiam contemptum voluptatum inducere posse nonnullorum exemplo patuit, statim res sublimis visa est, quae ani- mam veluti humo affixam attollat et evehat, et homi- num cogitationes (quaa in capite vigent) pennatas et veluti aethereas faciat. Sola Sirenum mater pedestris, et sine alis mansit ; ea proculdubio nil aliud est, quam doctrinae leves et ad jucunditatem invents et adhib- itae ; quales videntur Petronio illi in pretio fuisse, qui postquam sententiam mortis accepisset, in ipsis atriis mortis delicias quaesivit, cumque etiam literas in solatium adhibere vellet, nil (inquit Tacitus) legit

1 evidens sane, nee minus tamen elegans. Ed. 1609.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 65

eorum quae ad constantiam faciunt; sed leves versus. Ex hoc genere est illud:

Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, Eumoresque senum severiorum Oinnes unius aestimemus assis.

Et illud :

Jura senes norint, et quid sit fasque nefasque Inquirant tristes, legumque examina servent.

Hujusmodi enim doctrinae alas Musarum coronis rursus detrahere, et Sirenibus restituere velle videntur. Hab- itare autem perhibentur Sirenes in insulis, quia vol- uptates fere secessus quaerunt, atque hominum coetus saepe vitant. Sirenum autem cantus omnibus decan- tatus est, ej usque pernicies et artificium varium ; ita- que interprete haec non egent. Illud magis acutum de ossibus veluti clivis albentibus e longinquo visis : ex quo illud significatur, exempla calamitatum, licet clara et conspicua, contra voluptatum corruptelas non multum proficere. Restat de remediis parabola, non abstrusa ea quidem, sed tamen prudens et nobilis. Proponuntur enim mali tarn callidi et tarn violenti remedia tria. Duo a philosophia ; tertium a religi- one. Atque primus effugii modus est, ut quis prin- cipiis obstet, atque omnes occasiones quae animum tentare et sollicitare possint, sedulo devitet : id quod obturatio ilia aurium denotat ; atque hoc remedium ad animos mediocres et plebeios necessario adhibetur, tanquam ad comites Ulyssis. Animi autem celsiores etiam versari inter medias voluptates possunt, si de- creti constantia se muniant : quin et per hoc virtutis suae experimentum magis exquisitum capere gaudent; etiam voluptatum ineptias et insanias perdiscunt, potius contemplantes quam obsequentes : quod et Salomon

VOL. XIII. 5

66 DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

de se professus est, cum enumerationem voluptatum quibus diffluebat, ea sententia claudat : Sapientia quo- que perseveravit mecum. Itaque liujusmodi heroes inter maximas voluptatum illecebras se immobiles praestare, atque in ipsis earum praecipitiis se sustinere queant; tantum, ad Ulyssis exemplum, interdictis per- niciosis suorum consiliis et obsequiis, qmi3 animam maxime omnium labefactare et solvere possint. Pra> stantissimuin autem in omni genere est remedium Or- phei ; qui laudes Deorum cantans et reboans, Sirenum voces confudit et summovit. Meditationes enim Re- rum Divinarum, Voluptates Sensus non tantum potes- tate, sed etiam suavitate superant.

FINIS.

OF THE

WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS.

DEDICATED TO

THE FAMOUS UNIVERSITY

OF

CAMBRIDGE.

TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS

THE EARL OF SALISBURY,

LORD HIGH TREASURER OF ENGLAND, AND CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.

THINGS dedicated to the University of Cambridge accrue to you as Chancellor ; to all that proceeds from me you have a personal title. The question is, whether as these things are yours, so they are worthy of you. Now for that which is least worth in them (the wit of the author), your kindness towards me will let that pass ; and there is nothing else in the matter to dis grace you. For if time be regarded, — primaeval antiq uity is an object of the highest veneration ; if the form of exposition, — parable has ever been a kind of arc, in which the most precious portions of the sciences were deposited ; if the matter of the work, — it is phi losophy, the second grace and ornament of life and the human soul. For be it said, that however philosophy in this our age, falling as it were into a second child hood, be left to young men and almost to boys, yet I hold it to be of all things, next to religion, the most important and most worthy of human nature. Even

70 DEDICATION.

the art of politics, wherein you are so well approved both by faculty and by merits, and by the judgment of a most wise king, springs from the same fountain, and is a great part thereof. And if any man think these things of mine to be common and vulgar, it is not for me of course to say what I have effected ; but my aim has been, passing by things obvious and obsolete and commonplace, to give some help towards the difficulties of life and the secrets of science. To the vulgar ap prehension therefore they will be vulgar ; but it may be that the deeper intellect will not be left aground by them, but rather (as I hope) carried along. While however I strive to attach some worth to this work, because it is dedicated to you, I am in danger of trans gressing the bounds of modesty, seeing it is undertaken by myself. But you will accept it as a pledge of my affection, observance, and devotion to yourself, and will accord it the protection of your name. Seeing there fore that you have so many and so great affairs on your shoulders, I will not take up more of your time, but make an end, wishing you all felicity, and ever remaining yours,

Most bounden to you both by my zeal and your benefits,

FRA. BACON.

TO HIS

NURSING-MOTHER

THE FAMOUS UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.

SINCE without philosophy I care not to live, I must needs hold you in great honour, from whom these de fences and solaces of life have come to me. To you on this account I profess to owe both myself and all that is mine ; and therefore it is the less strange, if I requite you with what is your own ; that with a nat ural motion it may return to the place whence it came. And, yet I know not hoW it is, but there are few foot prints pointing back towards you, among the infinite number that have gone forth from you. Nor shall I take too much to myself (I think), if by reason of that little acquaintance with affairs which my kind and plan of life has necessarily carried with it, I indulge a hope that the inventions of the learned may receive some accession by these labours of mine. Certainly I am of opinion that speculative studies when trans planted into active life acquire some new grace and vigour, and having more matter to feed them, strike

72 DEDICATION.

their roots perhaps deeper, or at least grow taller and fuller leaved. Nor do you yourselves (as I think) know how widely your own studies extend, and how many things they concern. Yet it is fit that all should be attributed to you and be counted to your honour, since all increase is due in great part to the beginning. You will not however expect from a man of business anything exquisite ; any miracles or prerogatives of leisure ; but you will attribute to my great love for you and yours even this, — that among the thorns of business these things have not quite perished, but there is preserved for you so much of your own.

Your most loving pupil,

FRA. BACON.

INDEX OF THE FABLES OF ANCIENT WISDOM

CONTAINED IN THIS BOOK.

1. CASSANDRA, or Plainness

of Speech.

2. TYPHON, or the Rebel.

3. THE CYCLOPES, or Minis

ters of Terror.

4. NARCISSUS, or Self-love.

5. STYX, or Treaties.

6. PAN, or Nature.

7. PERSEUS, or War.

8. ENDYMION, or the Favour

ite.

9. THE SISTER OF THE GI

ANTS, or Fame.

10. ACTION AND PENTHEUS,

or Curiosity.

11. ORPHEUS, or Philosophy.

12. CCELUM, or the Origin of

Things.

13. PROTEUS, or Matter.

14. MEMNON, or the Early-ripe.

15. TITHONUS, or Satiety.

16. JUNO'S SUITOR, or Dishon-

1 7. CUPID, or the Atom.

18. DIOMEDES, or Zeal.

19. DAEDALUS, or the Mechanic.

20. ERICTHONIUS, or Impos

ture.

21. DEUCALION, or Restora

tion.

22. NEMESIS, or the Vicissitude

of Things.

23. ACHELOUS, or the Battle.

24. DIONYSUS, or Desire.

25. ATALANTA, or Profit.

26. PROMETHEUS, or the State

of Man.

27. THE FLIGHT OF ICARUS,

also SCYLLA AND CHA-

RYBDIS, or the Middle Way.

28. SPHINX, or Science.

29. PROSERPINA, or Spirit.

30. METIS, or Counsel.

31. THE SIRENS, or Pleas

ure.

PREFACE.

THE most ancient times (except what is preserved of them in the scriptures) are buried in oblivion and silence : to that silence succeeded the fables of the poets : to those fables the written records which have come down to us. Thus between the hidden depths of antiquity and the days of tradition and evidence that followed there is drawn a veil, as it were, of fables, which come in and occupy the middle region that separates what has perished from what survives.

Now I suppose most people will think I am but entertaining myself with a toy, and using much the same kind of licence in expounding the poets' fables which the poets themselves did in inventing them ; and it is true that if I had a mind to vary and relieve my severer studies with some such exercise of pleas ure for my own or my reader's recreation, I might very fairly indulge in it. But that is not my mean ing. Not but that I know very well what pliant stuff fable is made of, how freely it will follow any way you please to draw it, and how easily with a little dexterity and discourse of wit meanings which it was never meant to bear may be plausibly put upon it. Neither have I forgotten that there has been old abuse of the thing in practice ; that many, wishing only to gain the sanction and rev-

76 PREFACE.

erence of antiquity for doctrines and inventions of their own, have tried to twist the fables of the poets into that sense ; and that this is neither a modern vanity nor a rare one, hut old of standing and fre quent in use ; that Chrysippus long ago, interpreting the oldest poets after the manner of an interpreter of dreams, made them out to be Stoics ; and that the Alchemists more absurdly still have discovered in the pleasant and sportive fictions of the transformation of bodies, allusion to experiments of the furnace. All this I have duly examined and weighed ; as well as all the levity and looseness with which people indulge their fancy in the matter of allegories ; yet for all this I cannot change my mind. For in the first place to let the follies and licence of a few detract from the honour of parables in general is not to be allowed ; being indeed a boldness savouring of profanity ; see ing that religion delights in such veils and shadows, and to take them away would be almost to interdict all communion between divinity and humanity. But passing that and speaking of human wisdom only, I do certainly for my own part (I freely and candidly confess) incline to this opinion, — that beneath no small number of the fables of the ancient poets there lay from the very beginning a mystery and an alle gory. It may be that my reverence for the primitive time carries me too far, but the truth is that in some of these fables, as well in the very frame and texture of the story as in the propriety of the names by which the persons that figure in it are distinguished, I find a conformity and connexion with the thing signified, so close and so evident, that one cannot help believing such a signification to have been designed and med-

PREFACE. 77

itated from the first, and purposely shadowed out. For who is there so impenetrable and that can so shut his eyes to a plain thing, but when he is told that after the Giants were put down, Fame sprang up as their posthumous sister, he will at once see that it is meant of those murmurs of parties and seditious rumours which always circulate for a time after the suppression of a rebellion ? Or again who can hear that the Giant Typhon cut off and carried away Ju piter's sinews, and that Mercury stole them from Typhon and gave them back to Jupiter ; without at once perceiving that it relates to successful rebellions, by which kings have their sinews both of money and authority cut off; yet not so but that by fair words and wise edicts the minds of the subjects may be presently reconciled, and as it were stolen back, and so kings recover their strength ? Or who can hear that in that memorable expedition of the gods against the giants the braying of Silenus's ass had a principal stroke in putting the giants to flight, and not be sure that the incident was invented in allusion to the vast attempts of rebels, dissipated as they commonly are by empty rumours and vain terrors ? Then again there is a conformity and significancy in the veiy names, which must be clear to everybody. Metis, Jupiter's wife, plainly means counsel ; Typhon, swell ing ; Pan, the universe ; Nemesis, revenge ; and the like. And what if we find here and there a bit of real history underneath, or some things added only for ornament, or times confounded, or part of one fable transferred to another and a new allegory in troduced ? Such things could not but occur in stories invented (as these were) by men who both lived in

78 PREFACE.

different ages and had different ends, some being more modern, some more ancient, some having in their thoughts natural philosophy, others civil affairs ; and therefore they need not trouble us.

But there is yet another sign, and one of no small value, that these fables contain a hidden and involved meaning ; which is, that some of them are so absurd and stupid upon the face of the narrative taken by itself, that they may be said to give notice from afar and cry out that there is a parable below. For a fable that is probable may be thought to have been composed merely for pleasure, in imitation of history. But when a story is told which could never have en tered any man's head either to conceive or relate on its own account, we must presume that it had some further reach. What a fiction (for instance) is that of Jupiter and Metis ! Jupiter took Metis to wife : as soon as he saw that she was with child, he ate her up ; whereupon he grew to be with child himself; and so brought forth out of his head Pallas in ar mour ! Surely I think no man had ever a dream so monstrous and extravagant, and out of all natural ways of thinking.

But the consideration which has most weight with me is this, that few of these fables were invented, as I take it, by those Avho recited and made them fa mous, — Homer, Hesiod, and the rest. For had they been certainly the production of that age and of those authors by whose report they have come down to us, I should not have thought of looking for anything great or lofty from such a source. But it will ap pear upon an attentive examination that they are de livered not as new inventions then first published, but

PREFACE. 79

as stories already received and believed. And since they are told in different ways by writers nearly con temporaneous, it is easy to see that what all the ver sions have in common came from ancient tradition, while the parts in which they vary are the additions introduced by the several writers for embellishment — a circumstance which gives them in my eyes a much higher value : for so they must be regarded as neither being the inventions nor belonging to the age of the poets themselves, but as sacred relics and light airs breathing out of better times, that were caught from the traditions of more ancient nations and so received into the flutes and trumpets of the Greeks.

Nevertheless, if any one be determined to believe that the allegorical meaning of the fable was in no case original and genuine, but that always the fable was first and the allegory put in after, I will not press that point ; but allowing him to enjoy that gravity of judgment (of the dull and leaden order though it be) which he affects, I will attack him, if indeed he be worth the pains, in another manner upon a fresh ground. Parables have been used in two ways, and (which is strange) for contrary purposes. For they serve to disguise and veil the meaning, and they serve also to clear and throw light upon it. To avoid dis pute then, let us give up the former of these uses. Let us suppose that these fables were things without any definite purpose, made onlv for pleasure. Still there remains the latter use. No force of wit can deprive us of that. Nor is there any man of ordi nary learning that will object to the reception of it as a thing grave and sober, and free from all vanity ; of prime use to the sciences, and sometimes indispen-

80 PREFACE.

sable : I mean the employment of parables as a method of teaching, whereby inventions that are new and abstruse and remote from vulgar opinions may find an easier passage to the understanding. On this account it was that in the old times, when the inventions and conclusions of human reason (even those that are now trite and vulgar) were as yet new and strange, the world was full of all kinds of fables, and enigmas, and parables, and similitudes : and these were used not as a device for shadowing and concealing the meaning, but as a method of mak ing it understood ; the understandings of men being then rude and impatient of all subtleties that did not address themselves to the sense, — indeed scarcely capable of them. For as hieroglyphics came before letters, so parables came before arguments. And even now if any one wish to let new light on any subject into men's minds, and that without offence or harshness, he must still go the same way and call in the aid of similitudes.

Upon the whole I conclude with this : the wisdom of the primitive ages was either great or lucky ; grea.t, if they knew what they were doing and invented the figure to shadow the meaning ; lucky, if without meaning or intending it they fell upon matter which gives occasion to such worthy contemplations. My own pains, if there be any help in them, I shall think well bestowed either way : I shall be throwing light either upon antiquity or upon nature itself.

That the thing has been attempted by others I am of course aware, but if I may speak what I think freely without mincing it, I must say that the pains which have been hitherto taken that way, though great and

PREFACE. 81

laborious, have gone near to deprive the inquiry of all its beauty and worth ; while men of no experience in affairs, nor any learning beyond a few commonplaces, have applied the sense of the parables to some general ities and vulgar observations, without attaining their true force, their genuine propriety, or their deeper reach. Here, on the other hand, it will be found (if I mistake not) that though the subjects be old, yet the matter is new ; while leaving behind us the open and level parts we bend our way towards the nobler heights that rise beyond.

OF THE

WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS.

I.

CASSANDRA;

OR PLAINNESS OF SPEECH.

THEY say that Cassandra was beloved by Apollo ; that she contrived by various artifices to elude his de sires, and yet to keep his hopes alive until she had drawn from him the gift of divination ; that she had no sooner obtained this, which had all along been her object, than she openly rejected his suit ; whereupon he, not being permitted to recal the boon once rashly promised, yet burning with revenge, and not choosing to be the scorn of an artful woman, annexed to it this penalty,. — that though she should always foretell true, yet nobody should believe her. Her prophecies there fore had truth, but not credit : and so she found it ever after, even in regard to the destruction of her country ; of which she had given many warnings, but could get nobody to listen to her or believe her.

This fable seems to have been devised in reproof of unreasonable and unprofitable liberty in giving advice and admonition. For they that are of a froward and

84 TRANSLATION OF THE

rough disposition, and will not submit to learn of Apol lo, the god of harmony, how to observe time and measure in affairs, flats and sharps (so to speak) in discourse, the differences between the learned and the vulgar ear, and the times when to speak and when to be silent ; such persons, though they be wise and free, and their counsels sound and wholesome, yet with all their efforts to persuade they scarcely can do any good ; on the contrary, they rather hasten the destruction of those upon whom they press their advice ; and it is not till the evils they predicted have come to pass that they are celebrated as prophets and men of a far foresight. Of this we have an eminent example in Marcus Cato of Utica, by whom the ruin of his country and the usurpation that followed, by means first of the con junction and then of the contention between Pompey and Caesar, was long before foreseen as from a watch- tower, and foretold as by an oracle ; yet all the while he did no good, but did harm rather, and brought the calamities of his country faster on ; as was wisely ob served and elegantly described by Marcus Cicero, when he said in a letter to a friend, Cato means well : but he does hurt sometimes to the State ; for he talks as if he were in the republic of Plato and not in the dregs of Romulus.

II.

TYPHON;

OK THE REBEL.

THE poets tell us that Juno being angry that Jupiter had brought forth Pallas by himself without her help,

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 85

implored of all the gods and goddesses that she also might bring forth something without the help of Ju piter : to which when wearied with her violence and importunity they had assented, she smote the earth, which quaking and opening gave birth to Typhon, a huge and hideous monster. He was given to a serpent by way of foster-father to be nursed. As soon as he was grown up he made war upon Jupiter, whom in the conflict he took prisoner; and bearing him on his shoul ders to a remote and obscure region, cut out the sinews of his hands and feet, and carrying them away, left him there helpless and mutilated. Then came Mer cury, and having stolen the sinews from Typhon gave them back to Jupiter, who finding his strength restored attacked the monster again. And first he struck him with a thunderbolt, which made a wound the blood whereof engendered serpents ; then, as he fell back and fled, threw upon him the mountain ^Etna and crushed him beneath the weight.

The fable has been composed in allusion to the vari able fortune of kings and the rebellions that occur from time to time in monarchies. For kings and their king doms are properly, like Jupiter and Juno, man and wife. But it sometimes happens that the king, de praved by the long habit of ruling, turns tyrant and takes all into his own hands ; and not caring for the consent of his nobles and senate, brings forth as it were by himself; that is to say, administers the government by his own arbitrary and absolute authority. Whereat the people aggrieved endeavour on their part to set up some head of their own. This generally begins with the secret solicitation of nobles and great persons, whose connivency being obtained, an attempt is then

86 TRANSLATION OF THE

made to stir the people. Thence comes a kind of swelling in the State, which is signified by the infancy of Typhon. And this condition of affairs is fostered and nourished by the innate depravity and malignant disposition of the common people, which is to kings like a serpent full of malice and mischief; till the dis affection spreading and gathering strength breaks out at last into open rebellion ; which because of the in finite calamities it inflicts both on kings and peoples is represented under the dreadful image of Typhon, with a hundred heads, denoting divided powers ; flaming mouths, for devastations by fire ; belts of snakes, for the pestilences which prevail, especially in sieges ; iron hands, for slaughters ; eagle's talons, for rapine ; feath ery body, for perpetual rumours, reports, trepidations, and the like. And sometimes these rebellions grow so mighty that the king is forced, as if carried off on the shoulders of the rebels, to abandon the seat and princi pal cities of his kingdom, and to contract his forces, and betake himself to some remote and obscure prov ince ; his sinews both of money and majesty being cut off. And yet if he bears his fortune wisely, he pres ently by the skill and industry of Mercury recovers those sinews again ; that is to say, by affability and wise edicts and gracious speeches he reconciles the minds of his subjects, and awakens in them an alac rity to grant him supplies, and so recovers the vigour of his authority. Nevertheless, having learned pru dence and caution, he is commonly unwilling to set all upon the toss of fortune, and therefore avoids a pitched battle, but tries first by some memorable exploit to destroy the reputation of the rebels : in which if he succeed, the rebels feelino- themselves shaken and los-

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 87

ing their confidence, resort first to broken and empty threats, like serpent's hisses, and then finding their case desperate take to flight. And then is the time, when they are beginning to fall to pieces, for the king with the entire forces and mass of his kingdom, as with the mountain 2Etna, to pursue and overwhelm them.

III. THE CYCLOPES;

OR MINISTERS OF TERROR.

THE story is that the Cyclopes were at first on account of their fierceness and brutality driven by Ju piter into Tartarus, and condemned to perpetual im prisonment ; but afterwards he was persuaded by the Earth that it would be for his interest to release them and employ them to make thunderbolts for him ; which he accordingly did ; and they with officious industry la boured assiduously with a terrible din in forging thun derbolts and other instruments of terror. In course of time it happened that Jupiter's wrath was kindled against ^Esculapius, son of Apollo, for raising a man from the dead by medicine ; but because the deed was pious and famous and no just cause of displeasure, he concealed his anger and secretly set the Cyclopes upon him : who made no difficulty, but presently dis patched him with their thunderbolts ; in revenge whereof Apollo (with Jupiter's permission) slew them with his arrows.

This fable seems to relate to the doings of kings ; by whom cruel and bloody and exacting ministers are

88 TRANSLATION OF THE

in the first instance punished and put out of office. But afterwards by counsel of the Earth, that is by ignoble and dishonourable counsel, yielding to consid erations of utility, they take them into service again, when they have need either of severity of executions or harshness in exactions. They on their part being by nature cruel and by their former fortune exasper ated, and knowing well enough what they are wanted for, apply themselves to this kind of work with won derful diligence ; till for want of caution and from over eagerness to ingratiate themselves, they at one time or another (taking a nod or an ambiguous word of the prince for a warrant) perpetrate some execu tion that is odious and unpopular. Upon which the prince, not willing to take the envy of it upon himself, and well knowing that he can always have plenty of such instruments, throws them overboard, and leaves them to the course of law and the vengeance of the friends and relatives of their victims, and to popular hatred ; and so amid much applause of the people, and great acclamations and blessings on the king, they meet at last, though late, the fate they deserve.

IV. NARCISSUS ;

OR SELF-LOVE.

NARCISSUS is said to have been a young man of wonderful beauty, but intolerably proud, fastidious, and disdainful. Pleased with himself and despising all others, he led a solitary life in the woods and hunt-

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 89

ing-grounds ; with a few companions to whom he was all in all ; followed also wherever he went by a nymph called Echo. Living thus, he came by chance one day to a clear fountain, and (being in the heat of noon) lay down by it ; when beholding in the water his own image, he fell into such a study and then into such a rapturous admiration of himself, that he could not be drawn away from gazing at the shadowy picture, but remained rooted to the spot till sense left him ; and at last he was changed into the flower that bears his name ; a flower which appears in the early spring ; and is sacred to the infernal deities, — Pluto, Proserpine, and the Furies.

In this fable are represented the dispositions, and the fortunes too, of those persons who from consciousness either of beauty or some other gift with which nature unaided by any industry of their own has graced them, fall in love as it were with themselves. For with this state of mind there is commonly joined an indisposition to appear much in public or engage in business ; because business would expose them to many neglects and scorns, by which their minds would be dejected and troubled. Therefore they commonly live a solitary, private, and shadowed life ; with a small circle of chosen com panions, all devoted admirers, who assent like an echo to everything they say, and entertain them with mouth- homage ; till being by such habits gradually depraved and puffed up, and besotted at last with self-admira tion, they fall into such a sloth and listlessness that they grow utterly stupid, and lose all vigour and alac rity. And it was a beautiful thought to choose the flower of spring as an emblem of characters like this : characters which in the opening of their career flourish

90 TRANSLATION OF THE

and are talked of, but disappoint in maturity the prom ise of their youth. The fact too that this flower is sacred to the infernal deities contains an allusion to the same thing. For men of this disposition turn out utterly useless and good for nothing whatever ; and anything that yields no fruit, but like the way of a ship in the sea passes and leaves no trace, was by the ancients held sacred to the shades and infernal gods.

OR TREATIES-

IT is a very common tradition that of the one oath by which the gods bound themselves when they meant to leave no room for repentance ; and finds a place in a great many fables. In that case they invoked in witness, not any majesty of heaven or any divine at tribute, but Styx ; a river in the infernal regions which with many windings encircled the palace of Dis. This form of oath alone, and no other, was held to be sure and inviolable : the penalty of breaking it being one which the deities most dreaded, — namely that the breaker should for a certain period of years be ex cluded from the banquets of the gods.

The fable seems to have been invented in allusion to treaties and compacts of princes : in respect of which it is but too true that whatever be the solemnity and sanctity of the oath they are confirmed with, yet they are little to be depended on ; insomuch that they are used in fact rather with an eye to reputation and fame

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 91

and ceremony, than for confidence and security and effect. And even when the ties of relationship (which are as the sacraments of nature) or of mutual good services come in to aid, yet in most cases all are too weak for ambition and interest and the licence of power : the rather because princes can always find plenty of plausible pretexts (not being accountable to any arbiter) wherewith to justify and veil their cupid ity and bad faith. There is adopted therefore but one true and proper pledge of faith ; and it is not any ce lestial divinity. This is Necessity (the great god of the powerful), and peril of state, and communion of interest. Now Necessity is elegantly represented un der the figure of Styx ; the fatal river across which no man can return. This is the deity which Iphic- rates the Athenian invoked to witness treaties ; and since he was one that spoke out plainly what most men think and keep to themselves, his words are worth quoting. Finding that the Lacedemonians were de vising and propounding various cautions and sanctions and securities and bonds to hold the treaty fast, There is only one bond and security (said he, interrupting them) that can hold between you and us : — you must prove that you have yielded so much into our hands that you cannot hurt us if you would. And so it is that if the means of hurting be taken away, or if a breach of the treaty- would endanger the existence or the integrity of the state and revenue, — then the treaty may be consid ered to be ratified and sanctioned and confirmed as by the oath of Styx : for then it is upon peril of being interdicted from the banquets of the gods ; which was the ancient expression for the rights and prerogatives of empire, and wealth, and felicity.

92 TRANSLATION OF THE

VI.

PAN;

OR NATURE. I

THE ancients have given under the person of Pan an elaborate description of universal nature. His par entage they leave in doubt. Some call him the son of Mercury ; others assign him an origin altogether different ; saying that he was the offspring of a pro miscuous intercourse between Penelope and all her suitors. But in this the name of Penelope has doubt less been foisted by some later author into the original fable. For it is no uncommon thing to find the more ancient narrations transferred to persons and names of later date ; sometimes absurdly and stupidly, as in this instance ; for Pan was one of the oldest gods, and long before the times of Ulysses ; and Penelope was for her matronly chastity held in veneration by antiq uity. But there is yet a third account of his birth, which must not be passed over ; for some have called him the son of Jupiter and Hybris, or Insolence.

Whatever was his origin, the Fates are said to have been his sisters.

His person is described by ancient tradition as fol lows : With horns, and the tops of the horns reaching heaven ; his whole body shaggy and hairy ; his beard especially long. In figure, biform ; human in the up per parts, the other half brute ; ending in the feet of a goat. As emblems of his power he carried in his left hand a pipe compact of seven reeds, in his right

1 For an enlarged version of this fable, see Translation of the " De Aug- mentis," Book the Second, Chap. XIII.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 93

a sheep-hook or staff crooked at the top ; and he was clothed in a scarf, made of panther's skin. The powers and offices assigned to him are these, — he is the god of hunters, of shepherds, and generally of dwellers in the country : also he presides over mountains ; and is (next to Mercury) the messenger of the gods. He was accounted moreover the captain and commander of the nymphs, who were always dancing and frisking about him: the Satyrs, and their elders, the Sileni, were also of his company. He had the power like wise of exciting sudden terrors, — empty and super stitious ones especially; — thence called Panics. The actions that are recorded of him are not many ; the principal is that he challenged Cupid to wrestle ; and was beaten by him. He also entangled and caught the giant Typhon in a net ; and they say besides, that when Ceres, out of grief and indignation at the rape of Proserpina, had hid herself, and all the gods were earnestly engaged in seeking her out, and had dis persed several ways in search of her, it was Pan's good fortune to light upon and discover her by acci dent while he was hunting. He had also the presump tion to match himself against Apollo in music ; and was by Midas's judgment pronounced victor ; for which judgment Midas had to wear the ears of an ass, but not so as to be seen. There are no amours reported of Pan, or at least very few : which among a crowd of gods so excessively amorous may seem strange. The only thing imputed to him in this kind is a passion for Echo, who was also accounted his wife ; and for one nymph called Syringa, with love of whom he was smitten by Cupid in anger and re venge because of his presumption in challenging him

94 TRANSLATION OF THE

to wrestle. Nor had he any issue (which is again strange, seeing that the gods, especially the males, were remarkably prolific) except one daughter, a little serving woman called lambe, who used to amuse guests with ridiculous stories, and was supposed by some to be Pan's offspring by his wife Echo.

A noble fable this, if there be any such ; and big almost to bursting with the secrets and mysteries of Nature.

Pan, as the very word declares, represents the uni versal frame of things, or Nature. About his origin there are and can be* but two opinions ; for Nature is either the offspring of Mercury — that is of the Di vine Word (an opinion which the Scriptures establish beyond question, and which was entertained by all the more divine philosophers) ; or else of the seeds of things mixed and confused together. For they who derive all things from a single principle, either take that prin ciple to be God, or if they hold it to be a material prin ciple, assert it to be though actually one yet potenti ally many ; so that all difference of opinion on this point is reducible to one or other of these two heads, - the world is sprung either from Mercury, or from all the suitors. He sang, says Virgil,

How through the void of space the seeds of things Came first together; seeds of the sea, land, air, And the clear tire; how from these elements All embryos grew, and the great world itself Swelled by degrees and gathered in its globe.

The third account of the generation of Pan, might make one think that the Greeks had heard something, whether through the Egyptians or otherwise, concern ing the Hebrew mysteries ; for it applies to the state

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of the world, not at its very birth, but as it was after the fall of Adam, subject to death and corruption. For that state was the offspring of God and Sin, — and so remains. So that all three stories of the birth of Pan (if they be understood with a proper distinction as to facts and times) may be accepted as indeed true. For true it is that this Pan, whom we behold and con template and worship only too much, is sprung from the Divine Word, through the medium of confused matter (which is itself God's creature), and with the help of sin and corruption entering in.

To the Nature of things, the Fates or destinies of things are truly represented as sisters. For natural causes are the chain which draws after it the births and durations and deaths of all things ; their fallings and risings, their labours and felicities : — in short all the fates that can befall them.

That the world is represented with horns, and that such horns are broad at bottom and narrow at top, has relation to the fact that the whole frame of nature rises to a point like a pyramid. For individuals are infinite: these are collected into species, which are themselves also very numerous ; the species are gath ered up into genera, and these again into genera of a higher stage ; till nature, contracting as it rises, seems to meet at last in one point. Nor need we wonder that Pan's horns touch heaven ; since the summits, or universal forms, of nature do in a manner reach up to God ; the passage from metaphysic to natural theology being ready and short.

The body of Nature is most elegantly and truly represented as covered with hair ; in allusion to the rays which all objects emit ; for rays are like the hairs

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or bristles of nature ; and there is scarcely anything which is not more or less radiant. This is very plainly seen in the power of vision, and not less so in all kinds of magnetic virtue, and in every effect which takes place at a distance. For whatever produces an effect at a distance may be truly said to emit rays. But Pan's hair is longest in the beard, because the rays of the celestial bodies operate and penetrate from a greater distance than any other ; and we see also that the sun, when the upper part of him is veiled by a cloud and the rays break out below, has the appear ance of a face with a beard.

Again, the body of Nature is most truly described as biform ; on account of the difference between the bodies of the upper and the lower world. For the upper or heavenly bodies, are for their beauty and the equability and constancy of their motion, as well as for the influence they have upon earth and all that belongs to it, fitly represented under the human fig ure : but the others, by reason of their perturbations and irregular motions, and because they are under the influence of the celestial bodies, may be content with the figure of a brute. The same description of Nature's body may be referred also to the mixture of one species with another. For there is no nature which can be regarded as simple ; every one seeming to par ticipate and be compounded of two. Man has some thing of the brute; the brute has something of the vegetable ; the vegetable something of the inanimate body; and so all things are in truth biformed and made up of a higher species and a lower. There is also a very ingenious allegory involved in that attri bute of the goat's feet; which has reference to the

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motion upwards of terrestrial bodies towards the re gions of air and sky : for the goat is a climbing ani mal, and loves to hang from rocks and cling to the sides of precipices : a tendency which is also exhibited in a wonderful manner by substances that belong prop erly to the lower world — witness clouds and meteors.

The emblems in Pan's hands are of two kinds — one of harmony, the other of empire. The pipe com pact of seven reeds evidently indicates that harmony and concent of things, that concord mixed with dis cord, which results from the motions of the seven planets. Also the sheep-hook is a noble metaphor, alluding to the mixture of straight and crooked in the ways of nature. But the staff is curved chiefly towards the top ; because all the works of Divine Providence in the world are wrought by winding and roundabout ways — where one thing seems to be doing, and another is doing really — as in the selling of Joseph into Egypt, and the like. So also in all the wiser kinds of human government, they who sit at the helm can introduce and insinuate what they desire for the good of the people more successfully by pretexts and indirect ways than directly ; so that every rod or staff of empire is truly crooked at the top. The scarf or mantle of Pan is very ingeniously feigned to be made of a panther's skin ; on account of the spots scattered all over it. For the heavens are spotted with stars, the sea with islands, the earth with flowers ; and even particular objects are generally variegated on the surface, which is as it were their mantle or scarf.

Now the office of Pan can in no way be more lively set forth and explained than by calling him god of

VOL. XIII.

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hunters. For every natural action, every motion and process of nature, is nothing else than a hunt. For the sciences and arts hunt after their works, human counsels hunt after their ends, and all things in nature hunt either after their food, which is like hunting for prey, or after their pleasures, which is like hunting for recreation ; — and that too by methods skilful and

After the wolf the lion steals; the wolf the kid doth follow; The kid pursues the cytisus o'er hillock and thro' hollow.

Also Pan is the god of country people in general ; because they live more according to nature ; whereas in courts and cities nature is corrupted by too much culture ; till it is true what the poet said of his mis tress, — the girl herself is the least part of the matter.

Pan is likewise especially called president of moun tains — because it is in mountains and elevated places that the nature of things is most spread abroad, and lies most open to view and study. As for Pan's being, next to Mercury, the messenger of the gods, that is an allegory plainly divine ; seeing that next to the Word of God, the image itself of the world is the great proclaimer of the divine wisdom and goodness. So sings the Psalmist : The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.

Again Pan takes delight in the nymphs ; that is the souls ; for the souls of the living are the delight of the world. And Pan is truly called their com mander, since they follow the guidance each of her several nature ; leaping and dancing about it with in finite variety, every one in her country's fashion, and with motion that never ceases. And in their company

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are ever found the Satyrs and the Sileni ; that is old age and youth ; for all things have their merry and dancing time, and likewise their heavy and tippling time. And yet to one who truly considers them, the pursuits of either age appear perhaps, as they did to Democritus, ridiculous and deformed, — like to a Sa tyr or Silenus.

In the Panic terrors there is set forth a very wise doctrine ; for by the nature of things all living crea tures are endued with a certain fear and dread, the office of which is to preserve their life and essence, and to avoid or repel approaching mischief. But the same nature knows not how to keep just measure — but together with salutary fears ever mingles vain and empty ones ; insomuch that all things (if one could see into the heart of them) are quite full of Panic terrors ; human things most of all ; so infinitely tossed and troubled as they are with superstition (which is in truth nothing but a Panic terror), es pecially in seasons of hardship, anxiety, and adver sity.

With regard to the audacity of Pan in challenging Cupid to fight, it refers to this, — that matter is not without a certain inclination and appetite to dissolve the world and fall back into the ancient chaos ; but that the overswaying concord of things (which is represented by Cupid or Love) restrains its will and effort in that direction and reduces it to order. And therefore it is well for man and for the world that in that contest Pan was foiled. The same thing is al luded to in that other circumstance of the catching of Typhon in a net : because however it be that vast and strange swellings (for that is the meaning of Ty-

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phon) take place occasionally in nature, — whether of the sea, or the clouds, or the earth, or any other body — nevertheless all such exuberancies and irreg ularities are by the nature of things caught and con fined in an inextricable net, and bound down as with a chain of adamant.

As for the tale that the discovery of Ceres was re served for this god, and that while he was hunting, and denied to the rest of the gods though diligently and specially engaged in seeking her ; it contains a very true and wise admonition — namely that the dis covery of things useful to life and the furniture of life, such as corn, is not to be looked for from the ab stract philosophies, as it were the greater gods, no not though they devote their whole powers to that special end — but only from Pan ; that is from sagacious ex perience and the universal knowledge of nature, which will often by a kind of accident, and as it were while engaged in hunting, stumble upon such discoveries.

Then again that match in music and the result of it exhibits a wholesome doctrine, fit to restrain and reduce to sobriety die pride and overweening confi dence of human reason and judgment. For it seems there are two kinds of harmony and music ; one of divine providence, the other of human reason ; and to the human judgment, and the ears as it were of mortals, the government of the world and nature, and the more secret judgments of God, sound some what harsh and untunable ; and though this be igno rance, such as deserves to be distinguished with the

o

ears of an ass, yet those ears are worn secretly and not in the face of the world — for it is not a thing observed or noted as a deformity by the vulgar.

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Lastly, it is not to be wondered at that no amours are attributed to Pan, except his marriage with Echo. For the world enjoys itself and in itself all things that are. Now he that is in love wants something, and where there is abundance of everything want can have no place. The world therefore can have no loves, nor any want (being content with itself) unless it be of discourse. Such is the nymph Echo, or, if it be of the more exact and measured kind, Syringa. And it is excellently provided that of all discourses or voices Echo alone should be chosen for the world's wife. For that is in fact the true philosophy which echoes most faithfully the voice of the world itself, and is written as it were from the world's own dicta tion ; being indeed nothing else than the image and reflection of it, which it only repeats and echoes, but adds nothing of its own. That the world has no is sue, is another allusion to the sufficiency and perfec tion of it in itself. Generation goes on among the parts of the world, but how can the whole generate, when no body exists out of itself? As for that lit tle woman, Pan's putative daughter, it is an addition to the fable, with a great deal of wisdom in it : for by her are represented those vain babbling doctrines about the nature of things, which wander abroad in

c5 '

all times and fill the world — doctrines barren in fact, counterfeit in breed, but by reason of their garrulity sometimes entertaining ; and sometimes again trouble some and annoying.

102 TRANSLATION OF THE

VII.

PERSEUS;

OR WAR.1

PERSEUS was sent, it is said, by Pallas to cut off the head of Medusa, from whom many nations in the west ernmost parts of Spain suffered grievous calamities : — a monster so dreadful and horrible that the mere sight of her turned men into stone. She was one of the Gorgons ; and the only one of them that was mortal, the others not being subject to change. By way of equipment for this so noble exploit, Perseus received arms and gifts from three several gods. Mercury gave him wings for his feet ; Pluto gave him a helmet ; Pallas a shield and a mirror. And yet though so well provided and equipped, he did not proceed against Medusa directly, but went out of his way to visit the Graye. These were half-sisters to the Gorgons ; and had been born old women with white hair. They had but one eye and one tooth among them, and these they used to wear by turns ; each putting them on as she went abroad, and putting them off again when she came back. This eye and tooth they now lent to Perseus. Whereupon, judging himself suffi ciently equipped for the performance of his under taking, he went against Medusa with all haste, flying. He found her asleep ; but not daring to face her (in case she should wake) he looked back into Pallas's mirror, and taking aim by the reflection, cut off her head. From the blood which flowed out of the wound,

1 For an enlarged version of this fable, see Translation of the " De Aug- mentis," Book the Second, Chap. XIII.

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there suddenly leaped forth a winged Pegasus. The severed head was fixed by Perseus in Pallas's shield ; where it still retained its power of striking stiff, as if thunder or planet stricken, all who looked on it.

The fable seems to have been composed with refer ence to the art and judicious conduct of war. And first, for the kind of war to be chosen, it sets forth (as from the advice of Pallas) three sound and weighty precepts to guide the deliberation.

The first is, not to take any great trouble for the subjugation of the neighbouring nations. For the rule to be followed in the enlarging of a patrimony does not apply to the extension of an empire. In a private property, the vicinity of the estates to each other is of importance ; but in extending an empire, occasion, and facility of carrying the war through, and value of con quest, should be regarded instead of vicinity. We see that the Romans, while they had hardly penetrated westward beyond Liguria, had conquered and included in their empire eastern provinces as far off as Mount Taurus. And therefore Perseus, though he belonged to the east, did not decline a distant expedition to the uttermost parts of the west.

The second is that there be a just and honourable cause of war : for this begets alacrity as well in the soldiers themselves, as in the people, from whom the supplies are to come: also it opens the way to alliances, and conciliates friends ; and has a great many advan tages. Now there is no cause of war more pious than the overthrow of a tyranny under which the people lies prostrate without spirit or vigour, as if turned to stone by the aspect of Medusa.

Thirdly, it is wisely added that whereas there are

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three Gorgons (by whom are represented wars), Perseus chose the one that was mortal, that is, he chose such a war as might be finished and carried through, and did not engage in the pursuit of vast or infinite projects.

The equipment of Perseus is of that kind which is everything in war, and almost ensures success ; for he received swiftness from Mercury, secrecy of counsel from Pluto, and providence from Pallas. Nor is the circumstance that those wings of swiftness were for the heels and not for the shoulders without an allegorical meaning, and a very wise one. For it is not in the first attack, so much as. in those that follow up and sup port the first, that swiftness is required ; and there is no error more common in war than that of not pressing on the secondary and subsidiary actions with an activ ity answerable to the vigour of the beginnings. There is also an ingenious distinction implied in the images of the shield and the mirror (for the parable of Pluto's helmet which made men invisible needs no explana tion) between the two kinds of foresight. For we must have not only that kind of foresight which acts as a shield, but that other kind likewise which enables us (like Pallas's mirror) to spy into the forces and movements and counsels of the enemy.

But Perseus, however provided with forces and courage, stands yet in need of one thing more before the war be commenced, which is of the highest pos sible importance, — he must go round to the Graea?. These Gra^c are treasons ; which are indeed war's sisters, yet not sisters german, but as it were of less noble birth. For wars are generous ; treasons degen erate and base. They are prettily described, in allusion to the perpetual cares and trepidations of traitors, as

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old and white from their birth. Their power (before they break out into open revolt) lies either in the eye or the tooth ; for all factions when alienated from the state, both play the spy and bite. And the eye and tooth are as it were common to them all : the eye be cause all their information is handed from one to an other, and circulates through the whole party ; the tooth, because they all bite with one mouth and all tell one tale, — so that when you hear one you hear all. Therefore Perseus must make friends of those Graeae, that they may lend him their eye and tooth, — the eye for discovery of information, the tooth to sow rumours, raise envy, and stir the minds of the people.

These matters being thus arranged and prepared, we come next to the carriage of the war itself. And here we see that Perseus finds Medusa asleep ; for the un dertaker of a war almost always, if he is wise, takes his enemy unprepared and in security. And now it is that Pallas's mirror is wanted. For there are many who before the hour of danger can look into the ene my's affairs sharply and attentively ; but the chief use of the mirror is in the very instant of peril, that you may examine the manner of it without being confused by the fear of it ; which is meant by the looking at it with eyes averted.

The conclusion of the war is followed by two effects : first the birth and springing up of Pegasus, which obvi ously enough denotes fame, flying abroad and celebrat ing the victory. Secondly the carrying of Medusa's head upon the shield ; for this is incomparably the best kind of safeguard. A single brilliant and memorable exploit, happily conducted and accomplished, paralyses all the enemies' movements, and mates malevolence itself.

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VIII.

ENDYMION ;

OR THE F A V O U 11 1 T E .

TRADITION says that Endymion, a shepherd, was beloved by the moon. But the intercourse between them was of a strange and singular kind. For while he lay reposing according to his habit in a natural cave under the rocks of Latmos, the moon would come down from heaven and kiss him as he slept, and go up into heaven again. And yet this idleness and sleeping did not hurt his fortunes ; for the inoon in the mean time so ordered it that his sheep fattened and increased exceedingly ; insomuch that no shepherd, had finer flocks or fuller.

The fable relates (as I take it) to the dispositions and manners of princes. For princes being full of thoughts and prone to suspicions, do not easily admit to familiar intercourse men that are perspicacious and curious, whose minds are always on the wratch and never sleep ; but choose rather such as are of a quiet and complying disposition, and submit to their will without inquiring further, and shew like persons ig norant and unobserving, and as if asleep ; displaying simple obedience rather than fine observation. With men of this kind princes have always been glad to descend from their greatness, as the moon from heaven ; and to lay aside their mask, the continual wearing of which becomes a kind of burden ; and to converse familiarly ; for with such they think they can do so safely. It was a point especially noted in Tiberius Cajsar, a prince extremely difficult to deal with ; with

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whom those only were in favour who, though they really understood him, yet dissembled their knowledge with a pertinacity which seemed like dulness. The same thing was observable in Louis XI. of France, a most cautious and crafty king. The circumstance of the cave also, in which according to the fable En- dymion used to lie, is not without its elegance. For those who enjoy this kind of favour with princes have commonly some pleasant places of retirement to invite them to, where they may have the comfort of leisure and relaxation of mind, discharged of the incumbrances which their position lays upon them. And it is true that favourites of this class are commonly prosperous in their private fortunes ; for princes though they may not raise them to honours, yet since their favour springs from true affection and not from considerations of util ity, they generally enrich them with their bounty.

IX.

THE SISTER OF THE GIANTS;

OR FAME.

THE poets tell us that the Giants, being brought forth by Earth, made war upon Jupiter and the gods, and were routed and vanquished with thunderbolts, whereupon Earth, in rage at the wrath of the gods, to revenge her sons brought forth Fame, youngest sis ter of the giants.

The meaning of the fable appears to be this : by Earth is meant the nature of the common people ; al ways swelling with malice towards their rulers, and

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hatching revolutions. This upon occasion given brings forth rebels and seditious persons, who with wicked audacity endeavour the overthrow of princes. And when these are suppressed, the same nature of the common people, still leaning to the worse party and impatient of tranquillity, gives birth to rumours and malignant whispers, and querulous fames, and defama tory libels, and the like, tending to bring envy upon the authorities of the land : so that seditious fames differ from acts of rebellion, not in race and parentage, but only in sex : the one being feminine and the other masculine.

X.

ACTION AND PENTHEUS;

OR CURIOSITY.

THE curiosity and unhealthy appetite of man for the discovery of secrets, is reproved by the ancients in two examples : one of Action, the other of Pentheus. Actaeon having unawares and by chance seen Diana naked, was turned into a stag and worried by his own dogs. Pentheus having climbed a tree for the purpose of seeing the secret mysteries of Bacchus, was struck with madness ; and the form of his madness was this : he thought everything was double ; saw two suns, and again two cities of Thebes : insomuch that when he set out towards Thebes, he presently saw another Thebes behind, which made him go back ; and so was kept continually going backwards and forwards without any rest.

As to distracted Pentheus there appear Furies in troops, and in the sky two suns, And on the earth two several Thebes at once.

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The first of these fables seems to relate to the secrets of princes, the other to the secrets of divinity. For whoever becomes acquainted with a prince's secrets without leave and against his will, is sure to incur his hatred: and then, knowing that he is marked and that occasions are sought against him, he lives the life of a stag ; a life full of fears and suspicions. Often too it happens that his own servants and domestics, to curry favour with the prince, accuse and over throw him. For when the displeasure of the prince is manifest, a man shall scarcely have a servant but will betray him ; and so he may expect the fate of Actaeon.

The calamity of Pentheus is of a different kind. For the punishment assigned to those who with rash audacity, forgetting their mortal condition, aspire by the heights of nature and philosophy, as by climbing a tree, to penetrate the divine mysteries, is perpetual in constancy, and a judgment vacillating and perplexed. For since the light of nature is one thins: and the light

O O O

of divinity another, they are as men that see two suns ; and since the actions of life and the determinations of the will depend upon the intellect, it follows that they are perplexed in will no less than in opinion, and can not be consistent with themselves : in which sense they in like manner see two Thebes ; for by Thebes is meant the ends and aim of our actions ; Thebes being Pen- theus's home and resting-place. And hence it comes that they know not which way to turn, but being un certain and fluctuating as to the sum and end of all, they are carried round and round from one thing to another, according to the impulse of the moment.

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XI.

ORPHEUS;

OR PHILOSOPHY.

THE story of Orpheus, which though so well known has not yet been in all points perfectly well interpreted, seems meant for a representation of universal Philos ophy. For Orpheus himself, — a man admirable and truly divine, who being master of all harmony subdued and drew all tilings after him by sweet and gentle measures, — may pass by an easy metaphor for philos ophy personified. For as the works of wisdom surpass in dignity and power the works of strength, so the la bours of Orpheus surpass the labours of Hercules.

Orpheus, moved by affection for his wife who had been snatched from him by an untimely death, resolved to go down to Hell and beg her back again of the In fernal Powers ; trusting to his lyre. Nor was he dis appointed. For so soothed and charmed were the infernal powers by the sweetness of his singing and playing, that they gave him leave to take her away with him ; but upon one condition ; she was to follow behind him, and he was not to look back until they had reached the confines of light. From this however in the impatience of love and anxiety he could not refrain. Before he had quite reached the point of safety, he looked back ; and so the covenant was broken, and she suddenly fell away from him and was hurried back into Hell. From that time Orpheus betook himself to sol itary places, a melancholy man and averse from the sight of women ; where by the same sweetness of his song and lyre he drew to him all kinds of wild beasts,

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. Ill

in such manner that putting off their several natures, forgetting all their quarrels and ferocity, no longer driven by the stings and furies of lust, no longer caring to satisfy their hunger or to hunt their prey, they all stood about him gently and sociably, as in a theatre, listening only to the concords of his lyre. Nor was that all : for so great was the power of his music that it moved the woods and the very stones to shift them selves and take their stations decently and orderly about him. And all this went on for some time with happy success and great admiration ; till at last certain Thra- cian women, under the stimulation and excitement of Bacchus, came where he was ; and first they blew such a hoarse and hideous blast upon a horn that the sound of his music could no longer be heard for the din : whereupon, the charm being broken that had been the bond of that order and good fellowship, confusion began again ; the beasts returned each to his several nature and preyed one upon the other as before ; the stones and woods stayed no longer in their places : while Orpheus himself was torn to pieces by the \vomen in their fury, and his limbs scattered about the fields : at whose death, Helicon (river sacred to the Muses) in grief and indignation buried his waters under the earth, to reappear elsewhere.

The meaning of the fable appears to be this. The singing of Orpheus is of two kinds : one to propitiate the infernal powers, the other to draw the wild beasts and the woods. The former may be best understood as referring to natural philosophy ; the latter to philosophy moral and civil. For natural philosophy proposes to itself, as its noblest work of all, nothing less than the restitution and renovation of things corruptible, and

112 TRANSLATION OF THE

(what is indeed the same thing in a lower degree) the conservation of bodies in the state in which they are, and the retardation of dissolution and putrefaction. Now certainly if this can be effected at all, it cannot be otherwise than by due and exquisite attempering and adjustment of parts in nature, as by the harmony and perfect modulation of a lyre. And yet being a thing of all others the most difficult, it commonly fails of effect ; and fails (it may be) from no cause more than from curious and premature meddling and impatience. Then Philosophy finding that her great work is too much for her, in sorrowful mood, as well becomes her, turns to human affairs ; and applying her powers of persuasion and eloquence to insinuate into men's minds the love of virtue and equity and peace, teaches the peoples to assemble and unite and take upon them the yoke of laws and submit to authority, and forget their ungoverned appetites, in listening and conforming to precepts and discipline ; whereupon soon follows the building of houses, the founding of cities, the planting of fields and gardens with trees ; insomuch that the stones and the woods are not unfitly said to leave their places and come about her. And this application of Philosophy to civil affairs is properly represented, and according to the true order of things, as subsequent to the diligent trial and final frustration of the experiment of restoring the dead body to life. For true it is that the clearer recognition of the inevitable necessity of death sets men upon seeking immortality by merit and renown. Also it is wisely added in the story, that Orpheus was averse from women and from marriage ; for the sweets of marriage and the dearness of children commonly draw men away from performing great and

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lofty services to the commonwealth ; being content to be perpetuated in their race and stock, and not in their deeds.

But howsoever the works of wisdom are among hu man things the most excellent, yet they too have their periods and closes. For so it is that after kingdoms and commonwealths have flourished for a time, there arise perturbations and seditions and wars ; amid the uproars of which, first the laws are put to silence, and then men return to the depraved conditions of their nature, and desolation is seen in the fields and cities. And if such troubles last, it is not long before letters also and philosophy are so torn in pieces that no traces of them can be found but a few fragments, scattered here and there like planks from a shipwreck ; and then a season of barbarism sets in, the waters of Helicon being sunk under the ground, until, according to the appointed vicissitude of things, they break out and issue forth again, perhaps among other nations, and not in the places where they were before.

XII. CCELUM;

OR THE ORIGIN OF THINGS.

IT is a tradition of the poets that Coelum was the most ancient of all the gods : that his parts of genera tion were cut off by his son Saturn with a scythe ; that Saturn himself begot a numerous progeny, but devoured his sons as fast as they were born ; that at last Jupiter escaped this fate, and as soon as he grew

114 TRANSLATION OF THE

up overthrew his father Saturn, cast him into Tartarus, and took possession of his kingdom ; also that lie cut off his genitals with the same scythe with which he,

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Saturn, had cut off those of Coeluin, and threw them into the sea ; and that from them was born Venus. Afterwards they say that the kingdom of Jupiter, when as yet it was scarcely settled, had to stand the brunt of two memorable wars : the first, the war of the Titans, in the subduing of whom the assistance of the Sun (the only one of the Titans that was on Jupiter's side) was conspicuous ; the second, the war of the Giants, who were likewise by thunder and the arms of Jupiter defeated ; and that when these were put down Jupiter reigned afterwards in security.

This fable seems to be an enigma concerning the origin of things, not much differing from the philoso phy afterwards embraced by Democritus : who more openly than any one else asserted the eternity of mat ter, while he denied the eternity of the world ; a point in which he came somewhat nearer to the truth as declared in the divine narrative ; for that represents matter without form as existing before the six days' works.

The fable may be explained in this manner. By Coelum is meant the concave or circumference which encloses all matter. By Saturn is meant matter itself; which, inasmuch as the sum total of matter remains always the same and the absolute quantum of nature suffers neither increase nor diminution, is said to have deprived its parent of all power of generation. Now the agitations and motions of matter produced at first imperfect and ill-compacted structures of things, that would not hold together, — mere attempts at worlds.

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Afterwards in process of time a fabric was turned out which could keep its form. Of these two divisions of time, the first is meant by the reign of Saturn ; who by reason of the frequent dissolutions and short dura tions of things in his time, was called the devourer of his children : the second, by the reign of Jupiter, who put an end to those continual and transitory changes, and thrust them into Tartarus — that is to say the place of perturbation : which place seems to be mid way between the lowest parts of heaven and the in nermost parts of the earth : in which middle region perturbation and fragility and mortality or corruption have their chief operation. And while that former sys tem of generation lasted which had place under the reign of Saturn, Venus, according to the story, was not yet born. For so long as in the universal frame of matter discord was stronger than concord and pre vailed over it, there could be no change except of the whole together ; and in this manner did the generation of things proceed before Saturn was castrated. But as soon as this mode of generation ceased, it was im mediately succeeded by that other which proceeds by Venus, and belongs to a state in which, concord being powerful and predominant, change proceeds part by part only, the total fabric remaining entire and undis turbed. Nevertheless Saturn is represented as thrust out and overthrown only, not as cut off and extin guished ; because it was the opinion of Democritus that the world might yet relapse into its ancient confusion and intervals of no government : an event which Lu cretius prayed might not happen in his own times.

Which may all-ruling Fortune keep far hence, And reason teach it, not experience.

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Again, after the world was established and settled in respect of its mass and moving force, yet it did not from the first remain in quiet. For first there followed notable commotions in the heavenly regions ; which however, by the power of the Sun predominating in those regions, were so composed that the world sur vived and kept its state ; afterwards in like manner fol lowed convulsions in the lower regions, by inundations, tempests, winds, earthquakes of more universal char acter than any we now have ; and when these like wise were subdued and dispersed, things settled at last into a more durable state of consent and harmonious operation.

It must be said however of all this, that as there is philosophy in the fable so there is fable in the phi losophy. For we know (through faith) that all such speculations are but the oracles of sense which have long since ceased and failed ; the world, both matter and fabric, being in truth the work of the Creator.

XIII.

PROTEUS ;

OR MATT E R .

PHOTEUS, the poets tell us, was herdsman to Nep tune. He was an old man and a prophet ; a prophet moreover of the very first order, and indeed thrice ex cellent ; for he knew all three, — not the future only, but likewise the past and the present; insomuch that besides his power of divination, he was the messenger and interpreter of all antiquity and all secrets. His

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dwelling was under an immense cave. There it was his custom every day at noon to count his flock of seals and then go to sleep. And if any one wanted his help in any matter, the only way was first to secure his hands with handcuffs, and then to bind him with chains. Whereupon he on his part, in order to get free, would turn himself into all manner of strange shapes — fire, water, wild beasts, &c., till at last he returned again to his original shape.

The sense of this fable relates, it would seem, to the secrets of nature and the conditions of matter. For under the person of Proteus, Matter — the most an cient of all things, next to God — is meant to be repre sented. Now matter has its habitation under the vault of heaven, as under a cave. And it may be called the servant of Neptune, inasmuch as all the operation and dispensation of matter is effected principally in liquids. The herd or flock of Proteus, seems to be nothing else than the ordinary species of animals, plants, minerals, etc. in which matter may be said to diffuse and use itself up ; insomuch that having once made up and fin ished those species it seems to sleep and rest, as if its task were done ; without applying itself or attempting or preparing to make any more. And this is what is meant by Proteus counting his herd and then going to sleep. Now this is said to take place not in the morn ing or in the evening, but at noon : that is to say, when the full and legitimate time has come for completing and bringing forth the species out of matter already duly prepared and predisposed ; which is the middle point between the first rudiments of them and their declination. And this we know from the sacred his tory to have been in fact at the very time of the ere-

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ation. For then it was that by virtue of the divine word producat matter came together at the command of the Creator, not by its own circuitous processes, but all at once ; and brought its work to perfection on the instant, and constituted the species. And here the story is complete, as regards Proteus free and at large with his herd. For the universe with its several spe cies according to their ordinary frame and structure, is merely the face of matter unconstrained and at liberty, with its flock of materiate creatures. Nevertheless if any skilful Servant of Nature shall bring force to bear on matter, and shall vex it and drive it to extremities as if with the purpose of reducing it to nothing, then will matter (since annihilation or true destruction is not possible except by the omnipotence of God) finding itself in these straits, turn and transform itself into strange shapes, passing from one change to another till it has gone through the whole circle and finished the period ; when, if the force be continued, it returns at last to itself. And this constraint and binding will be more easily and expeditiously effected, if matter be laid hold on and secured by the hands ; that is, by its ex tremities. And whereas it is added in the fable that Proteus was a prophet and knew the three times ; this agrees well with the nature of matter : for if a man knew the conditions, affections, and processes of mat ter, he would certainly comprehend the sum and gen eral issue (for I do not say that his knowledge would extend to the parts and singularities) of all things past, present, and to come.

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XIV.

MEMNON ;

OR THE EARLY-RIPE.

MEMNON, according to the poets, was the son of Aurora. Conspicuous for the beauty of his arms, and great in popular reputation, he came to the Trojan war ; where rushing with breathless haste and head long courage at the highest mark, he engaged Achilles, the bravest of all the Greeks, in single fight ; and fell by his hand. In pity of his fate Jupiter sent birds to grace his funeral that kept up a continual cry of grief and lamentation. His statue also, as often as the rays of the rising sun touched it, is said to have uttered a mournful sound.

The fable seems meant to apply to the unfortunate deaths of young men of high promise. For such are as it were the sons of the morning, and it commonly happens that, being puffed up with empty and outward advantages, they venture upon enterprises that are be yond their strength, provoke and challenge to combat the bravest heroes, and falling in the unequal conflict are extinguished. But the death of such persons is wont to be followed by infinite commiseration ; for of all mortal accidents there is none so lamentable, none so powerful to move pity, as this cropping of the flower of virtue before its time : the rather because their life has been too short to give occasion of satiety or of envy, which might otherwise mitigate sorrow at their death and temper compassion. And not only do lam entations and wailino-s hover like those mourner birds

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about the funeral pile ; but the same feeling of pity

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lasts long after : and more especially upon all fresh accidents and new movements and beginnings of great events, as by the touch of sunrise, the regret for them is stirred up again and renewed.

XV.

TITHONUS;

OR SATIETY.

IT is an elegant fable they relate of Tithonus ; that Aurora was in love with him, and desiring to enjoy his company for ever, begged of Jupiter that he might never die ; but forgot, with a woman's thoughtlessness, to add to her petition that neither might he suffer. the infirmities of age. So he wras exempted from the con dition of dying ; but there came upon him a strange and miserable old age, such as he must needs undergo to whom death is denied, while the burden of years continues to grow heavier and heavier ; so that Jupiter, pitying such a condition, changed him at last into a grasshopper.

This fable seems to be an ingenious picture and de scription of Pleasure ; which in its beginning, or morn ing-time, is so agreeable that men are fain to pray that such delights may last and be their own for ever ; for getting that satiety and loathing of the same will come upon them, like old age, before they are aware. So that at last when men have become incapable of the acts of pleasure and yet retain the desire and appetite, they fall to talking and telling stories about the pleas ures of their youth, and find their delight in that : as

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we see in lewd persons, who are always harping upon indecent stories, and in soldiers that are for ever re counting their deeds ; like grasshoppers, whose vigour is only in their voice.

XVI.

JUNO'S SUITOR;

OR DISHONOUR.

THE poets tell us that Jupiter in pursuit of his loves assumed many different shapes, — a bull, an eagle, a swan, a shower of gold : but that when he courted Juno, he turned himself into the ignoblest shape that could be, a very object of contempt and ridicule ; that of a wretched cuckoo, drenched with rain and tempest, amazed, 'trembling, and half dead.

It is a wise fable, derived from the depths of moral science. The meaning is that men are not to natter themselves that an exhibition of their virtue and worth will win them estimation and favour with everybody. For that depends upon the nature and character of those to whom they apply themselves. If these be persons of no gifts or ornaments of their own, but only a proud and malignant disposition (the character rep resented by Juno), then they should know that they must put off everything about them that has the least show of honour or dignity, and that it is mere folly in them to proceed any other way ; nay that it is not enough to descend to the baseness of flattery, unless they put on the outward show and character of abject- ness and degeneracy.

122 TRANSLATION OF THE

XVII. CUPID;

OR THE ATOM.

THE accounts given by the poets of Cupid, or Love, are not properly applicable to the same person ; yet the discrepancy is such that one may see where the con fusion is and where the similitude, and reject the one and receive the other.

They say then that Love was the most ancient of all the gods; the most ancient therefore of all things what ever, except Chaos, which is said to have been coeval with him ; and Chaos is never distinguished by the an cients with divine honour or the name of a £od. This

O

Love is introduced without any parent at all ; only, that some say he was an egg of Night. And himself out of Chaos begot all things, the gods included. The attributes which are assigned to him are in. number four: he is always an infant; he is blind ; he is naked; he is an archer. There was also another Love, the youngest of all the gods, son of Venus, to whom the attributes of the elder are transferred, and whom in a way they suit.

The fable relates to the cradle and infancy of nature, and pierces deep. This Love I understand to be the appetite or instinct of primal matter ; or to speak more plainly, the natural motion of the atom; which is indeed the original and unique force that constitutes and fash ions all things out of matter. Now this is entirely without parent ; that is, without cause. For the cause is as it were parent of the effect ; and of this virtue there can be no cause in nature (God always ex-

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cepted) : there being nothing before it, therefore no efficient ; nor anything more original in nature, there fore neither kind nor form. Whatever it be therefore, it is a thing positive and inexplicable. And even if it were possible to know the method and process of it, yet to know it by way of cause is not possible ; it being, next to God, the cause of causes — itself without cause. That the method even of its operation should ever be brought within the range and comprehension of human inquiry, is hardly perhaps to be hoped ; with good rea son therefore it is represented as an egg hatched by night. Such certainly is the judgment of the sacred philosopher, when he says, He hath made all tilings beautiful according to their seasons; also he hath sub mitted the world to man's inquiry, yet so that man cannot find out the work which Grod workethfrom the beginning to the end. For the summary law of nature, that im pulse of desire impressed by God upon the primary particles of matter which makes them come together, and which by repetition and multiplication produces all the variety of nature, is a thing which mortal thought may glance at, but can hardly take in.

Now the philosophy of the Greeks, which in investi gating the material principles of things is careful and acute, in inquiring the principles of motion, wherein lies all vigour of operation, is negligent and languid ; and on the point now in question seems to be altogether blind and babbling ; for that opinion of the Peripatetics which refers the original impulse of matter to privation, is little more than words — a name for the thing rather than a description of it. And those who refer it to God, though they are quite right in that, yet they as cend by a leap and not by steps. For beyond all doubt

124 TRANSLATION OF THE

there is a single and summary law in which nature centres and which is subject and subordinate to God ; the same in fact which in the text just quoted is meant by the words, The work which Grod worketh from the be ginning to the end. Democritus considered the matter more deeply ; and having first given the atom some dimension and shape, attributed to it a single desire or primary motion simply and absolutely, and a second by comparison. For he thought that all things move by their proper nature towards the centre of the world ; but that that which has more matter, moving thither faster, strikes aside that which has less, and forces it to go the other way. This however was but a narrow theory, and framed with reference to too few partic ulars : for it does not appear that either the motion of the heavenly bodies in circle, or the phenomena of contraction and expansion, can be reduced to this prin ciple, or reconciled with it. As for Epicurus's opinion of the declination and fortuitous agitation of the atom, it is a relapse to trifling and ignorance. So it is but too plain that the parentage of this Cupid is wrapped in night.

Let us now consider his attributes. He is described with great elegance as a little child, and a child for ever ; for things compounded are larger and are af fected by age ; whereas the primary seeds of things, or atoms, are minute and remain in perpetual infancy.

Most truly also is he represented as naked : for all compounds (to one that considers them rightly) are masked and clothed ; and there is nothing properly naked, except the primary particles of things.

The blindness likewise of Cupid has an allegorical meaning full of wisdom. For it seems that this Cupid,

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whatever he be, has very little providence; but di rects his course, like a blind man groping, by what ever he finds nearest ; which makes the supreme divine Providence all the more to be admired, as that which contrives out of subjects peculiarly empty and destitute of providence, and as it were blind, to educe by a fatal and necessary law all the order and beauty of the universe.

His last attribute is archery : meaning that this vir tue is such as acts at a distance : for all operation at a distance is like shooting an arrow. Now whoever main tains the theory of the atom and the vacuum (even though he suppose the vacuum not to be collected by itself but intermingled through space), necessarily im plies the action of the virtue of the atom at a distance : for without this no motion could be originated, by rea son of the vacuum interposed ; but all things would remain fixed and immovable.

As for that younger Cupid, it is with reason that he is reported to be the youngest of the gods ; since until the species were constituted he could have no opera tion. In the description of him the allegory changes its aim and passes to morals. And yet there remains a certain conformity between him and the elder Cupid. For Venus excites the general appetite of conjunction and procreation ; Cupid, her son, applies the appetite to an individual object. From Venus therefore comes the general disposition, from Cupid the more exact sympathy. Now the general disposition depends upon causes near at hand, the particular sympathy upon principles more deep and fatal, and as if derived from that ancient Cupid, who is the source of all exquisite sympathy.

126 TRANSLATION OF THE

XVIII. DIOMEDES ;

OR RELIGIOUS ZEAL.

DIOMEDES, a hero of high renown and a special favourite of Pallas, was incited by her (being of him self apt enough) if he chanced to encounter Venus in the battle, not to spare her. He boldly did as he was bid, and wounded Venus in the hand. This for the time he carried with impunity, and returned to his own country in great fame and reputation : but meeting there with domestic troubles he took refuge abroad in Italy. Here also he had a good enough fortune at first. King Daunus entertained him with hospitality and en riched him with honours and presents, and many stat ues were raised to him throughout the country. But no sooner did a calamity befal the people among whom he had taken up his abode, than Daunus bethought him that he was entertaining under his roof a man impious and hated by the gods, a fighter against heaven, who had violently assaulted and wounded with the sword a god dess whom it was forbidden even to touch. Where upon, to free his country from the curse under which it lay, he suddenly (setting aside the bond of hospitality, in respect to the more ancient bond of religion) puts Diomedes to death, and orders his statues to be thrown down and his honours cancelled. Nor was it safe in such a case even to pity so grievous an accident ; but his comrades likewise, when they bewailed the death of, their chief and filled the land with lamentations, were changed into a kind of swans, — a bird which at

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the approach of its own death also utters a sweet and plaintive sound.

The subject of this fable is rare and almost singular ; for there is no other story in which any hero is rep resented as having wounded a god. This is told of Diomedes only : and in him certainly seems meant to be portrayed the character and fortunes of a man who makes it his declared object to persecute and over throw by violence and the sword some religious wor ship or sect, though a vain and light one. For though religious wars were unknown to the ancients (the heathen gods having no touch of jealousy, which is the attribute of the true God), yet so great appears to have been the wisdom of the primitive ages and so wide the range of it, that what they did not know by experience they nevertheless attained in idea by re flexion and imagination.

^

Now those who make war against any religious sect, though a vain, corrupt, and infamous one (and this is signified in the person of Venus), proceeding not by force of reason and doctrine and by sanctity of life and by weight of examples and authorities to correct and confute, but by fire and sword and sharpness of punishment, to cut out and exterminate the same ; — such persons are perhaps set upon the work by Pallas, — that is, by a certain keenness of discernment and severity of judgment which gives them a thorough insight into the fallacies and falsehoods of such errors, joined with hatred of evil and honest zeal ; — and for a time they commonly acquire great glory, and are by the vulgar (who can never like what is moderate) celebrated and almost worshipped as the only cham pions of truth and religion ; all others appearing luke-

128 TRANSLATION OF THE

warm and timid. And yet this glory and felicity seldom endures to the end ; but almost every kind of violence, unless by an early death it escape the vicissitudes of fortune, is in the end unprosperous. And if it so happen that an alteration takes place in the state, whereby that proscribed and depressed sect gathers strength and raises its head, then are the zeal ous and contentious courses of these men condemned, their very name hated, and all their honours turned into reproach. The murder of Diomedes by the hands of his host alludes to the fact that difference in matter of religion breeds falsehood and treachery even among

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the nearest and dearest friends. And where it is said that the very grief and lamentations of his comrades were not tolerated, but visited with punishment, the meaning is that whereas almost every crime is open to pity, insomuch that they who hate the offence may yet in humanity commiserate the person and calamity of the offender, — and it is the extremity of evil to have the offices of compassion interdicted, — yet where religion and piety are in question, the very expression of pity is noted and disliked. On the other hand, the sorrows and lamentations of the comrades of Dio medes, that is of those who are of the same sect and opinion, are commonly very piercing and musical, like the notes of swans, or birds of Diomedes. And this part of the allegory has a further meaning which is striking and noble ; namely that in the case of persons who suffer for religion, the words which they speak at their death, like the song of the dying swan, have a wonderful effect and impression upon men's minds, and dwell long after in their memory and feelings.

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XIX.

DJEDALUS ;

OR THE MECHANIC.

UNDER the person of Daedalus, a man of the great est genius but of very bad character, the ancients drew a picture of mechanical skill and industry, together with its unlawful artifices and depraved applications. Daedalus had been banished for murdering a fellow- pupil and rival ; yet found favour in his banishment with -kings and states. Many and excellent works, as well in honour of the gods as for the adornment and ennobling of cities and public places, had been built and modelled by him ; but it is for unlawful in ventions that his name is most famous. For he it was who supplied the machine which enabled Pasiphae to satisfy her passion for the bull ; so that the unhappy and infamous birth of the monster Minotaurus, which devoured the ingenuous youth, was owing to the wick ed industry and pernicious genius of this man. Then to conceal the first mischief he added another, and for the security of this pest devised and constructed the Labyrinth ; a work wicked in its end and destination, but in respect of art and contrivance excellent and ad mirable. Afterwards again, that his fame might not rest on bad arts only, and that he might be sought to for remedies as well as instruments of evil, he became the author likewise of that ingenious device of the clue, by which the mazes of the labyrinth should be retraced. This Daedalus was persecuted with great severity and diligence and inquisition by Minos ; yet he always found both means of escape and places of

180 TRANSLATION OF THE

refuge. Last of all, he taught his son Icarus how to fly ; who being a novice and ostentatious of his art fell from the sky into the water.

The parable may be interpreted thus. In the en trance is noted that envy which is strongly predomi nant in great artists and never lets them rest ; for there is no class of men more troubled with envy, and that of the bitterest and most implacable character.

Then is touched the impolitic and improvident na ture of the punishment inflicted ; namely banishment. For it is the prerogative of famous workmen to be acceptable all over the world, insomuch that to an excellent artisan exile is scarcely any punishment at all. For whereas other modes and conditions of life cannot easily flourish out of their own country, the admiration of an artisan spreads wider and grows greater among strangers and foreigners ; it being the nature of men to hold their own countrymen, in re spect of mechanical arts, in less estimation.

The passages which follow concerning the use of mechanical arts are plain enough. Certainly human life is much indebted to them, for very many things which concern both the furniture of religion and the ornament of state and the culture of life in general, are drawn from their store. And yet out of the same fountain come instruments of lust, and also instru ments of death. For (not to speak of the arts of procurers) the most exquisite poisons, also guns, and such like engines of destruction, are the fruits of me chanical invention ; and well we know how far in cruelty and destructiveness they exceed the Minotau- rus himself.

Very beautiful again is that allegory of the laby-

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rinth ; under which the general nature of mechanics is represented. For all the more ingenious and exact mechanical inventions may, for their subtlety, their intricate variety, and the apparent likeness of one part to another, which scarcely any judgment can order and discriminate, but only the clue of experi ment, be compared to a labyrinth. Nor is the next point less to the purpose ; viz. that the same man who devised the mazes of the labyrinth disclosed like wise the use of the clue. For the mechanical arts may be turned either way, and serve as well for the cure as for the hurt and have power for the most part to dissolve their own spell.

Moreover the unlawful contrivances of art, and indeed the arts themselves, are often persecuted by Minos ; that is by the laws ; which condemn them and forbid people to use them. Nevertheless they are secretly preserved, and find every where both hiding-places and entertainment ; as was well ob served by Tacitus in his times, in a case not much unlike ; where speaking of the mathematicians and fortune-tellers, he calls them a class of men which in our state will always be retained and always prohibited. And yet these unlawful and curious arts do in tract of time, since for the most part they fail to perform their promises, fall out of estimation, as Icarus from the sky, and come into contempt, and through the very excess of ostentation perish. And certainly if the truth must be told, they are not so easily bridled by law as convicted by their proper vanity.

132 TRANSLATION OF THE

XX.

ERICTHONIUS ;

OH IMPOSTURE.

THE poets tell us that Vulcan wooed Minerva, and in the heat of desire attempted to force her ; that in the struggle which followed his seed was scattered on the ground ; from which was born Ericthonius, a man well made and handsome in the upper parts of the body, but with thighs and legs like an eel, thin and deformed : and that he, from consciousness of this deformity, first invented chariots, whereby he might shew off the fine part of his body and hide the mean.

This strange and prodigious story seems to bear this meaning : that Art (which is represented under the person of Vulcan, because it makes so much use of fire) when it endeavours by much vexing of bodies to force Nature to its will and conquer and subdue her (for Nature is described under the person of Mi nerva, on account of the wisdom of her works) rarely attains the particular end it aims at ; and yet in the course of contriving and endeavouring, as in a strug gle, there fall out by the way certain imperfect births and lame works, specious to look at but weak and halting in use : yet impostors parade them to the world with a great deal of false shew in setting forth, and carry them about as in triumph. Such things may often be observed among chemical productions, and among mechanical subtleties and novelties ; the rather because men being too intent upon their end to recover themselves from the errors of their way,

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rather struggle with Nature than woo her embraces with due observance and attention.

XXI.

DEUCALION ;

OR RESTORATION.

THE poets relate that when the inhabitants of the old world were utterly extinguished by the universal deluge, and none remained except Deucalion and Pyrrha, these two being inflamed with a pious and noble desire to restore the human race, consulted the oracle and received answer to the following effect ; they should have their wish if they took their mother's bones and cast them behind their backs. This struck them at first with great sorrow and de spair, for the face of nature being laid level by the deluge, to seek for a sepulchre would be a task al together endless. But at last they found that the stones of the earth (the earth being regarded as the mother of all things) were what the oracle meant.

This fable seems to disclose a secret of nature, and to correct an error which is familiar to the human mind. For man in his ignorance concludes that the renewal and restoration of things may be effected by means of their own corruption and remains ; as the Phoenix rises out of her own ashes ; which is not so : for matters of this kind have already reached the end of their course, and can give no further help towards the first stages of it : so we must go back to more common principles.

134 TRANSLATION OF THE

XXII.

NEMESIS ;

OR THE VICISSITUDE OF THINGS.

NEMESIS, according* to the tradition, was a goddess, the object of veneration to all, to the powerful and fortunate of fear also. They say she was the daugh ter of Night and Ocean. She is represented with wings, and a crown : an ashen spear in her right hand ; a phial, with Ethiops in it, in her left ; sitting upon a stag.

The parable may be understood thus. The very name Nemesis plainly signifies Revenge or Retribu tion : for it was the office and function of this god dess to interrupt the felicity of fortunate persons, and let no man be constantly and perpetually happy, but step in like a tribune of the people with her veto ; and not to chastise insolence only, but to see also that prosperity however innocent and moderately borne had its turn of adversity : as if no one of human race could be admitted to the banquets of the gods, except in derision. And certainly when I have read that chapter of Caius Plinius in which he has collected the misfortunes and miseries of Augustus Csesar, — him whom I thought of all men the most fortunate, and who had moreover a certain art of using and enjoying his fortune, and in whose mind were no traces of swelling, of lightness, of softness, of confusion, or of melancholy — (insomuch that he had once determined to die voluntarily), — great and powerful must this goddess be, I have thought, when such a victim was brought to her altar.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 135

The parents of this goddess were Ocean and Night ; that is, the vicissitude of things, and the dark and se cret judgment of God. For the vicissitude of things is aptly represented by the Ocean, by reason of its perpetual flowing and ebbing ; and secret providence is rightly set forth under the image of Night. For this Nemesis of the Darkness (the human not agree ing with the divine judgment) was matter of observa tion even among the heathen.

Ripheus fell too,

Than whom a juster and a truer man In all his dealings was not found in Troy. But the gods judged not so.

Nemesis again is described as winged ; because of the sudden and unforeseen revolutions of things. For in all the records of time it has commonly been found that great and wise men have perished by the dangers which they most despised. So was it with M. Cicero ; who when warned by Decimus Brutus to beware of Octavius Caesar's bad faith and evil mind towards him, only answered, I am duly grateful to you, my dear Brutus, for giving me that information, though it is but folly.

Nemesis is distinguished also with a crown ; in allu sion to the envious and malignant nature of the vul gar ; for when the fortunate and the powerful fall, the people commonly exult and set a crown upon the head of Nemesis.

The spear in her right hand relates to those whom she actually strikes and transfixes. And if there be any whom she does not make victims of calamity and misfortune, to them she nevertheless exhibits that dark and ominous spectre in her left : for mortals must needs

136 TRANSLATION OF THE

be visited, even when they stand at the summit of fe licity, with images of death, diseases, misfortunes, per fidies of friends, plots of enemies, changes of fortune, and the like ; even like those Ethiops in the phial. It is true that Virgil, in describing the battle of Actium, adds elegantly concerning Cleopatra : —

Midmost the Queen with sounding timbrel cheers Her armies to the fight; nor dreams the while Of those two aspics at her back.

But it was not long before, turn which way she would, whole troops of Ethiops met her eyes.

Lastly, it is wisely added that Nemesis is mounted on a stag : for the stag is a very long lived animal ; and it may be that one who is cut off young may give Nem esis the slip ; but if his prosperity and greatness endure for any length of time, he is without doubt a subject of Nemesis, and carries her as it were on his back.

XXIII.

ACHELOUS ;

OR THE BATTLE.

THE ancients relate that when Hercules and Ache- lous disputed which should marry Deianira, they agreed to decide the question by a fight. Now Achelous be gan by trying a variety of different shapes, which he was at liberty to do, and presented himself before Her cules at last in the shape of a savage and roaring bull, and so prepared for the combat. Hercules on the other hand retaining his wonted human figure, fell upon him. A close fight followed ; the end of which was that Her-

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 137

cules broke off one of the bull's horns : whereupon he, greatly hurt and terrified, to redeem his own horn gave Hercules the horn of Amalthea, or Abundance, in ex change.

The fable alludes to military expeditions. The prep aration for war on the part defensive (which is repre sented by Achelous) is various and multiform. For the form assumed by the invader is one and simple, consisting of an army only, or perhaps a fleet. Where as a country preparing to receive an enemy on its own ground sets to work in an infinity of ways ; fortifies one town, dismantles another, gathers the people from the fields and villages into cities and fortified places ; builds a bridge here, breaks down a bridge there ; raises, and distributes, forces and provisions ; is busy about rivers, harbours, gorges of hills, woods, and numberless other matters ; so that it may be said to try a new shape and put on a new aspect every day ; and when at last it is fully fortified and prepared, it represents to the life the form and threatening aspect of a fighting bull. The invader meanwhile is anxious for a battle, and aims chiefly at that ; fearing to be left without sup plies in an enemy's country ; and if he win the battle, and so break as it were the enemy's horn, then he brings it to this : that the enemy, losing heart and reputation, must, in order to recover himself and repair his forces, fall back into his more fortified positions, leaving his cities and lands to the conqueror to be laid waste and pillaged ; which is indeed like giving him Amalthea's horn.

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XXIV.

DIONYSUS ;

OR D E S I R E . 1

THEY say that Semcle, Jupiter's paramour, made him take an inviolable oath to grant her one wish, whatever it might be, and then prayed that he would come to her in the same shape in which he w^as used to come to Juno. The consequence was that she was scorched to death in his embrace. The infant in her womb was taken by its father and sewed up in his thigh, until the time of gestation should be accom plished. The burden made him limp, and the infant, because while it was carried in his thigh it caused a pain or pricking, received the name of Dionysus. Af ter he was brought forth he was sent to Proserpina for some years to nurse ; but as he grew up his face was so like a woman's, that it seemed doubtful of which sex he was. Moreover he died and was buried for a time, and came to life again not Ions: after. In his

c"5 c"5

early youth he discovered and taught the culture of

•/ *• o

the vine, and therewithal the composition and use of wine, which had not been known before : whereby be coming famous and illustrious, he subjugated the whole world and advanced to the furthest limits of India. He was borne in a chariot drawn by tigers ; about him tripped certain deformed demons called Cobali, — Acratus and others. The Muses also joined his train. He took to wife Ariadne, whom Theseus had abandoned and deserted. His sacred tree was the Ivy. He was

] Tor an enlarged version of this fable see Translation of the "Do Aug- mentis," Book the Second, Chap. XIII.

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accounted likewise the inventor and founder cf sacred rites and ceremonies ; yet such as were fanatical and full of corruption, and cruel besides. He had power to excite phrensy. At least it was by women excited to phrensy in his orgies that two illustrious persons, Pentheus and Orpheus, are said to have been torn to pieces ; the one having climbed a tree to see what they were doing ; the other in the act of striking his lyre. Moreover the actions of this god are often confounded with those of Jupiter.

The fable seems to bear upon morals, and indeed there is nothing better to be found in moral philosophy. Under the person of Bacchus is described the nature of Desire, or passion and perturbation. For the mother of all desire, even the most noxious, is nothing else than the appetite and aspiration for apparent good : and the conception of it is always in some unlawful wish, rashly granted before it has been understood and weighed. But as the passion warms, its mother (that is the nature of good), not able to endure the heat of it, is destroyed and perishes in the flame. Itself while still in embryo remains in the human soul (which is its father and represented by Jupiter), especially in the lower part of the soul, as in the thigh ; where it is both nourished and hidden ; and where it causes such prickings, pains, and depressions in the mind, that its resolutions and actions labour and limp with it. And even after it has grown strong by indulgence and custom, and breaks forth into acts, it is nevertheless brought up for a time with Proserpina ; that is to say, it seeks hiding-places, and keeps itself secret and as it were underground ; until casting off all restraints of shame and fear, and growing bold, it either assumes the

140 TRANSLATION OF THE

mask of some virtue or sets infamy itself at defiance. Most true also it is that every passion of the more vehement kind is as it were of doubtful sex, for it has at once the force of the man and the weakness of the woman. It is notably said too that Bacchus came to life again after death. For the passions seem sometimes to be laid asleep and extinguished ; but no trust can be placed in them, no not though they be buried ; for give them matter and occasion, they rise up again.

It is a wise parable too, that of the invention of the Vine ; for every passion is ingenious and sagacious in finding out its own stimulants. And there is nothing we know of so potent and effective as wine, in exciting and inflaming perturbations of every kind ; being a kind of common fuel to them all. Very elegantly too is Passion represented as the subjugator of provinces, and the undertaker of an endless course of conquest. For it never rests satisfied with what it has, but goes on and on with infinite insatiable appetite panting after new triumphs. Tigers also are kept in its stalls and yoked to its chariot ; for as soon as Passion ceases to go on foot and comes to ride in its chariot, as in cele bration of its victory and triumph over reason, then is it cruel, savage, and pitiless towards everything that stands in its way. Again, there is humour in making those ridiculous demons dance about the chariot : for every passion produces motions in the eyes, and indeed in the whole countenance and gesture, which are un comely, unsettled, skipping, and deformed ; insomuch that when a man under the influence of any passion, as anger, scorn, love, or the like, seems most grand and imposing in his own eyes, to the lookers on he appears unseemly and ridiculous. It is true also that the Muses

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 141

are seen in the train of Passion, there being scarce any passion which has not some branch of learning to flatter it. For herein the majesty of the Muses suffers from the licence and levity of men's wits, turning those that should be the guides of man's life into mere followers

o

in the train of his passions.

And again that part of the allegory is especially no ble which represents Bacchus as lavishing his love upon one whom another man had cast off. For most certain it is that passion ever seeks and aspires after that which experience has rejected. And let all men who in the heat of pursuit and indulgence are ready to give any price for the fruition of their passion, know this — that whatever be the object of their pursuit, be it honour or fortune or love or glory or knowledge, or what it will, they are paying court to things cast off, — things which many men in all times have tried, and upon trial rejected with disgust.

Nor is the consecration of the Ivy to Bacchus with out its mystery. For this has a double propriety. First because the Ivy flourishes in winter ; next be cause it has the property of creeping and spreading about so many things, — as trees, walls, buildings. For as to the first, every passion flourishes and ac quires vigour by being resisted and forbidden, as by a kind of antiperistasis ; like the ivy by the cold of win ter. As to the second, the master passion spreads itself like ivy about all human actions and resolutions, forcing itself in and mixing itself up with them. Nor is it wonderful that superstitious rites are attributed to Bacchus, since every insane passion grows rank in depraved religions ; or if phrensies are supposed to be inflicted by him, seeing that every passion is itself a

142 TRANSLATION OF THE

brief madness, and if it be vehement and obstinate ends in insanity. Again that circumstance of the tearing of Pentheus and Orpheus has an evident allegorical meaning ; since curious inquisition and salutary and free admonition are alike hateful and intolerable to an overpowering passion.

Lastly, the confusion of the persons of Bacchus and Jupiter may be well understood as a parable ; inasmuch as deeds of high distinction and desert proceed some times from virtue and right reason and magnanimity, and sometimes (however they may be extolled and applauded) only from . some lurking passion or hidden lust ; and thus the deeds of Bacchus are not easily dis tinguished from the deeds of Jupiter.

XXV.

ATALANTA;

OR PROFIT.

ATALANTA, who was remarkable for swiftness, was matched to run a race with Hippomenes. The con ditions were that if Hippomenes won he was to marrv Atalanta, if he lost he was to be put to death ; and there seemed to be no doubt about the issue, since the matchless excellence of Atalanta in runnino- had been

C5

signalised by the death of many competitors. Hip pomenes therefore resorted to an artifice. He pro vided himself with three golden apples, and carried them with him. The race began. Atalanta ran ahead. He seeing himself left behind bethought him of his stratagem, and rolled forward one of the golden

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 143

apples, so that she might see it, — not straight for wards, but a little on one side, that it might not only delay her but also draw her out of the course. She, with a woman's eagerness, attracted by the beauty of the apple, left the course, ran after it, and stooped to take it up. Hippomenes in the meantime made good way along the course and got before her. She how ever by force of her natural swiftness made good the loss of time and was again foremost ; when Hippomenes a second and a third time interrupted her in the same way, and so at last by craft not speed won the race. The story carries in it an excellent allegory, relating to the contest of Art with Nature. For Art, which is meant by Atalanta, is in itself, if nothing stand in the way, far swifter than Nature and, as one may say, the better runner, and comes sooner to the goal. For this may be seen in almost everything ; you see that fruit grows slowly from the kernel, swiftly from the graft ; you see clay harden slowly into stones, fast into baked bricks : so also in morals, oblivion and comfort of grief comes by nature in length of time ; but philosophy (which may be regarded as the art of living) does it without waiting so long, but forestalls and anticipates the day. But then this prerogative and vigour of art is retarded, to the infinite loss of mankind, by those golden apples. For there is not one of the sciences or arts which follows the true and legitimate course con stantly forth till it reach its end ; but it perpetually happens that arts stop in their undertakings half way, and forsake the course, and turn aside like Atalanta after profit and commodity, —

Leaving the course the rolling gold to seize.

And therefore it is no wonder if Art cannot outstrip

144 TRANSLATION OF THE

Nature, and according to the agreement and condition of the contest put her to death or destroy her ; but on the contrary Art remains subject to Nature, as the wife is subject to the husband.

XXVI.

PROMETHEUS ;

OK THE STATE OP MAN.

TRADITION says that Man was made by Prometheus, and made of clay ; only that Prometheus took particles from different animals and mixed them in. He, de siring to benefit and protect his own work, and to be regarded not as the founder only but also as the ampli fier and enlarger of the human race, stole up to heaven with a bundle of fennel-stalks in his hand, kindled them at the chariot of the sun, and so brought fire to the earth and presented it to mankind. For this so great benefit received at his hands, men (it is said) were far from being grateful ; so far indeed, that they conspired together and impeached him and his inven tion before Jupiter. This act of theirs was not so taken as justice may seem to have required. For the accusation proved very acceptable both to Jupiter and the rest of the gods ; and so delighted were they, that they not only indulged mankind with the use of fire, but presented them likewise with a new gift, of all others most agreeable and desirable, — perpetual youth. Overjoyed with this, the foolish people put the gift of the gods on the back of an ass. The ass on his way home, being troubled with extreme thirst, came to a

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 145

fountain ; but a serpent, that was set to guard it, would not let him drink unless he gave in payment whatever that was that he carried on his back. The poor ass accepted the condition ; and so for a mouthful of water the power of renewing youth was transferred from men to serpents. After mankind had lost their prize, Pro metheus made up his quarrel with them ; but retaining his malice, and being bitterly incensed against Jupiter, he did not scruple to tempt him with deceit, even in the act of sacrifice. Having slain (it is said) two bulls, he stuffed the hide of one of them with the flesh and flit of both, and bringing them to the altar, with an air of devotion and benignity offered Jupiter his choice. Jupiter, detesting his craft and bad faith, but knowing how to requite it, chose the mock bull ; then bethinking him of vengeance, and seeing that there was no way to take down the insolence of Prometheus except by chastising the human race (of which work he was extravagantly vain and proud), ordered Vulcan to make a fair and lovely woman. When she was made, each of the gods bestowed upon her his several gift ; whence she was called Pandora. Then they placed in her hands an elegant vase, in which were en closed all mischiefs and calamities ; only at the bottom there remained Hope. With her vase in her hand she repaired first of all to Prometheus, to see if he would take and open it, which he, cautious and cunning, de clined. Thus rejected she went away to Epimetheus, Prometheus's brother, but of a character entirely dif ferent, who opened it without hesitation ; but as soon as he saw all the mischiefs rushing out, growing wise when it was too late, he struggled to get the lid on again as fast as possible ; but it was all he could do to

VOL. XIII. 10

146 TRANSLATION OF THE

keep in the last of the party, which was Hope, that lay at the bottom. In the end Jupiter seized Prometheus, and upon many and grave charges, — as that of old he had stolen fire, that he had. made a mock of Jupiter's majesty in that deceitful sacrifice, that he had scorned and rejected his gift, together with another not men tioned before, that he had attempted to ravish Minerva, — threw him into chains and condemned him to per petual tortures. For by Jupiter's command he was dragged to Mount Caucasus, and there bound fast to a column so that he could not stir. And there was an eagle which gnawed and consumed his liver by day ; but what was eaten in the day grew again in the night, so that matter was never wanting for the torture to work upon. Yet they say that this punishment had its end at last ; for Hercules sailed across the ocean in a cup that was given to him by the Sun, came to Cau casus, shot the eagle with his arrows, and set Pro metheus free. In honour of Prometheus there were instituted in some nations games called torch-races, in which the runners carried lighted torches in their hands ; and if any went out the bearer stood aside, leaving the victory to those that followed ; and the first who reached the goal with his torch still burn ing received the prize.

This fable carries in it many true and grave specula tions both on the surface and underneath. For there are some things in it that have been long ago observed, others have never been touched at all.

Prometheus clearly and expressly signifies Provi dence : and the one thing singled out by the ancients as the special and peculiar work of Providence was the creation and constitution of Man. For this one reason

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 147

no doubt was, that the nature of man includes mind and intellect, which is the seat of providence ; and since to derive mind and reason from principles brutal and irrational would be harsh and incredible, it follows almost necessarily that the human spirit was endued with providence not without the precedent and inten tion and warrant of the greater providence. But this was not all. The chief aim of the parable appears to be, that Man, if we look to final causes, may be re garded as the centre of the world ; insomuch that if man were taken away from the world, the rest would seem to be all astray, without aim or purpose, to be like a besom without a binding, as the saying is, and to be leading to nothing. For the whole world works together in the service of man ; and there is nothing from which he does not derive use and fruit. The revolutions and courses of the stars serve him both for distinction of the seasons and distribution of the quar ters of the world. The appearances of the middle sky afford him prognostications of weather. The winds sail his ships and work his mills and engines. Plants and animals of all kinds are made to furnish him either with dwelling and shelter or clothing or food or medi cine, or to lighten his labour, or to give him pleasure and comfort ; insomuch that all things seem to be go ing about man's business and not their own. Nor is it without meaning added that in the mass and compo sition of which man was made, particles taken from the different animals were infused and mixed up with the clay ; for it is most true that of all things in the uni verse man is the most composite, so that he was not without reason called by the ancients the little world. For though the Alchemists, when they maintain that

148 TRANSLATION OF THE

there is to be found in man every mineral, every vege table, &c., or something corresponding to them, take the word microcosm in a sense too gross and literal, and have so spoiled the elegance and distorted the meaning of it, yet that the body of man is of all existing things both the most mixed and the most organic, remains not the less a sober and solid truth. And this is indeed the reason it is capable of such wonderful powers and faculties ; for the powers of simple bodies, though they be certain and rapid, yet being less refracted, broken up, and counteracted by mixture, they are few ; but abundance and excellence of power resides in mixture and composition. Nevertheless we see that man in the first stage of his existence is a naked and defenceless thing, slow to help himself, and full of wants. There fore Prometheus applied himself with all haste to the invention of fire ; which in all human necessities and business is the great minister of relief and help ; inso much that if the soul be the form of forms and the hand the instrument of instruments, fire may rightly be called the help of helps and the mean of means. For through it most operations are effected, through it the arts mechanical and the sciences themselves are furthered in an infinite variety of ways.

Now the description of the manner in which the theft of fire was accomplished is apt and according to the nature of the thing. It was by applying a stalk of fennel to the chariot of the Sun. For fennel is used as a rod to strike with. The meaning therefore clearly is that Fire is produced by violent percussions and col lisions of one body with another ; whereby the matter they are made of is attenuated and set in motion, and prepared to receive the heat of the celestial bodies,

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 149

and so by clandestine processes, as by an act of theft, snatches fire as it were from the chariot of the Sun.

There follows a remarkable part of the parable. Men, Ave are told, instead of gratulation and thanks giving fell to remon stance and indignation, and brought an accusation before Jupiter both against Prometheus and against Fire ; and this act was moreover by him so well liked, that in consideration of it he accumulated fresh benefits upon mankind. For how should the crime of ingratitude towards their maker, a vice which includes in itself almost all others, deserve approbation and reward ? and what could be the drift of such a fiction ? But this is not what is meant. The mean ing of the allegory is, that the accusation and arraign ment by men both of their own nature and of art, pro ceeds from an excellent condition of mind and issues in good ; whereas the contrary is hated by the gods, and unlucky. For they who extravagantly extol hu man nature as it is and the arts as received ; who spend themselves in admiration of what they already possess, and hold up as perfect the sciences which are professed and cultivated ; are wanting, first, in rev erence to the divine nature, with the perfection of which they almost presume to compare, and next in usefulness towards man ; as thinking that they have already reached the summit of things and finished their work, and therefore need seek no further. They on the other hand who arraign and accuse nature and the arts, and abound with complainings, are not only more modest (if it be truly considered) in their sen timent, but are also stimulated perpetually to fresh industry and new discoveries. And this makes me marvel all the more at the ignorance and evil genius

150 TRANSLATION OF THE

of mankind, who being overcrowed by the arrogance of a few persons, hold in such honour that philosophy of the Peripatetics, which was but a portion, and no large portion either, of the Greek philosophy, that every attempt to find fault with it has come to be not only useless, but also suspected and almost dangerous. Whereas certainly in my opinion both Empedocles and Democritus, who complain, the first madly enough, but the second very soberly, that all things are hidden away from us, that we know nothing, that we discern nothing, that truth is drowned in deep wells, that the true and the false are strangely joined and twisted to gether, (for the new academy carried it a great deal too far,) are more to be approved than the school of Aris totle so confident and dogmatical. Therefore let all men know that the preferring of complaints against nature and the arts is a thing well pleasing to the gods, and draws down new alms and bounties from the di vine goodness ; and that the accusation of Prometheus, our maker and master though he be, yea sharp and vehement accusation, is a thing more sober and profit able than this overflow of congratulation and thanks-

O

giving : let them know that conceit of plenty is one of the principal causes of want.

Now for the gift which men are said to have received as the reward of their accusation, namely the unfading flower of youth ; it seems to show that methods and medicines for the retardation of age and the prolonga tion of life were by the ancients not despaired of, but reckoned rather among those things which men once had and by sloth and negligence let slip, than among those which were wholly denied or never of fered. For they seem to say that by the true use of

DE SAPIENT1A VETERUM. 151

fire, and by the just and vigorous accusation and con viction of the errors of art, such gifts might have been compassed ; and that it was not the divine goodness that was wanting to them therein, but they that were wanting to themselves ; in that having received this gift of the gods, they committed the carriage of it to a lazy and slow-paced ass. By this seems to be meant ex perience ; a thing stupid and full of delay, whose slow and tortoise-like pace gave birth to that ancient com plaint that life is short and art is long. And for my own part I certainly think that those two faculties — the Dogmatical and the Empirical — have not yet been well united and coupled ; but that the bringing down of new gifts from the gods has ever been left either to the abstract philosophies, as to a light bird ; or to sluggish and tardy experience, as to an ass. And yet it must be said in behalf of the ass, that he might perhaps do well enough, but for that accident of thirst by the way. For if a man would put himself fairly under the command of experience, and proceed steadily onward by a certain law and method, and not let any thirst for experiments either of profit or osten tation seize him by the way and make him lay down and unsettle his burthen in order that he may taste them, — such a man I do think would prove a carrier to whom new and augmented measures of divine boun ty might be well enough entrusted.

As for the transfer of the gift to serpents, it seems to be an addition merely for ornament ; unless it were inserted in shame of mankind, who with that fire of theirs and with so many arts, cannot acquire for them selves things which nature has of herself bestowed on manv other animals.

152 TRANSLATION OF THE

The sudden reconciliation of men with Prometheus after the frustration of their hope, contains likewise a wise and useful observation. It alludes to the levity and rashness of men in new experiments ; who if an experiment does not at once succeed according to wish, are in far too great a hurry to give up the attempt as a failure, and so tumble back to where they were and take on with the old things ao-ain.

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Having thus described the state of man in respect of arts and matters intellectual, the parable passes to Religion ; for with the cultivation of the arts came likewise the worship of things divine ; and this was immediately seized on and polluted by hypocrisy. Therefore under the figure of that double sacrifice is elegantly represented the person of the truly religious man and the hypocrite. For in the one there is the fat, which is God's portion, by reason of the name and sweet savour, whereby is meant affection and zeal burning and rising upward for the glory of God. In him are the bowels of charity ; in him wholesome and useful meat. In the other is found nothing but dry and bare bones, with which the skin is stuffed out till it looks like a fair and noble victim : whereby are sig nified those external and empty rites and ceremonies with which men overload and inflate the service of religion : things rather got up for ostentation than conducing to piety. Nor is it enough for men to offer such mockeries to God, but they must also lay and father them upon himself, as though he had himself chosen and prescribed them. It is against such a kind of choice that the prophet in God's person remon strates, when he says, Is this such a fast as I have CHOSEN, that man should afflict his soul for one day and bow his head like a bulrush ?

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 153

After touching the state of Religion, the parable turns to morals and the conditions of human life. Pandora has been generally and rightly understood to mean pleasure and sensual appetite ; which after the introduction of civil arts and culture and luxury, is kindled up as it were by the gift of fire. To Vulcan therefore, who in like manner represents fire, the mak ing of Pleasure is imputed. And from her have flowed forth infinite mischief upon the minds, the bodies, and the fortunes of men, together with repentance when too late ; nor upon individuals only, but upon kingdoms also and commonwealths. For from this same foun tain have sprung wars and civil disturbances and tyr annies. But it is worth while to observe how pret tily and elegantly the two conditions and as it were pictures or models of human life are set forth in the story, under the persons of Prometheus and Epime- theus. The followers of Epimetheus are the improv ident, who take no care for the future but think only of what is pleasant at the time ; and on this account it is true that they suffer many distresses, difficulties, and calamities, and are engaged in a perpetual strug gle with them ; and yet in the mean time they in dulge their genius, and amuse their minds moreover, as their ignorance allows them to do, with many empty hopes, in which they take delight as in pleas ant dreams, and so sweeten the miseries of life. The school of Prometheus on the other hand, that is the wise and fore-thoughtful class of men, do indeed by their caution decline and remove out of their way many evils and misfortunes ; but with that good there is this evil joined, that they stint themselves of many pleasures and of the various agreeableness of life, and

154 TRANSLATION OF THE

cross their genius, and (what is far worse) torment and wear themselves away with cares and solicitude and inward fears. For beino- bound to the column of

&

Necessity, they are troubled with innumerable thoughts (which because of their flightiness are represented by the eagle), thoughts which prick and gnaw and cor rode the liver : and if at intervals, as in the night, they obtain some little relaxation and quiet of mind, yet new fears and anxieties return presently with the morning. Very few therefore are they to whom the benefit of both portions falls, — to retain the advan tages of providence aud yet free themselves from the evils of solicitude and perturbation. Neither is it pos sible for any one to attain this double blessing, except by the help of Hercules ; that is, fortitude and con stancy of mind, which being prepared for all events and equal to any fortune, foresees without fear, en joys without fastidiousness, and bears without impa tience. It is worth noting too that this virtue was not natural to Prometheus, but adventitious, and came by help from without ; for it is not a thing which any inborn and natural fortitude can attain to ; it comes from beyond the ocean, it is received and brought to us from the Sun ; for it comes of Wis dom, which is as the Sun, and of meditation upon the inconstancy and fluctuations of human life, which is as the navigation of the ocean : two things which Virgil has well coupled together in those lines : —

Ah, happy, could we but the causes know Of all that is ! Then should we know no fears : Then should the inexorable Fate no power Possess to shake us, nor the jaws of death.

Most elegantly also is it added for the consolation and

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 155

encouragement of men's minds, that that mighty hero sailed in a cup or pitcher ; lest they should too much mistrust the narrowness and frailty of their own na ture, or plead it in their own excuse, as though it were altogether incapable of this kind of fortitude and constancy : the true nature of which was well divined by Seneca, when he said, It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of man and the security of

But I must now return to a part which, that I might not interrupt the connexion of what precedes, I have purposely passed by. I mean that last crime of Prometheus, the attempt upon the chastity of Mi nerva. For it was even for this offence, — certainly a very great and grave one, — that he underwent that punishment of the tearing of his entrails. The crime alluded to appears to be no other than that into which men not unfrequently fall when puffed up with arts and much knowledge, — of trying to bring the divine wisdom itself under the dominion of sense and reason : from which attempt inevitably follows laceration of the mind and vexation without end or rest. And therefore men must soberly and modestly distinguish between things divine and human, between the oracles of sense and of faith ; unless they mean to have at once a heretical religion and a fabulous philos ophy.

The last point remains, — namely the races with burning torches instituted in honour of Prometheus. This again, like that fire in memory and celebration of which these games were instituted, alludes to arts and sciences, and carries in it a very wise admonition, to this effect, — that the perfection of the sciences is

156 TRANSLATION OF THE

to be looked for not from the swiftness or ability of any one inquirer, but from a succession. For the strongest and swiftest runners are perhaps not the best fitted to keep their torch alight ; since it may be put out by going too fast as well as too slow. It seems however that these races and games of the torch have long been intermitted ; since it is still in their first authors, — Aristotle, Galen, Euclid, Ptolemy, — that we find the several sciences in highest perfec tion ; and no great matter has been done, nor hardly attempted, by their successors. And well were it to be wished that these games in honour of Prometheus, that is of Human Nature, were again revived ; that the victory may no longer depend upon the unsteady and wavering torch of each single man ; but compe tition, emulation, and good fortune be brought to aid. Therefore men should be advised to rouse themselves, and try each his own strength and the chance of his own turn, and not to stake the whole venture upon the spirits and brains of a few persons.

Such are the views which I conceive to be shadowed out in this so common and hacknied fable. It is true that there are not a few things beneath which have a wonderful correspondency with the mysteries of the Christian faith. The voyage of Hercules especially, sailing in a pitcher to set Prometheus free, seems to present an image of God the Word hastening in the frail vessel of the flesh to redeem the human race. But I purposely refrain myself from all licence of speculation in this kind, lest peradventure I bring strange fire to the altar of the Lord.

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XXVII.

THE FLIGHT OF ICARUS; ALSO SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS ;

OR THE MIDDLE WAY.

MODERATION, or the Middle Way, is in Morals much commended ; in Intellectuals less spoken of, though not less useful and good ; in Politics only, questionable and to be used with caution and judg ment.

The principle of moderation in Morals is repre sented by the ancients in the path which Icarus was directed to take through the air ; the same principle in relation to the intellect, by the passage between Scylla and Chary bdis, so famous for its difficulty and danger.

Icarus was instructed by his father to beware, when he came to fly over the sea, of taking either too high or too low a course. For his wings being fixed on with wax, the fear was that if he rose too high the wax would be melted by the sun's heat ; if he kept down too near the vapour of the sea, it would lose its tenacity by the moisture. Icarus, in the adventu rous spirit of youth, made for the heights, and so fell headlong down.

It is an easy and a familiar parable. The path of virtue goes directly midway between excess on the one hand and defect on the other. Icarus, being in the pride of youthful alacrity, naturally fell a victim to excess. For it is on the side of excess that the young commonly sin, as the old on the side of defect. And yet if he was to perish one way, it must be admitted

158 TRANSLATION OF THE

that of two paths, both bad and mischievous, he chose the better. For sins of defect are justly accounted worse than sins of excess ; because in excess there is something of magnanimity, — something, like the flight of a bird, that holds kindred with heaven ; whereas defect creeps on the ground like a reptile. Excellently was it said by Heraclitus, Dry light is the best soul. For when the moisture and humours of earth get into the soul, it becomes altogether low and degenerate. And yet here too a measure must be kept : the dryness, so justly praised, must be such as to make the light- more subtle, but not such as to make it catch fire. But this is what everybody knows.

Now for the passage between Scylla and Charybdis (understood of the conduct of the understanding) certainly it needs both skill and good fortune to navi gate it. For if the ship run on Scylla, it is dashed on the rocks, if on Charybdis, it is sucked in by the whirlpool : by which parable (I can but briefly touch it, though it suggests reflexions without end) we are meant to understand that in every knowledge and science, and in the rules and axioms appertaining to them, a mean must be kept between too many distinc tions and too much generality, — between the rocks of the one and the whirlpools of the other. For these two are notorious for the shipwreck of wits and arts.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 159

XXVIII. SPHINX;

OR SCIENCE.

SPHINX, says the story, was a monster combining many shapes in one. She had the face and voice of a virgin, the wings of a bird, the claws of a griffin. She dwelt on the ridge of a mountain near Thebes and in fested the roads, lying in ambush for travellers, whom she would suddenly attack and lay hold of; and when she had mastered them, she propounded to them certain dark and perplexed riddles, which she was thought to have obtained from the Muses. And if the wretched captives could not at once solve and interpret the same, as they stood hesitating and confused she cruelly tore them to pieces. Time bringing no abatement of the calamity, the Thebans offered to any man who should expound the Sphinx's riddles (for this was the only way to subdue her) the sovereignty of Thebes as his reward. The greatness of the prize induced (Edipus, a man of wisdom and penetration, but lame from wounds in his feet, to accept the condition and make the trial: who presenting himself full of confidence and alacrity before the Sphinx, and being asked what kind of animal it was which was born four-footed, after wards became two-footed, then three-footed, and at last four-footed again, answered readily that it was man ; who at his birth and during his infancy sprawls on all four, hardly attempting to creep ; in a little while walks upright on two feet ; in later years leans on a walking- stick and so goes as it were on three ; and at last in extreme age and decrepitude, his sinews all failing,

160 TRANSLATION OF THE

sinks into a quadruped again, and keeps his bed. This was the right answer and gave him the victory ; where upon he slew the Sphinx ; whose body was put on the back of an ass and carried about in triumph ; while himself was made according to compact King of Thebes.

The fable is an elegant and a wise one, invented apparently in allusion to Science ; especially in its ap plication to practical life. Science, being the wonder of the ignorant and unskilful, may be not absurdly called a monster. In figure and aspect it is repre sented as many-shaped, in allusion to the immense variety of matter with which it deals. It is said to have the face and voice of a woman, in respect of its beauty and facility of utterance. Wings are added because the sciences and the discoveries of science spread and fly abroad in an instant ; the communica tion of knowledge being like that of one candle with another, which lights up at once. Claws, sharp and hooked, are ascribed to it with great elegance, because the axioms and arguments of science penetrate and hold fast the mind, so that it has no means of evasion or escape ; a point which the sacred philosopher also noted : The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails driven deep in. Again, all knowledge may be regarded as having its station on the heights of mountains ; for it is deservedly esteemed a thing sublime and lofty, which looks down upon ignorance as from an emi nence, and has moreover a spacious prospect on every side, such as we find on hill-tops. It is described as infesting the roads, because at every turn in the jour ney or pilgrimage of human life, matter and occasion for study assails and encounters us. Again Sphinx

t/ O 1

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 161

proposes to men a variety of hard questions and riddles which she received from the Muses. In these, while they remain with the Muses, there is probably no cru elty ; for so long as the object of meditation and inquiry is merely to know, the understanding is not oppressed or straitened by it, but is free to wander and expatiate, and finds in the very uncertainty of conclusion and variety of choice a certain pleasure and delight ; but when they pass from the Muses to Sphinx, that is from contemplation to practice, whereby there is necessity for present action, choice, and decision, then they begin to be painful and cruel ; and unless they be solved and disposed of, they strangely torment and worry the mind, pulling it first this way and then that, and fair ly tearing it to pieces. Moreover the riddles of the Sphinx have always a twofold condition attached to them ; distraction and laceration of mind, if you fail to solve them ; if you succeed, a kingdom. For he who understands his subject is master of his end ; and every workman is king over his work.

Now of the Sphinx's riddles there are in all two kinds : one concerning the nature of things, another concerning the nature of man ; and in like manner there are two kinds of kingdom offered as the reward of solving them : one over nature, and the other over man. For the command over things natural, — over bodies, medicines, mechanical powers, and infinite other of the kind — is the one proper and ultimate end of true natural philosophy ; however the philosophy of the School, content with what it finds, and swelling with talk, may neglect or spurn the search after reali ties and works. But the riddle proposed to OEdipus, by the solution of which he became King of Thebes,

VOL. XIII. 11

162 TRANSLATION OF THE

related to the nature of man ; for whoever has a thor ough insight into the nature of man may shape his for tune almost as he will, and is Lorn for empire ; as was well declared concerning the arts of the Romans, —

Be thine the art,

0 Rome, with government to rule the nations, And to know whom to spare and whom to abate, And settle the condition of the world.

And therefore it fell out happily that Augustus CaBsar, whether on purpose or by chance, used a Sphinx for his seal. For he certainly excelled in the art of poli tics if ever man did; and succeeded in the course of his life in solving most happily a great many new rid dles concerning the nature of man, which if he had not dexterously and readily answered he would many times have been in imminent danger of destruction. The fable adds very prettily that when the Sphinx was sub dued, her body was laid on the back of an ass : for there is nothing so subtle and abstruse, but when it is once thoroughly understood and published to the world, even a dull wit can carry it. Nor is that other point to be passed over, that the Sphinx was subdued by a lame man with club feet ; for men generally proceed too fast and in too great a hurry to the solution of the Sphinx's riddles ; whence it follows that the Sphinx has the better of them, and instead of obtaining the sover eignty by works and effects, they only distract and worry their minds with disputations.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 163

XXIX.

PROSERPINA ;

OR SPIRIT.

THEY say that when Pluto upon that memorable partition of the kingdoms received for his portion the infernal regions, he despaired of gaining any of the goddesses above in marriage by addresses and gentle methods, and so was driven to take measures for carry ing one of them off by force. Seizing his opportunity therefore, while Proserpina, daughter of Ceres, a fair virgin, was gathering flowers of Narcissus in the Sicil ian meadows, he rushed suddenly upon her and carried her off in his chariot to the subterranean regions. Great reverence was paid her there : so much that she was even called the Mistress or Queen of Dis. Mean while her mother Ceres, filled with grief and anxiety by the disappearance of her dearly beloved daughter, took a lighted torch in her hand, and wandered with it all round the world in quest of her. Finding the search fruitless, and hearing by chance that she had been carried down to the infernal regions, she wearied Jupiter with tears and lamentations, praying to have her restored ; till at last she won a promise from him that if her daughter had not eaten of anything belong ing to the under world, then she might bring her back. This condition was unfortunate for the mother ; for Proserpina had eaten (it was found) three grains of a pomegranate. But this did not prevent Ceres from renewing her prayers and lamentations ; and it was agreed at last that Proserpina should divide the year

164 TRANSLATION OF THE

between the two, and live by turns six months with her husband and the other six with her mother.

Afterwards a very daring attempt to carry away the same Proserpina from the chamber of Dis was made by Theseus and Piritlious. But having sate down to rest by the way on a stone in the infernal regions, they were unable to rise again, and continued sitting there for ever. So Proserpina remained Queen of the under world : where a great and new privilege was granted in honour of her ; for whereas they who went down to the under world were not permitted to go back, a sin gular exception was nrade in favour of any who should bring a certain golden branch as a present to Proser pina ; such present entitling the bearer to go and re turn. It was a single branch growing by itself in a vast and dark wood ; neither had it a stock of its own, but grew like misseltoe upon a tree of different kind ; and as soon as it was plucked off, another came in its place.

The fable relates, as I take it, to Nature, and ex plains the source of that rich and fruitful supply of active power subsisting in the under world, from which all the growths of our upper world spring, and into which they again return and are resolved. By Proser pina the ancients signified that ethereal spirit which, having been separated by violence from the upper globe, is enclosed and imprisoned beneath the earth (which earth is represented by Pluto) ; as was well expressed in those lines, —

Whether that the Earth yet fresh, and from the deeps Of heaven new-sundered, did some seeds retain, Some sparks and motions of its kindred sky.

This spirit is represented as having been ravished,

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 165

that is suddenly and forcibly carried off, by the Earth ; because there is no holding it in if it have time and leisure to escape, and the only way to confine and fix it is by a sudden pounding and breaking up ; just as if you would mix air with water, you can only do it by sudden and rapid agitation : for thus it is that we see these bodies united in foam, the air being as it were ravished by the water. It is prettily added that Pro serpina was carried off while in the act of gathering flowers of Narcissus in the valleys : for Narcissus takes its name from torpor or stupor ; and it is only when beginning to curdle, and as it were to gather torpor, that spirit is in the best state to be caught up and car ried off by earthy matter. It is right too that Proser pina should have that honour, which is not conceded to the 'wife of any other God, — to be called the Mistress or Queen of Dis : for the spirit does in fact govern and manage everything in those regions, without the help of Pluto, who remains stupid and unconscious.

The air meanwhile, and the power of the celestial region (which is represented by Ceres) strives with infinite assiduity to win forth and recover this impris oned spirit again ; and that torch which the air carries - the lighted torch in Ceres's hand — means no doubt the Sun, which does the office of a lamp all over the earth, and would do more than anything else for the recovery of Proserpina, were the thing at all possible. But Proserpina remains fixed where she is ; the reason and manner whereof is accurately and admirably set forth in those two agreements between Jupiter and Ceres. For with regard to the first, most certain it is that there are two ways of confining and restraining spirit in solid and earthy matter : one by constipation

166 TRANSLATION OF THE

and obstruction, which is simple imprisonment and vio lence ; the other by administering some suitable aliment, which is spontaneous and free. For when the impris oned spirit begins to feed and nourish itself, it is no longer in a hurry to escape, but becomes settled as in its own land. And this is what is meant by Proser pina's tasting of the pomegranate ; which if she had not done, she would have been long since carried off by Ceres as she traversed the «;lobe with her torch in

O

quest of her. For though the spirit which is contained in metals and minerals is prevented from getting out chiefly perhaps by the solidity of the mass, that which is contained in plants and animals dwells in a porous body, from which it could easily escape if it were not by that process of tasting reconciled to remain. As for the second agreement, — that she should stay six months at a time with either party, — it is nothing else but an elegant description of the division of the year ; since that spirit which -is diffused through the earth does (in regard to the vegetable kingdom) live in the upper world during the summer months, and retires to the under world in the winter months.

Now for that attempt of Theseus and Pirithous to carry Proserpina away, the meaning is that the subtler spirits which in many bodies descend to the earth often fail to draw out and assimilate and carry away with them the subterranean spirit, but contrariwise are them selves curdled and never reascend again, and so go to increase the number of Proserpina's people and the extent of her empire.

As for that golden branch, it may seem difficult for me to withstand the Alchemists, if they attack me from that side ; seeing they promise us by that same stone

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 167

of theirs not only mountains of gold, but also the resti tution of natural bodies as it were from the gates of the Infernals. Nevertheless for Alchemy and those that are never weary of their wooing of that stone, as I am sure they have no ground in theory, so I suspect that they have no very good pledge of success in prac tice. And therefore putting them aside, here is my opinion as to the meaning of that last part of the par able. From many figurative allusions I am satisfied that the ancients regarded the conservation, and to a certain extent the restoration, of natural bodies as a thing not desperate, but rather as abstruse and out of the way. And this is what I take them in the passage before us to mean, by placing this branch in the midst of the innumerable other branches of a vast and thick wood. They represented it as golden ; because gold is the emblem of duration ; and grafted, because the effect in question is to be looked for as the result of art, not of any medicine or method which is simple or natural.

XXX.

METIS ;

OR CO UN SE L .

THE ancient poets tell us that Jupiter took Metis, whose name plainly signifies Counsel, to wife ; that she conceived by him and was with child ; which he per ceiving did not wait till she brought forth, but ate her up ; whereby he became himself with child ; but his delivery was of a strange kind ; for out of his head or brain he brought forth Pallas armed.

168 TRANSLATION OF THE

This monstrous and at first sight very foolish fable contains, as I interpret it, a secret of government. It describes the art whereby kings so deal with the coun cils of state as not only to keep their authority and majesty untouched, but also to increase and exalt it in the eyes of their people. For kings by a sound and wise arrangement tie themselves to their councils with a bond like that of wedlock, and deliberate with them concerning all their greatest matters, rightly judging that this is no diminution to their majesty. But when the question grows ripe for a decision (which is the bringing forth) they do not allow the council to deal any further in it, lest their acts should seem to be dependent upon the council's will ; but at that point, (unless the matter be of such a nature that they wish to put away the envy of it) they take into their own hands whatever has been by the council elaborated and as it were shaped in the womb ; so that the decision and execution (which, because it comes forth with power and carries necessity, is elegantly represented under the figure of Pallas armed) may seem to emanate from themselves. Nor is it enough that it be seen to proceed from their free and unconstrained and inde pendent authority and will, but they must have the world think that the decision comes out of their own head, that is out of their proper wisdom and judg ment.

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 169

XXXI.

THE SIRENS;

OR PLEASURE.

THE fable of the Sirens is truly applied to the perni cious allurements of pleasure ; but in a very poor and vulgar sense. For I find the wisdom of the ancients to be like grapes ill-trodden : something is squeezed out, but the best parts are left behind and passed over.

The Sirens were daughters (we are told) of Ache- lous and of Terpsichore, one of the Muses. Originally they had wings ; but being beaten in a contest with the Muses which they had rashly challenged, their wings were plucked off, and turned by the Muses into crowns for themselves, who thenceforward all wore wings on their heads, except only the mother of the Sirens. These Sirens had their dwelling in certain pleasant islands, whence they kept watch for ships ; and when they saw any approaching, they began to sing ; which made the voyagers first stay to listen, then gradually draw near, and at last land ; when they took and killed them. Their song was not all in one strain ; but they varied their measures according to the nature of the listener, and took each captive with those which best suited him. So destructive the plague was, that the islands of the Sirens were seen afar off white with the bones of unburied carcasses. For this evil two different remedies were found ; one by Ulys ses, the other by Orpheus. Ulysses caused the ears of his crew to be stopped with wax ; and himself (wishing to make trial of the thing without incurring the dan ger) to be bound to the mast ; at the same time forbid-

170 TRANSLATION OF THE

ding any one at his peril to loose him even at his own request. Orpheus, not caring to be bound, raised his voice on high, and singing to his lyre the praises of the Gods, drowned the voices of the Sirens, and so passed clear of all danger.

The fable relates to Morals, and contains an elegant though obvious parable. Pleasures spring from the union of abundance and affluence with hilarity and exultation of mind. And formerly they carried men away at once, as if with wings, by the first view of their charms. But doctrine and instruction have suc ceeded in teaching the mind, if not to refrain alto gether, yet to pause and consider consequences ; and so have stripped the Pleasures of their wings. And this redounded greatly to the honour of the Muses —

O <

for as soon as it appeared by some examples that Philos ophy could induce a contempt of Pleasures, it was at once regarded as a sublime thing, which could so lift the soul from earth, and make the cogitations of man (which live in his head) winged and ethereal. Only the mother of the Sirens still goes on foot and has no wings ; and by her no doubt are meant those lighter kinds of learning which are invented and applied onlv

£"} lli/

for amusement ; such as those were which Petronius held in estimation ; he who being condemned to die, sought in the very waiting-room of death for matter to amuse him, and when he turned to books among other things for consolation, would read (says Tacitus) none of those which teach constancy of mind, but only light verses. Of this kind is that of Catullus,

Let's live and love, love, while we may; And for all the old men say Just one penny let us care;

DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM. 171

and that other, —

Of Rights and Wrongs let old men prate, and learn By scrupulous weighing in fine scales of law What is allowed to do and what forbid.

For doctrines like these seem to aim at taking the wings away from the Muses' crowns and giving them back to the Sirens. The Sirens are said to live in isl ands ; because Pleasures commonly seek retiring-places aloof from the throngs of men. As for the song of the Sirens, its fatal effect and various artifice, it is every body's theme, and therefore needs no interpreter. But that circumstance of the bones being seen from a dis tance like white cliffs, has a finer point : implying that the examples of other men's calamities, however clear and conspicuous, have little effect in deterring men from the corruptions of pleasure.

The parable concerning the remedies remains to be spoken of: a wise and noble parable, though not at all abstruse. For a mischief so fraught with cunning and violence alike, there are proposed three remedies : two from philosophy, the third from religion. The first method of escape is to resist the beginnings, and sed ulously to avoid all occasions which may tempt and solicit the mind. This is the waxing up of the ears, and for minds of ordinary and plebeian cast — such as the crew of Ulysses — is the only remedy. But minds of a loftier order, if they fortify themselves with con stancy of resolution, can venture into the midst of pleasures ; nay and they take delight in thus putting their virtue to a more exquisite proof; besides gaining thereby a more thorough insight — as lookers on rather than followers — into the foolishness and madness of pleasures : which is that which Solomon professes con-

172 TEANSLATION OF THE DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.

cerning himself, when he closes his enumeration of the pleasures with which he abounded in these words : Likewise my wisdom remained with me. Heroes of this order may therefore stand unshaken amidst the greatest temptations, and refrain themselves even in the steep- down paths of pleasures ; provided only that they fol low the example of Ulysses, and forbid the pernicious counsels and flatteries of their own followers, which are of all things most powerful to unsettle and unnerve the mind. But of the three remedies, far the best in every way is that of Orpheus ; who by singing and sounding forth the praises of the gods confounded the voices of the Sirens and put them aside : for meditations upon things divine excel the pleasures of the sense, not in power only, but also in sweetness.

ADVERTISEMENT TOUCHING

HOLY WAR.

PREFACE.

A FEW days before Bacon was made Lord Keeper, the state of the negotiation then pending with Spain for the marriage of Prince Charles with the Infanta had been laid before the Council board, and they had " by consent agreed that his Majesty might with hon our enter into a treaty of marriage " &C.1 It was not a project from which Bacon expected any good; and if the King had taken his advice he would have gone no further in it than to let it be talked of as a possible resource by which the Crown might free itself from debt. Neither did the Council, I think, (judging from the terms of the resolution,) expect it to succeed ; but they thought that, if it were fairly proceeded with on the King's part, some occasion would probably turn up fof breaking it off with honour and advantage.2 That it should be proceeded with for the present was how ever settled ; and Sir John Digby was appointed to go as ambassador to Spain, partly to conduct the negotia-

1 See " the sum of his M. speech to some of his Council on the 2 of March" [1616-7]. Harl. MSS. 1323. fo. 263.

2 " It were very likely that the breach, if any were, could not be but up on some material point of religion; which if it fell out could not be any dishonour to his Majesty, but on the contrary a great reputation, both with his subjects here at home, and with his friends of the reformed religion in foreign parts."

176 PREFACE TO THE

tion, partly to effect some arrangement for the suppres sion of the pirates of Algiers and Tunis, who had be come very troublesome.

Such being the state of the negotiation when Bacon had to take it up as a leading Councillor, true policy required that it should be guided with a view to both issues, so that some good might be secured either way ; — good to the general state of Christendom, if Spain were disposed to act sincerely for that end ; good to the particular interests of England and Protestantism, if not. And first came the question, what good could be extracted out of the .alliance, supposing it to succeed. Accordingly on the 23rd of March 1616-7, while the King was on his way to Scotland, Bacon sent for his consideration a paper of additional instructions for Sir John Digby : which began thus :

" Besides your instructions directory to the substance of the main errand, we would have you in the whole carriage and passages of your negotiation, as well with the King himself as with the Duke of Lerma and Council there, intermix discourse upon fit occasions, that may express ourselves to the effect following:

" That you doubt not but that both Kings, for that which concerns religion, will proceed sincerely, both being entire and perfect in their own belief and way ; but that there are so many noble and excellent effects, which are equally acceptable to both religions and for the good and happiness of the Christian world, which may arise out of this conjunction, as the union of both Kings in actions of estate may make the difference in religion as laid aside and almost forgotten.

" As first, that it will be a means utterly to extin guish and extirpate pirates, which are the common

ADVERTISEMENT TOUCHING A HOLY WAR. 177

enemies of mankind, and do much infest Europe at this time.

" Also, that it may be a beginning and seed (for the like actions before have had less beginnings) of a holy war against the Turk, whereunto it seems the events of time do invite Christian kings, in respect of the great corruption and relaxation of discipline of war in that empire ; and much more in respect of the utter ruin and enervation of the Grand Signer's navy and forces by sea : which openeth a way (without congre gating vast armies by land) to suffocate and starve Constantinople, and thereby to put those provinces into mutiny and insurrection."

The remaining articles do not concern us at pres ent.

Now as I do not find in any of Bacon's letters or memoranda of earlier date any hint of such a project as this last mentioned, I suppose it was this particular occasion that put it into his head, and led him into that train of meditation to which we owe the fragment which follows. In 1622, in which year it was written, the position which the King had taken with regard to Spain was again much the same as in 1617. The negotiation having been kept on foot for awhile by delusive promises, and afterwards interrupted and al most broken off by the war in the Palatinate, had been again resumed, and it was resolved that the match should proceed. Bacon was no longer in office ; but he was still attentive to public affairs, and the return of the former political conjuncture would naturally re mind him of his former advice, and induce him to take the subject up again ; while the utter and final breach with Spain which followed soon after sufficiently ac-

VOL. XIII. 12

178 PREFACE TO THE

counts for his not proceeding further with it ; although he thought so well both of the matter, and of the man ner in which he had opened it, that he had the frag ment translated into Latin and included among his Opera Moralia et Civilia.1

The argument of the dialogue has but little interest for us at this day, except as indicating a stage in the history of opinion : and even for that it is hardly avail able, because it is not carried far enough to enable us to judge what Bacon's own opinion was upon the ques tion proposed. His design apparently was to exhaust the subject, by showing it from all sides ; as seen by the Roman Catholic " zelant," by the Protestant zelant, by the orthodox and moderate divine, by the soldier, by the statesman, and by the courtier ; while the distribution of the parts is such as to give full scope to them all. But as the formal discussion breaks off before the first speaker has concluded (who represents the extreme Roman Catholic view), — the "moderate divine " having said nothing, and the statesman (who, though a Roman Catholic also, would, I presume, have represented Bacon's own opinion) having merely inti mated that he did not consider the design impractica ble, — it is not easy to conjecture with any confidence what the ultimate judgment was intended to be. Com paring it however with an opinion of Bacon's own, re-

1 " Postremo duo fragmenta adjici inandavit; Dlaloyum de Bello Sacro, et Novd.ni Atlantidem. Fragmeutorum autcin genera tria esse dixit. Pri- nnun eorum qua? libris integris amissis sorvata sunt; ut Somnium Scipio- nis. Secundum eorum qua? auctor ipse, vcl morte pra?reptus vel aliis nego- tiis distractus, perficere non potuit, ut Platonis Atlantis. Tertium eorum quse auctor itidem ex composite et volens deseruit: ex quo genere sunt ista duo quae diximus. Neque tamen ea deseruit Dominatio sua fastidio argu- menti, sed quod alia multa habuerat qua? merito anteoedere deberent." - Ivawley's preface; to the Optra Moralia et Civilia. 1638.

ADVERTISEMENT TOUCHING A HOLY WAR. 179

corded two years later ; 1 remembering the instructions to Sir John Digby which I have quoted ; and observ ing the spirit of the introductory conversation, — es pecially with reference to one or two passages which appear to have been inserted on revision, — I am in clined to think that Eupolis, the " Politique," would have limited his approval to a war against the Turks ; and that not simply as Infidels, but as dangerous neigh bours to all Christendom. And I suppose that as things then stood the Christian powers might very fairly, and merely in self-defence and as a matter of international policy, have demanded securities from the Turks, the refusal of which would (even according to modern opinions) have formed a just ground of war. That it would have been a " holy war," — that is, that it would incidentally have had the effect of recovering to the Church countries then subject to Infidels, — would in Bacon's eyes no doubt have been a great additional recommendation : experience not having yet sufficiently proved that subjection of territory to Chris tian rule does not involve conversion of people to the Christian faith.

Setting aside the practical question as to the lawful ness of wars for the propagation of the faith — a ques tion which would now in any company of divines and statesmen be negatived without a division, — and re garding the work as a literary composition, it will be found not merely to be still interesting, but to deserve a conspicuous place among Bacon's writings. For it is the only specimen we have of his manner of conduct ing a discussion in the form of dialogue ; and enough is

1 " Though offensive wars for religion are seldom to be approved, or never, except there be some mixture of civil titles." — Considerations touching a War with Spain: written in 1624.

180 PREFACE TO THE ADVERTISEMENT, ETC.

done to show how skilfully lie could handle that fine but difficult instrument. The design of the composition is to represent the question as fairly debated between sev eral speakers looking at it from different points of view, and each bringing the full force of his wit and learning to the support of his own conclusion ; and nothing can be more natural and life-like than the conversation, so far as it goes. The historical matters incidentally han dled have an interest also which is by no means obsolete. And the dedicatory letter to Bishop Andrews contains the fullest account of Bacon's own personal feelings and designs as a writer which we have from his own pen.

This fragment was first published by Dr. Rawley in 1629, along with two or three others, in a small vol ume entitled Certain miscellany works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount St. Alban : the alleged motive of the publication being to super sede or prevent corrupt copies, and " to satisfy the desires of some who held it unreasonable that any delineations of that pen, though in never so small a model, should not be shown to the world." It was afterwards by Bacon's own direction (as I have said), and apparently under his supervision, translated into Latin, and added to the Opera Moralia et Civ ilia. There is a manuscript copy of part of it in the British Museum,1 and another in the Cambridge University Library ; but Rawley's edition contains some passages which are not in the MS. and therefore I suppose it was printed from a corrected copy and is the better authority.

As in other similar cases I have compared the Eng lish with the Latin, and quoted in foot-notes all varia tions which seem to be at all material, i Havl. MSS. 4263.

ADVERTISEMENT TOUCHING AN

HOLY WARRE.

WRITTEN IN THE YEARE 1622.

WHEREUNTO THE AUTHOR PREFIXED AN EPISTLE TO THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER LAST DECEASED.

LONDON.

Printed by John Haviland for Humphrey Robinson. 1629.

THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,

LANCELOT ANDREWS,

LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, AND COUNSELLOR OF ESTATE TO HIS MAJESTY.

MY LORD,

AMONGST consolations, it is not the least, to repre sent to a man's self like examples of calamity in others. For examples give a quicker impression l than argu ments ; and besides, they certify us, that which the Scripture also tendereth for satisfaction, that no new thing is happened unto us. This they do the better,2 by how much the examples are liker in circumstances to our own case ; and more especially if they fall upon persons 3 that are greater and worthier than ourselves. For as it savoureth of vanity, to match ourselves highly in our own conceit ; 4 so on the other side it is a good sound conclusion, that if our betters have sustained the like events, we have the less cause to be grieved.5

In this kind of consolation I have not been want ing to myself; though as a Christian I have tasted

1 penetrant magis.

2 afficiunt autem exempla eo magis, quo, tj-c.

8 si Fortuna illos non levins mulctarit, qui, <f c.

4 si nos ipsos cum melioribus componamus.

6 non esse cur nos supra modum conquer amur.

184 THE EPISTLE

(through God's great goodness) of higher remedies. Having therefore, through the variety of my reading, set before me many examples both of ancient and later times, my thoughts (I confess) have chiefly stayed upon three particulars, as the most eminent and the most resembling.1 All three, persons that had held chief place of authority in their countries ; all three ruined, not by war, or by any other disaster, but by justice and sentence, as delinquents and criminals ; all three famous writers, insomuch as the remembrance of their calamity is now as to posterity but as a little pic ture of night-work, remaining amongst the fair and excellent tables of their acts and works ; 2 and all three (if that were any thing to the matter) fit examples to quench any man's ambition of rising again ; for that they were every one of them restored with great glory, but to their further ruin and destruction, ending in a violent death. The men were, Demosthenes, Cicero, and Seneca ; persons that I durst not claim affinity with, except the similitude of our fortunes had con tracted it. When I had cast mine eyes upon these ex amples, I was carried on further to observe 3 how they did bear their fortunes, and principally how they did employ their times, being banished and disabled for public business : to the end that I might learn by them ; and that they might be as well my counsellors as my comforters. Whereupon I happened to note,

1 Cogitationes mece moram (fateor) feet-runt, imo t-tiam acquieverunt, in tribus prcecipue viris; tanquam muxime eminentibus, et cum illafortuna qum mea uliquandofuit conjunctissimis.

2 The rest of this sentence is not in the Cambridge MS.

8 Fuerunt hi tres viri, Demosthenes, Cicero, et Seneca. Quando iyitur cum viris hisce eximiis me turn fortuna turn studio, conjunxerint, inquirere el observare ccepi, ij'-c.

DEDICATORY. 185

how diversely their fortunes wrought upon them ; espe cially in that point at which I did most aim, which was the employing of their times and pens. In Cicero, I saw that during his banishment (which was almost two years) he was so softened and dejected, as he wrote nothing but a few womanish epistles.1 And yet, in mine opinion, he had least reason of the three to be discouraged : for that although it was judged, and judged by the highest kind of judgment, in form of a statute or law, that he should be banished, and his whole estate confiscated and seized, and his houses pulled down, and that it should be highly penal for any man to propound his repeal ; yet his case even then had no great blot of ignominy ; but it was thought but a tempest of popularity2 which overthrew him. Demosthenes contrariwise, though his case was foul,3 being condemned for bribery ; and not simple bribery, but bribery in the nature of treason and disloyalty; yet nevertheless took so little knowledge of his fortune, as during his banishment he did much busy himself and intermeddle with matters of state ; and took upon him to counsel the State (as if he had been still at the helm) by letters ; as appears by some epistles of his which are extant. Seneca indeed, who was condemned for many corruptions and crimes, and banished into a solitary isl and, kept a mean ; and though his pen did not freeze, yet he abstained from intruding into matters of busi ness ; but spent his time in writing books, of excellent argument and use for all ages ; though he might have made better choice (sometimes) of his dedications.*

1 epistolas quasdam muliebres . . . omnia questibus implentes.

2 temporis proceUa.

8 licet judicium quo proscriberetur ignominice plenum esset. 4 licet aliquos eorum dedicaverit, minus pro diynitate.

186 THE EPISTLE

These examples confirmed me much in a resolution (whereunto I was otherwise inclined) to spend my time1 wholly in writing; and to put forth that poor talent, or half talent, or what it is, that God hath given me, not as heretofore to particular exchanges, but to banks or mounts of perpetuity, which will not break.2 Therefore having not long since3 set forth a part of my Instauration ; which is the work, that in mine own judgment (si nunqnani fallit itnayo) I do most esteem ; I think to proceed in some new parts thereof.4 And although I have received from many parts be yond the seas, testimonies touching that work, such as beyond which I could not expect5 at the first in so abstruse an argument ; yet nevertheless I have just cause to doubt, that it flies too high over men's heads:6 I have a purpose therefore (though I break the order of time) to draw it down to the sense, by some pat terns of a Natural Story and Inquisition.7 And again, for that my book of Advancement of Learning may be

1 concessum mild tempus.

2 utque taltntum a Deo concreditum, non ul prius Trapezitis particulari- bus, sed excambiis publicis, quce nunquam exhaurientur et usuram pro certo reddent, committerem.

3 ante annos aliquot.

4 decrevi certe in cceteris ejus partibus minime defatisci. Quod etiam nunc ago.

For " I think to proceed " the Cambridge MS. has " I have proceeded.''

5 quibus nonpotuerim majora, cum tarn insiyni approbations et honore .... expectare.

0 Jtominum, prcesertim vulgaris judicii.

"per exempla qucedam et portiones Naturalis flistorice, et Inquisitiones super earn : quod etiam ex partefeci.

The Historia Ventorum was published about the beginning of November 1622, and the Historia Vitce, et Mortis about the end of the following Jan uary; after the English version of this letter was written, probably, and before it was translated. In the Cambridge MS., which appears to be of an earlier date than Rawley's copy, the last sentence stands thus: " I have taken a course to draw it down to the sense, which cannot fail."

DEDICATORY. 1ST

some preparative, or key, for the better opening of the Instauration ; because it exhibits a mixture of new conceits and old ; whereas the Instauration gives the new unmixed, otherwise than with some little as persion of the old for taste's sake ; I have thought good to procure a translation of that book into the general language,1 not without great and ample ad ditions 2 and enrichment thereof, especially in the sec ond book, which handleth the Partition of Sciences ; in such sort, as I hold it may serve in lieu of the first part of the Instauration, and acquit my promise in that part.3 Again, because I cannot altogether de sert the civil person that I have borne ; which if I should forget, enough would remember; I have also entered into a work touching Laws, propounding a character of Justice, in a middle term, between the speculative and reverend discourses of philosophers, and the writings of lawyers which are tied and ob noxious to their particular laws.4 And although it be true, that I had a purpose to make a particular digest or recompilement of the laws of mine own na tion ; yet because it is a work of assistance, and that that I cannot master by mine own forces and pen,5 I have laid it aside. Now having in the work of my

1 consentaneum putavi opus illud in linguam generalem ex vernacula vertere.

2 The Cambridge MS. has " not without some addition."

3 idque ita cumulate prcestiti, ut judicem libwim ilium, jam in plures di- visum, pro primd Instaurationis parte haberi posse ; quam Partitionum Scientiarum nomine anlea insignivi: et sicjidem meam in Tide parte liberari confido. Atque hoc etiamjam peraclum est.

The De Augmentis Scientiarum was published in the autumn of 1623.

4 The following sentence is added in the translation. Hoc autem opus, quoniam tantum absorpturum fuisset temporis, atque alia jure prcecedere de- berent, infectum reliqui : solummodo portiunculam ejus quandam, ad exem plar, in uno ex libiis De Augmentis Scientiarum (octavo scilicet) exhibui.

6 quia plurimorum manibus indigebat neque ex me

188 THE EPISTLE

Instauration had in contemplation the general good of men in their very being, and the dowries of na ture ; } and in my work of Laws,2 the general good of men likewise in society, and the dowries of govern ment ; I thought in duty I owed somewhat unto mine own country, which I ever loved ; insomuch as al though my place hath been far above my desert, yet my thoughts and cares concerning the good thereof were beyond and over and above my place : so now being (as I am) no more able to do my country ser vice, it remained unto me to do it honour : 3 which I have endeavoured to do in my work of The reign of King Henry the Seventh. As for my Essays, and some other particulars of that nature, I count them but as the recreations of my other studies, and in that sort purpose to continue them ; 4 though I am not ig norant that those kind of writings would with less pains and embracement (perhaps) yield more lustre and rep utation to my name than those other which I have in hand. But I account the use that a man should seek of the publishing of his own writings before his death,

J. O Q

1 universi generis liumani bonum mihi ante oculos propose rim ; ut vita humana excoleretur, bearetur, et ampliori a uaturd dote donnretur.

2 in opere autem illo de Leyibus, cujus initia perstrinxi (ut dictum est).

3 Quocirca (prcesertim cum opus illud de Leyibus Patriis deposuissem) ho- norem aliquam patrice dilectie exldbere volui.

4 Quantum vero ad librum ilium jampridem edition, cui anted titulus Del- ibationes Morales et Civiles, mine autem Sennoncs Fideles she, Interiora Rerum inscribitur ; eum etiarn multiplicity r anxi ct dttnrt: et in linyuam qwque, Latinam e vernacula verti curari. Illud (intern scriptorum yenm animi reficiendi et levandi causa subinde tracto.

The enlarged edition of the Essays was published in 1025 with the title Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral. The Latin translation may possibly have been going on at the same time, though it was not published during Bacon's- life. It would seem however from this addition that the Latin version of this dedicatory letter was one of Bacon's latest writings.

DEDICATORY. 189

to be but an untimely anticipation of that which is proper to follow a man and not to go along with him.1

But revolving with myself my writings, as well those which I have published, as those which I had in hand, methought they went all into the city, and none into the temple ; 2 where because I have found so great consolation, I desire likewise to make some poor oblation. Therefore I have chosen an argument mixt of religious and civil considerations ; and likewise mixt between contemplative and active.3 For who can tell whether there may not be an Exo- riere aliquis ? Great matters (especially if they be religious) have (many times) small beginnings : and the platform may draw on the building. This work, because I was ever an enemy to flattering dedica tions, I have dedicated to your lordship, in respect of our ancient and private acquaintance; and because amongst the men of our times I hold you in special reverence.

Your lordship's loving friend,

FR. ST. ALBAX.

1 This sentence is omitted in the translation ; and instead of it the fol lowing is inserted. Quinetiam libettum meum De Sapientia Veterum, ut ab interitu tutior esset, in Tomo Operum meorum Moralium et Politicorum rursus edendum curavi.

2 Exceptis paucis (the translation adds) alicubi inspersis, quce ad Religi- onem spectant.

3 Tractatum scilicet De Bello Sacro.

AN

ADVERTISEMENT1

TOUCHING

AN HOLY WAR

The Persons that speak. EUSEBIUS. GAMALIEL. ZEBED^EUS. MARTIUS. EUPOLIS. POLLIO.

Characters of the Persons.

Eusebius beareth the character of a Moderate Divine. Gamaliel of a Protestant Zelant. Zebedaeus of a Romish Catholic Zelant. Martius of a Militar Man. Eupolis of a Politique. Pollio of a Courtier.2

THERE met at Paris (in the house of Eupolis) Eu sebius, Zebedceus, Gamaliel, Martius, all persons of eminent quality, but of several dispositions. Eupolis himself was also present ; and while they were set in conference, Pollio came in to them from court; and as soon as he saw them, after his witty and pleasant man ner, he said :

POLLIO. Here be four of you, I think were able to make a good World ; for you are as differing as the four Elements, and yet you are friends. As for

1 Dlalogus.

2 Zebedzeus, Romano- Catholicus, fervidus et Zelotes. Gamaliel, in Rdig- ione Reformata, fervidus item et Ztlotes. Eusebius, Theoloyus Orthodoxus et moderatus. Martius, vir Mllltaris. Eupolis, Politicus. Pollio, Aulicus. Omnes prceter Gamalielem Romano- Catholici.

192 AN ADVERTISEMENT

Eupolis, because he is temperate and without passion, he may be the Fifth Essence.

EUPOLIS. If we five (Pollio) make the Great World, you alone may make the Little ; because you profess and practise both, to refer all things to your self.

POLLIO. And what do they that practise it, and profess it not ?

EUPOLIS. They are the less hardy,1 and the more dangerous. But come and sit down with us, for wre were speaking of the affairs of Christendom at this day ; wherein we would be glad also to have your opinion.

POLLIO. My lords, I have journeyed this morning, and it is now the heat of the day ; therefore your lordship's discourses had need content my ears very well, to make them intreat mine eyes to keep open. But yet if you will give me leave to awake you, when I think your discourses do but sleep, I will keep watch the best I can.

EUPOLIS. You cannot do us a greater favour. Only I fear you will think all our discourses to be but the better sort of dreams ; for good wishes, with out power to effect,2 are not much more. But, Sir, when you came in, Martins had both raised our attentions and affected us with some speech he had begun ; and it falleth out well to shake off' your drowsiness ; for it seemed to be the trumpet of a War. And therefore (Martins) if it please you to begin again ; for the speech was such as deserveth to be heard twice ; and I assure you, your auditory is not a little amended by the presence of Pollio.

1 minus animosi. 2 absque spe effectus, nedum tentandi eopm.

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 193

MARTIUS. When you came in (Pollio), I was say ing freely to these lords, that I had observed how by the space now of half a century of years there had been (if I may speak it) a kind of meanness in the designs and enterprises of Christendom. Wars with subjects ; like an angry suit for a man's own, that mought be better ended by accord. Some petty ac quests of a town, or a spot of territory ; like a farm er's purchase of a close or nook of ground that lay fit for him. And although the wars had been for a Naples, or a Milan, or a Portugal, or a Bohemia, yet these wars were but as the wars of Heathen, (of Athens, or Sparta, or Rome,) for secular interest or ambition, not worthy the warfare of Christians. The Church (indeed) maketh her missions into the ex treme parts of the nations and isles ; and it is well : 1 but this is Ecce unus gladius hie. The Christian princes and potentates are they that are wanting to the propagation of the Faith by their arms. Yet our Lord, that said on earth to the disciples, Ite et prce- dicate, said from heaven to Constantine, In hoc signo vince. What Christian soldier is there that will not be touched with a religious emulation to see an order of Jesus, or of St. Francis, or of St. Augustine, do such service for enlarging the Christian borders ; and an order of St. Jago, or St. Michael, or St. George, only to robe, and feast, and perform rites and observ ances ? 2 Surely the merchants themselves shall rise in judgment against the princes and nobles of Europe. For they have made a great path in the seas unto the

1 nobili opera atque institute.

2 nihil aliudfere perpetrare, neque majora meditari, quam ut vestes solen- nes induant, festa patronorum suorum anniversaria celebrent, et cceteros ritus ac casremonias wdinis sui observent.

VOL. XIII. 13

194 AN ADVERTISEMENT

ends of the world ; and set forth ships and forces of Spanish, English, and Dutch, enough to make China tremble ; l and all this for pearl, or stone, or spices : but for the pearl of the kingdom of heaven, or the stones of the heavenly Hierusalem, or the spices of the spouse's garden, not a mast hath been set up. Nay they can make shift to shed Christian blood so far off amongst themselves,2 and not a drop for the cause of Christ. But let me recall myself; I must acknowledge that within the space of fifty years (whereof I spake) there have been three noble and memorable actions upon the infidels, wherein the Christian hath been the invader. For where it is upon the defensive, I reckon it a war of nature,3 and not of piety. The first was that famous and fortunate war by sea that ended in the victory of Lepanto ; which hath put a hook into the nostrils of the Otto mans to this day ; which was the work (chiefly) of that excellent Pope, Pius Quintus ; whom I wonder his successors have not declared a saint. The second was the noble, though unfortunate, expedition of Se bastian King of Portugal upon Africk, which was atchieved by him alone ; so alone, as left somewhat for others to excuse. The last was, the brave in cursions of Sigismund the Transylvanian prince ; the thread of whose prosperity was cut off by the Chris tians themselves ; contrary to the worthy and pater nal monitories of Pope Clement the eighth. More

1 O

than these, I do not remember.

POLLIO. No ! What say you to the extirpation of the Moors of Valentia ?

1 quantce Indicts quidem et Chinnm tremefacere el concutere possint.

2 Illud interim pro nihilo cluctint, sanguinem Christianum inpartibus tarn remotis inter se prceliantes effundere.

3 Ntccssitatis.

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 195

At which sudden question, Martins was a little at a stop ; and Gamaliel prevented him, and said :

GAMALIEL. I think Martins did well in omitting that action, for I, for my part, never approved it ; and it seems God was not well pleased with that deed ; for you see the king in whose time it passed (whom you catholics count a saint-like and immaculate prince) was taken away in the flower of his age : and the author and great counsellor of that rigour (whose fortunes seemed to be built upon the rock) is ruined : and it is thought by some that the reckonings of that business are not yet cleared with Spain ; for that num bers of those supposed Moors, being tried now by their exile, continue constant in the faith, and true Chris tians in all points, save in the thirst of revenge.

ZEBED^EUS. Make not hasty judgment (Gamaliel) of that great action ; which was as Christ's fan in those countries ; except you could show some such covenant from the crown of Spain, as Joshua made with the Gibconites ; that that cursed seed should continue in the land. And you see it was done by edict, not tumultuously ; the sword was not put into the people's hand.

EUPOLIS. I think Martius did omit it, not as mak ing any judgment of it either way, but because it sorted not aptly with actions of war, being upon sub jects, and without resistance. But let us, if you think good, give Martius leave to proceed in his dis course ; for methought he spake like a divine in ar mour.

MARTIUS. It is true (Eupolis) that the principal object which I have before mine eyes, in that whereof

196 AN ADVERTISEMENT

I speak, is piety and religion. But nevertheless, if I should speak only as a natural man, I should persuade the same thing. For there is no such enterprise, at this day, for secular greatness and terrene honour, as a war upon infidels. Neither do I in this propound a novelty, or imagination, but that which is proved by late examples of the same kind, though perhaps of less difficulty. The Castilians, the age before that wherein we live, opened the new world ; and subdued and planted Mexico, Peru, Chile, and other parts of the A\rest Indies. We see what floods of treasure have flowed into Europe by that action ; so that the cense or rates of Christendom are raised since ten times, yea twenty times told. Of this treasure, it is true, the gold was accumulate and store-treasure, for the most part : but the silver is still growing. Be sides, infinite is the access of territory and empire by the same enterprise. For there was never an hand drawn that did double the rest of the habitable world, before this ; for so a man may truly term it, if he shall put to account as well that that is, as that which may be hereafter by the further occupation and colonizing of those countries. And yet it cannot be affirmed (if one speak ingenuously) that it was the propagation of the Christian faith that wTas the adamant of that discovery, entry, and plantation ; but gold and silver and temporal profit and glory : so that what was first in God's provi dence was but second in man's appetite and intention. The like may be said of the famous navigations and conquests of Emmanuel King of Portugal, whose arms began to circle Africk and Asia ; and to ac quire not only the trade of spices and stones and musk and drugs, but footing and places in those ex-

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 197

treme parts of the east. For neither in this was re ligion the principal, but amplification and enlarge ment of riches and dominion. And the effect of these two enterprises is now such, that both the East and the West Indies being met in the crown of Spain, it is come to pass that (as one saith in a brave kind of expression) the sun never sets in the Spanish dominions, but ever shines upon one part or other of them : which, to say truly, is a beam of glory, (though I cannot say it is so solid a body of glory,) wherein the crown of Spain surpasseth all the former monarchies. So as to conclude, we may see that in these actions upon gentiles or infidels, only or chiefly, both the spiritual and temporal honour and good have been in one pur suit and purchase conjoined.

POLLIO. Methinks, with your favour, you should remember (Martius) that wild and savage people are like beasts and birds, which are ferce naturce, the prop erty of which passeth with the possession, and goeth to the occupant ; but of civil people, it is not so.

MAHTIUS. I know no such difference amongst rea sonable souls, but that whatsoever is in order to the greatest and most general good of people may justify the action, be the people more or less civil. But (Pollio) l I shall not easily grant that the people of Peru or Mexico were sucli brute savages as you intend ; or that there should be any such difference between them and many of the infidels which are now in other parts. In Peru, though they were un apparelled peo ple, according to the clime ; 2 and had some customs very barbarous ; yet the government of the Incaes had

1 So in the Latin, and in the MSS. The printed copy has Eupolis; ob viously a mistake.

2 teniperatura fortasse climatis hoc postulante.

198 AN ADVERTISEMENT

many parts of humanity and civility. They had re duced the nations from the adoration of a multitude of idols and fancies, to the adoration of the sun. And, as I remember, the Book of Wisdom noteth degrees of idolatry ; making that of worshipping petty and vile idols more gross than simply the worshipping of the creature. And some of the prophets, as I take it, do the like, in the metaphor of more ugly and bestial for nication. The Peruvians also (under the Incaes) had magnificent temples of their superstition ; they had strict and regular justice ; they bare great faith and obedience to their kings ; they proceeded in a kind of martial justice with their enemies,1 offering them their law, as better for their own good, before they drew their sword. And much like was the state of Mexico, being an elective2 monarchy. As for those people of the east (Goa, Calacute, Malacca) they were a fine and dainty people ; frugal and yet elegant, though not militar. So that if things be rightly weighed, the em pire of the Turks may be truly affirmed to be more barbarous than any of these. A cruel tyranny, bathed in the blood of their emperors upon every succession ; a heap of vassals and slaves ; no nobles, no gentlemen, no freemen, no inheritance of land, no stirp of ancient families ; 3 a people that is without natural affection, and, as the Scripture saith, that regardeth not the desires of ivomen : and without piety or care towards their children : a nation without morality, without letters, arts, or sciences ; that can scarce measure an acre of land, or an hour of the day : base and sluttish in build-

1 nc sijusfwcialium novissent,

2 electivd, non hceredilarid.

3 milte slirpes nntiquce. I have followed the reading of the MS. here. The printed copy has " no stirp or ancient families."

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 199

ings, diets, and the like ; and in a word, a very reproach of human society. And yet this nation hath made the garden of the world a wilderness ; for that, as it is truly said concerning the Turks, where Ottoman's horse sets his foot, people will come up very thin.

POLLIO. Yet in the midst of your invective (Mar- tius) do the Turks this right, as to remember that they are no idolaters : for if, as you say, there be a differ ence between worshipping a base idol and the sun, there is a much greater difference between worshipping a creature and the Creator. For the Turks do acknowl edge God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, being the first person in the Trinity, though they deny the rest.

At which speech when Martins made some pause, Zeb- edceus replied with a countenance of great reprehension and severity :

ZEBED^US. We must take heed (Pollio) that we fall not at unawares into the heresy of Manuel Com- nenus, Emperor of Grsecia, who affirmed that Ma homet's God was the true God : which opinion was not only rejected and condemned by the synod, but imputed to the Emperor as extreme madness ; ] being reproached to him also by the Bishop of Thessalonica, in those bitter and strange words as are not to be named.

MARTIUS. I confess that it is my opinion, that a war upon the Turk is more worthy than upon any other gentiles, infidels, or savages, that either have been or now are, both in point of religion and in point of honour ; though facility and hope of success mought

1 veluti imanice species qucedam.

200 AN ADVERTISEMENT

(perhaps) invite some other choice. But before I pro ceed, both myself would be glad to take some breath ; and I shall frankly desire that some of your lordships would take your turn to speak, that can do it better. But chiefly, for that I see here some that are excellent interpreters of the divine law, though in several ways ; and that I have reason to distrust mine own judgment, both as weak in itself, and as that which may be over borne by my zeal and affection to this cause ; I think it were an error to speak further, till I may see some sound foundation laid of the lawfulness oi the action, by them that are better versed in that argument.

EUPOLIS. I am glad (Martius) to see in a person of your profession so great moderation, in that you are not transported, in an action that warms the blood and is appearing holy, to blanch or take for admitted the point of lawfulness. And because methinks this conference prospers, if your lordships will give me leave, I will make some motion touching the distribution of it into parts.

Unto which when they all assented, Enpolis said :

EUPOLIS. I think it would not sort amiss, if Zebe- dseus would be pleased to handle the question, Whether a war for the propagation of the Christian faith, with out other cause of hostility, be lawful or no, and in what cases ? I confess also, I would be glad to go a little further ; and to hear it spoken to concerning the lawfulness, not only permissively, but whether it be not obligatory to Christian princes and states to design it ; which part, if it please Gamaliel to undertake, the point of the lawfulness taken simply will be complete. Yet there resteth the comparative : that is, it being

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 201

granted that it is either lawful or binding, yet whether other things be not to be preferred before it ; as extir pation of heretics, reconcilements of schisms, pursuit of lawful temporal rights and quarrels, and the like ; and how far this enterprise ought either to wait upon these other matters, or to be mingled with them, or to pass by them and give law to them as inferior unto it self? And because this is a great part, and Eusebius hath yet said nothing, we will by way of mulct or pain, if your lordships think good, lay it upon him. All this while, I doubt much that Pollio, who hath a sharp wit of discovery towards what is solid and real and what is specious and airy, will esteem all this but impossibilities, and eagles in the clouds : and therefore we shall all intreat him to crush this argument with his best forces : that by the light we shall take from him, we may either cast it away, if it be found but a bladder, or discharge it of so much as is vain and not sperable. And because I confess I myself am not of that opinion, (although it be an hard encounter to deal with Pollio) yet I shall do my best to prove the enterprise possible, and to shew how all impediments may be either re moved or overcomen. And then it will be fit for Mar- tius (if we do not desert it before) to resume his further discourse, as well for the persuasive, as for the consult touching the means, preparations, and all that may conduce unto the enterprise. But this is but my wish, your lordships will put it into better order.

They all not only allowed the distribution, but accepted the parts : but because the day was spent, they agreed to defer it till the next morning. Only Pollio said :

POLLIO. You take me right (Eupolis) ; for I am

202 AN ADVERTISEMENT

of opinion, that except yon could bray Christendom in a mortar, and mould it into a new paste, there is no possibility of an Holy War. And I was ever of opin ion, that the Philosopher's Stone, and an Holy War, were but the rendez-vous of cracked brains, that wore their feather in their head instead of their hat. Nev ertheless believe me of courtesy, that if you five shall be of another mind, especially after you have heard what I can say, I shall be ready to certify with Hippoc rates, that Athens l is mad and Democritus is only sober.2 And lest you should take me for altogether adverse, I will franklv contribute to the business now at first. Ye, no doubt, will amongst you devise and discourse many solemn matters : but do as I shall tell you. This Pope is decrepit, and the bell goeth for him. Take order, that when he is dead, there be chosen a Pope of fresh years, between fifty and three-score ; and see that he take the name of Urban, because a Pope of that name did first institute the cruzada, and (as with an holy trumpet) did stir up the voy age for the Holy Land.

EUPOLTS. You say well; but be, I pray you, a little more serious in this conference.

The next day the same persons met, as they had ap pointed ; and after they were set, and that there had passed some sporting speeches from Pollio, how the war was already begun, for that (lie said) he had dreamt of nothing but Janizaries and Tartars and Sultans all the night long, Martins said:

J- So both the printed copy and the MSS. The Latin translation has Aihenienses. It ought to be Abdtru..

2 The, remainder of this speech is not in the MS. Eupolis's answer is illegible from the fading of the ink. The words, I think, are "at your pleasure."

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 203

MARTIUS. The distribution of this conference, which was made by Eupolis yesternight, and was by us approved, seemeth to me perfect, save in one point ; and that is, not in the number, but in the placing of the parts. For it is so disposed, that Pollio and Eupo lis shall debate the possibility or impossibility of the action, before I shall deduce the particulars of the means and manner by which it is to be achieved. Now I have often observed in deliberations, that the entering near hand into the manner of performance and execution of that which is under deliberation hath quite overturned the opinion formerly conceived of the possibility or impossibility. So that things that at the first show seemed possible, by ripping up the perform ance of them have been convicted of impossibility ; and things that on the other side have showed impossible, by the declaration of the means to effect them, as by a back light, have appeared possible, the way thorough them being discerned. This I speak, not to alter the order, but only to desire Pollio and Eupolis not to speak peremptorily or conclusively touching the point of possibility, till they have heard me deduce the means of the execution : and that done, to reserve themselves at liberty for a reply, after they had before them, as it were, a model of the enterprise.

This grave and solid advertisement and caution of Martins was much commended by them all ; whereupon Eupolis said:

EUPOLIS. Since Martins hath be<nm to refine that

O

which was yesternight resolved, I may the better have leave (especially in the mending of a proposition which was mine own) to remember an omission, which is

204 AN ADVERTISEMENT

more than a misplacing. For I doubt we ought to have added or inserted into the point of lawfulness, the question how far an Holy War is to be pursued, whether to displanting and extermination of people ? And again, whether to enforce a new belief, and to vindicate or punish infidelity ; or only to subject the countries and people ; and so by the temporal sword to open a door for the spiritual sword to enter, by per suasion, instruction, and such means as are proper for souls and consciences? But it may be, neither is this necessary to be made a part by itself; for that Zebe- da?us, in his wisdom, will fall into it as an incident to the point of lawfulness, which cannot be handled with out limitations and distinctions.

ZEBEDJEUS. You encourage me (Eupolis), in that I perceive how in your judgment (which I do so much esteem) I ought to take that course which of myself I was purposed to do. For as Martins noted well that it is but a loose thing to speak of possibilities without the particular designs ; so is it to speak of lawfulness without the particular cases. I will therefore first of all distinguish the cases ; though you shall give me leave in the handling of them not to sever them with too much preciseness ; for both it would cause needless length, and we are not now in arts or methods, bnt in a conference. It is therefore first to be put to question in general, (as Eupolis propounded it,) whether it be lawful for Christian princes or states to make an inva sive war, only and simply for the propagation of the faith, without other cause of hostility, or circumstance that may provoke and induce the war ? Secondly, whether, it being made part of the case that the coun tries were once Christian and members of the Church

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR.

205

and where the golden candlesticks did stand, though now they be utterly alienated and no Christians left, it be not lawful to make a war to restore them to the Church, as an ancient patrimony of Christ ? Thirdly, if it be made a further part of the case, that there are yet remaining in the countries multitudes of Christians, whether it be not lawful to make a war to free them and deliver them from the servitude of the infidels ? Fourthly, whether it be not lawful to make a war for the purging and recovery of consecrate places, being now polluted and profaned ; as the Holy City and Sepulchre, and such other places of principal adoration and devotion ? Fifthly, whether it be not lawful to make a war for the revenge or vindication of blasphe mies and reproaches against the Deity and our blessed Saviour ; or for the effusion of Christian blood, and cruelties against Christians, though ancient and long since past ; considering that God's visits are without limitation of time, and many times do but expect the fulness of the sin ? Sixthly, it is to be considered (as Eupolis now last well remembered) whether a Holy War (which, as in the worthiness of the quarrel, so in the justness of the prosecution, ought to exceed all temporal wars) may be pursued either to the expulsion of people or the enforcement of consciences or the like extremities ; or how to be moderated and limited ; lest whilst we remember we are Christians, we forget that others are men ? l But there is a point that precedeth

1 The passage which follows, to the end of the paragraph, is not in the Harl. MS. It is one of the passages which appear to have been inserted on revision, and to which I alluded in the preface as indicating an intention to limit the Holy War to a war against the Turks specially, and a war not for religion simply, but with "a mixture of civil titles." The same thing is observable in Zebedaeus's next speech, which was probably written at a

206 AN ADVERTISEMENT

all these points recited ; nay and in a manner dis- chargeth them, in the particular of a war against the Turk : which point, I think, would not have come into my thought, but that Martins giving us yesterday a representation of the empire of the Turks, with no small vigour of words, (which you, Pollio, called an invective, but was indeed a true charge,) did put me in mind of it : and the more I think upon it, the more I settle in opinion, that a war to suppress that empire, though we set aside the cause of religion, were a just war.

later period: for the MS. merely inserts the name and breaks off with an &c.

A series of questions relating to this subject, found among Bacon's pa pers, and printed by Tenison in the Baconiana (p. 179.) with the title " The Lord Bacon's Questions about the Lawfulness of a War for the Propagation of Religion," may be most conveniently inserted here; being in fact mere ly a note of the questions which he intended to discuss in this dialogue, and which we have just seen set forth more at large.

Questions wherein I desire opinion, joined with arguments and authorities.

Whether a war be lawful against infidels, only for the propagation of the Christian faith, without other cause of hostility?

Whether a war be lawful to recover to the Church countries which formerly have been Christian, though now alienate, and Christians utterly extirped?

Whether a war be lawful to free and deliver Christians that yet remain in servitude and subjection to infidels?

Whether a war be lawful in revenge or vindication of blasphemy and reproaches against the Deity and our Saviour? or for the ancient effusion of Christian blood, and cruelties upon Christians?

Whether a war be lawful for the restoring and purging of the holy land, the sepulchre, and other principal places of adoration and devotion ?

Whether, in the cases aforesaid, it be not obligatory to Christian princes to make such a war, and not permissive onlv?

Whether the making of a war against the infidels be not first in order of dignity, and to be preferred before extirpations of heresies, reconcilements of schisms, reformation of manners, pursuits of just temporal quarrels, and the like actions for the public good; except there be either a more urgent necessity, or a more evident facility in those inferior actions, or except they may both go on together in some degree ?

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 207

After Zebedceus had said this, Tie made a pause, to see whether any of the rest would say anything: but when he perceived nothing but silence and signs of attention to that he would further say, he proceeded thus :

ZEBEDCEUS. Your lordships will not look for a trea tise from me,1 but a speech of consultation ; and in that brevity and manner will I speak. First, I shall agree, that as the cause of a war ought to be just, so the justice of that cause ought to be evident ; not ob scure, not scrupulous. For by the consent of all laws, in capital causes the evidence must be full and clear : and if so where one man's life is in question, what say we to a war, which is ever the sentence of death upon many ? We must beware therefore how we make a Moloch or an heathen idol of our blessed Sav iour, in sacrificing the blood of men to him by an unjust war. The justice of every action consisteth in the merits of the cause, the warrant of the jurisdic tion, and the form of the prosecution. As for the in ward intention, I leave it to the court of heaven. Of these things severally, as they may have relation to the present subject of a war against infidels ; and name ly, against the most potent and most dangerous enemy of the faith, the Turk. I hold, and I doubt not but I shall make it plain (as far as a sum or brief can make a cause plain), that a war against the Turk is lawful, both by the laws of nature and nations, and by the law divine, which is the perfection of the other two. As for the laws positive and civil of the Romans, or other whatsoever, they are too small engines to move the weight of this question. And therefore,

1 in hac qucestione dejure Btlli Sacri contra Turcas.

208 AN ADVERTISEMENT

in my judgment, many of the late Schoolmen (though excellent men) take not the right way in disputing this question ; except they had the gift of Navius, that they could, cotem novacidd scindere ; hew stones with pen-knives. First, for the law of nature. The philosopher Aristotle is no ill interpreter thereof. He hath set many men on work with a witty speech of natard dominus, and naturd servus ; affirming expressly and positively, that from the very nativity some things are lorn to ride, and some things to obey. Which oracle hath been taken in divers senses. Some have taken it for a speech of ostentation, to intitle the Grecians to an empire over the barbarians ; which indeed was better maintained by his scholar Alexander. Some have taken it for a speculative platform, that reason and nature would that the best should govern ; but not in any wise to create a right. But for my part, I take it neither for a brag nor for a wish ; but for a truth, as he limiteth it. For he saith, that if there can be found such an inequality between man and man as there is between man and beast or between soul and body, it investeth a right of government ; which seemeth rather an impossible case than an untrue sen tence. But I hold botli the judgment true, and the case possible ; and such as hath had and hath a being, both in particular men and nations. But ere we go further, let us confine ambiguities and mistakings, that they trouble us not.1 First, to say that the more ca pable, or the better deserver, hath such right to govern as he may compulsorily bring under the less worthy, is idle. Men will never agree upon it, who is the

1 Ambiyua qucedam, et a sensii vero sermonis nostri multum aberrantia, tie interpellant, abiyamus et rehgemus.

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 209

more worthy. For it is not only in order of nature for him to govern that is the more intelligent, as Aris totle would have it ; but there is no less required for government, courage to protect; and above all, hon esty and probity of the will, to abstain from injury. So fitness to govern is a perplexed business. Some men, some nations, excel in the one ability, some in the other. Therefore the position which I intend is not in the comparative, that the wiser or the stouter or the juster nation should govern ; but in the priva tive, that where there is an heap of people (though we term it a kingdom or state) that is altogether un able or indign to govern, there it is a just cause of war for another nation, that is civil or polliced, to subdue them : and this, though it were to be done by a Cyrus or a Csesar, that were no Christian. The second mistaking to be banished is, that I under stand not this of a personal tyranny, as was the state of Rome under a Caligula or a Nero or a Commo- dus : shall the nation suffer for that wherein they suffer ? But when the constitution of the state and the fundamental customs and laws of the same (if laws they may be called) are against the laws of na ture and nations, then, I say, a war upon them is law ful. I shall divide the question into three parts. First, whether there be, or may be, any nation or society of men, against whom it is lawful to make a war with out a precedent injury or provocation ? Secondly, what are those breaches of the law of nature and na tions, which do forfeit and devest all right and title in a nation to govern ? And thirdly, whether those breaches of the law of nature and nations be found in any nation at this day ; and namely, in the empire

VOL. XIII. 14

210 AN ADVERTISEMENT

of the Ottomans ? For the first, I hold it clear that such nations, or states, or societies of people, there may be and are. There cannot be a better ground laid to declare this, than to look into the original do nation of government. Observe it well, especially the inducement or preface. Saith God : Let us make man after our own image, and let Id in have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air and the beasts of the land, $c. Hereupon De Victoria,1 and with him some others, infer excellently, and ex tract a most true and divine aphorism, Nbn fundatur dominium nisi in imagine Dei. Here we have the charter of foundation : it is now the more easy to judge of the forfeiture or reseizure. Deface the im age, and you devest the right. But what is this im age, and how is it defaced ? The poor men of Lyons, and some fanatical spirits, will tell you that the image of God is purity, and the defacement sin. But this subverteth all government : neither did Adam's sin, or the curse upon it, deprive him of his rule, but left the creatures to a rebellion or reluctation. And there fore if you note it attentively, when this charter was renewed unto Noah and his sons, it is not by the words, You shall have dominion; but, Your fear shall be upon all the beasts of the land, and the birds of the air, and all that moveth : not regranting the sovereignty, which stood firm ; but protecting it against the reluc tation. The sound interpreters therefore expound this image of God, of Natural Reason ; which if it be to tally or mostly defaced, the right of government doth cease ; and if you mark all the interpreters well, still they doubt of the case, and not of the law. But this

1 Franciscus dt Victoria.

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 211

is properly to be spoken to in handling the second point, when we shall define of the defacements. To go on. The prophet Hosea, in the person of God, saith of the Jews : They have reigned, but not by me ; they have set a signory over themselves, but I knew nothing of it. Which place proveth plainly, that there are governments which God doth not avow. For though they be ordained by his secret providence, yet they are not knowledged by his revealed will. Neither can this be meant of evil governors or tyrants ; for they are often avowed and stablished as lawful poten tates ; but of some perverseness and defection in the very nation itself; which appeareth most manifestly, in that the prophet spcaketh of the signory in ab- stracto, and not of the person of the Lord. And al though some heretics, of those we spake of, have abused this text, yet the sun is not soiled in pas sage.1 And again, if any man infer upon the words of the prophets following (which declare this rejec tion and, to use the words of the text, rescision 2 of their estate to have been for their idolatry,) that by this reason the governments of all idolatrous nations should be also dissolved (which is manifestly untrue) ; in my judgment it followeth not. For the idolatry of the Jews then, and the idolatry of the Heathen then and now, are sins of a far differing nature, in regard of the special covenant and the clear manifes tations wherein God did contract and exhibit himself to that nation. This nullity of policy and right of es tate in some nations is yet more significantly expressed by Moses in his canticle, in the person of God, to the Jews : Ye have incensed me with gods that are no gods,

1 in transituper cloacas. * This clause is omitted in the translation.

212 AN ADVERTISEMENT

and I ivill incense you with a people that are no people : such as were (no doubt) the people of Canaan,1 after seisin was given of the Land of Promise to the Israel ites. For from that time their right to the land was dissolved, though they remained in many places uncon- quered. By this we may see that there are nations in name, that there are no nations in right, but mul titudes only, and swarms of people. For like as there are particular persons utlawed and proscribed by civil laws of several countries ; so are there nations that are utlawed and proscribed by the lawr of nature and na tions, or by the immediate commandment of God. And as there are kings de facto, and not de jure, in respect of the nullity of their title ; so are there nations that are occupants de facto, and not de jure, of their terri tories, in respect of the nullity of their policy or gov ernment. But let us take in some examples into the midst of our proofs? ; for they will prove as much, as put after, and illustrate more. It was never doubted but a war upon pirates may be lawfully made by any nation, though not infested or violated by them. Is it because they have not certas sedes or lares? In the Piratical War which was achieved by Pompey the Great, and was his truest and greatest glory, the pirates had some cities, sundry ports, and a great part of the province of Cilicia ; and the pirates now being, have a receptacle and mansion in Algiers. Beasts are not the less savage because they have dens. Is it because the danger hovers as a cloud, that a man cannot tell where it will fall, and so it is every man's case ? The reason is good ; but it is not all, nor that which is most alledged. For the true received

1 popull Cananceorum, et reliqui.

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 213

reason is, that pirates are communes humani generis hostes ; whom all nations are to prosecute, not so much in the right of their own fears, as upon the band of human society. For as there are formal and writ ten leagues, respective to certain enemies; so is there a natural and tacit confederation amongst all men against the common enemy of human society. So as there needs no intimation or denunciation of the war ; there needs no request from the nation grieved : but all these formalities the law of nature supplies in the case of pirates. The same is the case of rovers by land ; 1 such as yet are some cantons in Arabia ; and some petty kings of the mountains, adjacent to straits and ways.2 Neither is it lawful only for the neighbour princes, to destroy such pirates or rovers ; 3 but if there were any nation never so far off, that would make it an enterprise of merit and true glory, (as the Romans that made a war for the liberty of Gnecia from a distant and remote part,) no doubt they mought do it.4 I make the same judgment of that kingdom of the Assassins, now destroyed, which was situate upon the borders of Saraca ; and was for a time a great terror to all the princes of the Levant. There the custom was, that upon the commandment of their king, and a blind obedience to be given there unto, any of them was to undertake, in the nature of a votary, the insidious murder of any prince or person upon whom the commandment went. This custom, without all question, made their whole government

1 de latronibus per terram et insidintoribus viarum.

2 qui secus angystas vias et a viatoribus frequentatas habitant.

8 neque (ut prius de Piratis dictum est) principibus tantum vicinis hos de- bellare conceditur.

* Proculdubio hoc facer e cumjustitiapossint.

214 AX ADVERTISEMENT

void,1 as an engine built against human society, wor thy by all men to be fired and pulled down. I say the like of the Anabaptists of Minister ; and this, al though they had not been rebels to the empire : and put case likewise that they had done no mischief at all actually ; yet if there shall be a congregation and consent of people 2 that shall hold all things to be law ful, not according to any certain laws or rules, but according to the secret and variable motions and in stincts of the spirit ; this is indeed no nation, no people, no signory, that God doth know ; any nation that is civil and polliced may (if they will not be reduced) cut them off from the face of the earth.3 Now let me put a feigned case, (and yet antiquity makes it doubtful whether it were fiction or history,) of a land of Amazons, where the whole government public and private, yea the militia itself, was in the hands of women. I demand, is not such a preposterous gov ernment (against the first order of nature, for women to rule over men,) in itself void, and to be sup pressed?4 I speak not of the reign of women, (for that is supplied by counsel and subordinate magis trates masculine,) but where the regiment of state, justice, families, is all managed by women. And yet this last case differeth from the other before ; because

1 totum ittud reyimen invalidum reddidit, et nullojure subnixum.

2 Qitin et si adhuc fuerit, aut in futiu-um exortunts sit, hominurn ccetus aliquis, qui, ifc.

3 cuivis sane nationi populum hunc (si ad sanitatem redire recuact) exter- minare penitus ex ccetu hominum et a fade terrce delere licebit. The word polliced (which I leave in the original spelling, not knowing any modern form of it) is translated, where it occurs on page 209, ad imperandum habili.

4 Num (juts sance mentis affirmaverit, hujus/nodi imperium, contra ordinem nature in principiis suis institutum, non esse in se vacuum et nuttum et pror- sus abolendum 1

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 215

in the rest there is terror of danger, but in this there is only error of nature.1 Neither should I make any great difficulty to affirm the same of the Sultanry of the Mamaluches ; where slaves, and none but slaves, bought for money and of unknown descent, reigned over families of freemen. And much like were the case, if you suppose a nation where the custom were, that after full age the sons should expulse their fathers and mothers out of their possessions, and put them to their pensions : for these cases, of women to govern men, sons the fathers, slaves freemen, are much in the same degree ; all being total violations and per versions of the laws of nature and nations. For the West Indies, I perceive (Martius) you have read Garcilazzo de Viega, who himself was descended of the race of the Incaes, a Mestizo, and is willing to make the best of the virtues and manners of his coun try : and yet in troth he doth it soberly and credibly enough.2 Yet you shall hardly edify me, that those nations might not by the law of nature have been subdued by any nation that had only policy and moral virtue ; though the propagation of the faith (whereof we shall speak in the proper place) 3 were set by, and not made part of the case. Surely their nakedness (being with them, in most parts of that country, without all veil or covering,), was a great

1 in hoc autem aberratio tantum a lege naturce.

2 et perquam modeste.

8 The words within the parenthesis are omitted in the translation : an omission possibly accidental, but possibly also intentional ; Bacon, as he considered the subject more closely, inclining more and more to disallow " the propagation of the faith " as a motive for an offensive war, and tend ing towards the opinion in which he rested two years afterwards, that " offensive wars for religion were seldom to be approved, or never except they have some mixture of civil titles."

216 AN ADVERTISEMENT

defacement : for in the acknowledgement of naked ness was the first sense of sin ; and the heresy of the Adamites was ever accounted an affront of nature. But upon these I stand not ; ] nor yet upon their idi ocy, in thinking that horses did eat their bits, and let ters speak, and the like : nor yet upon their sorceries, which are (almost) common to all idolatrous nations.2 But, I say, their sacrificing, and more especially their eating of men, is such an abomination, as (methinks) a man's face should be a little confused, to deny that this custom, joined with the rest,3 did not make it lawful for the Spaniards, to invade their territory, for feited by the law of nature ; and either to reduce them or displant them. But far be it from me yet nevertheless, to justify the cruelties which were at first used towards them : which had their reward soon after, there being not one of the principal of the first conquerors, but died a violent death himself; and was well followed by the deaths of many more.4 Of ex amples enough ; except we should add the labours of Hercules ; an example which, though it be flourished with much fabulous matter, yet so much it hath, that it doth notably set forth the consent of all nations and ages in the approbation of the extirpating and debellating of giants, monsters, and foreign tyrants,5

1 Sed hoc ftrroribus regionis detur : quandoquidem sit illis cum <diis non- nullis gentibus commune.

2 Neqiie rursus simplicitatem eorum commemorare placet, licet insignis fuerit, utpote qui equos frcena ipsorum manducare, literas autem loqui et commissa sibi nunclare putarent; et similia. Neque etiam sorliltgia, divina- tiones, et magicas superstitiones narro • in quibus cum phrisque gentibus idol- olatris commnnicabnnt.

3 cum oliis improbissimis conjunctum.

4 quemque etiam mors et calamitas complurium e suis non aut comitabatur aut a tergo insequebatur.

5 tyrannorum enormium.

TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR. 217

not only as lawful, but as meritorious even of divine honour : l and this although the deliverer came from the one end of the world unto the other.2 Let us now set down some arguments to prove the same ; 3 regarding rather weight than number, as in such a conference as this is fit. The first argument shall be this. It is a great error, and a narrowness or strait- ness of mind, if any man think that nations have nothing to do one with another, except there be either an union in sovereignty or a conjunction in pacts or leagues. There are other bands of society, and im plicit confederations. That of colonies, or transmi grants, towards their mother nation. Crentes unius labii is somewhat ; for as the confusion of tongues was a mark of separation, so the being of one language is a mark of union. To have the same fundamental laws and customs in chief is yet more, as it was be tween the Grecians in respect of the barbarians. To be of one sect or worship, if it be a false worship, I speak not of it, for that is but fratres in malo.^ But above all these, there is the supreme and indissoluble consanguinity and society between men in general : of which the heathen poet (whom the apostle calls to witness5) saith, We are all his generation. But much more we Christians, unto whom it is revealed in particularity, that all men came from one lump of earth, and that two singular persons were the parents

1 sect tanquam facinoribus egregiis ; quceque divinos aut saltern heroicos ho- nores mererentur.

2 atque hoc, licet liberator ille, quisquis taivlem sit, ex una orbis extremitate ad alter am penetraret.

3 Jam autem, exemplis his prcelibatis, ad argumenta redeamus.

4 This sentence is omitted in the translation.

5 Paulo Apostolo citante.

218 ADVERTISEMENT TOUCHING AN HOLY WAR.

from whom all the generations of the world are de scended ; we (I say) ought to acknowledge that no nations are wholly aliens and strangers the one to the other ; and not to be less charitable than the per son introduced by the comic poet, Homo sum, humani nihil a me alieniitn puto. Now if there be such a tacit league or confederation, sure it is not idle ; it is against somewhat, or somebody : who should they be ? Is it against wild beasts ? or the elements of fire and water ? No, it is against such routs and shoals of people, as have utterly degenerate from the laws of nature ; as have in their very body and frame of estate a mon strosity ; and may be truly accounted (according to the examples we have formerly recited) common ene mies and grievances of mankind ; or disgraces and reproaches to human nature. Such people, all na tions are interessed, and ought to be resenting, to suppress ; considering that the particular states them selves, being the delinquents, can give no redress. And this, I say, is not to be measured so much by the principles of jurists, as by lex charitatis ; lex proximi ; which includes the Samaritan as well as the Levite ; lex filiorum Adoe de massd und ; upon which original laws this opinion is grounded : which to deny (if a man may speak freely) were almost to be a schisma tic in nature.

[The rest was not perfected.]

TEUE GEEATNESS OF BEITAIN.

PREFACE.

WHEN the King of Scotland became King of Eng land, with prospect of a line of successors to whom both crowns would naturally descend, the time had come for effectino1 such a union between the two countries

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that they should become as one, and never again be provoked to separate. It was an object in which both were equally interested. In such a union Bacon saw the removal of the one blot in the tables of England. Unassailable thenceforward except by sea, of which she was mistress, and prolific of a breed of men whose nat ural strength and courage made them a match for any, her natural advantages would be then complete. In advising the House of Commons to begin at once, as the first step towards a perfect union, by naturalising the whole Scotch nation, he concluded (after reviewing the objections and comparing the inconveniences on one side and on the other) by referring to the two great benefits which would be gained by thus " knitting the knot surer and straiter between the two kingdoms by the communication of naturalisation." Those benefits were Surety, and Greatness : Surety, because it would take away from foreign enemies their means of ap proach :

" And for Greatness, Mr. Speaker, I think a man may speak it soberly and without bravery, that this

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kingdom of England, having Scotland united, Ireland reduced, the sea provinces of the Low Countries con tracted, and shipping maintained, is one of the greatest monarchies, in forces truly esteemed, that hath been in the world. For certainly the kingdoms here on earth have a resemblance with the kingdom of Heaven ; which our Saviour compareth, not to any great kernel or nut, but to a very small grain, yet such an one as is apt to grow and spread ; and such do I take to be the constitution of this kingdom ; if indeed we shall refer our counsels to greatness and power, and not quench them too much with the consideration of utility and wealth. For, Mr. Speaker, was it not, think you, a true answer that Solon of Greece made to the rich Kins:

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Croesus of Lydia, when he showed unto him a great quantity of gold that he had gathered together, in os tentation of his greatness and might ? But Solon said to him, contrary to his expectation, ' Why, Sir, if another come that hath better iron than you, he will be lord of all your gold.' Neither is the opinion of Machiavel to be despised, who scorn eth that proverb of state, taken first from a speech of Mucianus, that monies are the sinews of war ; and saith ' There are no true sinews of war, but the very sinews of the arms of valiant men.'

" Nay more, Mr. Speaker, whosoever shall look into the seminaries and beginnings of the monarchies of the world, he shall find them founded in poverty .... And therefore, if I shall speak unto you mine 'own heart, methinks we should a little disdain that the nation of Spain, which however of late it hath grown to rule, yet of ancient time served many ages, first un der Carthao-e, then under Rome, after under Saracens,

TRUE GREATNESS OF BRITAIN. 223

Goths, and others, should of late years take unto them selves that spirit as to dream of a monarchy in the west, according to that device, Video solem orientem in occidente, only because they have ravished from some wild and unarmed people mines and store of gold ; and on the other side that this island of Britain, seated and manned as it is, and that hath I make no question the best iron in the world, that is, the best soldiers in the world, shall think of nothing but reckonings and au dits, and meum and tuum, and I cannot tell what."

So spoke Bacon on the 17th of February 1606-7 ; and the train of thought into which his argument had

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thus led him was probably the origin of the fragment which follows. As in the case of the preceding dia logue, his motive for taking up the subject, and for laying it by also, may be explained by reference to the political condition of England at the time. The relief from external enemies which followed the accession of James I. left internal discontents more freedom to fer ment ; and the natural progress of things was intro ducing a change in the relations between the Crown and the people, which was hard to adjust, and threat ened much mischief in the process. Formerly the patrimony of the Crown was sufficient in ordinary times to carry on the government without assistance from Parliament. It was only on extraordinary occa sions, as of war or rebellion, that subsidies were indis pensable. But the patrimony of the Crown did not increase in proportion to the increasing requirements of a country growing in numbers, extent, and impor tance in the world. All Elizabeth's frugality, coupled with all her art in inspiring zeal to serve her, and aided by many questionable expedients in the shape of pat-

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ents and monopolies, had not sufficed to make her in dependent of Parliamentary subsidies ; which in her latter years had become, contrary to ancient precedent, matters of annual necessity. Nor when reasons had to be given year after year for departing from those time-honoured precedents and inevitable exigencies of state to be pleaded in answer to dissentients, could all the art of her ministers or all her own fearless self- reliance disguise from the Commons the fact, that by refusing to vote the supplies they could place the gov ernment in a serious difficulty. This fact once recog nized made the Commons potentially an overmatch for the Crown. They could, if they chose and had reso lution to face the immediate consequences, make their own conditions with the Crown. Apprehension of those consequences, joined with force of custom and that con servative instinct which prevails in assemblies of Eng lishmen, made the majority hesitate to use their advan tage all at once. But they had it ; they knew they had it ; and every debate on every grievance reminded them of it, and encouraged them to venture further on. In the absence of foreign quarrels the busy spirits of the time occupied themselves the more with internal discontents : and James had not been four years on the throne before Parliament had shown symptoms of a disposition which gave Bacon serious anxiety. In the Commentaries Solutus, to which I have frequently had occasion to refer (see Preface to the Temporis Partus Masculus), I find two pages of memoranda relating to " Policy." They are set down so briefly, — the heads only, without the connexion, and many of the principal words indicated merely by the first two or three letters, — that one cannot gather much more than

TRUE GREATNESS OF BRITAIN. 225

the general nature of the topics alluded to ; but the subject of meditation seems to be, the policy to be pur sued by a government short of supplies ; and the con clusion has a direct connexion with the subject of this fragment.

The first note stands thus, literatim : " The bring. ye K. low by pov. and empt. cof."

The next indicates an apprehension of serious trou bles :

" The revolt or troub. first in Sco. for till that be no dang, of Eng. discont. in dowt of a warre fro thence."

There then follow several notes relating to the great ness of particular persons or bodies — the Lower House of Parliament among others — but without any thing to explain the connexion.

Further on there are notes of commonwealth re forms ; such as " limiting all jurisdictions : more reg ular ; " " new laws to be compounded and collected ; lawgiver perpetuus princeps : " (measures, both, on which Bacon was always harping :) " restoration of the Church to the true limits of authority since H. 8th8 con fusion ; " all subjects fitted to occupy Parliament and divert attention from matters of dispute between Com mons and King. Then a few memoranda as to choice of persons. After which an allusion to this paper with which we are at present concerned :

" Finishing my treat, of ye Great, of Br. wth aspect ad pol." And finally the two following notes, which appear to point at the conclusion :

" The fairest, without dis. or per. is the gener. perswad. to K. and pt-op. and cours. of infusing every whear the foundat. in this

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lie of a mon. in ye West as an apt seat state people for it. Cyvil- yzing Ireland, furder coloniz. ye wild of Scotl. Annexing ye Lowe Countries.

" Yf anything be questio. touch. Pol. to be turned upon ye am pliation of a mon. in the Royalty."

After which the note-book passes to other subjects.

Of course all inferences drawn from memoranda like these, which were not intended to explain them selves to any one but the wTiter, are uncertain ; but we have other evidence to show that Bacon considered it an essential point of policy to provide the people and the House of Commons with some matter of inter est or ambition which they might pursue with the gov ernment, and not against it ; and that, on that princi ple, a legitimate occasion for taking part in a foreign quarrel was at all times regarded by him as a fortunate accident. And as we know that the pacific policy of James and his preference of embassies to armies was at the time unpopular, it may well be conceived that a policy aiming apparently and avowedly at the aggran disement of Great Britain among the nations (the second in dignity, according to Bacon's own estimate, Nov. Ore/, i. 129., among the ambitions of man) would, if commenced in 1608, have carried popular sympathy with it and entirely altered the relation between Crown and people. Bacon had seen a few years before, in the Parliament which met after the Gunpowder Plot, how rapidly disputes and discontents could be forgotten un der the excitement of a common passion ; and the same thing was seen not less conspicuously a few years after, when upon the determination to raise an army for the recovery of the Palatinate, a Benevolence was levied, without parliamentary authority and with universal

TRUE GREATNESS OF BRITAIN. 227

applause ; and a double subsidy was voted with unu sual alacrity, without delays questions or conditions, by the Parliament which met immediately after.

This then I take to have been the " policy " with a view to which he proposed in the summer of 1608 to go on with the treatise of the Greatness of Britain, which it seems he had then begun. How much fur ther he proceeded with it, it is impossible to know : for the manuscript which has been preserved is in a disjointed state, and any number of leaves may have been lost either from the middle or the end without leaving evidence of the fact. I suppose however that he never finished it ; finding that the courses taken by the government, then chiefly guided by the Earl of Salisbury, were directly at variance and incompatible with it, and so the chance gone. And he afterwards turned it into a general treatise on the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates ; the Latin version of which is given in the De Augmentis Sdentiarum (lib. 8, cap. iii.) as a specimen of a treatise De proferendis fini- lus imperil, and the English will be found (vol. xii. p. 176.) among the Essays.

This fragment was first published by Stephens (sec ond collection, 1634, p. 193.) from a manuscript then belonging to Lord Oxford, now in the British Muse um : Harl. MSS. 7021. fo. 25. ; — the only copy I have met with or heard of. It is a transcript in two different hands, which seem to have been at work at the same time, — if one may infer as much from the fact that though the first leaves off in the middle of the page the second begins at the top of a fresh sheet. All of it however, except a few leaves at the end, has been revised and corrected by Bacon himself ; and on

228 PREFACE TO TRUE GREATNESS OF BRITAIN.

the blank page of what has once been the last sheet of the bundle, is written " Compositions," in Bacon's hand. There can be no doubt therefore as to the genuineness of it ; and indeed it is one of the best and most careful of his writings, as far as it goes.

OF THE

TRUE GREATNESS

OF

THE KINGDOM OF BEITAIN.

FORTUNATOS NIMIUM, SUA SI BONA NOIUXT.

TRUE GREATNESS

THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN.

TO KING JAMES.

THE greatness of kingdoms and dominions in bulk and territory doth fall under measure and demonstra tion that cannot err : but the just measure and esti mate of the forces and power of an estate is a matter than the which there is nothing among civil affairs more subject to error, nor that error more subject to perilous consequence. For hence may proceed many inconsiderate attempts and insolent provocations in states that have too high an imagination of their own forces : and hence may proceed, on the other side, a toleration of many grievances and indignities, and a loss of many fair opportunities, in states that are not sensible enough of their own strength. Therefore, that it may the better appear what greatness your majesty hath obtained of God, and what greatness this island hath obtained by you, and what greatness it is, that by the gracious pleasure of Almighty God you shall leave and transmit to your children and generations

232 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

as the first founder ; I have thought good, as far as I can comprehend, to make a true survey and representa tion of the greatness of this your kingdom of Britain ; being for mine own part persuaded, that the supposed prediction, Video solem orientem in occidente, may be no less true a vision applied to Britain, than to any other kingdom of Europe ; and being out of doubt that none of the great monarchies which in the mem ory of times have risen in the habitable world, had so fair seeds and beginnings as hath this your estate and kingdom ; whatsoever the event shall be, which must depend upon the dispensation of God's will and prov idence, and his blessings upon your descendents. And because I have no purpose vainly or assentatorily to represent this greatness as in water, which shews things bigger than they are, but rather as by an in strument of art, helping the sense to take a true mag nitude and dimension : therefore I will use no hidden order, which is fitter for insinuations than sound proofs, but a clear and open order : first by confuting the er rors or rather correctino; the excesses of certain im-

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moderate opinions, which ascribe too much to some points of greatness which are not so essential, and by reducing those points to a true value and estimation : then by propounding and confirming those other points of greatness which are more solid and principal, though in popular discourse less observed : and incidently by making a brief application, in both these parts, of the general principles and positions of policy unto the state and condition of these your kingdoms.

Of these the former part will branch itself into these articles :

First, That in the measuring or balancing of great-

OF THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN. 233

ness, there is commonly too much ascribed to large ness of territory.

Secondly, That there is too much ascribed to treasure or riches.

Thirdly, That there is too much ascribed to the fruit- fulness of the soil, or affluence of commodities.

And fourthly, That there is too much ascribed to the strength and fortifications of towns or holds.

The latter will fall into this distribution :

First, That true greatness doth require a fit situation1 of the place or region.

Secondly, That true greatness consisteth essentially in population and breed of men.

Thirdly, That it consisteth also in the valour and mil itary 2 disposition of the people it breedeth : and in this, that they make profession of arms.

Fourthly, That it consisteth in this point, that every common subject by the poll be fit to make a soldier, and not only certain conditions or degrees of men.

Fifthly, That it consisteth in the temper of the govern ment fit to keep subjects in heart and courage, and not to keep them in the condition of servile vassals.

And sixthly, That it consisteth in the commandment of the sea.

And let no man so much forget the subject pro pounded, as to find strange that here is no mention of religion, laws, policy. For we speak of that which is

1 Originally " consisteth much in the natural and fit situation," &c., cor rected in Bacon's hand.

a " Militarie " in MS.: a third instance in correction of my note, Vol. XL p. 45. Compare pp. 377. 381. of Vol. XII., and pp. 239. 246. of this volume. It would seem that Bacon used the form military in his earlier works, and militar in his later.

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proper to the amplitude and growth of states, and not of that which is common to their preservation, happi ness, and all other points of well-being.

First, therefore, touching largeness of territories, the true greatness of kingdoms upon earth is not without some analogy with the kingdom of heaven, as our Sav iour describes it : which he doth resemble, not to any great kernel or nut, but to one of the least grains, but yet such a one as hath a property to grow and spread. For as for large countries and multitude of provinces, they are many times rather matters of burden than of strength, as may manifestly appear both by reason and example. By reason thus : There be two manners of securing of large territories : the one by the natural arms of every province ; and the other by the protect ing arms of the principal estate, in which case commonly the provincials are held disarmed. So are there two dangers incident unto every estate ; foreign invasion, and inward rebellion. Now such is the nature of things, that those two remedies of estate do fall respec tively into these two dangers, in case of remote prov inces. For if such an estate rest upon the natural arms of the provinces, it is sure to be subject to rebellion or revolt ; if upon protecting arms, it is sure to be weak against invasion : neither can this be avoided. Now for examples proving the weakness of states possessed of large territories, I will use only two, eminent and selected. The first shall be of the kingdom of Persia, which extended from Egypt inclusive unto Bactria and the borders of the East India, and yet nevertheless was over-run and conquered in the space of seven years, by a nation not much bi^er than this isle of Britain, and

OF THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN. 235

newly grown into name, having been utterly obscure till the time of Philip the son of Amyntas. Neither was this effected by any rare or heroical prowess in the conqueror, as is vulgarly conceived (for that Alexander the Great goeth now for one of the wonders of the world) ; for those that have made a judgment grounded upon reason of estate, do find that conceit to be merely popular. For so Livy pronounceth of him, Nihil aliud quam bene ausus vana contemnere. Wherein he judgeth of vastness of territory as a vanity that may astonish a weak mind, but no ways trouble a sound resolution. And those that are conversant attentively in the histo ries of those times, shall find that this purchase which Alexander made and compassed was offered by fortune twice before to others, though by accident they went not through with it ; namely, to Agesilaus, and Jason of Thessaly. For Agesilaus, after he had made him self master of most of the low provinces of Asia, and had both design and commission to invade the higher countries, was diverted and called home upon a war excited against his country by the states of Athens and Thebes, being incensed by their orators and coun sellors, which were bribed and corrupted from Persia, as Agesilaus himself avouched pleasantly, when he said That an hundred thousand archers of the kings of Per sia had driven him home : understanding it, because an archer was the stamp upon the Persian coin of gold. And Jason of Thessaly, being a man born to no great ness, but one that made a fortune of himself, and had obtained by his own vivacity of spirit, joined with the opportunities of time, a great army compounded of voluntaries and adventurers, to the terror of all Grsecia, that continually expected where that cloud would fall,

236 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

disclosed himself in the end, that his design was for an expedition into Persia, (the same which Alexander not many years after achieved,) wherein he was interrupted by a private conspiracy against his life, which took effect. So that it appeareth as was said, that it was not any miracle of accident that raised the Macedonian monarchy, but only the weak composition of that vast state of Persia, which was prepared for a prey to the first resolute invader. The second example that I will produce, is of the Roman empire, which had received no diminution in territory, though great in virtue and forces, till the time of Jovianus. For so it was alleged by such as opposed themselves to the rendering of Nisi- bis upon the dishonourable retreat of the Roman army out of Persia. At which time it was avouched, that the Romans by the space of eight hundred years had never before that day made any cession or renunciation to any part of their territory, whereof they had once had a constant and quiet possession. And yet never theless, immediately after the short reign of Jovianus, and towards the end of the joint-reign of Valentinianus and Valens, which were his immediate successors, and much more in the times succeeding, the Roman empire, notwithstanding the magnitude thereof, became no better than a carcase, whereupon all the vultures and birds of prey of the world did seize and ravine for many ages, for a perpetual monument of the essential differ ence between the scale of miles and the scale of forces. And therefore upon these reasons and examples we may safely conclude, that largeness of territory is so far from being a thing inseparable from greatness of power, as it is many times contrariant and incompatible with the same. But to make a reduction of that error to

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a truth, it will stand thus, That then greatness of ter ritory addeth strength, when it hath these four condi tions :

First, That the territories be compacted, and not dis-

Secondly, That the region which is the heart and seat of the state, be sufficient to support those parts which are but provinces and additions.

Thirdly, That the arms or martial virtue of the state be in some degree answerable to the greatness of do minion.

And lastly, That no part or province of the state be utterly unprofitable, but do confer some use or service to the state.

The first of these is manifestly true, and scarcely needeth any explication. For if there be a state that consisteth of scattered points instead of lines, and slen der lines instead of latitudes, it can never be solid, and in the solid figure is strength. But what speak we of mathematical principles ? The reason of state is ev ident, that if the parts of an estate be disjoined and remote, and so be interrupted with the provinces of another sovereignty, they cannot possibly have ready succours in case of invasion, nor ready suppression in case of rebellion, nor ready recovery in case of loss or alienation by either of both means. And therefore we see what an endless work the King of Spain hath had to recover the Low Countries, although it were to him patrimony and not purchase ; and that chiefly in regard of the great distance. So we see that our nation kept Calais a hundred years' space after it lost the rest of France, in regard of the near situation ; and yet in the

238 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

end they that were nearer carried it, and surprise over ran succours. Therefore Titus Quiiitius made a good comparison of the state of the Achaians to a tortoise, which is safe when it is retired within the shell, but if any part be put forth, then the part exposed endanger- eth all the rest. For so it is witli states that have prov inces dispersed, the defence whereof doth commonly con sume and decay and sometimes ruin the rest of the es tate. And so likewise we may observe, that all the great monarchies, the Persians, the Romans, (and the like of the Turks,) they had not any provinces to the which they needed to demand access through the country of another : neither had they any long races or narrow angles of territory, which were environed or clasped in with foreign states ; but their dominions were continued and entire, and had thickness and squareness in their orb or contents. But these things are without contradiction.

For the second, concerning the proportion between the principal region and those which are but secondary, there must evermore distinction be made between the body or stem of the tree, and the boughs and branches. For if the top be overgreat and the stalk too slender, there can be no strength. Now the body is to be ac counted so much of an estate as is not separated or distinguished with any mark of foreigners, but is united specially with the bond of naturalization. And there fore we see that when the state of Rome grew great, they were enforced to naturalize the Latins or Italians, because the Roman stem could not bear the provinces and Italy both as branches : and the like they were content after to do to most of the Gauls. So on the contrary part, we see in the state of Laceda3mon, which

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239

was nice in that point, and would not admit their con federates to be incorporate with them, but rested upon the natural-born subjects of Sparta, how that a small time after they had embraced a larger empire, they were presently surcharged, in respect to the slenderness of the stem : for so in the defection of the Thebans and the rest against them, one of the principal revolters spake most aptly and with great efficacy in the assem bly of the associates, telling them that the State of Sparta was like a river, which after that it had run a great way, and taken other rivers and streams into it, ran strong and mighty, but about the head and fountain of it was shallow and weak ; and therefore advised them to assail and invade the main of Sparta, knowing they should there find weak resistance either of towns or in the field : of towns, because upon confidence of their greatness they fortified not upon the main ; in the field, because their people was exhaust by garrisons and ser vices far off. Which counsel proved sound, to the as tonishment of all Grrecia at that time.

For the third, concerning the proportion of the mili tary forces of a state to the amplitude of empire, it cannot be better demonstrated than by the two first examples which we produced of the weakness of large territory, if they be compared within themselves ac cording to difference of time. For Persia at a time was strengthened with large territory, and at another time weakened ; and so was Rome. For while they flourished in arms, the largeness of territory was a strength to them, and added forces, added treasures, added reputation : but when they decayed in arms, then greatness became a burden. For their protect ing forces did corrupt, supplant, and enervate the

240 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

natural and proper forces of all their provinces, which relied and depended upon the succours and directions of the state above. And when that also waxed impo tent and slothful, then the whole state laboured with her own magnitude, and in the end fell with her own weight. And that, no question, was the reason of the strano-e inundations of people which both from the east

?"!> 11

and north-west overwhelmed the Roman empire in one age of the world, which a man upon the sudden wrould attribute to some constellation or fatal revolution of time, being indeed nothing else but the declination of the Roman empire, which having effeminated and made vile the natural strength of the provinces, and not being able to supply it by the strength imperial and sovereign, did, as a lure cast abroad, invite and entice all the nations adjacent, to make their fortunes upon her decays. And by the same reason there can not but ensue a dissolution to the state of the Turk in regard of the largeness of empire, whensoever their martial virtue and discipline shall be further relaxed, whereof the time seemeth to approach. For certainly like as great stature in a natural body is some advan tage in youth, but is but burden in age ; so it is with great territory, which when a state beginneth to de cline, doth make it stoop and buckle so much the faster.

For the fourth and last, it is true, that there is to be required and expected, as in the parts of a body, so in the members of a state, rather propriety of service than equality of benefit. Some provinces are more wealthy, some more populous, and some more warlike ; some situate aptly for the excluding or expulsing of for eigners, and some for the annoying and bridling of sus-

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241

pected and tumultuous subjects ; some are profitable in present, and some may be converted and improved to profit by plantations and good policy. And there fore true consideration of estate can hardly find what to reject, in matter of territory, in any empire, except it be some glorious acquests obtained sometime in the bravery of wars, which cannot be kept without exces sive charge and trouble ; of which kind were the purchases of King Henry VIII. that of Tournay and that of Bulloigne ; and of the same kind are infinite other the like examples almost in every war, which for the most part upon treaties of peace are restored again.1

Thus have we now defined where the largeness of territory addeth true greatness, and where not. The application of these positions unto the particular or supposition of this your majesty's kingdom of Britain, requireth few words. For as I professed in the begin ning, I mean not to blazon or amplify, but only to ob serve and express matter.

First, Your majesty's dominion and empire compre- hendeth all the islands of the north-west ocean, where

1 In the manuscript the sentence went on thus ; but a line has been drawn across the words. " Or if they be too great to be yielded up or abandoned, then it hath been the policy of the wisest estates, in case where they had impatronized themselves of any province that did border and lie open to the continual infestation of an enemy that was their match in power, rather to erect and place some beneficiary prince that might have dependence upon them, than to hold it and make it good by their own forces : as we find the state of Rome did by the kingdom of Armenia which fronted upon the Parthians, and the counsel of the Turk did by the provinces of Transil- vania, Valachia, and Moldavia, that fronted upon the Christians, though that policy hath not sorted very prosperous unto them of late years."

The case of these Turkish provinces, which had recently revolted under Sigi?mund, Prince of Transylvania, was adduced by Bacon in his speech on the Naturalization of the Scots as an instance of the liability of all unions to break which are not cemented by naturalization.

VOL. XIII. 16

242 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

it is open, until you come to the imbarred or frozen sea towards Iceland ; in all which tract it hath no inter mixture or interposition of any foreign land, but only of the sea, whereof you are also absolutely master.

Secondly, The quantity and content of these coun tries is far greater than have been the principal or fun damental regions of the greatest monarchies, greater than Persia proper, greater than Macedon, greater than Italy. So as here is potentially lody and stem enough for Nabuchodonosor's tree, if God should have so ordained.

Thirdly, The prowess and valour of your subjects is able to master and wield far more territory than falleth to their lot. But that followeth to be spoken of in the proper place.

And lastly, it must be confessed that whatsoever part of your countries and regions shall be counted the meanest, yet is not inferior to those countries and re gions, the people whereof some ages since over-ran the world. We see furder by the uniting of the continent of this island, and the shutting up of the postern (as it was not unfitly termed), all entrance of foreigners is excluded ; and we see again, that by the fit situation and configuration of the north of Scotland toward the north of Ireland, and the reputation commodity and terror thereof, what good effects have ensued for the better quieting of the troubles of Ireland. And so we conclude this first branch touching largeness of territory.

THE second article was,

That there is too much ascribed to treasure or riches in the balancing of greatness.

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Wherein no man can be ignorant of the idolatry that is generally committed in these degenerate times to money, as if it could do all things public and pri vate. But leaving popular errors, this is likewise to be examined by reason and examples, and such reason as is no new conceit or invention, but hath formerly been discerned by the sounder sort of judgments. For we see that Solon, who was no contemplative wise man, but a statesman and a lawgiver, used a memorable censure to Croesus, when he showed him great treas ures and store of gold and silver that he had gathered, telling him, that whensoever another should come that had better iron than he, he would be master of all his gold and silver. Neither is the authority of Machiavel to be despised, specially in a matter whereof he saw the evident experience before his eyes in his own times and country, who derideth the received and current opinion and principle of estate taken first from a speech of Mutianus the lieutenant of Vespasian, That money was the sinews of war ; affirming that it is a mockery, and that there are no other true sinews of war, but the sinews and muscles of men's arms : and that there was never any war, wherein the more valiant people had to deal with the more wealthy, but that the war, if it were well conducted, did nourish and pay itself. And had he not reason so to think, when he saw a needy and ill-provided army of the French, (though needy rather by negligence than want of means, as the French manner oftentimes is,) make their passage only by the reputation of their swords by their sides un drawn, through the whole length of Italy (at that time abounding in wealth after a long peace), and that without resistance, and to seize and leave what coun-

244 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

tries and places it pleased them ? But it was not the experience of that time alone, but the records of all times that do concur to falsify that conceit, that wars are decided not by the sharpest sword but by the greatest purse. And that very text or saying of Mu- tianus which was the original of this opinion, is mis- vouched, for his speech was, Pecunice simt nervi belli civilis ; which is true, for that civil wars cannot be between people of differing valour ; and again because in them men are as oft bought as vanquished. But in case of foreign wars, you shall scarcely find any of the great monarchies of the world, but have had their foundations in poverty and contemptible beginnings, being in that point also conform to the heavenly king dom, of which it is pronounced, Regnum Dei non venit cum observations. Persia, a mountainous country, and a poor people in comparison of the Medes and other provinces which they subdued. The state of Sparta, a state wherein poverty was enacted by law and or dinance ; all use of gold and silver and rich furniture being interdicted. The state of Macedonia, a state mercenary and ignoble until the time of Philip. The state of Rome, a state that had poor and pastoral be ginnings. The state of the Turks, which hath been since the terror of the world, founded upon a transmi gration of some bands of Sarmatian Scythes, that de scended in a vagabond manner upon the province that is now termed Turcomannia ; out of the remnants whereof, after great variety of fortune, sprang the Othoman family. But never was any position of estate so visibly and substantially confirmed, as this touching the pre-eminence, yea and predominancy, of valour above treasure was, by the two descents and

OF THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN. 245

inundations of necessitous and indigent people, the one from the East, and the other from the West ; that of the Arabians or Saracens, and that of the Goths, Van dals, and the rest : who, as if they had been the true inheritors of the Roman empire, then dying, or at least grown impotent and aged, entered upon Egypt, Asia, Graecia, Afric, Spain, France ; coming to these na tions, not as to a prey, but as to a patrimony ; not returning with spoil, but seating and planting them selves in a number of provinces, which continue their progeny and bear their names till this day. And all these men had no other wealth but their adventures, nor no other title but their swords, nor no other press but their poverty. For it was not with most of those people as it is in countries reduced to a regular civility, that no man almost marrieth except he see he have means to live ; but population went on, howsoever sustentation followed ; and taught by necessity, as some writers report, when they found themselves sur charged with people they divided their inhabitants into three parts ; and one third, as the lot fell, was sent abroad and left to their adventures. Neither is the reason much unlike (though the effect hath not fol lowed in regard of a special diversion) in the nation of the Swisses, inhabiting a country which, in regard of the mountainous situation and the popular estate, doth generate faster than it can sustain. In which people, it well appeared what an authority iron hath over gold at the battle of Granson, at what time one of the prin cipal jewels of Burgundy was sold for twelve pence by a poor Swiss, that knew no more a precious stone than did JEsop's cock. And although this people have made no plantations with their arms, yet we see the reputa-

246 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

tion of them such, as not only their forces have been employed and waged, but their alliance sought and purchased, by the greatest kings and states of Europe. So as though fortune, as it fares sometimes with princes to their servants, hath denied them a grant of lands, yet she hath granted them liberal pensions, which are made memorable and renowned to all posterity by the event which ensued to Lewis the twelfth ; who being pressed uncivilly by message from them for the inhanc- ing their pensions, entered into choler and broke out into these words, What! will these villains of the moun tains put a tax upon me? which words cost him his duchy of Milan, and utterly ruined his affairs in Italy. Neither were it indeed possible at this day, that that nation should subsist without descents and impressions upon their neighbours, wrere it not for the great utter ance of people which they make into the services of foreign princes and estates, thereby discharging not only number, but in that number such spirits as are most stirring and turbulent.

And therefore we may conclude, that as largeness of territory, severed from military virtue, is but a burden ; so that treasure and riches, severed from the same, is but a prey. It resteth therefore to make a reduction of this error also unto a truth by distinc tion and limitation, which will be in this manner :

Treasure and moneys do then add true greatness and strength to a state, when they are accompanied with these three conditions :

First, (the same condition which hath been annexed to largeness of territory,) that is, that they be joined with martial prowess and valour.

Secondly, That treasure doth then advance greatness,

OF THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN. 247

when it is rather in mediocrity than in great abundance. And again better ivhen some part of the state is poor, than when all parts of it are rich.

And lastly, That treasure in a state is more or less serviceable, as the hands are in which the wealth chiefly resteth.

For the first of these, it is a thing that cannot be denied, that in equality of valour the better purse is an advantage. For like as in wrestling between man and man, if there be a great overmatch in strength, it is to little purpose though one have the better breath ; but, if the strength be near equal, then he that is shorter winded will (if the wager consist of many falls) in the end have the worst : so it is in the wars, if it be a match between a valiant people and a cow ardly, the advantage of treasure will not serve ; but if they be near in valour, then the better monied state will be the better able to continue the war, and so in the end to prevail. But if any man think that money can make those provisions at the first encounters, that no difference of valour can countervail, let him look back but into those examples which have been brought, and he must confess that all those furnitures whatsoever are but shews and mummeries, and cannot shrowd fear against resolution. For there shall he find companies armed with armour of proof taken out of the stately armouries of kings who spared no cost, overthrown by men armed by private bargain and chance as they could get it : there shall he find armies appointed with horses bred of purpose and in choice races, chariots of war, elephants, and the like terrors, mastered by ar mies meanly appointed. So of towns strongly forti-

248 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

fied, basely yielded, and the like ; all being but sheep in a lion's skin, where valour faileth.

For the second point. That competency of treas ure is better than surfeit, is a matter of common place or ordinary discourse ; in regard that excess of riches, neither in public nor private, ever hath any good effects ; but maketh men either slothful and effeminate, and so no enterprisers, or insolent and arrogant, and so overgreat embracers, but most generally cowardly and fearful to lose, according to the adage, Timidus Pliitm ; so as this needeth no further speech. But a part of that assertion require th a more deep consider ation, being a matter not so familiar, but yet most as suredly true. For it is necessary in a state that shall grow and inlarge, that there be that composition which the poet speaketh of, Maltis utile belhtm ; an ill con dition of a state (no question) if it be meant of a civil war, as it was spoken ; but a condition proper to a state that shall increase, if it be taken of a foreign war. For except there be a spur in the state that shall excite and prick them on to wars, they will but keep their own, and seek no further. And in all experience and stories you shall find but three things that prepare and dispose an estate to war : the ambi tion of governors ; a state of soldiers professed; and the hard means to live of many subjects. Whereof the last is the most forcible and the most constant. And this is the true reason of that event which we observed and rehearsed before, that most of the great kingdoms of the world have sprung out of hardness and scarceness of means, as the strongest herbs out of the barrenest soils.1

i Here the manuscript breaks off in the middle of the page. The next

OF THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN. 249

For the third point, concerning the placing and dis tributing of treasure in a state, the position is simple ; that then treasure is greatest strength to a state, when it is so disposed, as it is readiest and easiest to come by for public service and use : which one position doth infer three conclusions.

First, that there be quantity sufficient of treasure as well in the treasury of the crown or state, as in the purse of the private subject.

Secondly, that the wealth of the subject be rather in many hands than in few.

And thirdly, that it be in those hands, where there is likest to be greatest sparing and increase, and not in those hands wherein there useth to be greatest ex pense and consumption.

For it is not the abundance of treasure in the sub ject's hands that can make sudden supply of the w^ant of a state ; because reason tells us, and experience both, that private persons have least will to contribute when they have most cause ; for when there is noise or expectation of wars, then is always the deadest times for monies, in regard every man restraineth and holdeth fast his means for his own comfort and suc cour, according as Salomon saith, The riches of a man are as a strong hold in his own imagination : and there fore we see by infinite examples, and none more mem orable than that of Constantinus the last Emperor of the Greeks, and the citizens of Constantinople, that subjects do often choose rather to be frugal dispensers for their enemies than liberal lenders to their princes.

paragraph begins at the top of a fresh sheet in another hand. But a catch word in the hand of the second transcriber shows that it was meant to join on.

250 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

Again, wheresoever the wealth of the subject is en grossed into few hands, it is not possible it should be so respondent and yielding to payments and contribu tions for the public ; both because the true estimation or assessment of great wealth is more obscure and un certain ; and because the burden seemeth lighter when the charge lieth upon many hands ; and further, be cause the same greatness of wealth is for the most part not collected and obtained without sucking it from many, according to the received similitude of the spleen, which never swelleth but when the rest of the body pineth and abateth. And lastly, it cannot be that any wealth should leave a second overplus for the public, that doth not first leave an overplus to the private stock of him that gathers it ; and therefore nothing is more certain, than that those states are least able to aid and defray great charges for wars, or other public disbursements, whose wealth resteth chiefly in the hands of the nobility and gentlemen. For what by reason of their magnificence and waste in expence, and what by reason of their desire to advance and make great their own families, and again upon thfo coincidence of the former reason, because they are always the fewest ; small is the help, as to payments or charges, that can be levied or expected from them towards the occasions of a state. Contrary it is of such states whose wealth resteth in the hands of mer chants, burghers, tradesmen, freeholders, farmers in the country, and the like ; whereof we have a most evident and present example before our eyes, in our neighbours of the Low-Countries, who could never have endured and continued so inestimable and insup portable charges, either by their natural frugality or

OF THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN. 251

by their mechanical industry, were it not also that there was a concurrence in them of this last reason, which is, that their wealth was dispersed in many hands, and not ingrossed into few ; and those hands were not much of the nobility, but most and generally of inferior conditions.

To make application of this part concerning treasure to your majesty's kingdoms :

First, I suppose I cannot err, that as to the endow ments of your crown, there is not any crown of Europe, that hath so great a proportion of demesne and land revenue. Again, he that shall look into your prerog ative shall find it to have as many streams to feed your treasury, as the prerogative of any of the said kings, and yet without oppression or taxing of your people. For they be things unknown in many other states, that all rich mines should be yours, though in the soil of your subjects ; that all wardships should be yours, where a tenure in chief is, of lands held of your sub jects ; that all confiscations and escheats of treason should be yours, though the tenure be of the subject ; that all actions popular, and the fines and casualties thereupon, may be informed in your name, and should be due unto you, and a moiety at the least where the subject himself informs. And further, he that shall look into your revenues at the ports of the sea, your revenues in courts of justice, and for the stirring of your seals, the revenues upon your clergy, and the rest, will conclude that the law of -England studied how to make a rich crown, and yet without levies upon your subject. For merchandizing, it is true it was ever by the kings of this realm despised, as a thing ignoble and

252 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

indign for a king, though it is manifest, the situation and commodities of this island considered, it is infinite what your majesty mono-lit raise, if you would do as a King of Portugal doth, or a Duke of Florence, in matter of merchandise. As for the wealth of the sub ject i * * * *

To proceed to the articles affirmative. The first was,

That the true greatness of an estate consisteth in the natural and Jit situation of the region or place.

Wherein I mean nothing superstitiously touching the fortunes or fatal destiny of any places, nor philosoph ically touching their configuration with the superior globe. But I understand proprieties and respects merely civil, and according to the nature of human actions, and the true considerations of estate. Out of which duly weighed, there doth arise a triple distribu tion of the fitness of a region for a great monarchy. First, that it be of hard access. Secondly, that it be seated in no extreme angle, but commodiously in the midst of many regions. And thirdly, that it be mar itime, or at the least upon great navigable rivers ; and be not inland or mediterrane. And that these are not conceits, but notes of event, it appeareth manifestly, that all great monarchies and states have been seated

1 Here the MS. stops again before the bottom of the page. The next page, which was left blank, has at one time been the outside of the bundle, for it is docqucted in Bacon's own hand, "Compositions." The rest is in the hand of the first transcriber, though not so fairly written. It bears no traces of correction or revision ; nor are there any marks to show whether all that was done is there. It will be observed that the last two of the negative articles are not touched on. But any number of sheets may have dropped out here without detection.

OF THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN. 253

in such manner, as, if you would place them again, observing these three points which I have mentioned, you cannot place them better ; which shews the pre eminence of nature, unto which human industry or accident cannot be equal, specially in any continuance of time. Nay, if a man look into these things more attentively, he shall see divers of these seats of mon archies, how fortune hath hovered still about the places, coming and going only in regard of the fixed reason of the conveniency of the place, which is immutable. And therefore first we see the excellent situation of Egypt, which seemeth to have been the most ancient monarchy, how conveniently it stands upon a neck of land commanding both seas on either side, and embrac ing, as it were with two arms, Asia and Afric, besides the benefit of the famous river of Nilus. And there fore we see what hath been the fortune of that coun try, there having been two mighty returns of fortune, though at great distance of time ; the one in the times of Sesostris, and the other in the empire of the Mama- lukes, besides the middle greatness of the kingdom of the Ptolomies, and of the greatness of the Caliphs and Sultans in the latter times. And this region, we see likewise, is of strait and defensible access, being com monly called of the Romans, Claustra ^Egypti}- Con sider in like manner the situation of Babylon, being planted most strongly in regard of lakes and overflow ing grounds between the two great navigable rivers of Euphrates and Tigris, and in the very heart of the world, having regard to the four cardines of east and west and northern and southern regions. And there-

1 Opposite this sentence is written in the margin in the transcriber's hand, "Md- to add the reasons of the three properties."

254 OF THE TRUE GREATNESS

fore we see that although the sovereignty alter, yet the seat still of the monarchy remains in that place. For after the monarchies of the kings of Assyria, which were natural kings of that place,1 yet when the foreign kings of Persia came in, the seat remained. For al though the mansion of the persons of the kings of Per sia were sometimes at Susa, and sometimes at Ecbatana, which were termed their winter and their summer par lours, because of the mildness of the air in the one, and the freshness in the other ; yet the city of estate continued to be Babylon. Therefore we see that Alex ander the Great, according to the advice of Calanus the Indian, that shewed him a bladder, which if it were borne down at one end would rise at the other, and therefore wished him to keep himself in the middle of his empire, chose accordingly Babylon for his seat, and died there. And afterwards likewise in the family of Seleucus and his descendents, Kings of the East, al though divers of them, for their own glory, were found ers of cities of their own names, as Antiochia, Seleucia, and divers others, (which they sought by all means to raise and adorn,) yet the greatness still remained ac cording unto nature with the ancient seat. Nay, fur ther on, the same remained daring the greatness of the kings of Parthia, as appeareth by the verse of Lucan, who wrote in Nero's time.

Cumque superba staret Babylon spolianda trophaeis.

And after that again, it obtained the seat of the highest Caliph or successors of Mahomet. And at this day, that which they call Bagdat, which joins to the ruins of the other, continueth one of the greatest satrapies

1 So MS. I suspect that some words have dropped out here.

OF THE KINGDOM OF BRITAIN. 255

of the Levant. So again Persia, being a country im- barred with mountains, open to the sea, and in the middle of the world, we see hath had three memorable revolutions of great monarchies. The first in the time of Cyrus ; the second in the time of the new Artax- erxes, who raised himself in the reign of Alexander Severus, Emperor of Rome ; and now of late memory, in Ismael the Sophy, whose descendents continue in empire and competition with the Turks to this day. So again Constantinople, being one of the most ex- cellentest seats of the world, in the confines of Europe and Asia.1

1 Here the MS. stops again, at the bottom of the page; but without any mark of ending. The other side of the leaf is indeed left blank ; but the rest of the original draught, if there was more, may have been in the hands of another transcriber.

COLOUES OF GOOD AND EVIL.

VOL. XIII.

PREFACE.

THE fragment entitled Of the Colours of Good and Evil (the beginning of a collection of colourable argu ments on questions of good and evil, with answers to them,) appears in a more perfect shape, though still a fragment, in the sixth book of the De Augmentis Scien- tiarum, cap. iii. As it stands here, it formed part of Bacon's earliest publication ; being printed in the same volume with the Essays and Meditationes Sacrce (1597), in the title of which it is called " Places of persuasion and dissuasion ; " and was probably composed not long before.

In a bundle of manuscripts in the British Museum (of which a more particular account will be found, un der the title of Promus of formularies and Elegancies, in the next volume), written in Bacon's hand and apparently about the years 1595 and 1596, there is a considerable collection of these " colours ; " but be ing set down without the explanations, and with only here and there a note to suggest the answer, they are valuable only as an example of his manner of working and of the activity of his industry. There are seventy or eighty altogether. The following are on a separate sheet, and may serve as a specimen of the least naked of them.

260 PREFACE TO THE

Semblances or popularities of good and evill, with their rcdargu- tions / for Deliberations.

Cujus contrarium malum bonuni; cujus bonum malum.

Non tenet in iis rebus quarum vis in temperamento et men- sura sita est.

Dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt.

Media via nulla est quae nee amicos parit nee inimicos tollit.

Solon's law that in states every man should declare himself of one faction. Neutralitye.

Utinam esses calidus aut frigidus : sed quoniam tepidus es eve- met ut te expuam ex ore meo.

Dixerunt fatui medium tenuere beati.

Cujus origo occasio bona, 'bonum: cujus mala malum.

Non tenet in iis malis quae vel mentem informant, vel affectum corrigunt, sive resipiscentiam inducendo sive necessitatem, nee etiam in fortuitis.

No man gathereth grapes of thornes nor figges of thistells.

The nature of everything is best eonsydered in the seed.

Primum mobile turnes about all the rest of the orbes.

A good or yll foundacon.

Ex malis moribus bonae lees.

When things are at the periode of yll they turn agayne.

Many effects like the serpent that devoureth her moother, so they destroy their first cause, as inopia, luxuria &c.

The fashon of D. Hect. to the dames of Lond. your way is to be sicker.

Usque adeo latet utilitas.

Aliquisque malo fuit usus in illo.

Quod ad bonum finem dirigitur bonum, quod ad malum malum.1

The sheet on which this is written, and of which the rest is left blank, is docqueted in Bacon's hand, but

1 Harl. MSS. 7017. fo. 128.

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 261

apparently at a later period, Philologue, Colors of Good and Evill.

From the character of these " redargutions," or hints for redargution, (and the rest are of the same kind, only rather less full,) compared with the more finished ex positions which will be found in the fragment which follows, there can be little doubt that they are of earlier date. I suppose that Bacon shortly after selected a few of the Colours which he had thus gathered together, and finished them according to the form of the intended treatise.

The fragment was first published, and probably first printed, along with the first edition of the Essays ; for it begins on the same sheet which contains the last of the Meditationes Sacrce, of which the first begins on the same sheet which contains the last essay. A copy of it appears however to have been sent separately (and probably in MS.) to Lord Mountjoy, to whom it was originally dedicated, or meant to be dedicated ; for a manuscript volume in the library of Queen's College, Oxford, consisting of old copies of Bacon's early letters (the same apparently, or a copy of the same, from which Dr. Rawley printed his supplementary collection in tiiQResuscitatio), contains a letter to Lord Mountjoy, evidently referring to this fragment, in some form of it. In the common editions of Bacon's works this let ter is stated to be " from the original draught in the library of Queen's College " &c. But this is a mistake. The copies in the volume to which I refer have been taken for original draughts because the copyist has been hasty and careless and had often to correct himself as he went on. But the hand is certainly not Bacon's ; and if the order in which the letters succeed eacli other

262 PREFACE TO THE

be examined, it will appear that they could not possibly be original draughts.

The letter has no date, and runs thus :

" My very good Lord,

Finding by my last going to my lodge at Twicnam and tossing over my papers, somewhat that I thought mouglit like you, I had neither leisure to perfect them, nor the patience to expect leisure. So impatient was I to make demonstration of my honoura ble love towards you and to increase your good love towards me. And I would not have your Lordship conceive, though it be my manner and rule to keep state in contemplative matters (si quis venerit nomine suo, eum recipietis), that I think so well of the collec tion as I seem to do ; and yet I dare not take too much from it, because I have chosen to dedicate it to you. To be short, it is the honour I can do to you at this time. And so I commend me to your love and honourable friendship."

Another paper headed " Mr. Francis Bacon of the Collors of good and evyll, to the Lo. Mount joy e " was found by Stephens among Lord Oxford's MSS. and printed in his " second collection : " since which time it has commonly been prefixed to the tract itself, as if it formed part of the original edition ; which is not the case. Neither in the edition of 1597, nor in any of the many reprints of it which had appeared before, is there any separate dedication prefixed to this frag ment. The manuscript however from which Stephens took it (Harl. MSS. 6797. No. 6.) is in a contem porary hand, and one which has been employed in

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 263

transcribing other papers undoubtedly of Bacon's com position : and I have no doubt that the letter in ques tion was written by Bacon with the intention (whether fulfilled or not) of prefixing it to the work — then per haps meant only for private circulation in manuscript — by way of dedication. And here it is.

" MR. FRANCIS BACON of the colours of good and

evil, to THE LORD MOUNTJOYE.

I send you the last part of the best book of Aris totle of Stagira, who (as your Lordship knoweth) goeth for the best author. But (saving the civil re spect which is due to a received estimation) the man being a Grecian and of a hasty wit, having hardly a discerning patience, much less a teaching patience, hath so delivered the matter, as I am glad to do the part of a good house-hen, which without any strange ness will sit upon pheasants' eggs. And yet perchance some that shall compare my lines with Aristotle's lines, will muse by what art, or rather by what revelation, I could draw these conceits out of that place. But I, that should know best, do freely acknowledge that I had my light from him ; for where he gave me not matter to perfect, at the least he gave me occasion to invent. Wherein as I do him right, being myself a man that am as free from envying the dead in con templation, as from envying the living in action or fortune: so yet nevertheless still I say, and I speak it more largely than before, that in perusing the writ ings of this person so much celebrated, whether it were the impediment of his wit, or that he did it upon glory and affectation to be subtile, as one that if he had seen his own conceits clearly and perspicuously delivered,

264 PREFACE TO THE COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

perhaps would have been out of love with them him self; or else upon policy to keep himself close, as one that had been a challenger of all the world, and had raised infinite contradiction : to what cause soever it is to be ascribed, I do not find him to deliver and un wrap himself well of that he seemeth to conceive, nor to be a master of his own knowledge. Neither do I for my part also, (though I have brought in a new man ner of handling this argument to make it pleasant and lightsome,) pretend so to have overcome the nature of the subject, but that the full understanding and use of it will be somewhat dark, and best pleasing the tastes of such wits as are patient to stay the digesting and soluting unto themselves of that which is sharp and subtile. Which was the cause, joined with the love and honour which I bear to your Lordship, as the person I know to have many virtues and an ex cellent order of them, which moved me to dedicate this writing to your Lordship ; after the ancient man ner : choosing both a friend, and one to whom I con ceive the argument was agreeable."

O O

This fragment was never reprinted by Bacon him self, but is appended to most of the reprints of the Essays which were published by other people both during his life and for some years after. I have col lated it with the original copy in the British Museum, and inserted translations of the Latin sentences.

OF

THE COOLERS

GOOD AND EVILL

A FRAGMENT.

1597.

1. Cui ceterae partes vel sectae secundas unanimiter deferunt, cum singulas principatum sibi vindicent, melior reliquis videtur. Nam primas quaeque ex zelo videtur sumere ; secundas autem ex vero tribuere.

2. Cujus excellentia vel exuperantia melior, id toto genere melius.

3. Quod ad veritatem refertur majus est quam quod ad opin- ionem. Modus autem et probatio ejus quod ad opinion em pertinet hsec est : quod quis si clam putaret fore, facturus non esset.

4. Quod rem integram servat bonum, quod sine receptu est ma- lum. Nam se recipere non posse impotentiae genus est, potentia autem bonum.

5. Quod ex pluribus constat et divisibilius, est majus quam quod ex paiu-ioribus et magis unum : nam omnia per partes considerata majora videntur, quare et pluralitas partium magnitudinem prae se fert : fbrtius autem operator pluralitas partium si ordo absit, nam inducit similitudinem infiniti, et impedit comprehensionem.

6. Cujus privatio bona, malum ; cujus privatio mala, bonum.

7. Quod bono vicinum, bonum : quod a bono remotum, malum.

8. Quod quis culpa sua contraxit, majus malum ; quod ab ex- ternis imponitur, minus malum.

9. Quod opera et virtute nostra partum est, majus bonum ; quod ab alieno beneficio vel ab indulgentia fortunae delatum est, minus bonum.

10. Gradus privationis major videtur quam gradus diminutionis; et rursus gradus inceptionis major videtur quarn gradus incrementi.

COLOUES OF GOOD AND EVIL.

IN deliberatives the point is, what is good and what is evil, and of good what is greater, and of evil what is the less.

So that the persuader's labour is to make things ap pear good or evil, and that in higher or lower degree ; which as it may be performed by true and solid rea sons, so it may be represented also by colours, popular ities and circumstances, which are of such force, as they sway the ordinary judgment either of a weak man, or of a wise man not fully and considerately attending and pondering the matter. Besides their power to alter the nature of the subject in appear ance, and so to lead to error, they are of no less use to quicken and strengthen the opinions and persua sions which are true : for reasons plainly delivered, and always after one manner, especially with fine and fastidious minds, enter but heavily and dully : whereas if they be varied and have more life and vigour put into them by these forms and insinuations, they cause a stronger apprehension, and many times suddenly win the mind to a resolution. Lastly, to make a true and safe judgment, nothing can be of greater use and de fence to the mind, than the discovering and reprehen-

270 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

sion of these colours, shewing in what cases they hold, and in what they deceive : which as it cannot be done, but out of a very universal knowledge of the nature of things, so being performed, it so cleareth man's judgment and election, as it is the less apt to slide into any error.

A TABLE OF COLOURS OR APPEARANCES OF GOOD AND EVIL, AND THEIR DEGREES, AS PLACES OF PERSUA SION AND DISSUASION, AND THEIR SEVERAL FAL-

LAXES, AND THE ELENCHES OF THEM. I.

Cai cceterce paries vel sectce secundas unanimiter defe- runt, cum singulce principatam sibi vendicent, melior reliquis videtur. Nam primas quceque ex zelo vide- tur siimere, secundas autem ex vero et merito tribuere. [That to which all other parties or sects agree in assigning the second place (each putting itself first) should be the best : for the assumption of the first place is probably due to partiality, the assignation of the second to truth and merit.]

So Cicero went about to prove the sect of Academ ics, which suspended all asseveration, for to be the best : for, saith he, ask a Stoic which philosophy is true, he will prefer his own. Then ask him which approacheth next the truth, he will confess the Aca demics. So deal with the Epicure, that will scant en dure the Stoic to be in sight of him ; as soon as he hath placed himself, he will place the Academics next him.

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EYIL. 271

So if a prince took divers competitors to a place, and examined them severally, whom next themselves they would rathest commend, it were like the ablest man should have the most second votes.

The fallax of this colour happeneth oft in respect of envy ; for men are accustomed after themselves and their own faction to incline unto them which are softest, and are least in their way, in despite and dero gation of them that hold them hardest to it. So that this colour of meliority and pre-eminence is a sign of enervation and weakness.

II.

Cujus excellentia vel exuperantia melior, id toto genere melius. [That which is best when in perfection, is best altogether.]

Appertaining to this are the forms : Let us not wander in generalities : Let us compare particular with particular, &c.

This appearance, though it seem of strength, and rather logical than rhetorical, yet is very oft a fal lax.

Sometimes because some things are in kind very casual, which if they escape prove excellent ; so that the kind is inferior, because it is so subject to peril, but that which is excellent being proved is superior ; as the blossom of March and the blossom of May, whereof the French verse goeth :

Burgeon de Mars, entans de Paris, Si un eschape, il en vaut dix.

272 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

So that the blossom of May is generally better than the blossom of March ; and yet the best blossom of March is better than the best blossom of May.

Sometimes because the nature of some kinds is to be more equal and more indifferent, and not to have very distant degrees, as hath been noted in the warmer climates the people are generally more wise, but in the northern climate the wits of chief are greater. So in many armies, if the matter should be tried by duel between two champions, the victory should go on one side, and yet if it be tried by the gross, it would go of the other side : for excellencies go as it were by chance, but kinds go by a more certain nature, as by discipline in war.

Lastly, many kinds have much refuse, which coun tervail that which they have excellent ; and therefore generally metal is more precious than stone, and yet a diamond is more precious than gold.

III.

Quod ad veritatem refertur majus est quam quod ad opinionem. Modus autem et probatio ejus quod ad opinionem pertinet licec e8t, quod quis si clam putaret fore, facturus non esset. [That which has relation to truth is greater than that which has relation to opinion : and the proof that a thing has relation to opinion is this : It is what a man would not do, if he thought it would not be known.]

So the Epicures say of the Stoics' felicity placed in virtue ; that it is like the felicity of a player, who if he were left of his auditory and their applause, he would straight be out of heart and countenance ; and

I

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 273

therefore they call virtue bonum theatrale. But of riches the poet saith :

Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo.

[The people hiss me, but I applaud myself.]

And of pleasure,

Grata sub imo Gaudia corde premens, vultu simulante pudorem.

[Her face said " fie for shame; " but inly blest, She nursed the secret pleasure in her breast.]

The fallax of this colour is somewhat subtile, though the answer to the example be ready ; for virtue is not chosen propter auram popularem ; but contrariwise, max- ime omnium teipsum reverere, [a man should above all reverence himself] : so as a virtuous man will be vir tuous in solitudine, and not only in theatro, though percase it will be more strong by glory and fame, as an heat which is doubled by reflection. But that denieth the supposition, it doth not reprehend the fal lax, whereof the reprehension is : Allow that virtue (such as is joined with labour and conflict) would not be chosen but for fame and opinion, yet it followeth not that the chief motive of the election should not be real and for it self; for fame may be only causa impul- siva, and not causa constituens or efficiens. As if there were two horses, and the one would do better without the spur than the other : but again, the other with the spur would far exceed the doing of the former, giving him the spur also ; yet the latter will be judged to be the better horse. And the form as to say, Tush, the life of this horse is but in the spur, will not serve as to a wise judgment : for since the ordinary instrument of horsemanship is the spur, and that it is no manner of impediment nor burden, the horse is not to be ac-

VOL. XIII. 18

274 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

counted the less of which will not do well without the spur, but rather the other is to be reckoned a deli cacy than a virtue : so glory and honour are as spurs to virtue : and although virtue would languish with out them, yet since they be always at hand to attend virtue, virtue is not to be said the less chosen for itself because it needeth the spur of fame and reputation : and therefore that position, nota ejus rei quod propter opinionem et non propter veritatem eligitur, Imc est, quod quis si clam putaret fore facturus non esset, is reprehended.

IV.

Quod rem integram servat bonum, quod sine receptu est malum. Nam se recipere non posse impotentice genus est, potentia autem bonum. [That course which keeps the matter in a man's power is good ; that which leaves him without retreat is bad : for to have no means of retreating is to be in a sort pow erless ; and power is a good thing.]

Hereof ^Esop framed the ikble of the two frogs, that consulted together in the time of drought, (when many plashes that they had repaired to were dry,) what was to be done ; and the one propounded to go down into a deep well, because it was like the water would not fail there ; but the other answered, yea but if it do fail, how shall we get up again ? And the reason is, that human actions are so uncertain and subject to perils, as that seemeth the best course which hath most passages out of it.

Appertaining to this persuasion, the forms are, you shall engage yourself ; on the other side, tantum quan tum voles sumes ex fortuna, &c. you shall keep the

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 275

matter in your own hands. The reprehension of it is, that proceeding and resolving in all actions is neces sary : for as he saith well, not to resolve is to resolve ; and many times it breeds as many necessities, and engageth as far in some other sort, as to resolve.

So it is but the covetous man's disease translated into power ; for the covetous man will enjoy nothing, because he will have his full store and possibility to enjoy the more ; so by this reason a man should ex ecute nothing, because he should be still indifferent and at liberty to execute anything. Besides neces sity and this same jacta est alea hath many times an advantage, because it awaketh the powers of the mind, and strengthened! endeavour. Cceteris pares necessitate certe superiores estis : [Being equal otherwise, in neces sity you have the better.]

V.

Quod ex pluribus constat et divisibilius, est majus quam quod ex paueioribm et magis unum : nam omnia per paries consider ata major a videntur ; quare et plurali- tas partiam magnitudinem prce se fert : fortius autem operatur pluralitas partium si ordo absit, nam indiicit similitudinem infiniti, et impedit comprehensionem. [That which consists of more things and is more divisible, is greater than that which consists of fewer and is more of one piece : for all things seem greater when they are considered part by part ; and there fore plurality of parts carries a show of magnitude. Also plurality of parts has the greater effect when there is no order in them ; for the want of ord°r gives it a resemblance to infinity and prevents com prehension.]

276 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

This colour seemeth palpable for it is not plurality of parts without majority of parts that maketh the total greater ; yet nevertheless it often carries the mind away ; yea it deceiveth the sense ; as it seemeth to the eye a shorter distance of way if it be all dead and continued, than if it have trees or buildings or any other marks whereby the eye may divide it. So when a great monied man hath divided his chests and coins and bags, he seemeth to himself richer than he was, and therefore a way to amplify anything is to break it and to make an anatomy of it in several parts, and to examine it according to several circumstances. And this maketh the greater shew if it be done without order ; for confusion maketh things muster more ; and besides, what is set down by order and division, doth demonstrate that nothing is left out or omitted, but all is there ; whereas if it be without order, both the mind comprehendeth less that which is set down, and besides it leaveth a suspicion, as if more might be said than is expressed.

This colour deceiveth, if the mind of him that is to be persuaded do of itself over-conceive or prejudge of the greatness of anything; for then the breaking of it will make it seem less, because it maketh it to appear more according to the truth : and therefore if a man be in sickness or pain, the time will seem longer without a clock or hour-glass, than with it ; for the mind doth value every moment, and then the hour doth rather sum up the moments than divide the day. So in a dead plain the way seemeth the longer, be cause the eye hath preconceived it shorter than the truth, and the frustrating of that maketh it seem longer

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 277

than the truth. Therefore if any man have an over- great opinion of anything, then if another think by breaking it into several considerations he shall make it seem greater to him, he will be deceived ; and there fore in such cases it is not safe to divide, but to extol the entire still in general.

Another case wherein this colour deceiveth is when the matter broken or divided is not comprehended by the sense or mind at once, in respect of the distract ing or scattering of it ; and being entire and not di vided, is comprehended : as a hundred pounds in heaps of five pounds will shew more than in one gross heap, so as the heaps be all upon one table to be seen at once, otherwise not ; or flowers growing scattered in divers beds will shew more than if they did grow in one bed, so as all those beds be within a plot, that they be object to view at once, otherwise not ; and therefore men whose living lieth together in one shire, are com monly counted greater landed than those whose livings are dispersed, though it be more, because of the no tice and comprehension.

A third case wherein this colour deceiveth, and it is not so properly a case or reprehension as it is a counter colour, being in effect as large as the colour itself, and that is, omnis compositio indigentice cujusdam videtar esse particeps [all composition implies some neediness] : because if one thing would serve the turn it were ever best, but the defect and imperfections of things hath brought in that help to piece them up ; as it is said, Martha, Martha, attendis ad plurima, unum siifficit. [Martha, thou art busied about many things : one thing sufficeth.] So likewise hereupon ^Esop framed the fable of the fox and the cat; whereas the fox

278 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

bragged what a number of shifts and devices he had to get from the hounds, and the cat said she had but one, which was to climb a tree, which in proof was better worth than all the rest ; whereof the proverb grew, Malta novit vulpes, sed felis unum magnum. And in the moral of this fable it comes likewise to pass, that a good sure friend is a better help at a pinch than all the stratagems and policies of a man's own wit. So it falleth out to be a common error in negociating, where as men have many reasons to induce or persuade, they strive commonly to utter and use them all at once, which weakeneth them. For it argueth, as was said, a neediness in every of the reasons by itself, as if one did not trust to any of them, but fled from one to another, helping himself only with that, JSt quce non prosunt sin- gula, multa juvant : [One will not help, but many will.] Indeed in a set speech in an assembly it is ex pected a man should use all his reasons in the case he handleth, but in private persuasions it is always a great error.

A fourth case wherein this colour may be repre hended, is in respect of that same vis unita fortior ; according to the tale of the French King, that when the Emperor's ambassador had recited his master's stile at large, which consisteth of many countries and do minions, the French King willed his Chancellor or other minister to repeat and say over France as many times as the other had recited the several dominions ; intending it was equivalent with them all, and besides more compacted and united.

There is also appertaining to this colour another point, why breaking of a thing doth help it, not by way of adding a shew of magnitude unto it, but a

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 279

note of excellency and rarity ; whereof the forms are, Where shall you find such a concurrence ? Great but not complete ; for it seems a less work of nature or fortune to make anything in his kind greater than ordinary, than to make a strange composition.

Yet if it be narrowly considered, this colour will be reprehended or encountered by imputing to all excel lencies in compositions a kind of poverty, or at least a casualty or jeopardy ; for from that which is excellent in greatness, somewhat may be taken, or there may be decay, and yet sufficiency left ; but from that which hath his price in composition, if you take away any thing, or any part do fail, all is disgraced.

VI.

Cujus privatio bona, malum ; cujus privatio mala, bo- num. [That which it is good to be rid of is evil ; that which it is evil to be rid of is good.]

The forms to make it conceived, that that was evil which is changed for the better, are, He that is in hell thinks there is no other heaven. Satis quercus ; Acorns were good till bread was found, &c. And of the other side, the forms to make it conceived that that was good which was changed for the worse, are, Bona magis ca- rendo quamfruendo sentimus : [it is by missing a good thing that we become sensible of it :] Bona a tergo formosissima : G-ood things never appear in their full beauty, till they turn their back and be going away, &c.

The reprehension of this colour is, that the good or evil which is removed, may be esteemed good or evil comparatively, and not positively or simply. So that

280 COLOUKS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

if the privation be good, it follows not the former con dition was evil, but less good: for the flower or blossom is a positive good, although the remove of it to give place to the fruit be a comparative good. So in the tale of JEsop, when the old fainting man in the heat of the day cast down his burthen and called for death, and when death came to know his will with him, said it was for nothing but to help him up with his burthen again : it doth not follow that because death, which was the privation of the burthen, was ill, therefore the burthen was good. And in this part, the ordinary form of malwm necessarium aptly reprehendeth this colour ; for privatio mail necessarii est mala, [to be deprived of an evil that is necessary, is evil,] and yet that doth not convert the nature of the necessary evil, but it is evil.

Again, it cometh sometimes to pass, that there is an equality in the change or privation, and as it were a dilemma boni or a dilemma mali : so that the corrup tion of the one good is a generation of the other; Sorti pater cequus utrique est : [there is good either way :] and contrary, the remedy of the one evil is the occa sion and commencement of another, as in Scylla and Chary bdis.

VII.

Quod bono vicinum, bonum ; quod a bono remotum, ma- Imn. [That which is next to a good thing is good ; that which is far off, is evil.]

Such is the nature of things, that things contrary and distant in nature and quality are also severed and disjoined in place, and things like and consenting in quality are placed and as it were quartered together :

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 281

for partly in regard of the nature to spread, multiply, and infect in similitude, and partly in regard of the nature to break, expel, and alter that which is disa greeable and contrary, most things do either associate and draw near to themselves the like, or at least assim ilate to themselves that which approacheth near them, and do also drive away, chase, and exterminate their contraries. And that is the reason commonly yielded, why the middle region of the air should be coldest, because the sun and stars are either hot by direct beams or by reflexion. The direct beams heat the upper region, the reflected beams from the earth and seas heat the lower region. That which is in the midst, being furthest distant in place from these two regions of heat, are most distant in nature, that is, coldest ; which is that they term cold or hot per anti- peristasin, that is invironing by contraries : which was pleasantly taken hold of by him that said, that an hon est man in these days must needs be more honest than in ages heretofore, propter antiperistasm, because the shutting of him in the midst of contraries must needs make the honesty stronger and more compact in it self.

The reprehension of this colour is, first, many things of amplitude in their kind do as it were ingross to themselves all, and leave that which is next them most destitute : as the shoots or underwood that grow near a great and spread tree is the most pined and shrubby wood of the field, because the great tree doth deprive and deceive them of sap and nourishment, So he saith well, divitis servi maxime servi, [the servants of a rich man are most servants ; ] and the comparison was

282 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

pleasant of him that compared courtiers attendant in the courts of princes, without great place or office, to fasting-days, which were next the holy- days, but otherwise were the leanest days in all the week.

Another reprehension is, that things of greatness and predominancy, though they do not extenuate the things adjoining in substance, yet they drown them and obscure them in show and appearance. And therefore the astronomers say, that whereas in all other planets conjunction is the perfectest amity ; the sun contrariwise is good by aspect, but evil by conjunction.

A third reprehension is, because evil approacheth to good sometimes for concealment, sometimes for pro tection ; and good to evil for conversion and reforma tion. So hypocrisy draweth near to religion for covert and hiding itself; scepe latet vitium proximitate boni, [vice lurks in the neighbourhood of virtue ;] and sanc tuary-men, which were commonly inordinate men and malefactors, were wont to be nearest to priests and prelates, and holy men ; for the majesty of good things is such, as the confines of them are revered. On the other side, our Saviour, charged with nearness of pub licans and rioters, said, The physician approacheth the sick rather than the whole.

VIII.

Quod quis culpa sua contraxit, mafjus malum, quod ab externis imponitur, minus malmn. [The ill that a man brings on himself by his own fault is greater ; that which is brought on him from without is less.]

The reason is, because the stino* and remorse of the

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 283

mind accusing itself doubleth all adversity : contrari wise, the considering and recording inwardly that a man is clear and free from fault and just imputation doth attemper outward calamities. For if the evil be in the sense and in the conscience both, there is a gem ination of it ; but if evil be in the one and comfort in the other, it is a kind of compensation. So the poets in tragedies do make the most passionate lamentations, and those that fore-run final despair, to be accusing, questioning, and torturing of a man's self.

Seque unum clamat causamque caputque malorum.

And contrariwise, the extremities of worthy persons have been annihilated in the consideration of their own good deserving. Besides, when the evil cometh from without, there is left a kind of evaporation of grief, if it come by human injury, either by indignation and meditating of revenge from ourselves, or by expecting or fore-conceiving that Nemesis and retribution will take hold of the authors of our hurt ; or if it be by fortune or accident, yet there is left a kind of expos tulation against the divine powers ;

Atque Deos atque astra vocat crudelia mater.

But where the evil is derived from a man's own fault, there all strikes deadly inwards and sufFocateth.

The reprehension of this colour is first in respect of hope ; for reformation of our faults is in nostra potes- tate, but amendment of our fortune simply is not. Therefore Demosthenes in many of his orations saith thus to the people of Athens : That which having re gard to the time past is the worst point and circum stance of all the rest, that as to the time to come is the

284 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

lest. What is that? Even this, that by your sloth, irresolution, and mis government, your affairs are grown to this declination and decay. For had you used and ordered your means and forces to the best, and done your parts every way to the full, and notwithstanding your matters should have gone backward in this manner as they do, there had been no hope left of recovery or repara tion ; but since it hath been only by your own errors, &c. So Epictetus in his degrees saith, The ivorst state of man is to accuse extern things ; better than that to ac cuse a ma)is self ; and best of all to accuse neither.

Another reprehension of this colour is in respect of the well bearing of evils wherewith a man can charge nobody but himself, which maketh them the less.

Leve fit quod bene fertur onus.

[The burden is lightened which is well borne.]

And therefore many natures that are either extremely proud, and will take no fault to themselves, or else very true and cleaving to themselves, (when they see the blame of anything that falls out ill must light upon themselves,) have no other shift but to bear it out well, and to make the least of it ; for as we see when some times a fault is committed, and before it be known who is to blame, much ado is made of it, but after, if it appear to be done by a son or by a wife or by a near friend, then it is light made of; so much more when a man must take it upon himself. And there fore it is commonly seen, that women that marry husbands of their own choosing against their friends' consents, if they be never so ill used, yet you shall seldom see them complain, but to set a good face on it.

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 285

IX.

Quod operd et virtute nostrd partum est, ma/jus bonum ; quod ab alieno beneficio vel ab indulgentid fortunce de- latum est, minus bonum. [The good that is won by a man's own effort and virtue, is greater ; that which is derived from the beneficence of another, or from the favour of fortune, is less.]

The reasons are, first, the future hope ; because in the favours of others or the good winds of fortune we have no state or certainty ; in our endeavours or abil ities we have. So as when they have purchased us one good fortune, we have them as ready and better edged and inured to procure another.

The forms be : you have won this by play ; you, have not only the water, but you have the receipt, you can make it again if it be lost, &c.

Next, because these properties which we enjoy by the benefit of others, carry with them an obligation, which seemeth a kind of burthen ; whereas the other which derive from ourselves, are like the freest patents, absque aliquo inde reddendo ; and if they proceed from fortune or providence, yet they seem to touch us secret ly with the reverence of the divine powers whose fa vours we taste, and therefore work a kind of religious fear and restraint : whereas in the other kind, that comes to pass which the prophet speaketh, Icetantur et exultant, immolant plagis stus, et sacrificant reti suo. [They rejoice and exult, they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag.]

Thirdly, because that which cometh unto us without our own virtue, yieldeth not that commendation and

286 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

reputation : for actions of great felicity may draw wonder, but praiseless ; as Cicero said to Caesar, Quoe miremur, habemus ; quce laudemus, expectamus : [Here is enough to admire, but what is there to praise ?]

Fourthly, because the purchases of our own industry are joined commonly with labour and strife, which gives an edge and appetite, and makes the fruition of our desire more pleasant. Suavis cibus a venatu : [Meat taken in hunting is sweet.]

On the other side, there be four counter colours to this colour, rather than reprehensions, because they be as large as the colour itself. First, because felicity seemeth to be a character of the favour and love of the divine powers, and accordingly worketh both con fidence in ourselves, and respect and authority from others. And this felicity extendeth to many casual things, whereunto the care or virtue of man cannot extend, and therefore seerneth to be a larger good ; as when Cassar said to the sailor, Ccesarem portas etforta- nam ejus, [You carry Caesar and his fortune ;] if he had said et virtatem ejus [and his virtue,] it had been small comfort against a tempest, otherwise than if it might seem upon merit to induce fortune.

Next, whatsoever is done by virtue and industry, seems to be done by a kind of habit and art, and there fore open to be imitated and followed ; whereas felicity is inimitable.1 So we generally see that things of nature seem more excellent than things of art, be cause they be imitable : for quod imitabile est potentia quadam vulgatum est : [That which can be imitated is potentially common.]

1 The original, which is not very correctly printed, has imitable. In the nexl clause, the construction being ambiguous, imitable may possibly be right.

COLOURS OF GOOD A^D EVIL.

287

Thirdly, felicity commendeth those things which cometh without our own labour ; for they seem gifts, and the other seems pennyworths : whereupon Plu tarch saith elegantly of the acts of Timoleon, who was so fortunate, compared with the acts of Agesilaus and Epaminondas, that they were like Homer's verses, they ran so easily and so well ; and therefore it is the word we give unto poesy, terming it a happy vein, because facility seemeth ever to come from happiness.

Fourthly, this same pratter spem, vel prceter expecta- twn, doth increase the price and pleasure of many things ; and this cannot be incident to those things that proceed from our own care and compass.

Grradus privationis major videtur quam gradus dimi nutions ; et rursus gradus inceptionis major videtur quam gradus incrementi. [From having something to having nothing is a greater step than from hav ing more to having less : and again from having nothing to having something is a greater step than from having less to having more.]

It is a position in the mathematics, that there is no proportion between somewhat and nothing, therefore the degree of nullity and quiddity or act, seemeth larger than the degrees of increase and decrease ; as to a monoculos it is more to lose one eye, than to a man that hath two eyes. So if one have lost divers chil dren, it is more grief to him to lose the last than all the rest ; because he is spes gregis. And therefore Sibylla, when she brought her three books, and had burned two, did double the whole price of both the

288 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

other, because the burning of that had been gradus privationis, and not diminutionis.

This colour is reprehended first in those things, the use and service whereof resteth in sufficiency, com petency, or determinate quantity : as if a man be to pay one hundred pounds upon a penalty, it is more to him to want twelve pence, than after that twelve pence supposed to be wanting, to want ten shillings more ; so the decay of a man's estate seems to be most touched in the degree when he first grows behind, more than afterwards when he proves nothing worth. And here of the common forms are, Sera in fimdo parsimonia, [Sparing comes too late when all is gone,] and, as good never a whit, as never the better, &c. It is reprehended also in respect of that notion, Corruptio unius, generatio altering : [The corruption of one thing is the genera tion of another :] so that gradus privationis is many times less matter, because it gives the cause and motive to some new course. As when Demosthenes repre hended the people for hearkening to the conditions offered by King Philip, being not honourable nor equal, he saith they were but aliments ] of their sloth and weakness, which if they were taken away, neces sity would teach them stronger resolutions. So Doctor Hector was wont to say to the dames of London, when they complained they were they could not tell how, but yet they could not endure to take any medicine ; he would tell them, their way was only to be sick, for then they would be glad to take any medicine.

Thirdly, this colour may be reprehended, in respect that the degree of decrease is more sensitive than the

O

1 The original has dements : certainly a misprint.

COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL. 289

degree of privation ; for in the mind of man gradus diminutionis may work a wavering between hope and fear, and so keep the mind in suspense from settling and accommodating in patience and resolution. Hereof the common forms are, better eye out than always ache ; make or mar, &c.

For the second branch of this colour, it depends upon the same general reason : hence grew the common place

O O JT

of extolling the beginning of everything : dimidium qui bene coepit habet : [Well begun is half done.] This made the astrologers so idle as to judge of a man's na ture and destiny by the constellation of the moment of his nativity or conception. This colour is repre hended, because many inceptions are but, as Epicurus termeth them, tentamenta, that is, imperfect offers and essays, which vanish and come to no substance without an iteration ; so as in such cases the second degree seems the worthiest, as the body-horse in the cart, that draweth more than the fore-horse. Hereof the common forms are, The second blow makes the fray, The second word makes the bargain : Alter principium dedit, alter modam abstidit,1 [the one made a beginning of the mis chief, the other made no end] &c. Another reprehen sion of this colour is in respect of defatigation, which makes perseverance of greater dignity than inception : for chance or instinct of nature may cause inception : 2 but settled affection or judgment maketh the continu ance.

Thirdly, this colour is reprehended in such things, which have a natural course and inclination contrary to an inception. So that the inception is continually

1 alter abstuUt, in the original.

2 In the original, this whole clause (for . . . inception) is omitted.

VOL. XIII. 19

290 COLOURS OF GOOD AND EVIL.

evacuated and gets no start, but there behove tli per- petua inceptio ; as in the common form, Non progredi est regredi ; Qtd non proficit deficit : [Not to go forward is to go back: he that does not get on, falls off':] run ning against the hill, rowing against the stream, &c. For if it be with the stream or with the hill, then the degree of inception is more than all the rest.

Fourthly, this colour is to be understood of gradus inceptionis a potentia ad actum, comparatus cam gradii ab actn ad incrementum : [the step from power to act compared with the step from act to increase.] For otherwise major videtur gradus ab impotentia ad poten- tiam, quani a potentia ad act tun : [from impotence to power appears to be a greater step than from power to act.]

LETTEK AND DISCOUKSE

SIR HENRY SAVILL,

TOUCHING

HELPS FOR THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS.

PREFACE.

THIS fragment might perhaps have been placed more properly among the philosophical works. The subject of it is touched, though very briefly, in the fourth chapter of the sixth book of the De Aug- mentis, under the head of Ars Pcedagogica ; which, had it been completed, would apparently have been its proper place. And considering that Bacon had taken the subject so far into consideration, found that there was much to be said about it, and proceeded so short a way with it himself, it is rather strange to me that he did not set down these Gieorgica Intellectus in his catalogue of Desiderata. It forms no part how ever of his Philosophy properly so called ; and may take its place here among the Civilia et Moralia with out any impropriety ; what there is of it being very welcome, and only making one wish that there were more.

It was first printed by Dr. Rawley in the Resuscitatio (1657) ; and appears to have been written some time between 1596 and 1604 : not before 1596, because it was in that year that Savill became Provost of Eton ; not later than 1604, because in the two most authentic manuscripts which I have met with the letter begins " Mr. Savill ; " and it was in 1604 that he became Sir Henry. One of these manuscripts is in a collection of

294 PREFACE TO LETTER TO SIR H. SAVILL.

Bacon's letters transcribed in the hand of one of his servants, and bearing in one page traces of his own. I take it to be a copy of the " Register of letters " which he speaks of in his will, and from which Rawley professes to have taken the collection in the Resusti- tatio. At any rate it is a good manuscript, and of good authority : as I can myself testify, having had occasion to compare a great number of the letters with the orig inal draughts and corrected copies (now in the Lam beth Library) from which the transcript was no doubt made. This volume is now in the British Museum (Additional MSS. 5503.) ; and contains a copy of the " Letter to Mr. Savill " which accompanied the " Dis course," though not the Discourse itself.

The other manuscript (Additional MSS. 629. fo. 2T4.) is in a hand of the time, and probably belonged to Dr. Rawley ; and though not a perfectly accurate transcript originally, it has been corrected from a better copy, — I think by Tenison. It contains both the Letter and the Discourse ; for which last I take it to be the best authority now extant.

A

LETTER AND DISCOURSE TO SIR HENRY SAVILL,

TOUCHING HELPS FOR THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS.

MR. SAVILL.

COMING back from your invitation at Eton, where I had refreshed myself with company which I loved, I fell into a consideration of that part of policy, whereof philosophy speaketh too much and laws too little ; and that is of Education of youth. Whereupon fixing my mind a while, I found straightways and noted, even in the discourses of philosophers, which are so large in this argument, a strange silence concerning one princi pal part of that subject. For as touching the framing and seasoning of youth to moral virtues, tolerance of labours, continency from pleasures, obedience, honour, and the like, they handle it ; but touching the improve ment and helping of the intellectual powers, as of conceit, memory, and judgment, they say nothing. Whether it were that they thought it to be a matter wherein nature only prevailed ; or that they intended it as referred to the several and proper arts which teach the use of reason and speech. But for the former

296 A DISCOURSE TOUCHING HELPS

of these two reasons, howsoever it pleaseth them to distinguish of habits and powers, the experience is manifest enough that the motions and faculties of the wit and memory may be not only governed and guided, but also confirmed and enlarged, by custom and exer cise duly applied : As if a man exercise shooting, he shall not only shoot nearer the mark but also draw a stronger bow. And as for the latter, of comprehend ing these precepts within the arts of logic and rhetoric, if it be rightly considered, their office is distinct alto gether from this point. For it is no part of the doc trine of the use or handling of an instrument to teach how to whet or grind' the instrument to give it a sharp edge, or how to quench it or otherwise, whereby to give it a stronger temper. Wherefore finding this part of knowledge not broken, I have but tanquam aliud agens entered into it, and salute you with it, ded icating it after the ancient manner, first as to a dear friend, and then as to an apt person, for as much as you have both place to practise it, and judgment and leisure to look deeper into it than I have done. Here in you must call to mind "Apiarov fiv Mup. Though the argument be not of great heighth and dignity, never theless it is of great and universal use. And yet I do not see why (to consider it rightly) that should not be a learning of height, which teacheth to raise the high est and worthiest part of the mind. But howsoever that be, if the world take any light and use by this writing, I will that the gratulation be, to the good friendship and acquaintance between us two. And so I commend you to God's divine protection.

FOR THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS. 297

A DISCOURSE TOUCHING HELPS FOR THE INTELLECT UAL POWERS. l

I DID ever hold it for an insolent and unlucky say ing, Faber quisque SUOB fortunes, except it be uttered only as a hortative or spur to correct sloth. For other wise, if it be believed as it soundeth, and that a man entereth into a high imagination that he can com pass and fathom all accidents, and ascribeth all successes to his drifts and reaches and the contrary to his errors and sleepings, it is commonly seen that the evening fortune of that man is not so prosperous, as of him that without slackening of his industry attributeth much to felicity and providence above him. But if the sentence were turned to this, Faber quisque ingenii mi, it were somewhat moretrue and muchmore profit able ; because it would teach men to bend themselves to reform those imperfections in themselves, which now they seek but to cover ; and to attain those virtues and good parts, which now they seek but to have only in shew and demonstration. Yet notwithstanding every man attempteth to be of the first trade of carpenters, and few bind themselves to the second : whereas nev ertheless the rising in fortune seldom amendctli the mind ; but on the other side the removing of the stands and impediments of the mind doth often clear the pas sage and current of a man's fortune. But certain it is, whether it be believed or no, that as the most ex cellent of metals, gpld, is of all other the most pliant and most enduring to be wrought : so of all living

o o * o

and breathing substances, the perfectest (Man) is the

l This title is inserted here in the Resuscitatio. It is not in the Manu script.

298 A DISCOURSE TOUCHING HELPS

most susceptible of help, improvement, impression, and alteration. And not only in liis body, but in liis mind and spirit. And there again not only in his appetite and affection, but in his power of wit and reason.

For as to the body of man, we find many and strange experiences how nature is overwrought by cus tom, even in actions that seem of most difficulty and least possible. As first in Voluntary Motion ; which though it be termed voluntary, yet the highest degrees of it are not voluntary : for it is in my power and will to run ; but to run faster than according to my light ness or disposition of body, is not in my power nor will. We see the industry and practice of tumblers and funambulos, what effects of great wonder it bring- eth the body of man unto. So for suffering of pain and dolour, which is thought so contrary to the nature of man, there is much example of penances in strict orders of superstition, what they do endure ; such as may well verify the report of the Spartan boys, which were wont to be scourged upon the altar so bitterly as sometimes they died of it, and yet were never heard complain. And to pass to those faculties which are reckoned to be more involuntary, as long fasting and abstinence, and the contrary extreme (voracity) ; the leaving and forbearing the use of drink for altogeth er ; the enduring vehement cold ; and the like ; there have not wanted, neither do want, divers examples of strange victories over the body in every of these. Nay in respiration, the proof hath been of some, who by con tinual use of divino; and workino- under the water have

& o

brought themselves to be able to hold their breath

o

an incredible time. And others that have been able without suffocation to endure the stifling breath of an

\

FOR THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS. 299

oven or furnace so heated, as, though it did not scald nor burn, yet it was many degrees too hot for any man, not made to it, to breathe or take in. And some impostors and counterfeits likewise have been able to wreath and cast their bodies into strange forms and motions : yea and others to bring themselves into trances and astonishments. All which examples do demonstrate how variously, and to how high points and degrees, the body of man may be (as it were) moulded and wrought. And if any man conceive that it is some secret propriety of nature that hath been in those persons which have attained to these points, and that it is not open for every man to do the like, though he had been put to it ; for which cause such things come but very rarely to pass ; it is true, no doubt but some persons are apter than other ; but so as the more aptness causes perfection, but the less apt ness doth not disable ; so that for example, the more apt child that is taken to be made a funambulo, will prove more excellent in his feats ; but the less apt will be gregarius funambulo also. And there is small question but that these abilities would have been more common, and others of like sort not attempted would likewise have been brought upon the stage, but for two reasons. The one because of men's diffidence in pre judging them as impossibilities ; for it holdeth in those things, which the poet saith, Possunt quia posse viden- tur ; for no man shall know how much may be done, except he believe much may be done. The other reason is, because they be but practices base and in glorious, and of no great use ; and therefore sequestred from reward of value ; and on the other side, painful ; so as the recompence balanceth not with the travel and

300 A DISCOURSE TOUCHING HELPS

suffering. And as to the will of man, it is that which is most maniable and obedient ; as that which admit- teth most medicines to cure and alter it. The most sovereign of all is Religion, which is able to change and transform it in the deepest and most imvard in clinations and motions. And next to that is Opinion and Apprehension ; whether it be infused by tradition and institution, or wrought in by disputation and per suasion. And the third is example, which transform- eth 1 the will of man into the similitude of that which is much obversant and familiar towards it. And the fourth is, when one affection is healed and corrected by another ; as when cowardice is remedied by shame and dishonour, or sluggishness and backwardness by in dignation and emulation ; and so of the like. And lastly, when all these means, or any of them, have new framed or formed human will, then doth custom and habit corroborate and confirm all the rest. There fore it is no marvel though this faculty of the mind of will and election, which inclineth affection and appe tite, being but the inceptions and rudiments of will, may be so well governed and managed, because it adinitteth access to so divers remedies to be applied to it and to work upon it. The effects whereof are so many and so known as require no enumeration ; but generally they do issue, as medicines do, into two kinds of cures ; whereof the one is a just or true cure, and the other is called palliation. For either the la bour and intention is to reform the affections really and truly, restraining them if they be too violent, and

1 So Resusc. MS. 629. has " which bound with the will of man " — and in the next clause " observant " instead of " obversant." I suspect " transformeth " to be a conjectural emendation, and not the right one. The Resusc. has most instead of much.

FOR THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS.

301

raising them if they be too soft and weak, or else it is to cover them ; or if occasion be, to pretend and rep resent them : of the former sort whereof the examples are plentiful in the schools of philosophers, and in all other institutions of moral virtue ; and of the other sort the examples are more plentiful in the courts of princes, and in all politic traffic, where it is ordinary to find not only profound dissimulations and suffocating the affections that no note or mark appear of them out wardly, but also lively simulations and affectations, carrying the tokens of passions which are' not, as risus jussm and lachrymce coactce, and the like.

OF HELP OF THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS.

THE intellectual powers have fewer means to work upon them than the will or body of man ; but the one that prevaileth, that is exercise, worketh more forcibly in them than in the rest.

The ancient habit of the philosophers ; 8i quis quce- rat in utramque partem de omni scibili.

The exercise of scholars making verses ex tempore ; Stam pede in uno.

The exercise of lawyers in memory narrative.

The exercise of sophists, and Jo. ad oppositum, with manifest effect.

Artificial memory greatly holpen by exercise.

The exercise of buffons, to draw all things to con ceits ridiculous.

The means that help the understanding and facul ties thereof are : —

Not example, as in the will, by conversation ; and here the conceit of imitation, already disgested, with the confutation obiter, si videbitur, of Tully's opinion,

302 A DISCOURSE TOUCHING HELPS

advising a man to take some one to imitate. Similitude of faces analysed.

Arts, Logic, Rhetoric. The Ancients, Aristotle, Plato, Theaetetus, Gorgias, Litigiosus vel Sophista, qu. Protagoras, Aristotle, Schola sua. Topics, Elenchs, Rhetorics, Organon, Cicero, Hermogenes. The Neo- terics, Ramus, Agricola, Nil mcri, Lullius Typocos- mia ; studying Cooper's Dictionary ; Mattheus Col lection of proper words for Metaphors ; Agrippa de Vanitate, &c.

Qii. if not here of imitation.

Collections preparative. Aristotle's similitude of a shoemaker's shop, full of shoes of all sorts ; Demos thenes Exordia Concionum. Tully's precept of Theses of all sorts preparative.

The relying upon exercise, with the difference of using and tempering the instrument ; and the simili tude of prescribing against the laws of nature and of estate.

FIVE POINTS.

1. That exercises are to be framed to the life ; that is to say, to work ability in that kind, whereof a man in the course of actions shall have most use.

2. The indirect1 and oblique exercises which do per partes and per consequentiam inable those facul ties, which perhaps direct exercise at first would but distort. And those have chiefly place where the faculty is weak not per se but per accidens. As if want of memory grow through lightness of wit and want of stayed attention, then the mathematics or the law helpeth ; because they are things wherein if the mind once roam it cannot recover.

i A blank is left in the MS. for this word.

FOR THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS. 303

3. Of the advantages of exercise ; as to dance with heavy shoes, to march with heavy armour and car riage ; and the contrary advantage (in natures very dull and unapt) of working alacrity by framing an exercise with some delight and affection ;

veluti pueris dant crustula blandi Doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima.

4. Of the cautions of exercise ; as to beware lest by evil doing, as all beginners do weakly, a man grow and be inveterate in an ill habit ; and so take not the ad vantage of custom in perfection, but in confirming ill.

Slubbering on the lute.

5. The marshalling and sequel of sciences and prac tices : Logic and Rhetoric should be used to be read after Poesy, History, and Philosophy. First exercise to do things well and clean ; after, promptly and readily.

I.

The exercises in the universities and schools are of memory and invention ; either to speak by heart that which is set down verbatim, or to speak ex tempore ; whereas there is little use in action of either of both : but most things which we utter are neither verbally premeditate, nor merely extemporal. Therefore exer cise would be framed to take a little breathing ; and to consider of heads ; and then to form and fit the speech ex tempore. This would be done in two man ners, both with writing and tables, and without : for in most actions it is permitted and passable to use the note ; whereunto if a man be not accustomed, it will put him out.

304 TOUCHING HELPS FOR INTELLECTUAL POWERS.

There is no use of a Narrative Memory in acade mies, viz. with circumstances of times, persons, and places, and with names ; and it is one art to discourse, and another to relate and describe ; and herein use and action is most conversant.

Also to sum up and contract is a thing in action of very general use.

SHORT NOTES

FOR

CIVIL CONVERSATION

PREFACE.

THESE notes were first printed — first so far as I know — in the Remains (1648) : a book of no au thority when unsupported by better. No one however who has read Bacon's Essay on Discourse will doubt that they are his ; and they contain one or two obser vations not to be found elsewhere. Mr. Montagu says there is a manuscript of them in the British Museum ; but he gives a wrong reference ; and I regret to say that I cannot supply the right one : for though I feel confident that I have seen them in some manuscript collection, I cannot find it again. In the absence of better authority, I have printed this little piece as I find it in Birch's edition of Bacon's works : who seems to have had some better copy than that in the Remains ; though I suspect it to be still far from cor rect.

SHORT NOTES

FOR

CIVIL CONVERSATION

1. To deceive men's expectations generally with cautel, argueth a staid mind, and unexpected con stancy : viz. in matters of fear, anger, sudden joy, or grief, and all things which may affect or alter the mind in public or sudden accidents, or such like.

2. It is necessary to use a steadfast countenance, not wavering with action, as in moving the head or hand too much, which sheweth a fantastical, light, and fickle operation of the spirit, and consequently like mind as gesture : only it is sufficient, with lei sure, to use a modest action in either.

3. In all kinds of speech, either pleasant, grave, severe, or ordinary, it is convenient to speak lei surely, and rather drawingly, than hastily ; because hasty speech confounds the memory, and oftentimes, besides unseemliness, drives a man either to a non plus or unseemly stammering, harping upon that which should follow ; whereas a slow speech con- firmeth the memory, addeth a conceit of wisdom to the hearers, besides a seemliness of speech and coun tenance.

310 SHORT NOTES FOR CIVIL CONVERSATION.

4. To desire in discourse to hold [ill arguments, is ridiculous, wanting true judgment ; for in all things no man can be exquisite.

f), 6. To have common places to discourse, and to want variety, is both tedious to the hearers, and showTs a shallowness of conceit : therefore it is good to vary, and suit speeches with the present occasions ; and to have a moderation in all our speeches, especially in jesting of religion, state, great persons, weighty and important business, poverty, or any thing deserving pity.

7. A long continued speech, without a good speech of interlocution, sheweth sknvness : and a good reply, without a good set speech, showeth shallowness and weakness.

8. To use many circumstances, ere you come to the matter, is wearisome ; and to use none at all, is but blunt,

9. Bashfulness is a great hindrance to a man, both of uttering his conceit, and understanding what is pro pounded unto him ; wherefore it is good to press him self forwards with discretion, both in speech and com pany of the better sort.

Usus promptos facit.

APOPHTHEGMS

NEW AND OLD.

PREFACE.

BACON'S collection of Apophthegms, though a sick man's task, ought not to be regarded as a work merely of amusement ; still less as a jest-book. It was meant for a contribution, though a slight one, towards the supply of what he had long considered as a desidera tum in literature. In the Advancement of Learning he had mentioned Apophthegms with respect, along with Orations and Letters, as one of the appendices to Civil History ; regretting the loss of Caesar's collection ; " for as for those which are collected by others (he said) either I have no taste in such matters, or their choice hath not been happy." l This was in 1605. In re vising and enlannno; that treatise in 1623, he had

c5 O O

spoken of their use and worth rather more fully. " They serve (he said) not for pleasure only and ornament, but also for action and business ; being, as one called them, mucrones verborum, — speeches with a point or edge, whereby knots in business are pierced and severed. And as former occasions are continually recurring, that which served once will often serve again, either produced as a man's own or cited as of ancient authority. Nor can there be any doubt of the utility in business of a thing which Caesar the Dictator thought worthy of his own labour ; whose

1 Advancement of Learning, Book II. ^ 9.

314 PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS.

collection I wish had been preserved ; for as for any others that we have in this kind, but little judgment has in my opinion been used in the selection."1 Of this serious use of apophthegms Bacon himself had had long experience, having been all his life a great citer of them ; and in the autumn of 1624, when he was recovering from a severe illness, he employed him self in dictating from memory a number that occurred to him as wrorth setting down.

The fate of this collection has been singular. The original edition 2 (a very small octavo volume dated 1G25, but published about the middle of December 1624 8) consisted of 280 apophthegms, with a short preface. Of this volume Dr. Rawley, in the first edi tion of the Jiemscitatio (1657), makes no mention whatever, either where he enumerates the wrorks com posed during the last five years of Bacon's life, or in the " perfect list of his Lordship's true works both in English and Latin " at the end of the volume. And his words, taken strictly, would seem to imply (since

1 " Xeque apophthegmata ipsa ;ul delectationem ct ornatum tantum prosunt, sed ad res gerendas etiam et nsus civiles. Simt enim (ut aiebat ille) veluti secures aut niacrones verborum; qui reruin ft negotiorum nodos acumine quodam secant et penetrant ; occasiones autem redemit in orbem, et quod olini erat eominodum rursus adhiberi et prodesse potest, sive quis ea tanquam sua prot'erat, sive tanquani vetera. Xe<ine certe de utilitate ejus rei ad civilia dubitari potest, quam Ciesar Dictator opera sua honesta- vit; cujus liber utinain extaret, cum ea qn;e usquam babentur in hoc gen- ere nobis paruin cum delectu congesta videantur." — De Aug. Set. ii. 12.

'2 A/>oj>Jithe(/ities new intd old. Collected l»j tlie Riyld Honourable Francis Lo. Vtrnl'.tm Viscount St. Alb (in. London. Printed for Hanna Barret and Rlclnrd Wliittuker, and (ire, to be sold at the Kiny's Ifend in Paul's Church yard. 16-25.

A copy in Gray's Inn Library has the date 1026; but appears to be in all other respects exactly the same.

3 Chamberlain to Carlton, 18 Dec. 1624. Court and Times of James I., ii. p. 486.

PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS. 315

lie cannot have been ignorant of its existence) that he did not acknowledge it as Bacon's. But I sup pose he had either forgotten it, or did not think it im portant or original enough to be worth mentioning.

In 1658 there came forth a small volume, without any editor's name, under the following title : Witty Apophthegms delivered at several times and upon several occasions, by King James, King Charles, the Marquess of Worcester, Francis Lord Bacon, and Sir Thomas Moore. Collected and revised. In this volume the apophthegms attributed to Bacon are in all 184 ; of which 163 are copied verbatim from his own collec tion of 1625, and follow (with one or two slight ex ceptions, probably accidental) in the same order. The remaining 21, which are mostly of a very inferior character, are not added but interspersed.

In 1661 appeared a second edition, or rather a re issue, of the Resuscitatio, edited as before by Dr. Raw- ley, and with some additions ; among which was a collection of " Apophthegms, new and old." This, though introduced without a word of preface or ad vertisement from editor or publisher, \vas so far from being a reprint of the original collection of 1625, that I do not think the editor can have had a copy of it to refer to. Of the original 280 no less than 71 are en tirely omitted ; 39 new ones are introduced ; the order is totally changed ; the text considerably altered. The alterations in the text are indeed (though I think not generally for the better) no more than might have been made by Bacon himself in revising the book. A few of the omissions also might be accounted for in the same way ; but very many of the omitted ones are among the best in the volume, and such as he

316 PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS.

could have no motive for suppressing. Still less is it possible to imagine a reason for the change of order, which could hardly have been more complete or more capricious if the leaves of the book had been first sep arated and then shuffled. Whoever will take a copy of the bound volume and endeavour to write directions in it for any such change in the arrangement, Avill see that it could not have been done without a great deal of time and trouble. And seeing that it was now more than thirty years since that volume appeared, that it had never been reprinted, nor ever much val ued, and (being so small) might easily be lost, the more probable supposition is that Dr. Rawley had no copy of it, and made up his collection from loose and imperfect manuscripts.

In 1671, three or four years after Dr. Rawley's death, appeared a third edition of the llesmcitatio, in two parts. The first part contains a collection of Apophthegms, which from the publisher's preface one would expect to find a mere reprint from the second edition. But it is in fact a new collection, made up by incorporating the " Witty Apophthegms " of 1658, of which it contains all but 12, with Dr. Rawley's collection of 1661. By this means the number of apophthegms is increased from 248 to 296 ; the new ones being not added as a supplement, but interspersed among the old. Of the 71 which formed part of Ba con's original collection but not of Dr. Rawley's, 32 are thus supplied. Eight more might have been sup plied from the same source, but were left out perhaps by accident. There remained therefore 39 genuine ones still to be recovered ; a fact which may be best explained by supposing that the editor of the third edi-

-PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS. 317

tion of the Resuscitatio had not been able, any more than Dr. Rawley when he edited the second, to pro cure a copy of the original volume.

In 1679, a new volume of remains, under the title of Baconiana, was published by Dr. Tenison from original manuscripts ; with an introduction contain ing " an account of all the Lord Bacon's works." In this introduction he tells us (p. 59.) that the best edi tion of the Apophthegms was the first (1625) ; and censures as spurious, or at least as including spurious matter, the additions contained in the two collections last mentioned of 1658 and 1671 ; but of Dr. Raw- ley's collection in 1661 he strangely enough makes no mention whatever. In the body of the work he gives 27 additional apophthegms, found among Bacon's pa pers, and never before printed.

Next came Blackbourne, in 1730, with an edition of Bacon's works complete in 4 volumes folio. His plan in dealing with the Apophthegms was to reprint, 1st, the whole collection (repetitions omitted) as it stood in the third edition of the Resuscitatio ; 2ndly, the 27 additional ones in Tenison's Baconiana (all but 3 ; which he omitted, not very judiciously, be cause they are to be found in the Essays) ; 3rdly, the remaining 39, contained in the original edition, but omitted in all later copies. Tims we had for the first time a collection which included all the genuine ap ophthegms. But it was defective in this, — that it included likewise all, or all but one or two, of those which Tenison had alluded to in general terms as spurious ; and that no attempt was made in it to dis tinguish those which had Dr. Rawley 's sanction from those which had not.

318 PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS.

Succeeding editors followed Blackbourne, without either noticing or trying to remedy this defect ; until Mr. Montagu took up the task in his edition of 1825, in which he made an attempt, more laudable than successful, to separate the genuine from the spurious. Taking Tenison's remark as his guide, he reprinted the original collection of 1625 exactly as it stood, (or at least meant to do so ; for there are more than 130 places in which his copy differs from the original,) and then added the supplementary collection in the Baconiana. The rest he concluded to be spurious, and gathered them (or meant to gather them and thought he had done so) into an appendix, under that title. But in this he took no account of the sec ond edition of the Resuscitatio, which must certainly be considered as having the sanction of Dr. Rawley ; and the principle, whatever it was, upon which he proceeded to eliminate the spurious apophthegms was altogether fallacious. Observing that the last apoph thegm in the third edition of the Remscitatio was numbered 308, whereas in the original collection there were only 280 ; and not observing that of those 308, 12 were given twice over ; he seems to have conclud ed that the number of the spurious must be 28, and that they might be found by simply going through the later collection, and marking off all those which were not given in the earlier. And the first 25 in his spurious list were probably selected in that way ; for they are the first 25 (one only excepted, which is given in the original collection, and was probably marked off by mistake) which answer the conditions ; and they are set down in the order in which to a per son so proceeding they would naturally present them-

PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS. 319

selves. Upon what principle he selected the other three which make up the 28, I cannot guess. One of them he has himself printed a few pages before among the genuine ; another he quotes in his preface as one which he can hardly believe not to be genuine ; and before he came to the third, he must, if he took them as they stand in the book, have passed by 20 others which have precisely the same title to the dis tinction. But howsoever he went about it, his result is certainly wrong ; for among his 28 spurious apoph thegms there are several which were undoubtedly sanctioned by Dr. Rawley, besides the two which had been previously printed among the genuine ones by himself; and when all is done, there remain no less than 30 others, silently omitted and entirely unac counted for.

Such is the latest shape in which this little work appears.1 The common editions contain all the apoph thegms ; but some that are spurious are printed in them as genuine. Mr. Montagu's edition does not contain all : and some that are genuine are printed in it as spurious.

I have now to explain the plan upon which I have myself proceeded in order to set the matter right.

First. Considering that the edition of 1625 was published during Bacon's life, with his name on the title-page ; that there is no reason for supposing that

1 This was written before the appearance of Mr. Bonn's volume of the Moral and Historical Works of Lord Bacon, edited by Joseph Devey, M.A., which professes to contain the " Apophthegms ; omitting those known to be spurious." Of the collection there given however it is not necessary to take any further notice. It is merely a selection from a selection, in which no attempt has really been made to distinguish the spurious from the gen uine.

320 PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS.

lie revised or altered it afterwards ; and that there is some reason for suspecting that the collection published by Dr. Rawley in 1601, far from being a revised edi tion of the former, was made up, when a copy of the original volume was not procurable, from some imper fect manuscript or from old note-books ; I regard the 280 apophthegms printed in 1025 as those which we are most certain that Bacon himself thought worth preserving. I begin therefore by reprinting these from the original edition; and so far I follow Mr. Montagu's

t? ' £"?

example.

Secondly. Considering nevertheless that Bacon may possibly have revised this collection, and struck out some and altered others ; and that Dr. Rawley may pos sibly have had by him some portions of that revised copy, or some memoranda of those omissions and alter ations ; I regard the variations as worth preserving.1 I have therefore compared the two collections, marked with a f all the apophthegms which are not found in the later, and recorded in foot-notes all the more con siderable differences of reading that occur in those which are ; adding also for convenience of reference the numbers which they bear in the later collection.

Thirdly. Considering that Rawley had access to all Bacon's unpublished papers,2 and had been in con-

1 The substitution, in almost every case, of "the House of Commons" for "the Lower House" has a kind of historical significance.

2 In a catalogue of Bacon's extant MSS. (Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. 629. fo. 271.), not dated, but drawn up by Rawley after Bacon's death, I find the three following entries: —

" Apophthegms cast out of my Lord's book, and not printed.

"Apophthegms of K. James.

"Some few apophthegms not chosen."

There is no allusion to any revision of the printed book. The first of these

PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS. 321

stant personal communication with him during his later years ; and that Bacon had been in the habit of setting down such things from time to time in note books, and may very likely have made a supplementary collection with a view to publication ; I regard all the additional apophthegms which appear in the collection of 1661 as probably genuine, and as resting on authority second only to that which belongs to the original edition. These therefore I reprint from the second edition of the Resuscitatio, in the order in which they occur ; and for more convenient reference, with the original num bers affixed. And at the same time, because in a com mon-place book of Dr. Rawley's which is preserved in the Lambeth Library and appears to have been begun soon after Bacon's death I find several of these ad ditional apophthegms set down in a form somewhat different ; and because I think it probable that Dr. Rawley, in preparing them for publication, occasion ally introduced variations of his own in order to correct the language or clear the meaning ; I have thought the original form worth preserving, and have therefore compared the versions and set down the variations in foot-notes.

Fourthly. Considering that many of Bacon's origi-

entries evidently refers to some apophthegms which had been struck out of the MS. before it was published; the last probably to some which had not been included in it. The "apophthegms of K. James" may have been the seven which stand first among the additions introduced by Rawley in his collection of 1661. If the MS. from which the collection of 1625 was printed remained in Dr. Rawley's hands, it would not be mentioned in this catalogue, which relates only to what had not been printed. We may easi ly suppose therefore that some of the loose sheets were still preserved ; and that, when the original volume was not procurable, he made up his col lection by incorporating these with the unpublished ones mentioned in the catalogue.

VOL. XIII. 21

322 PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS.

nal papers passed through the hands of Dr. Rawley or his son into those of Dr. Tenison, I regard the supple mentary collection in the Baconiana as also probably genuine, and next in authenticity to the collection of 1661. These therefore I print next; also preserving in foot-notes such various readings as I find in Dr. Rawley's common-place book above mentioned.

Fifthly. In this same common-place book I find other apophthegms and anecdotes, not included in any of the three collections, — Bacon's, Rawley's, or Tenison's; a few of which I have thought worth preserving ; some for their independent value, and some for a little light they throw on Bacon's personal character, manners, or habits. These I print next. They have probably as good a right to be considered genuine as any that were not published by Bacon himself; for they are set down in Rawley's own hand.

Sixthly. When all this is done, there remain 16 which rest upon no better authority than that of the unknown editor of the " Witty Apophthegms." These I regard as having no right to appear at all under Bacon's name, and accordingly remit them to a note, as spurious.

In a note to Bacon's preface, as given in the second edition of the Resmcitatio, Dr. Rawley expressly states that the collection was made from memorv, " without turning any book." If I am right in conjecturing that the only collection made by Bacon himself was that of 1625, we must understand Dr. Rawley's remark as applying to that ; and we must beware of attributing to it any great historical authority. It will be found that some of the sayings, especially those of the ancient philosophers, are assigned to the wrong persons. But

PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS. 323

what is interesting or memorable in them depends in general so little upon the persons who spoke them ; and the traditional sayings of famous wits must always be in great part so apocryphal ; that I have not thought it worth while to investigate the authorities, or expedient to encumber the text with notes of that kind. The authenticity of the anecdotes relating to persons of more recent times would be better worth investigation ; but in these cases Bacon is himself (either as a per sonal witness or as a preserver of traditions then cur rent) one of the original authorities, whom it would not be easy to correct by a better. In these cases also his memory is less likely to have deceived him.1 But the whole collection is to be read with this qualifica tion. Dr. Tenison adds that it was one morning's work. But he does not tell us upon what author ity ; and certainly Dr. Rawley has left no such state ment on record. Perhaps he was confounding what Dr. Rawley said of " The beginning of the History of Henry VIII." with what he said about the Apoph thegms, and so put the two together. The statement is not to be believed without very good and very ex press authority.

The use and worth of the collection will be best understood by those who have studied Bacon's own manner of quoting apophthegms, to suggest, illustrate,

or enliven serious observations. And it was Greater in

&

his time than it is now, not only because they were fresher then and carried more authority in popular estimation, but also because the ingenuities of the un-

1 1 have however noted two or three cases in which he appears to have relied upon an imperfect recollection of the Floresta espaiiola ; a circum stance which was pointed out to me by Mr. Ellis.

324 PREFACE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS.

derstanding were then more affected and in greater request. A similar collection adapted to modern times would be well worth making.

NOTE.

In this edition, where a note is signed R., it means that such is the reading of the Resuscitatio, ed. 16G1. The numbers within brackets are the numbers by which the several apophthegms are distinguished in that collection. The apophthegms marked f are not contained in it at all.

APOPHTHEGMES

NEW AND OLD.

COLLECTED BY

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

FRANCIS LO. YERULAM VISCOUNT ST. ALBAN.

LONDON.

Printed for Hanna Barret and Richard Whittaker, and are to be sold at the King's Head in Paul's Church-yard.

1625.

APOPHTHEGMS NEW AND OLD.

His Lordship's Prefaced

JULIUS CAESAR did write a Collection of Apoph thegms, as appears in an epistle of Cicero.2 I need say no more for the worth of a writing of that nature. It is pity his book 3 is lost : for I imagine they were collected with judgment and choice ; whereas that of Plutarch and Stobaeus, and much more the modern ones, draw much of the dregs. Certainly they are of excellent use. They are mucrones verborum, pointed speeches.* Cicero prettily calls them salinas, sattpits ; that you may extract salt out of, and sprinkle it where you will. They serve to be interlaced in continued speech. They serve to be recited upon occasion of themselves. They serve if you take out the kernel of them, and make them your own. I have, for my rec reation in my sickness, fanned the old ; 5 not omitting any because they are vulgar, (for many vulgar ones are excellent good,) nor for the meanness of the person, but because they are dull and flat ; and added 6 many new, that otherwise would have died.7

1 So R. There is no heading in the original.

2 So did Macrobius, a Consular man. R. 8 Cesar's book. R.

4 The words of the wise are as goods, saith Solomon. (Added in R.)

5 I have for my recreation, amongst more serious studies, collected some few of them ; therein fanning the old. R.

6 adding. R.

7 This collection his LP- made out of his memory, without turning any book. R. (Note in margin.)

328 APOPHTHEGMS

APOPHTHEGMS NEW AND OLD.

f 1. WHEN Queen Elizabeth had advanced Ralegh, she was one day playing on the virginals, and rny Lo. of Oxford and another nobleman stood by. It fell out so, that the ledge before the jacks was taken away, so as the jacks were seen : My Lo. of Oxford and the other nobleman smiled, and a little whispered : The Queen marked it, and would needs know What the matter was ? My Lo. of Oxford answered ; That they smiled to see that when Jacks went up Heads went down.

2. (16.) Henry the Fourth of France his Queen was great J with child. Count Soissons, that had his expectation upon the crown, when it was twice or thrice thought that the Queen was with child before, said to some of his friends, That it was but with a pil low. This had some ways come to the King's ear ; who kept it till when2 the Queen waxed great ; called3 the Count Soissons to him, and said, laying his hand upon the Queen's belly, Come, cousin, it is no pillow.* Yes, /Sir, (answered the Count of Soissons,)5 it is a pillow for all France to sleep upon.

3. (26.) There was a conference in Parliament be tween the Upper house and the Lower,6 about a Bill of Accountants, which came down from the Lords

1 young. R. 2 such time as. R.

8 Then he called. R. 4 is this a pillow? R.

. 5 The C. of S. answered, Yes Sir, &c. R.

6 between the Lords' House and the House of Commons. R.

NEW AND OLD. 329

to the Commons ; which bill prayed, that the lands of accountants, whereof they were seized when they entered upon their office, mought be liable to their arrears to the Queen. But the Commons desired that the bill mought not look back to accountants that were already, but extend only to accountants hereafter. But the Lo. Treasurer said, Why, I pray ^ if you had lost your purse by the way, would you look forwards, or would you look back? The Queen hath lost her purse.

4. (1.) Queen Elizabeth, the morrow of her coro nation, went to the chapel ; and in the great chamber, Sir John Rainsford, set on by wiser men, (a knight that had the liberty of a buffone,) besought the Queen aloud ; That now this good time when prisoners were de livered, four prisoners amongst the rest mought likewise have their liberty, who were like enough to be kept still in hold. The Queen asked ; Who they were? And he said: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who had long been im prisoned in the Latin tongue; and ncrw he desired they mought go abroad among the people in English. The Queen answered, with a grave countenance ; It were good (^Rainsford) they were spoken with themselves, to know of them whether they would be set at liberty ? 2

1 1 pray you. R.

2 Queen Elizabeth, the morrow of her coronation; (it being the custom to release prisoners at the inauguration of a prince;) went to the Chapel; and in the Great Chamber, one of her courtiers who was well known to her, either out of his own motion, or by the instigation of a wiser man, presented her with a petition ; and before a great number of courtiers be sought her with a loud voice; That now this yood time there m'ujlii be four or Jive principal prisoners more released; those were the four Evangelists and the Apostle, Saint Paul, who had been long shut up in an unknown tongue, as it were in prison ; so as they could not converse with the common people. The Queen answered very gravely; That it toas best Jirst to enquire of them, whether they would be released or no. R.

330 APOPHTHEGMS

5. (29.) The Lo. Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon, was asked his opinion by Queen Elizabeth of one of these Monopoly Licences. And he answered ; Will you have me speak truth, Madam ? Licentid omnes deteriores su- mus : We are all the ivorse for a licence.1

6. (206.) Pace, the bitter Fool, was not suffered to come at the Queen,2 because of his bitter humour. Yet at one time some persuaded the Queen that he should come to her ; undertaking for him that he should keep compass.3 So he was brought to her, and the Queen said : Come on, Pace : now we shall hear of our faults. , Saith Pace ; / do not use to talk of that that all the town talks of.

7. (30.) My Lo. of Essex, at the succour of Rhoan, made twenty-four knights, which at that time was a great matter.4 Divers of those gentlemen were of weak and small means ; which when Queen Elizabeth heard, she said, My Lo. mought have done well to have built Ids alms-house before he made his knights.

f 8. A great officer in France was in danger to have lost his place ; but his wife, by her suit and means making, made his peace ; whereupon a pleasant fellow said, That he had been crushed, but that lie saved himself upon his horns.

9. (2.) Queen Anne Bullen, at the time when she Avas led to be beheaded in the Tower, called one of the King's privy chamber to her, and said to him ; Com mend me to the King, and tell him he is5 constant in his course of advancing me. From a private gentlewoman he made me a marquisse ; 6 and from a marquisse 6 a

1 for licences. R. 2 at Queen Elizabeth. R.

3 within compass. R. 4 number. R.

5 hath been ever. R. 6 marchioness. R.

NEW AND OLD. 331

queen ; and now he had left l no higher degree of earthly honour, he hath made me a martyr?

10. (207.) Bishop Latimer said, in a sermon at court ; That he heard great speech that the King was poor and many ways were propounded to make him rich: For his part he had thought of one way, which was, that they should lielp the King to some good office, for all his officers were. rich.

11. (122.) Caesar Borgia, after long division be tween him and the Lords of Romagna, fell to accord with them. In this accord there was an article, that he should not call them at any time all together in person : The meaning was, that knowing his danger ous nature, if he meant them treason, some one mought be free to revenge the rest.3 Nevertheless he did with such art and fair usage win their con fidence, that he brought them all together to counsel at Sinigalia ; 4 where he murthered them all. This act, when it was related unto Pope Alexander his father by a Cardinal, as a thing happy, but very perfidious, the Pope said; It was they that had broke their covenant first, in coming all together.

12. (54.) Pope Julius the third, when he was made Pope, gave his hat unto a youth, a favourite of his, with great scandal. Whereupon at one time a Car dinal, that mought be free with him, said modestly to him : What did your Holiness see in that young man, to make him Cardinal? Julius answered, What did you see in me, to make me Pope ?

1 now that he hath left. R.

2 he intends to crown my innocency with the glory of martyrdom. R. 8 he mought [qr- mought not ?] have opportunity to oppress them alto gether at once. R.

4 he used such fine art and fair carriage that he won their confidence to meet altogether in counsel at Cinigalia. R.

332 APOPHTHEGMS

13. (55.) The same Julius, upon like occasion of speech, why he should bear so great affection to the same young man, would say ; That he had found by as trology that it was the youths destiny to be a great prel ate ; u'hich was impossible, except himself were Pope; And therefore that he did raise him, as the driver on of his own fortune.

14. (50.) Sir Thomas Moore had only daughters at the first ; and his wife did ever pray for a boy. At last he had a boy ; which after, at man's years, proved simple.1 Sir Thomas said to his wife ; Tliou prayedst so long for a boy, that he will be a boy as long as he lives.

15. (58.) Sir Thomas Moore, the day2 he was be headed, had a barber sent to him, because his hair was long, which was thought would make him more corn- miserable 3 with the people. The barber came to him and asked him, Whether he would be pleased to be trimmed? In good faith, honest fellow, (said Sir Thomas,) the King and I have a suit for my head, and till the title be cleared I will do no cost upon it.

16. (59.) Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, a great champion of the Papists,4 was wont to say of the Protestants, who ground upon the Scripture, That tliey were like posts, that bring truth in their letters, and lies in their mouths.

17. (125.) The Lacedaemonians were besieged by the Athenians in the Fort5 of Peile ; which was won, and some slain and some taken. There was one said to one of them that was taken, by way of scorn, Were not they brave men that lost their lives at the Fort 5 of

1 but, simple. R. 2 on the day that. R.

3 commiserated. R. 4 the Popish religion. R.

5 Port. R. Phyle? or Pylus!

NEW AND OLD. 333

Peile? He answered, Certainly a Persian arrow is much to be set by, if it can choose out a brave man.

18. (208.) After the defeat of Cyrus the younger, Falinus was sent by the King to the Grecians, (who had for their part rather victory than otherwise,) to command them to yield their arms. Which when it was denied, Falinus said to Clearchus ; Well then, the King lets you know, that if you remove from the place where you are now encamped, it is war : if you stay, it is truce. What shall I say you will do ? Clearchus answered, It pleaseth us as it pleaseth the King. How is that ? saith Falinus. Saith Clearchus, If we remove, war : if we stay, truce. And so would not disclose his purpose.

19. (126.) Clodius was acquit by a corrupt jury, that had palpably taken shares of money. Before they gave up their verdict, they prayed of the Senate a guard, that they might do their consciences freely ; for Clodius was a very seditious young nobleman. Where upon all the world gave him for condemned. But ac quitted he was. Catulus, the next day, seeing some of them that had acquitted him together, said to them ; WJiat made you to ask of us a guard? Were you afraid

your money should have been taken from you ?

20. (127.) At the same judgment, Cicero gave in evidence upon oath : and the jury (which consisted of fifty-seven) passed against his evidence. One day in the Senate, Cicero and Clodius being in altercation, Clodius upbraided him and said : The jury gave you no credit. Cicero answered, Five-and-twenty gave me credit : but there were two-and-thirty that gave you no credit, for they had their money aforehand.

21. (80.) Many men, especially such as affect grav-

884 APOPHTHEGMS

ity, have a manner after other men's speech to shake their heads. Sir Lionel Cranfield would say,1 That it was as men shake a bottle, to see if there were any wit in their head or no.

f 22. Sir Thomas Moore (who was a man in all his lifetime that had an excellent vein in jesting) at the very instant of his death, having a pretty long beard, after his head was upon the block, lift it up again, and gently drew his beard aside, and said, This hath not offended the King.

23. (GO.) Sir Thomas Moore had sent him by a suitor in the chancery two silver flagons. When they were presented by th'e gentleman's servant, he said to one of his men ; Have 1dm to the cellar, and let him have of my lest wine. And turning to the servant, said, Tell tliy master, friend, if lie like it, let 1dm not spare it.

24. (129.) Diogenes, having seen that the kingdom of Macedon, which before was contemptible and low, began to come aloft, when he died, was asked ; How lie would be buried? He answered, With my face down ward ; for icitldn a while the world ivill be turned upside doivn, and then I shall He right.

25. (130.) Cato the elder was wont to say, That the Romans were like sheep : A man were better drive a flock of them, than one of them.

26. (201.) Themistocles in his lower fortune was in love with a young gentleman who scorned him. When he grew to his greatness, which was soon after, he sought to him : but Themistocles said ; We are both grown wise, but too late.

f 27. Demonax the philosopher, when he died, was asked touching his burial, lie answered, Never take

i A great oflicer of this land would say. R.

NEW AND OLD. 335

care for burying me, for stink will bury me. He that asked him, said again : Why, would you have your body left to dogs and ravens to feed upon ? Demonax an swered, Why, what great hurt is it, if having sought to do good, when I lived, to men, my body do some good to beasts, when I am dead.

f 28. Jack Roberts was desired by his tailor, when the reckoning grew somewhat high, to have a bill of his hand. Roberts said ; I am content, but you must let no man know it. When the tailor brought him the bill, he tore it, as in choler, and said to him ; You use me not well ; you promised me nobody should know it, and here you have put in, Be it known unto all men by these presents.

29. (131.) When Lycurgus was to reform and alter the state of Sparta, in the consultation one advised that it should be reduced to an absolute popular equality. But Lycurgus said to him : Sir, begin it in your own house.

f 30. Phocion the Athenian, (a man of great se verity, and no ways flexible to the will of the people,) one day when he spake to the people, in one part of his speech was applauded : Whereupon he turned to one of his friends, and asked ; What have I said amiss?

f 31. Sir Walter Ralegh was wont to say of the ladies of Queen Elizabeth's privy-chamber and bed chamber ; That they were like tvitehes ; they could do hurt, but they could do no good.

32. (122.) Bion, that was an atheist, was shewed in a port-city, in a temple of Neptune, many tables or pictures of such as had in tempests made their vows to Neptune, and were saved from shipwrack : and was asked ; How say you now, do you not acknowledge the

336 APOPHTHEGMS

power of the Gods ? But he said ; Yes, but where are they painted that have been drowned after their voivs ?

33. (202.) Bias1 was sailing, and there fell out a great tempest, and the mariners, that were wicked and dissolute fellows, called upon the Gods ; But Bias a said to them ; Peace, let them not knotv ye are here.

f 34. Bion was wont to say ; That Socrates, of all the lovers of Alcibiades, only held him by the ears.

f 35. There was a minister deprived for inconformity, who said to some of his friends ; That if they deprived him, it should cost an hundred men's lives. The party understood it as if, being a turbulent fellow, he would have moved sedition,1 and complained of him. Where upon being convented and apposed upon that speech, he said ; His meaning was, that if he lost his benefice, he would practise physic ; and then he thought he should kill an hundred men in time.

36. (61.) Michael Angelo, the famous painter, painting in the Pope's chapel the portraiture of hell and damned souls, made one of the damned souls so like a Cardinal that was his enemy, as everybody at first sight knew it : Whereupon the Cardinal complained to Pope Clement, desiring2 it might be defaced; Who said to him, Why, you knoiv very well, I have power to deliver a soul out of purgatory, but not out of hell.3

f 37. There was a philosopher about Tiberius, that looking into the nature of Caius, said of him ; That he was mire mingled with blood.

38. (209.) Alcibiades came to Pericles, and stayed a while ere he was admitted. When he came in, Per-

1 Bion. R. 2 humbly praying. R.

3 See Melchior (Floresta espanola, de apoteghraas 6 sentencias, &c., 1614), I. 1. 3.

NEW AND OLD. 337

icles civilly excused it, and said ; / was studying how to give my account. But Alcibiades said to him ; If you will be ruled by me, study rather how to give no account.

39. (133.) Cicero was at dinner, where there was an ancient lady that spake of her years, and said ; She was but forty years old. One that sat by Cicero rounded him in the ear, and said ; She talks of forty years old, and she is far more, out of question. Cicero answered him again ; I must believe her, for I have heard her say so any time these ten years.

40. (68.) Pope Adrian the sixth was talking with the Duke of Sesa ; That Pasquil gave great scandal, and that he would have him throivn into the river. But Sesa answered ; Do it not (holy father) for then he will turn frog ; and ivhereas now he chants but by day, he 'will then chant both by day and night.1

41. (134.) There was a soldier that vaunted before Julius Ca3sar of hurts he had received in his face. Ju lius Caesar knowing him to be but a coward, told him ; You were best take heed, next time you run away, how

you look back.

f 42. There was a Bishop that was somewhat a deli cate person, and bathed twice a day. A friend of his said to him ; My lord, why do you bathe twice a day ? The Bishop answered ; Because I cannot conveniently bathe thrice.

43. (210.) Mendoza that was vice-roy of Peru, was wont to say ; That the government of Peru was the best place that the King of Spain gave, save that it was some what too near Madrid.

f 44. Secretary Bourn's son kept a gentleman's wife in Shropshire, who lived from her husband with him.

i Melch. 1. 1. 5. VOL. xm. 22

338 APOPHTHEGMS

When lie was weary of her, lie caused her husband to be dealt with to take her home, and offered him five hundred pounds for reparation. The gentleman went to Sir Henry Sidney, to take his advice upon this offer ; telling him ; That his 'wife promised now a new life ; and, to tell him truth, five hundred pounds would come well with him ; and besides, that sometimes he wanted a 'woman in his bed. By my troth, (said Sir Henry Sidney) take her home, and take the money ; and then whereas oilier cuckolds ivear their horns plain, you may wear yours (jilt.

45. (69.) There was a gentleman in Italy that wrate to a great friend of his, upon his advancement l to be Cardinal ; That he was very glad of Ids advancement, for the Cardinal's own sake ; but he was sorry that him self had lost so good a friend.'2'

f 46. When Rabelais lay on his death-bed, and they gave him the extreme unction, a familiar ffiend of his came to him afterwards, and asked him; How he did? Rabelais answered ; Even going my journey, they have greased my boots already.

47. (70.) There was a King of Hungary took a Bishop in battle, and kept him prisoner. Where upon the Pope writ a monitory to him, for that he had broken the privilege of Holy Church, and taken his son. The King sent an embassage to him, and sent withal the armour wherein the Bishop was taken, and this only in writing, Vide num hcec sit vestis filii tui.3

48. (135.) There was a suitor to Vespasian, who,

1 whom the Pope had newly advanced. R.

2 a good friend. R. Melchior (T. 2. 1.) gives this as written to Cardinal Xiinenes on his being made archbishop of Toledo.

3 Know now whether this bv thy son's coat? (Added in R.)

NEW AND OLD. 339

to lay his suit fairer, said ; It was for Ms brother ; whereas indeed it was for a piece of money. Some about Vespasian, to cross him, told the Emperor, That the party his servant spake for was not his brother ; but that it ivas upon a bargain. Vespasian sent for the party interessed, and asked him ; Whether his mean * was his brother or no ? He durst not tell untruth to the Emperor, and confessed ; That he was not his brother. Whereupon the Emperor said, This do, fetch me the money, and you shall have your suit dispatched. Which he did. The courtier, which was the mean, solicited Vespasian soon after about his suit. Why, (saith Vespasian,) I gave it last day to a brother of mine.

49. (211.) When Vespasian passed from Jewry to take upon him the empire, he went by Alexandria, where remained two famous philosophers, Apollonius and Euphrates. The Emperor heard them discourse touching matter of state, in the presence of many. And when he was weary of them, he brake oft', and in a secret derision, finding their discourses but spec ulative, and not to be put in practice, said ; 0 that I might govern wise men, and wise men govern me.

50. (212.) Cardinal Ximenes, upon a muster which was taken against the Moors, was spoken to by a ser vant of his to stand a little out of the smoke of the harquebuss ; but he said again ; That that was his incense?

51. (136.) Vespasian asked of Apollonius, what was the cause of Nero's ruin ? who answered ; Nero could

1 his mean employed by him. R.

2 Melch. I. 2. 5. where however the occasion is said to have been not the taking a muster against the Moors, but the going to see an altar erected at Madrid, " fuera de la puerta de Moros," and being saluted by the harque- busseers.

840 APOPHTHEGMS

tune the harp well; but in government he did always wind up the strings too high, or let them down too low. f 52. Mr. Bromley, Solicitor, giving in evidence for a deed which was impeached to be fraudulent, was urged by the counsel on the other side with this presumption ; that in two former suits, when title was made, that deed was passed over in silence, and some other conveyance stood upon. Mr. Jus tice Catyline taking in with that side, asked the So licitor, I pray tliee, Mr. Solicitor, let me ask yon a famil iar question ; I have two geldings in my stable, and I have divers times business of importance, and still I send forth one of my geldings, and not the other ; would you not think I set him aside for a jade ? No, my Lord, (saith Bromley,) I ivould think you spared him for your own saddle.

53. (45.) Alonso Cartilio was informed by his stew ard of the greatness of his expence, being such as he could not hold out with. The Bishop asked him ; Wherein it chiefly rose ? His steward told him ; In the multitude of his servants. The Bishop bad him make a note of those that were necessary, and those that rnought be put off.1 Which he did. And the Bishop taking occasion to read it before most of his servants, said to his steward ; Well, let these remain because I need them ; and these other also because they need me.

54. (19.) Queen Elizabeth was wont to say, upon the Commission of Sales ; That the commissioners used her like strawberry wives, that laid two or three great strawberries at the mouth of their pot, and all the rest were little ones ; so they made her two or three good •prices of the first particulars, but fell straightways.

i spared. R. This is told in Melchior I. 3. 2.

NEW AND OLD. 341

55. (20.) Queen Elizabeth was wont to say of her instructions to great officers ; That they were like to garments, strait at the first putting on, but did by and by iv ear loose enough.

56. (46.) Mr. Marbuiy the preacher would say ; That Grod was fain to do ivith wicked men, as men do with

frisking jades in a pasture, that cannot take them up, till they get them at a gate. So wicked men will not be taken up till the hour of death.

f 57. Thales, as he looked upon the stars, fell into the water ; Whereupon it was after said ; That if he had looked into the water he might have seen the stars ; but looking up to the stars he could not see the water.

58. (22.) The book of deposing Richard1 the sec ond, and the coming in of Henry the fourth, sup posed to be written by Dr. Hay ward, who was committed to the Tower for it, had much incensed queen Elizabeth. And she asked Mr. Bacon, being then of her learned counsel ; Whether there were no treason contained in it ? Mr. Bacon intending to do him a pleasure, and to take off the Queen's bitter ness with a jest,2 answered ; No, madam, for treason I cannot deliver opinion that there is any, but very much felony. The Queen, apprehending it gladly, asked ; How, and ivlierein ? Mr. Bacon answered ; Because he had stolen many of his sentences and con ceits out of Cornelius Tacitus.

59. (199.) Mr. Popham,3 when he was Speaker, and the Lower House4 had sat long, and done in effect nothing ; coming one day to Queen Elizabeth, she said to him ; Now, Mr. /Speaker, what hath passed

1 King Richard. R. 8 (afterwards Lord Chief Justice Popham.) R.

2 merry conceit. R. 4 House of Commons. R.

342 APOPHTHEGMS

in the Lower House ?l He answered, If it please your Majesty, seven weeks.

60. (47.) Pope Xystus the fifth, who was a poor2 man's son, and his father's house ill thatched, so that the sun came in in many places, would sport with his ignobility, and say ; He was nato di casa illastre : son of an illustrious house.

61. (48.) When the King of Spain conquered Por tugal, he gave special charge to his lieutenant that the soldiers should not spoil, lest he should alienate the hearts of the people. The army also suffered much scarcity of victual. Whereupon the Spanish soldiers would afterwards say ; That they had won the King a kingdom, as the kingdom of heaven useth to be won; by fasting and abstaining from that that is another man's.

62. (108.) Cicero married his daughter to Dola- bella, that held Caesar's party : Pompey had mar ried Julia, that was Cesar's daughter. After, when Caesar and Pompey took arms one against the other, and Pompey had passed the seas, and Caesar possessed Italy, Cicero stayed somewhat long in Italy, but at last sailed over to join with Pompey ; who when he came unto him, Pompey said; You are welcome; but where left you your son-in-law f Cicero answered ; With your father-in-law.

63. (213.) Nero was wont to say of his master Seneca ; That his stile was like mortar of sand 'without lime.

64. (240.) Sir Henry Wotton used to say, That critics are like brushers of noblemen's clothes.

65. (23.) Queen Elizabeth, being to resolve upon

1 Commons' House. R. 2 very poor. R.

NEW AND OLD. 343

a great officer, and being by some, that canvassed for others, put in some doubt of that person whom she meant to advance, called for Mr. Bacon, and told him ; She ivas like one with a lanthorn seeking a man ; and seemed unsatisfied in the choice she had of men for that place. Mr. Bacon answered her ; That he had heard that in old time there was usually painted on the church walls the Day of Doom, and Grod sitting in judgement, and St. Michael by him with a pair of bal ance ;l and the so id and the good deeds in the one balance, and the faidts and the evil deeds in the other ; and the sours balance went up far too light: Then was our Lady painted ivith a great pair of beads, casting them into the light balance, to make up the weight : 2 so (he said) place and authority, which were in her hands to give, were like our lady's beads, which though men, through divers imper fections, were too light before, yet when they were cast in, made weight competent.

66. (128.) Mr. Savill3 was asked by my lord of Essex his opinion touching poets ; who 4 answered my lord ; He thought^ them the best writers, next to those that write6 prose.

f 67. Mr. Mason of Trinity college sent his pupil to another of the fellows, to borrow a book of him ; who told him ; I am loth to lend my books out of my chamber ; but if it please thy tutor to come and read upon it in my chamber, he shall as long as he will. It was winter ; and some days after, the same fellow sent to Mr. Mason to borrow his bellows ; but Mr. Mason said to his pupil ; I am loth to lend my bellows out of my chamber ; but if

1 balances. R. 2 and brought down the scale. R.

« Sir Henry Savill. R. 4 He. R.

6 That he thought, R. 6 writ. R,

344 APOPHTHEGMS

tJiy tutor would come and blow the fire in my chamber, he shall as long as he will.

68. (110.) Nero did cut a youth, as if lie would have transformed him into a woman,1 and called him wife. There was a senator of Rome that said secretly to his friend ; It was pity Nero's father had not such a wife.

69. (111.) Galha succeeded Nero, and his age being much despised, there was much licence and confusion in Rome. Whereupon a senator said in full senate, It were better live where nothing is lawful, than where all things are lawful.

f 70. In Flanders by accident a Flemish tiler fell from the top of a house upon a Spaniard, and killed him, though he escaped himself. The next of the blood prosecuted his death with great violence against the tiler. And when he was offered pecuniary rec- ompence, nothing would serve him but lex talioids. Whereupon the judge said to him ; That if he did urge that kind of sentence, it must be, that he should go up to the top of the house, and thence fall down upon the tile/'.

71. (24.) Queen Elizabeth was dilatory enough in suits, of her own nature ; and the lord treasurer Bur- leigh, to feed her humour,2 would say to her ; Madam, you do w<ell to let suitors stay ; for I shall tell you, Bis dat, qui cito dat : If you graut them speedily, they will come again the sooner.

72. (49.) They feigned3 a tale of Sixtus Quintus,4 that after his death he went to hell ; and the porter of hell said to him ; You have some reason to offer yourself

1 Nero loved a beautiful youth, whom he used viciously. K. '2 being a wise man, and willing therein to feed her humour. R. ' 3 So R. The original has "faigne." 4 whom they called Sizt-Ace. R.

NEW AND OLD. 345

to this place ; 1 but yet 2 I have order not to receive you : you have a place of your own, purgatory ; you may go thither. So he went away, and sought purgatory a great while, and could find no such place. Upon that he took heart, and went to heaven, and knocked ; and St. Peter asked ; Who was there ? He said, Sixtus Pope. Whereunto St. Peter said, Why do you knock? you have the keys. Sixtus answered, It is true ; but it is so long since they were given, as I doubt the wards of the lock be altered.

73. (50.) Charles King of Swede, a great enemy of the Jesuits, when he took any of their colleges, he would hang the old Jesuits, and put the young to his mines, saying ; That since they wrought so hard above ground, he would try how they could work under ground.

74. (51.) In Chancery, one time, when the counsel of the parties set forth the boundaries of the land in question, by the plot ; And the counsel of one part said, We lie on this side, my lord ; And the counsel of the other part said, We lie on this side : the Lord Chan cellor Hatton stood up and said, If you lie on both sides, whom will you have me to believe.

75. (109.) Vespasian and Titus his eldest son were both absent from Rome when the empire was cast upon him.3 Domitian his younger son was at Rome, who took upon him the affairs ; and being of a turbulent spirit, made many changes, arid displaced divers officers and governors of provinces, sending them successors. So when Vespasian came to Rome, and Domitian came

1 because you were a wicked man. R.

2 But yet, because you were a Pope. R.

3 Vespasian. R.

346 APOPHTHEGMS

into his presence, Vespasian said to him ; Son, I looked when you would have sent me a successor.

76. (71.) Sir Amice1 Pawlct, when he saw too much haste made in any matter, was wont to say, Stay a while, that we may make an end the sooner.

77. (31.) The deputies of the reformed religion, after the massacre which was2 upon St. Bartholomew's day, treated with the King and Queen-Mother, and some other of the counsel, for a peace. Both sides were agreed upon the articles. The question was, upon the security of performance.8 After some par ticulars propounded and rejected, the Queen-Mother said ; Why, is not the word of a King sufficient security f One of the deputies answered ; No, by St. Bartholomew, Madam.

78. (12.) When the Archduke did raise his siege from Grave, the then secretary came to queen Eliza beth ; and the Queen, having intelligence first,4 said to the secretary, Wot you what ? The Archduke is risen from the Grave. He answered, Wliat, without the trumpet of the Archangel ? The Queen replied ; Yes, without sound of trumpet.

f 79. Francis the first used for his pleasure some times to go disguised. So walking one day in the com pany of the Cardinal of Bourbon near Paris, he met a peasant with a new pair of shoes upon his arm. So he called him to him and said ; By our lady, these be good shoes, what did they cost thee ? The peasant said ; G-uess. The King said ; I think some five sols. Saith the peasant ; You, have lyed ; but a carolois. IVJtat vil lain, (saith the Cardinal of Bourbon) thou art dead ; it

^Amyas. R. 2 which was at Paris. R.

3 for the performance. R. 4 having first intelligence thereof. R.

NEW AND OLD. 347

is the King. The peasant replied ; The devil take him, of you and me, that knew so much.

80. (217.) There was a conspiracy against the Em peror Claudius by Scribonianus, examined in the sen ate ; where Claudius sat in his chair, and one of his freed servants stood at the back of his chair. In the examination, that freed servant, who had much power with Claudius, very saucily had almost all the words : and amongst other things, he asked in scorn one of the examinates, who was likewise freed servant of Scribonianus ; / pray, sir, if Scribonianus had been Emperor what would you have done ? He answered ; / would have stood behind his chair and held my peace.

81. (137.) Dionysius the tyrant, after he was de posed, and brought to Corinth, kept a school. Many used to visit him ; and amongst others, one, when he came in, opened his mantle and shook his clothes ; thinking to give Dionysius a gentle scorn ; because it was the manner to do so for them that came in to him while he was tyrant. But Dionysius said to him ; I pray thee do so rather ivhen thou goest out, that we may see thou stealest nothing away.

82. (241.) Hannibal said of Fabius Maximus and of Marcellus (whereof the former waited upon him, that he could make no progress ; and the latter had many sharp fights with him) ; that he feared Fabius like a tutor ; and Marcellus like an enemy.

83. (138.) Diogenes, one terrible frosty morning, came into the market-place, and stood naked, quak ing, to shew his tolerancy.1 Many of the people came about him, pitying him. Plato passing by, and know-

1 tolerance. R.

348 APOPHTHEGMS

ing lie did it to be seen, said to the people, as he went by, If you pity him indeed, leave him alone.

84. (72.) Sackford, Master of the Requests1 to Queen Elizabeth, had divers times moved for audience, and been put off. At last lie came to the Queen in a progress, and had on a new pair of boots. When he came in, the Queen 2 said to him, Fie sloven, thy new boots stink. Madam, (said he,) it is not my new boots that stink, but it is the stale bills that I have kept so long.

85. (218.) One was saying ; That his great grand father and grandfather and father died at sea. Said another that heard him ; And I were as you, I would never come at sea. Why, (saith he,) where did your great grandfather and grandfather and father die ? He answered; Where but in their beds? Saith the other; And I were as you, I would never come in bed.

80. (189.) Aristippus was earnest suitor to Diony- sius for somewhat, who would give no ear to his suit. Aristippus fell at his feet ; Then Dionysius granted it. One that stood by said afterwards to Aristippus ; You a philosopher, and to be so base as to throw yourself at the tyrant's feet to get a suit ? Aristippus answered ; The fault is not mine, but the fault is in Dionysius, that car ries his ears in his feet.

f 87. There was a young man in Rome, that was very like Augustus Caesar. Augustus took knowledge of it, and sent for the man, and asked him ; Was your mother never at Rome ? He answered ; No, sir, but my father was.

f 88. A physician advised his patient, that had sore

1 A Master of Requests. R (omitting the name.)

2 The Queen who loved not the smell of new leather. R.

NEW AND OLD. 349

eyes, that he should abstain from wine. But the pa tient said, I think rather, sir, from wine and water;1 for I have often marked it in blear eyes, and I have seen water come forth, but never wine.

f 89. When Sir Thomas Moore was Lord Chan cellor, he did use, at mass, to sit in the chancel ; and his lady in a pew. And because the pew stood out of sight, his gentleman-usher ever after service came to the lady's pew, and said ; Madam, my Lord is gone. So when the Chancellor's place was taken from him, the next time they went to church, Sir Thomas him self came to his lady's pew, and said ; Madam, my Lord is gone.

90. (73.) At an act of the Commencement, the answerer gave for his question ; That an aristocracy was better than a monarchy. The replier, who was a dissolute fellow,2 did tax him ; That being a private bred man, he would give a question of state. The answerer said ; That the replier did much wrong the privilege of scholars ; who would be much straitened if they should give questions of nothing but such things wherein they are practised. And added ; We have heard yourself dis pute of virtue, which no man uill say you put much in practice.

91. (219.) There was a dispute, whether great heads or little heads had the better wit? And one said ; It must needs be the little. For3 it is a maxim, Oinne majus continet in se minus.

92. (140.) Solon, when he wept for his son's death, and one said to him : Weeping will not help ; answered, Alas, therefore I weep, because weeping will not help.

93. (141.) Solon being asked ; WJiether he had given

1 So in the origiual. But I think it should be from water.

2 man. K. 8 For that. K.

350 APOPHTHEGMS

the Athenians the best laws ? answered ; Yes, the best of those that they would have received.

94. (142.) One said to Aristippus ; It is a strange tiling, why should men rather give to the poor, than to philosophers. He answered ; Because they think them selves may sooner come to be poor, than to be philos ophers.

95. (145.) Alexander used to say of his two friends, Craterus and Hephaestion ; That Hephoestion loved Alex ander, and Craterus loved the King.

96. (146.) It fell out so, that as Livia went abroad in Rome, there met her naked young men that were sporting in the streets ; which Augustus was 1 about severely to punish in them ; but Livia spake for them, and said, It was no more to chaste women than so many statucts.

97. (75.) Alonso of Arragon was wont to say, in commendation of age, That age appeared to be best in four tilings: Old wood best to burn ; old wine to drink; old friends to trust ; and old authors to read.2

98. (76.) It was said of Augustus, and afterwards the like was said of Septimius Severus, both which did infinite mischief in their beginnings, and infinite good towards their ends ; That they should either have never been born or never died.

99. (74.) Queen Isabell 3 of Spain used to say ; Whosoever hath a good presence and a good fashion, car ries letters 4 of recommendation.

100. (143.) Trajan would say of the vain jealousy of princes, that seek to make away those that aspire to their succession ; That there was never King that did put to death his successor.

i went. R. 2 Mt.lch. II. I- 20.

3 Isabella. R. 4 continual letters. R.

NEW AND OLD. 351

101. (144.) When it was represented to Alexander, to the advantage of Antipater, who was a stern and imperious man, that he only of all his lieutenants wore no purple, but kept the Macedonian habit of black, Alexander said; Yes, but Antipater is all purple within}-

102. (77.) Constantino the Great, in a kind of envy, himself being a great builder, as Trajan likewise was, would call Trajan Watt-flower;2 because his name was upon so many walls.

103. (147.) Philip of Macedon was wished to ban ish one for speaking ill of him. But Philip said ; 3 Setter he speak where we are both known, than where we are both unknown.

f 104. A Grecian captain, advising the confederates that were united against the Lacedaemonians touching their enterprise, gave opinion that they should go di rectly upon Sparta, saying ; That the state of tiparta was like rivers ; strong when they had run a great way, and weak towards their head.

105. (78.) Alonso of Arragon was wont to say of himself, That he was a great necromancer, for that he used to ask counsel of the dead: meaning books.4

106. (148.) Lucullus entertained Pompey in one of his magnificent houses. Pompey said ; This is a marvellous fair and stately house for the summer : but methinks it should be very cold for winter. Lucullus answered ; Do you not think me as wise as divers fowl are, to remove with the season?*

107. (149.) Plato entertained some of his friends at

1 See Mr. Ellis's note, De Augmentis frcientiarum. lib. 1.

2 Parietaria, wall-flower. R. 8 answered. R.

4 of books. R.

6 to change my habitation in the winter season. R.

352 APOPHTHEGMS

a dinner, and had in the chamber a bed or couch, neat ly and costly furnished. Diogenes came in, and got upon the bed, and trampled upon it, and said ; } I trample upon the pride of Plato. Plato mildly an swered ; But with greater pride.

f 108. One was examined upon certain scandalous words spoken against the King. He confessed them, and said ; It is true I spake them, and if the wine had not failed I had said much more.

109. (150.) Pompey being commissioner for send ing grain to Rome in time of dearth, when he came to the sea, he found it very tempestuous and dangerous, insomuch as those about him advised him by no means to embark. But Pompey said ; It is of necessity that I go, not that I live.

f 110. Trajan would say ; That the King's exchequer was like the spleen ; for when that did swell, the whole body did pine.

f 111. Charles the Bald allowed one, whose name was Scottus, to sit at the table with him, for his pleas ure. Scottus sat on the other side of the table. One time the King being merry with him, said to him ; What is there between Scot and Sot ? Scottus answered ; The table only.

112. (79.) Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, in a famine, sold all the rich vessels and ornaments of the Church, to relieve the poor with bread ; and said, There was no reason that the dead temples of Grod should be sumptuously furnished, and the living temples suffer penury.

f 113. There was a marriage made between a widow of great wealth, and a gentleman of great house that

1 and trampled it ; saying. R.

NEW AND OLD. 353

had no estate or means. Jack Roberts said ; That marriage was like a black pudding ; the one brought blood, and the other brought suet and oatmeal}-

114. (151.) Demosthenes was upbraided by ^Eschi- nes, that his speeches did smell of the lamp. But Demosthenes said ; Indeed there is a great deal of dif ference between that that you and I do by lamp-light.

115. (152.) Demades the orator, in his age, was talkative, and would eat hard. Antipater would say of him ; That he was like a sacrifice, that nothing was left of it but the tongue and the paunch.

116. (242.) When King Edward the Second was amongst his torturers, who hurried him to and fro, that no man should know where he was, they set him down upon a bank : and one time, the more to disguise his face, shaved him, and washed him with cold water of a ditch by : The King said ; Well, yet I will have warm water for my beard. And so shed abundance of tears.

117. (203.) The Turk 2 made an expedition into Persia, and because of the strait jaws of the mountains of Armenia, the basha's consulted which way they should get in. Says a natural fool that stood by ; 3 Here's much ado how you should* get in; but I hear nobody take care how you should get out.

118. (220.) Sir Thomas Moore, when the counsel of the party pressed him for a longer day,5 said ; Take Saint Barnaby's day, which is the longest day in the year. Now Saint Barnaby's day was within few days

following.

&

1 Melch. IV. 4. 13. : where the remark is attributed to a nameless Hi dalgo, upon a marriage between a rich labourer's daughter and the son of a poor gentleman.

2 Turks. R. 8 one that heard the debate said. R.

4 shall. R. 6 a longer day to perform the decree. R.

VOL. XIII. 23

354 APOPHTHEGMS

119. (221.) One of the Fathers saith ; That there is but this difference between the death of old men and young men ; that old men go to death, and death comes to young men.

120. (154.) Philo Judaeus saith ; That the sense is like the sun; For the sun seals up the globe of heaven, and opens the globe of earth : so the sense doth obscure heavenly things, and reveal earthly things.

121. (222.) Cassius, after the defeat of Crassus by the Parthians, whose weapons were chiefly arrows, fled to the city of Carras, where lie durst not stay any time, doubting to be pursued and besieged. He had with him an astrologer, who said to him ; Sir, I would not have you go hence, while the moon is in the sign of Scor pio. Cassius answered, I am more afraid of that of Sagittarie.1

122. (155.) Alexander, after the battle of Grani- cum, had very great offers made him by Darius. Con sulting with his captains concerning them, Parmenio said ; Sure I would accept of these offers, if I ivere as Alexander. Alexander answered ; So would I, if I were as Parmenio.

123. (156.) Alexander was wont to say ; He knew he was mortal 2 by two things ; deep and lust.

f 124. Augustus Cfcsar was invited to supper by one of his old friends that had conversed with him in his less fortunes, and had but ordinary entertainment. Whereupon, at his going, he said ; / did not know you and I were so familiar. ^

125. (157.) Augustus Caesar would say ; Tliat he wondered that Alexander feared he should want work,

1 Sagittarius. R. 2 knew himself to be mortal chiefly. R.

3 Melch. VI. 8. 14. told of two squires.

NEW AND OLD. 355

having no more l to conquer ; as if it were not as hard a matter to keep as to conquer.

126. (158.) Antigonus, when it was told him that the enemy had such vollies of arrows that they did hide the sun, said ; That falls out well, for it is hot weather, and we shall fight in the shade.

127. (112.) Augustus Csesar did write to Livia, who was over-sensible of some ill-words that had been spoken of them both : Let it not trouble thee, my Livia, if any man speak ill of us ; for we have enough, that no man can do ill unto us.

128. (113.) Chilon said ; That kings' friends and favourites were like casting counters ; that sometimes stood for one, sometimes for ten, sometimes for a hun dred.

129. (114.) Theodosius, when he was pressed by a suitor, and denied him, the suitor said ; Why, Sir, you promised it. He answered ; I said it, but I did not promise it, if it be unjust.

130. (200.) Agathocles, after he had taken Syra- cusa, the men whereof, during the siege, had in a bravery spoken of him all the villany that mought be, sold the Syracusans for slaves, and said ; Now if you use such words of me, I will tell your masters of you.

f 131. Dionysius the elder, when he saw his son in many things very inordinate, said to him ; Did you ever know me do such things f His son answered ; No, but you had not a tyrant to your father. The father re plied ; No, nor you, if you take these courses, will have a tyrant to your son.

f 132. Callisthenes the philosopher, that followed Alexander's court, and hated the King, was asked by

1 no more worlds. R.

356 APOPHTHEGMS

one ; How one should become the famousest man in the world ? and answered ; By taking away him that is.

133. (52.) Sir Edward Coke was wont to say, when a great man came to dinner to him, and gave him no knowledge of his corning ; Well, since you sent me no word of your coming, you shall dine with me ; but if I had known of your coming^ I would have dined with you.

134. (115.) The Romans, when they spake to the people, were wont to call 2 them ; Ye Romans. When commanders in war spake to their army, they called 3 them ; My soldiers. There was a mutiny in Cesar's army, and somewhat the soldiers would have had, but they would not declare themselves in it : only they demanded a dimission 4 or discharge, though with no intention it should be granted ; but knowing that Ca3sar had at that time great need of their service, thought by that means to wrench him to their other desires. Whereupon with one cry they asked dimis sion.5 But Cyesar, after silence made, said ; I for my part, ye Romans : which admitted them 6 to be dismissed. Which voice they had no sooner heard, but they mutined 7 again, and would not suffer him to go on 8 until he had called them by the name of soldiers. And so with that one word he appeased the sedition.

135. (116.) Caesar would say of Sylla, for that he did resign his dictatorship ; That he 9 ivas ignorant of letters, he could not dictate.

1 known of it in due time. R. 2 stile. R.

3 stiled. R. 4 but only demanded a mission. R.

5 mission. R. 6 This title did actually speak them. R.

7 mutinied. R. 8 to go on with his speech. R.

9 Sylla. R.

NEW AND OLD. 357

136. (117.) Seneca said of Caesar ; that he did quick ly sheath the sword, but never laid it off.1

137. (118.) Diogenes begging, as divers philoso phers then used, did beg more of a prodigal man, than of the rest that were present : Whereupon one said to him ; See your baseness, that when you find a liberal mind, you will take most of? No, (said Diogenes,) but I mean to beg of the rest again.

138. (223.) Jason the Thessalian was wont to say ; That some things must be done unjustly, that many things may be done justly.

139. (25.) Sir Nicholas Bacon being Keeper of the Seal,3 when Queen Elizabeth, in progress, came to his house at Redgrave,4 and said to him ; My Lord, what a little house have you gotten ? said,5 Madam, my house is well, but it is you that have made me too great for my house.

140. (119.) Themistocles, when an embassador from a mean state did speak great matters, said to him, Friend, your words would require a city.

f 141. Agesilaus, when one told him there was one did excellently counterfeit a nightingale, and would have had him hear him, said; Why I have heard the nightingale herself.

142. (53.) A great nobleman,6 upon the complaint of a servant of his, laid a citizen by the heels, thinking to bend him to his servant's desire. But the fellow being stubborn, the servant came to his lord, and told

1 did quickly shew the sword, but never leave it off. R.

2 of him. R.

8 who was Keeper of the Great Seal of England. R.

4 (Jorhambury. R.

5 Answered her. R.

6 William Earl of Pembroke. R.

358 APOPHTHEGMS

him ; Tour lordship, I know, hath gone as far as well you may, but it works not ; for yonder fellow is more perverse than before. Said my lord, Let's forget him a while, and then he ivill remember himself.

f 143. One came to a Cardinal in Rome, and told him ; That he had brought his lordship a dainty white palfrey, but he fell lame by the way. Saith the Cardi nal to him ; Til tell thee what thou shalt do ; go to such a Cardinal, and such a Cardinal, (naming him some half a dozen Cardinals,) and tell them as much; and so whereas by thy horse, if he had been sound, thou couldest have pleased but one, with thy lame horse thou mayest please half a dozen.

144. (120.) Iphicrates the Athenian, in a treaty that he had with the Lacedaemonians for peace, in which question was about security for observing the same,1 said, The Athenians would not accept of any security, except the Lacedaemonians did yield up unto them those things, whereby it mought be manifest that they could not hurt them if they would.

f 145. Euripides would say of persons that were beautiful, and yet in some years, In fair bodies not only the spring is pleasant, but also the autumn.

146. (81.) After a great fight, there came to the camp of Consalvo, the great captain, a gentleman proudly horsed and armed. Diego de Mendoza asked the great captain ; Who's this ? Who answered ; It is Saint Ermin, who never appears but after a storm?

1 the same peace. R.

2 the storm. R. Compare Meldi. II. 3. 3. : where the story is in one re spect better told. Consalvo having just disembarked, three ships were seen approaching; " Venia delante in uno dellos un cavallero armado que se avia quedado atras." A collection of French apophthegms gives it thus : '' Le grand Capitaine Gonsalvo voiant venir un sien gentilhomme

NEW AND OLD. 359

f 147. There was a captain sent to an exploit by his general, with forces that were not likely to achieve the enterprise. The captain said to him ; Sir, appoint but half so many. Why f (saith the general.) The cap tain answered ; Because it is better fewer die than more.1

148. (121.) They would say of the Duke of Guise, Henry, that had sold and oppignerated all his patri mony, to suffice the great donatives that he had made ; That he was the greatest usurer of France, because all his state was in obligations?

f 149. Croesus said to Cambyses ; That peace was better than war ; because in peace the sons did bury their fathers, but in wars the fathers did bury their sons.

150. (224.) There was a harbinger who had lodged a gentleman in a very ill room, who expostulated with him somewhat rudely ; but the harbinger carelessly said ; You will take pleasure in it when you are out of it*

f 151. There was a curst page, that his master whipt naked ; and when he had been whipt, would not put on his clothes ; and when his master bade him, said to him ; Take them you, for they are the hang man's fees.

au devant de lui bien en ordre et richement arme", apres la journe'e de Serignolle; et que les affaires estoient a seurte" ; dit a la compagnie: nous ne devons desormais avoir peur de la tourmente. Car Saint Herme nous est apparu." — Apophthegmata Grceca, Latina, Italica, Gallica, Hispanica, collectn a Gercerdo Suningro. Leidensi, 1609.

1 Melch. II. 3. 12.

2 They would say of the Duke of Guise, Henry; That he was the great est usurer in France, for that he had turned all his estate into obligations; meaning that he had sold and oppignorated all his patrimony to give large donatives to other men. R.

» Melch. II. 6. 2. ; differently told.

360 APOPHTHEGMS

152. (82.) There was one that died greatly in debt. When it was reported in some company, where divers of his creditors were, that he was dead, one began to say ; In good faith?- then he hath carried five hundred ducats of mine with him into the other world. And an other of them said ; And two hundred of mine. And some others spake of several sums of theirs.2 Where upon one that was amongst them said ; Well I see 3 now that though a man cannot carry any of his oivn with him into the other world, yet he may carry other men,9 8.*

153. (83.) Francis Carvajall, that was the great captain of the rebels of Peru, had often given the chase to Diego Centeno, a principal commander of the Emperor's party. He was afterwards taken by the Em peror's lieutenant, Gasca, and committed to the cus tody of Diego Centeno, who used him with all possi ble courtesy ; insomuch as Carvajall asked him ; I pray, Sir, who are you that use me with this courtesy ? Centeno said ; Do not you know Diego Centeno ! Car vajall answered ; In good faith, Sirf I have been so used to see your back, as I kneiv not your face.

f 154. Carvajall, when he was drawn to execution, being fourscore and five years old, and laid upon the hurdle, said ; What ? young in cradle, old in cradle?

155. (84.) There is a Spanish adage,6 Love without end'' hath no end: meaning, that if it were begun not upon particular ends it would last.

156. (159.) Cato the elder, being aged, buried his

1 well, if he be gone. R.

2 And a third spake of great sums of his. R. s perceive. R.

4 into the next world, yet he may carry that which is another man's. R.

6 Truly, Sir. R.

6 Orondomar would say. R. 7 ends. R.

NEW AND OLD. 361

wife, and married a young woman. His son came to him, and said ; Sir, what have I offended you, that you have brought a step-mother into your house ? The old man answered ; Nay, quite contrary, son ; thou pleasest me so well, as 1 would be glad to have more such.

157. (160.) Crassus the orator had a fish, which the Romans called l Murcena, that he had made very tame and fond of him. The fish died, and Crassus wept for it. One day falling in contention with Domitius in the senate, Domitius said ; Foolish Crassus, you wept for your Murcena. Crassus replied; That's more than you did for both your wives.

158. (161.) Philip, Alexander's father, gave sen tence against a prisoner, what time he was drowsy, and seemed to give small attention. The prisoner, after sentence was pronounced, said ; I appeal. The King somewhat stirred, said ; To whom do you appeal ? The prisoner answered ; From Philip when he gave no ear^ to Philip when he shall give ear.

159. (204.) The same Philip 2 maintained argument with a musician, in points of his art, somewhat peremp torily. But the musician said to him ; Grod forbid, Sir, your fortune were so hard, that you should know these things better than I.3

160. (162.) There was a philosopher that disputed with Adrian the Emperor, and did it but weakly. One of his friends that had been by, afterwards said to him ; Methinks you were not like yourself, last day, in argu ment with the Emperor ; I could have answered better myself. Why, said the philosopher, would you have me contend with him that commands thirty legions?

f 161. Diogenes was asked in a kind of scorn ; What

l call. R. 2 Philip King of Macedon. R. 8 myself. R.

362 APOPHTHEGMS

was the matter, that philosophers haunted rich men, and not rich men philosophers ? He answered ; Because the one knew what they wanted, the other did not.

f 162. Demetrius, King of Macedon, had a petition offered him divers times by an old woman, and still answered ; He had no leisure. Whereupon the woman said aloud ; Why then give over to be King.

163. (225.) The same Demetrius 1 would at times retire himself from business, and give himself wholly to pleasures. One day of those his retirings,2 giving out that he was sick, his father Antigonus came on the sudden to visit him, and met a fair dainty youth coming out of his chamber. When Antigonus came in, Deme trius said ; Sir, the fever left me right now. Antigonus replied, I think it was he that I met at the door.

164. (85.) There was a merchant far in debt that died.3 His goods and household stuif were set forth to sale. There was one that bought only a pillow, and said ; 4 This pillow sure is good to sleep upon, since he could sleep that owed so many debts.5

165. (86.) A lover met his lady in a close chair, she thinking to go6 unknown. He came and spake to her. She asked him; How did you knoiv me? He said ; Because my wounds bleed afresh. Alluding to the common tradition, that the wounds of a body slain, in the presence of him that killed him, will bleed afresh.7

1 Demetrius King of Macedon. R.

2 One of those his retirings. R.

3 There was a merchant died, that was very far in debt. R.

4 A stranger would needs buy a pillow there, saying. R.

6 The saying is attributed by Macrobius to Augustus Caesar; and quoted in Erasmus's collection, No. 31.

6 to have gone. R.

7 that the wounds of a body slain will bleed afresh upon the approach of the murtherer. R.

NEW AND OLD. 363

166. (87.) A gentleman brought music to his lady's window, who 1 hated him, and had warned him oft away ; and when he persisted,2 she threw stones at him. Whereupon a friend of his that was in his com pany, said to him ; 3 What greater honour can you have to your music, than that stones come about you, as they did to Orpheus?

167. (226.) Cato Major would say ; That wise men learned more by fools, than fools by wise men.

168. (227.) When it was said to Anaxagoras ; The Athenians have condemned you to die : he said again ; And Nature them.

f 169. Demosthenes when he fled from the battle, and that it was reproached to him, said ; That he that flies mought fight again.

170. (205.) Antalcidas, when an Athenian said to him; Ye Spartans are unlearned; said again ; True, for we have learned no evil nor vice of you.

171. (228.) Alexander, when his father wished him to run for the prize of the race at the Olympian games, (for he was very swift,) said ; He would, if he might run with kings.

172. (163.) When Alexander passed into Asia, he gave large donatives to his captains, and other princi pal men of virtue ; insomuch as Parmenio asked him ; Sir, what do you keep for yourself? He answered ; Hope.

173. (229.) Antigonus used oft to go disguised, and listen at the tents of his soldiers : and at a time heard some that spoke very ill of him. Whereupon he opened

1 She. R.

2 would not desist. R.

8 a gentleman said unto him, that was in his company. R.

364 APOPHTHEGMS

the tent a little, and said to them ; If you will speak ill of me, you should go a little further off.

174. (164.) Vespasian set a tribute upon urine. Titus his son emboldened himself to speak to his father of it : and represented it as a thing indign and sordid. Vespasian said nothing for the time ; but a while after, when it was forgotten, sent for a piece of silver out of the tribute money, and called to his son, bidding him smell to it ; and asked him ; Whether he found any offence? Who said, No. Why lo,1 (saith Vespasian again,) and yet this comes out of urine.

f 175. There were two gentlemen, otherwise of equal degree, save that the one was of the ancienter house.2 The other in courtesy asked his hand to kiss : which he gave him ; and he kissed it ; but said withal, to right himself, by way of friendship ; Well, I and you, against any two of them : putting himself first.

176. (165.) Nerva the Emperor succeeded Domi- tian, who was tyrannical ; so as 8 in his time many noble houses wrere overthrown by false accusations ; the instruments whereof were chiefly Marcellus and Regulus. The Emperor4 one night supped privately with some six or seven : amongst which there was one that was a dangerous man, and began to take the like courses as Marcellus and Regulus had done. The Emperor fell into discourse of the injustice and tyranny of the former time, and by name of the two accusers ; and said ; What should we do with them, if we had

1 Why so. R.

a According to Melchior's version (VI. 6. 4,) mas anciano: the older man.

3 who had been tyrannical ; and. R.

4 The Emperor Nerva. R.

NEW AND OLD. 365

them noiv? One of them that were1 at supper, and was a free-spoken senator, said ; Marry, they should sup with us.

177. (166.) There was one that found a great mass of money, digged under ground in his grandfather's house. And being somewhat doubtful of the case, sig nified it to the Emperor that he had found such treas ure. The Emperor made a rescript thus ; Use it. He writ back again, that the sum was greater than his estate or condition could use. The Emperor writ a new rescript thus ; Abuse it.

178. (198.) A Spaniard was censuring to a French gentleman the want of devotion amongst the French ; in that, whereas in Spain, when the Sacrament goes to the sick, any that meets with it turns back and waits upon it to the house whither it goes ; but in France, they only do reverence, and pass by. But the French gentleman answered him ; There is reason for it ; for here with us Christ is secure amongst his friends ; but in Spain there be so many Jews and Maranos, that it is not amiss for him to have a convoy.

179. (88.) Coranus the Spaniard, at a table at din-

1 was. R. This variation (which is obviously wrong), coupled with others of the same kind, makes me suspect that the text of the edition of 1661 has suffered from a correcting editor. It may be that he had no choice: for the collection may have been made up from a rough imperfect or illeg ible copy, containing passages which could only be supplied by conjecture. But it strikes me that very few of these different readings are such as Ba con himself would have thought improvements. In this case the history of the change may be easily divined. " One of them that were at supper, and was a free-spoken senator," struck the editor as an incorrect sentence: were and was could not both be right; and as "« senator" could not be plural, were must be replaced by ivas. Unfortunately, in attending to the grammar without attending to the sense, he in effect puts the remark into the mouth of the very person at whom it was aimed. He should have let were stand, and put who for and.

366 APOPHTHEGMS

ner, fell into an extolling of his own father, and said ; If he could have wished of Crod, he could not have chosen amongst men a better father. Sir Henry Savill said, What, not Abraham ? Now Coranus was doubted to descend of a race of Jews.

180. (89.) Consalvo would say : The honour of a soldier ought to be of a good strong web ; meaning, that it should not be so fine and curious, that every little disgrace should1 catch and stick in it.

181. (243.) One of the Seven was wont to say ; That laws were like cobwebs ; where the small flies were caught, and the great brake thorough.

f 182. Bias gave in precept ; Love as if you should hereafter hate; and hate as if you should hereafter love.

183. (169.) Aristippus being reprehended of luxury by one that was not rich, for that he gave six crowns for a small fish, answered ; Wliy what 'would you have given? The other said; Some twelve pence. Aristippus said again ; And six crowns is no more with me.

184. (32.) There was a French gentleman speak ing with an English, of the law Salique ; that women were excluded to inherit2 the crown of France. The English said ; Yes, but that was meant of the women themselves, not of such males as claimed by women. The French gentleman said ; Where do you find that gloss ? The English answered ; Til tell you, Sir : look on the backside of the record of the laio Salique, and there you shall find it indorsed : meaning 3 there was no such thing at all as the law Salique, but that it was a fiction.4

1 as for every small disgrace to. R. 2 from inheriting. R.

3 implying. R. 4 is a mere fiction. R.

NEW AND OLD. 367

185. (38.) There was a friar in earnest dispute1 about the law Salique, that would needs prove it by Scripture ; citing that verse of the Gospel ; Lilia agri non labor ant neque nent : which is as much as to say (saith he) that 2 the flower-de-luces of France cannot descend neither to distaff nor spade : that is, not to a woman, nor to a peasant.

186. (167.) Julius Caesar, as he passed by, was by acclamation of some that were suborned called 3 King, to try how the people would take it. The people shewed great murmur and distaste at it. Caesar, find ing where the wind stood, slighted it, and said ; / am not King, but Ccesar ; as if they had mistook 4 his name. For Hex was a surname amongst the Romans, as King is with us.

187. (168.) When Croesus, for his glory, shewed Solon great treasure 5 of gold, Solon said to him ; If another come 6 that hath better iron than you, he will be master of all this gold.

188. (99.) There was a gentleman that came to the tilt all in orange-tawny, and ran very ill. The next day he came 7 all in green, and ran worse. There was one of the lookers on asked another ; What's the reason that this gentleman changeth his colours ? The other answered Sure, because it may be reported that the gen tleman in the green ran worse than the gentleman in the orange-tawny.

189. (230.) Aristippus said ; That those that studied particular sciences, and neglected philosophy, were like Penelope's wooers, that made love to the waiting women?

1 A friar of France being in an earnest dispute. R.

2 The lilies of the field do neither labour nor spin: applying it thus, that. R. 8 of some that stood in the way, termed. R. 4 mistaken. R. 5 his great treasures. R. 6 if another KING come. R. "' came again. R. 8 woman. R.

368 APOPHTHEGMS

190. (170.) Plato reproved 1 severely a young man for entering into a dissolute house. The young man said to him ; WJiat 2 for so small a matter ? Plato re plied ; But custom is no small matter.

191. (190.) There was a law made by the Romans against the bribery and extortion of the governors of provinces. Cicero saith, in a speech of his to the peo ple ; That he thought the provinces would petition to the state of Home to have that law repealed. For (saith he) before the governors did bribe and extort as much as was sufficient for themselves ; but now they bribe and extort as much as may be enough not only for themselves, but for the judges and jurors and magistrates.

192. (171.) Archidamus King of Lacedsemon, hav ing received from Philip King of Macedon, after Philip had won the victory of Chseronea upon the Athenians, proud letters, writ back to him ; That if he measured his own shadow, he ivould find it no longer than it ivas before his victory.

193. (172.) Pyrrhus, when his friends congratulated to him his victory over the Romans, under the conduct of Fabricius, but with great slaughter of his own side, said to them again ; Yes, but if we have such another victory, we are undone.

194. (173.) Cineas was an excellent orator and statesman, and principal friend and counsellor to Pyr rhus ; and falling in inward talk with him, and dis cerning the King's endless ambition,3 Pyrrhus opened himself to him; That he intended first a war upon Italy f and hoped to atchieve it. Cineas asked him ; Sir, ivhat ivill you do then? Then (saith he) ive will

1 reprehended. R.

2 why do you reprehend me so sharply. R.

3 when Pyrrhus. R. * Sicily. R.

NEW AND OLD.

869

attempt Sicily}- Cineas said; Well, Sir, what then? Then (saith Pyrrhus) if the Grods favour2 us, we may conquer Af rick and Carthage? Wliat then, Sir? saith Cineas. Nay then (saith Pyrrhus) we may take our rest, and sacrifice and feast every day, and make merry with our friends. Alas, Sir, (said Cineas) may we not do so now, without all this ado f

195. (231.) The ambassadors of Asia Minor came to Antonius, after he had imposed upon them a double tax, and said plainly to him ; That if he would have two tributes in one year, he must give them two seed-times and two harvests.

196. (1T4.) Plato was wont to say of his master Socrates ; That he was like the apothecaries' gally-^ots ; that had on the outside apes, and owls, and satyrs; but within precious drugs.^

f 197. Lamia the courtezan had all power with Demetrius King of Macedon ; and by her instigations he did many unjust and cruel acts. Whereupon Ly- simachus said ; That it was the first time that ever he knew a whore play in a tragedy.

f 198. Themistocles would say of himself; That he was like a plane-tree, that in tempests men fled to him, and in fair iveather men were ever cropping his leaves.

f 199. Themistocles said of speech ; That it was like Arras, that spread abroad shews fair images, but con tracted is but like packs.

2 succour. R. R. Compare Erasmus's

1 Italy and Rome. R.

8 we may conquer the kingdom of Carthage, version of this anecdote ( V. Pyrrh. 24.), from which it seems to be com pressed: where the order of the proposed conquests is Rome, Italy, Sicily, Libya and Carthage, Macedonia and Greece.

4 See note, De Augmentis Sdentinrum, lib. 1. VOL. xin. 24

370 APOPHTHEGMS

200. (90.) Brisquet,1 jester to Francis the first of France, did keep a calendar of fools, wherewith he did use to make the King sport ; telling him ever the rea son why he put every one2 into his calendar. So when Charles the fifth passed, upon confidence of the noble nature of Francis, thorough France, for the appeasing of the rebellion of Gaunt, Brisquet put him into his calendar. The King asking the cause, he said ; 3 Be cause you having suffered at the hands of Charles the greatest bitterness that ever prince did from other f he would trust his person into your hands. Why, Brisquet, (said the King) what wilt thou say, if thou seest him pass 5 in as great safety as if it ivere 6 thorough the midst of Spain ? Saith Brisquet ; Why then I will put out him, and put in you.1

201. (245.) Lewis the eleventh of France, having much abated the greatness and power of the Peers, Nobility, and Court of Parliament, would say ; That he had brought the Crown out of ward.

202. (57.) Sir Fulke Grevill,8 in Parliament, when the Lower House in a great business of the Queen's,9 stood much upon precedents, said unto them ; Wliy should you stand so much upon precedents ? The times hereafter will be good or bad : If good, precedents will do no harm ; if bad, power will make a way where it finds none.

203. (34.) When peace was renewed with the

1 Bresquet. R. 2 any one. R.

3 asked him the. cause? He answered. R.

4 another, nevertheless. R. 5 pass back. R.

6 he inarched. R.

7 Compare Melch. I. 3. 1., where a different story with a similar point is told of Alonso Carrillo and one of his servants.

• 8 afterward Lord Brooke. R. 9 when the House of Commons in a great business stood, &c. R.

NEW AND OLD. 371

French in England, divers of the great counsellors were presented from the French with jewels. The Lord Henry Howard1 was omitted. Whereupon the King said to him ; My Lord, how haps it that you have not a jewel as well as the rest ? My Lord answered again, (alluding 2 to the fable in JEsop ;) Non sum G-allus, itaque non reperi gemmam.

204. (232.) An orator of Athens said to Demos thenes ; The Athenians will kill you, if they wax mad. Demosthenes replied, And they will kill you, if they be in good sense.

205. (175.) Alexander sent to Phocion a great pres ent of money. Phocion said to the messenger ; Why doth the King send to me and to none else ? The mes senger answered ; Because he takes you to be the only good man in Athens. Phocion replied ; If he think so, pray let him suffer me to be good still.3

206. (92.) Cosmus duke of Florence was wont to say of perfidious friends ; That we read that ive ought to forgive our enemies ; but we do not read that we ought to forgive our friends.

207. (102.) ^Eneas Sylvius, that was Pius Secun- dus,4 was wont to say; That the former Popes did wisely to set the lawyers on work5 to debate, ivhether the dona tion of Constantine the Great to Sylvester 6 were good and valid in law or no ? the better to skip over the matter in fact, whether there were'1 any such thing at all or no?

208. (176.) At a banquet, where those that were called the Seven Wise Men of Greece were invited by

1 being then Earl of Northampton and a Counsellor. R.

2 answered, according to, &c. R. 8 to be so still. R. 4 Pope Pius Secundus. R. 5 awork. R.

8 of St. Peter's patrimony. R. 7 was ever. R.

372 APOPHTHEGMS

the embassador of a barbarous King, the cmbassador related, That there was a neighbour King, mightier than his master, picked quarrels with him, by making impossible demands, otherwise threatening war ; and now at that present had demanded of him to drink up the sea. Whereunto one of the Wise Men said ; I would have him undertake it. Why (saith the embas sador) how shall he come off? Thus, (saith the Wise Man :) Let that King first stop the rivers that run into the sea, which are no part of the bargain, and then your master will perform it.

209. (177.) At the same banquet, the embassador desired the Seven, and some other wise men that were at the banquet, to deliver every one of them some sentence or parable, that he mought report to his King the wisdom of Graecia. Which they did. Only one was silent. Which the embassador perceiving, said to him ; Sir, let it not displease you, why do not you say somewhat that I may report ? He answered, Report to your lord, that there are of the Grecians that can hold their peace.

f 210. One of the Romans said to his friend ; What think you of such an one as ivas taken with the manner in adultery ? The other answered ; Marry, I think he was slow at dispatch.

f 211. Lycurgus would say of divers of the heroes of the heathen ; That he wondered that men should mourn upon their days for them as mortal men, and yet sacrifice to them as gods.

212. (93.) A Papist being opposed by a Protes tant, that they had no Scripture for images, answered ; Yes ; for you read that the people laid their sick in the streets, that the shadoiv of Saint Peter mought come upon

NEW AND OLD. 373

them ; and that a shadow was an image ; and the obscur est of images.1

f 213. There is an ecclesiastical writer of the Pa pists, to prove antiquity of confession in the form that it now is, doth note, that in very ancient times, even in the primitive times, amongst other foul slanders spread against the Christians, one was ; That they did adore the genitories of their priests. Which (he saith) grew from the posture of the confessant and the priest in con fession : which is, that the confessant kneels down, before the priest sitting in a raised chair above him.

f 214. Epaminondas, when his great friend and colleague in war was suitor to him to pardon an of fender, denied him. Afterwards, when a concubine of his made the same suit, he granted it to her ; which when Pelopidas seemed to take unkindly, he said; Such suits are to be granted to whores, but not to per- sonages of worth.

215. (178.) The Lacedaemonians had in custom to speak very short. Which, being in empire,2 they mouglit do at pleasure. But after their defeat at Leuctra, in an assembly of the Grecians, they made a long invective against Epaminondas ; who stood up, and said no more but this ; / am glad we have taught you to speak long.

f 216. Fabricius, in conference with Pyrrhus, was tempted to revolt to him ; Pyrrhus telling him, that he should be partner of his fortunes, and second per son to him. But Fabricius answered, in a scorn, to such a motion ; Sir, that would not be good for your self : for if the JEpirotes once knew me, they will rather desire to be governed by me than by you.

1 of all images. R. 2 being an empire. R.

374 APOPHTHEGMS

217. (179.) Fabius Maximus being resolved to draw the war in length, still waited upon Hannibal's prog ress to curb him ; and for that purpose he encamped upon the high grounds. But Terentius his colleague fought with Hannibal, and was in great peril of over throw. But then Fabius came down1 the high grounds and got the day : Whereupon Hannibal said ; That lie. did ever think that that same cloud that hanged upon the hills, would at one time or other give a tempest.

218. (246.) There was a cowardly Spanish soldier, that in a defeat the Moors gave, ran away with the foremost. Afterwards, when the army generally fled, this soldier was missing. Whereupon it was said by some, that he was slain. No sure, (saith one) he is alive ; for the Moors eat no hare's flesh?

219. (180.) Hanno the Carthaginian was sent com missioner by the state, after the second Carthaginian war, to Rome,3 to supplicate for peace, and in the end obtained it. Yet one of the sharper senators said ; You have often broken with us the peaces whereunto you have been sworn ; I pray, by what Gods will you swear ? Hanno answered ; By the same Crods that have punished the former perjury so severely.

f 220. Thales being asked when a man should marry, said : Young men not yet, old men not at all.

f 221. Thales said : That life and death were all one. One that was present asked him : Why do not you die then ? Thales said again ; Because they are all one.

222. (181.) Csesar after first he had4 possessed Rome, Pompey being fled, offered to enter the sa-

i down from. R. 2 Melch. II. 3. 21.

8 R. omits " to Rome." 4 when he had first. R.

NEW AND OLD. 375

cred treasury, to take the moneys that were there stored. Metellus, tribune of the people, did forbid him. And when Metellus was violent in it, and would not desist, Caesar turned to him, and said ; Presume no further, or I will lay you dead. And when Metellus was with those words somewhat as tonished, Caasar added ; Young man, it had been easier for me to do this than to speak it.

f 223. An ^Egyptian priest having conference with Solon, said , to him ; You Grecians are ever children ; you have no knowledge of antiquity, nor antiquity of knowledge.

224. (14.) The counsel did make remonstrance unto Queen Elizabeth of the continual conspiracies against her life ; and namely of a late one : and shewed her a rapier, taken from a conspirator, that had a false chape, being of brown paper, but gilt over, as it could not be known from a chape of metal ; which was devised to the end that without drawing the rapier mought give a stab ; and upon this occasion advised her1 that she should go less abroad to take the air, weakly accompanied, as she used. But the Queen answered ; That she had rather be dead, than put in custody.

225. (194.) Chilon would say, That gold was tried with the touchstone, and men with gold.

226. (101.) Zelim was the first of the Ottomans that did shave his beard, whereas his predecessors wore it long. One of his Basha's asked him ; Why he altered

1 and namely, that a man was lately taken who stood ready in a very dangerous and suspicious manner to do the deed ; and they shewed her the weapon wherewith he thought to have acted it, and therefore they advised her, &c. R.

376 APOPHTHEGMS

the custom of his predecessors ? He answered ; Be cause you Baskets shall not lead me by the beard, as you did them.

t 227. Diogenes was one clay in the market-place, with a candle in his hand ; and being asked ; What he souc/ht ? he said ; He sought a man.

f 228. Bias being asked ; How a man should order his life? answered; As if a man should live long, or die quickly.

f 229. Queen Elizabeth was entertained by my Lord Burleigh at Theobalds : and at her going away, my Lord obtained of the Queen to make seven knights. They were gentlemen of the country, of my Lord's friends and neighbours. They were placed in a rank, as the Queen should pass by the hall ; and to win an tiquity of knighthood, in order, as my Lord favoured ; though indeed the more principal gentlemen were placed lowest. The Queen was told of it, and said nothing ; but when she went along, she passed them all by, as far as the screen, as if she had forgot it : and when she came to the screen, she seemed to take herself with the manner, and said ; I had almost forgot what I promised. With that she turned back, and knighted the lowest first, and so upward. Where upon Mr. Stanhope, of the privy-chamber, a while after told her : Your Majesty was too fine for my Lord Burleigh. She answered; I have but fulfilled the Scrip ture ; The first shall be last, and the last first.

230. (195.) Simonides being asked of Hiero ; What lie thought of G-od? asked a seven-night's time to con sider of it. And at the seven-night's end he asked a fortnight's time. At the fortnight's end, a month. At which Hiero marvelling, Simonides answered ;

NEW AXD OLD. 377

That the longer he thought on it? the more difficult he found it.

231. (248.) Anacharsis would say concerning the popular estates of Graecia ; That he wondered hoiv at Athens wise men did propose, and fools did dispose.

f 232. Solon compared the people unto the sea, and orators to the winds : For that the sea would be calm and quiet, if the winds did not trouble it.

233. (197.) Socrates was pronounced by the oracle of Delphos to be the wisest man of Greece ; which he would put from himself, ironically2 saying; There could be nothing in him 3 to verify the oracle, except this ; that he was not wise, and knew it ; and others were not wise, and knew it not.

234. (238.) Cato the elder, what time many of the Romans had statua's erected in their honour, was asked by one in a kind of wonder ; Why he had none ? and answered ; He had much rather men should ask and wonder why he had no statua, than why he had a statua.

f 235. Sir Fulke Grevill had much and private access to Queen Elizabeth, which he used honoura bly, and did many men good ; yet he would say mer rily of himself; That he was like Robin G-oodfellow ; For when the maids spilt the milkpans, or kept any racket, they would lay it upon Robin; So what tales the ladies about the Queen told her, or rather bad offices that they did, they would put it upon him.

236. (196.) Socrates, when there was shewed him 4 the book of Heraclitus the Obscure, and was asked his opinion of it, answered ; Those things that I under*

1 thought upon the matter. R. 2 put from himself in modesty. R. 8 in himself. R. 4 unto him. R.

378 APOPHTHEGMS

stood were excellent; I imagine, so were those that I understood not; but they require a diver of DeJos.

f 237. Bion asked an envious man that was very sad ; What harm had befallen to him, or wliat good had befallen to another man?

f 238. Stilpo the philosopher, when the people flocked about him, and that one said to him ; The people come wondering about you, as if it were to see some strange beast. No, (saith he) it is to see a man which Diogenes sought with his lanthorn.

239. (184.) Antistlienes being asked of one ; What learning was most necessary for man's life ? an swered ; To unlearn that which is naught.

f 240. There was a politic sermon, that had no divinity in it, was preached before the King. The King, as he came forth, said to Bishop Andrews ; Call you this a sermon ? The Bishop answered ; And it please your majesty, by a charitable construction, it may be a sermon.

241. (103.) Bishop x Andrews was asked at the first coming over of the Bishop2 of Spalato ; Wliether he were a Protestant or no ? He answered ; Truly I know not, but he is a Detestant, of divers opinions of Home.3

242. (182.) Caius Harms was general of the Ro mans against the Cimbers, who came with such a sea of multitude 4 upon Italy. In the fight, there was a band of the Cadurcians, of a thousand, that did notable service. Whereupon, after the fight, Harius did den izen them all for citizens of Rome, though there was

1 The Lord Bishop. R. 2 Archbishop. R.

3 but I think he is a Detestant: That was, of most of the opinions of Rome. R.

4 such a sea of people. R.

NEW AND OLD. 379

no law to warrant it. One of his friends did repre sent1 it unto him, that he had transgressed the law, because that privilege was not to be granted but by the people. Whereto Marius answered ; That for the noise of arms he could not hear the laws.

243. (105.) JEneas Sylvius would say; That the Christian faith and law, though it had not been confirmed by miracles, yet was worthy to be received for the honesty thereof.

f 244. Henry Noel would say ; That courtiers were like fasting-days ; They were next the holydays, but in themselves they were the most meagre days of the week.

245. (106.) Mr. Bacon would say; That it was in business, as it is commonly* in ways ; that the next way is commonly the foulest, and that if a man will go the fairest way, he must go somewhat about.

246. (215.) Augustus Cassar, out of great indigna tion against his two daughters, and Posthumus Agrip- pa, his grandchild, whereof the first two were infamous, and the last otherwise unworthy, would say ; That they were not his seed, but some imposthumes that had broken from him.

f 247. Cato said ; The best way to keep good acts in memory, was to refresh them with new.

248. (183.) Pompey did consummate the war against Sertorius, when Metellus had brought the enemy somewhat low. He did also consummate the war against the fugitives, whom Crassus had before defeated in a great battle. So when Lucullus had had great and glorious victories against Mithridates and Tigranes, yet Pompey, by means his friends made, was sent to put an end to that war. Whereupon 1 present. R. 2 frequently. R.

380 APOPHTHEGMS

Lucullus, taking indignation, as a disgrace offered to himself, said ; That Pompey was a carrion crow, that when others had strucken down bodies, he came to prey upon them.1

249. (186.) Diogenes, when mice came about him as he was eating, said ; / see that even Diogenes nour- isheth parasites.

250. (233.) Epictetus used to say ; That one of the vulgar, in any ill that happens to him, blames others ; a novice in philosophy blames himself; and a philosopher blames neither the one nor the other.

251. (187.) Hiero visited by Pythagoras, asked him ; Of ivhat condition he was ? Pythagoras an swered ; Sir, I know you have been at the Olympian games. Yes, saith Hiero. Thither (saith Pythag oras) come some to win the prizes. Some come to sell their merchandize, because it is a kind of mart of all Greece. Some come to meet their friends, and make merry, because of the great confluence of all sorts. Others come only to look on. I am one of them that come to look on. Meaning it of philosophy, and the contemplative life.

252. (107.) Mr. Bettenham 2 used to say; That riches were like muck; when it lay upon an heap, it gave but a stench and ill odour ; bat when it was spread upon the ground, then it was cause of much fruit.

253. (96.) The same Mr. Bettenham said; That virtuous men were like some herbs and spices, that give not3 their sweet smell, till they be broken and crushed.

254. (98.) There was a painter became a physician. Whereupon one said to him; You have' done well; for

1 then Pompey came and preyed upon them. R.

2 Reader of Gray's Inn. R. 3 give not out. R.

NEW AND OLD. 381

before the faults of your work were seen, but now they are

unseen.1

255. (189.) One of the philosophers was asked ; What a wise man differed from a fool ? He answered ;

Send them both naked to those that know them not, and you shall perceive.

256. (234.) CaBsar in his book that he made against Cato (which is lost) did write, to shew the force of opinion and reverence of a man that had once obtained a popular reputation ; That there were some that found Cato drunk, and they were ashamed instead of Cato.

257. (191.) Aristippus, sailing in a tempest, shewed signs of fear. One of the seamen said to him, in an insulting manner ; We that are plebeians are not troub led; you, that are a philosopher, are afraid. Aristippus answered ; There is not the like wager upon it, for me to perish and you?

258. (192.) There was an orator that defended a cause of Aristippus, and prevailed. Afterwards he asked Aristippus ; Now, in your distress, what did Socrates do you good ? Aristippus answered ; Thus ; in making true that good which you said of me? "

f 259. Aristippus said; He took money of his friends, not so much to use it himself, as to teach them how to be stow their money.

f 260. A strumpet said to Aristippus ; That she was with child by him. He answered ; You know that no more, than if you went through a hedge of thorns, you could say, This thorn pricked me.

1 Compare Melch. IV. 7. 5., where the remark is represented more grace fully as made by the painter himself.

2 for you to perish and for me. R.

3 in making that which you said of me to be true. R.

382 APOPHTHEGMS

261. (15.) The lady Paget, that was very private with Queen Elizabeth, declared herself much against her match1 with Monsieur. After Monsieur's death, the Queen took extreme grief (at least as she made shew), and kept2 within her bedchamber and one antechamber for three weeks space, in token of mourn ing. At last she came forth into her privy chamber, and admitted her ladies to have access unto her ; and amongst the rest my lady Paget presented herself, and came to her with a smiling countenance. The Queen bent her brows, and seemed to be highly displeased, and said to her ; Madam, you are not ignorant of my extreme grief, and do you come to me with a countenance of joy? My lady Paget answered; Alas, and it please your Majesty, it is impossible for me to be absent from you three weeks, but that when I see you I must look cheerfully. No, no, (said the Queen, not forgetting her former averseness from3 the match), you have some other conceit in it ; tell me plainly. My lady answered ; I must obey you. It is this. I was thinking hoiv happy your Majesty was, in that you married not Monsieur ; for seeing you take such thought for his death, being but your friend, if he had been your husband, sure it ivould have cost you your life.

262. (94.) Sir Edward Dyer, a grave and wise gentleman, did much believe in Kelley the alchymist ; that he did indeed the work, and made gold : inso much as he went himself into Germany, where Kelley then was, to inform himself fully thereof. After his return, he dined with my Lord of Canterbury, where at that time was at the table Dr. Browne, the phy-

1 the match. R. 2 kept in. R.

3 to. R.

NEW AND OLD. 383

sician. They fell in talk of Kelley. Sir Edward Dyer, turning to the Archbishop, said ; I do assure your Grrace, that that I shall tell you is truth. I am an eye-witness thereof, and if I had not seen it, I should not have believed it. I saw Master Kelley put of the base metal into the crucible, and after it was set a little upon the fire, and a very small quantity of the medicine put in, and stirred with a stick of wood, it came forth in great proportion perfect gold, to the touch, to the hammer, to the test. Said the Bishop ; l You had need take heed what you say, Sir Edward Dyer, for here is an infidel at the board. Sir Edward Dyer said again pleasantly ; I would have looked for an infidel sooner in any place than at your Grace's table. What say you, Dr. Broivne ? saith the Bishop.2 Dr. Browne answered, after his blunt and huddling manner, The gentleman hath spoken enough for me. Why (saith the Bishop 3) what hath he said? Marry, (saith Dr. Browne) he said he would not have believed it except he had seen it ; and no more will L

f 263. Democritus said ; That truth did lie in pro- found pits, and when it was got, it needed much refin ing.

264. (95.) Doctor Johnson said ; That in sickness there were three things that were material : the physician, the disease, and the patient. And if any two of these joined, then they have* the victory. For, Ne Hercules quidem contra duos. If the physician and the patient join, then down goes the disease; for the patient re covers. If the physician and the disease join, then down goes the patient ; that is where the physician mistakes the

i My Lord Archbishop said. R. 2 said the Archbishop. R.

3 Archbishop. R. 4 get. R.

384 APOPHTHEGMS

cure.1 If the patient and the disease join, then down goes the pltysician ; for lie is discredited.

265. (185.) Alexander visited Diogenes in his tub. And when he asked him ; What he would desire of him? Diogenes answered ; That you would stand a little aside, that the sun may come to me.

f 266. Diogenes said of a young man that danced daintily, and was much commended ; The better, the worse.

267. (236.) Diogenes called an ill musician, Cock. Why? (saith he.) Diogenes answered; Because when

you crow men use to rise.

268. (188.) Heraclitus the Obscure said ; The dry light was the lest soul. Meaning, when the faculties intellectual are in vigour, not wet, nor,2 as it were, blooded by the affections.

f 269. There was in Oxford a cowardly fellow that was a very good archer. He was abused grossly by another, and moaned himself to Walter Ralegh, then a scholar, and asked his advice ; What he should do to repair the wrong had been offered 1dm? Ralegh an swered ; Why, challenge him at a match of shooting.

270. (100.) Whitehead, a grave divine, was much esteemed by Queen Elizabeth, but not preferred, be cause he was against the government of Bishops. He was of a blunt stoical nature.3 He came one day to the Queen, and the Queen happened to say to him ; I like thee the better, Whitehead, because thou livest un married. He answered again ; In troth, Madam, I like you the worse for tJie same cause.

1 If the physician and the disease join, that is a strong disease; and the physician mistaking the cure, then, &c. R. • 2 not drenched, or. R.

3 This sentence is omitted in R.

NEW AND OLD. 385

f 271. There was a nobleman that was lean of vis age, but immediately after his marriage he grew pretty plump and fat. One said to him, Your lordship doth contrary to other married men ; for they at the first wax lean, and you wax fat. Sir Walter Ralegh stood by and said ; Why, there is no beast, that if you take him from the common and put him into the several, but he will wax fat.

f 272. Diogenes seeing one that was a bastard cast ing stones among the people, bade him Take heed he hit not his father.

273. (97.) Dr. Laud1 said; That some hypocrites and seeming mortified men, that held down their heads, were like little imayes that they place in the very bowing of the vaults of churches, that look as if they held up the church, but are but puppets?

274. (104.) It was said among some of the grave prelates of the council of Trent, in which the school- divines bore the sway ; That the school-men were like the astronomers ; who to save the phenomena, framed to their conceit eccentrics and epicycles, and a wonderful engine of orbs, though no such things were : so they, to save the practice of the church, had devised a number of strange positions.

f 275. It was also said by many, concerning the canons of that council ; That we are beholding to Aris totle for many articles of our faith.

276. (35.) The Lo. Henry Howard, being Lord Privy Seal, was asked by the King openly at the table, (where commonly he entertained the King,)

1 The Lord Archbishop Laud. R.

2 were like the little images in the vaults or roofs of churches, which look and bow down as if they held up the church, when as they bear no weight at all. R.

VOL. xiii. 25

386 APOPHTHEGMS

upon the sudden ; l My lord, have you not a desire to see Rome? My lord Privy Seal answered, Yes, in deed, Sir. The King said, And wliy? My lord an swered, Because, and it please your Majesty, it was once the seat of the greatest monarchy, and the seminary of the bravest men in the world, amongst the heathen : and then again? because after it was the see of so many holy Bishops in the primitive church, most of them martyrs. The King would not give it over, but said ; And for nothing else ? My lord answered ; Yes, and it please your Majesty, for two things especially? The one, to see him, who they say hath such a power to forgive other men's sins, to confess his own sins upon his knees before a chaplain or priest ; and the other is, to hear Antichrist say his creed.

277. (235.) There was a nobleman said of a great counsellor ; That he would have made the worst farrier in the ivorld, for he never shod horse but he cloyed him : so he never commended any man to the King for service, or upon occasion of suit, or otherwise, but that he would come in in the end with a But, and drive in a nail to his disadvantage.

f 278. There was a lady of the west country, that gave great entertainment at her house to most of the gallant gentlemen thereabout ; and amongst others, Sir Walter Ralegh was one. This lady, though other wise a stately dame, was a notable good housewife ; and in the morning betimes she called to one of her maids that looked to the swine, and asked ; Is the piggy

1 The same Earl of Northampton, then Lord Privy Seal, was asked by King James openly at the tahle, where commonly he entertained the King with discourse; the King asked him upon the sudden. R.

2 secondly. R.

8 for two things more. R.

NEW AND OLD. 387

served ? Sir Walter Ralegh's chamber was fast by the lady's, so as he heard her. A little before dinner, the lady came down in great state into the great chamber, which was full of gentlemen : And as soon as Sir Walter Ralegh set eye upon her ; Madam, (saith he) is the piggy served? The lady answered, You know best whether you have had your breakfast.

279. (237.) There was a gentleman fell very sick, and a friend of his said to him ; Surely, you are in danger ; I pray send for a physician. But the sick man answered ; It is no matter, for if I die, I will die at leisure.

280. (193.) There was an Epicurean vaunted, that divers of other sects of philosophers did after turn Epicureans, but there was never any Epicurean that turned to any other sect. Whereupon a philosopher that was of another sect, said ; The reason was plain, for that cocks may be made capons, but capons could never be made cocks.

APOPHTHEGMS

CONTAINED IN THE SECOND EDITION OF THE RESUSCJTATIO (1661), AND NOT IN THE ORIGINAL COLLECTION.1

3. His Majesty James the First, King of Great Britain, having made unto his Parliament an excel lent and large declaration, concluded thus : I have now given you a clear mirror of my mind ; use it therefore like a mirror ; and take heed how you let it fall, or how you soil it with your breath.

5. His Majesty said to his Parliament at another time, finding there were some causeless jealousies sown amongst them ; That the King and his people, (where of the Parliament is the representative body,^) ID ere as husband and wife ; and therefore that of all other things jealousy was between them most pernicious.

6. His Majesty, when he thought his counsel mought note in him some variety in businesses, though indeed he remained constant, would say ; That the sun many times shineth watery ; but it is not the sun which causeth it, but some cloud rising betwixt us and the sun : and when that is scattered, the sun is as it was, and comes to his former brightness.

7. His Majesty, in his answer to the book of the Cardinal of Evereux, (who had in a grave argument

i See Preface, pp. 315, 320.

FROM THE RESUSCITATIO, 1GG1. 389

of divinity sprinkled many witty ornaments of poesy and humanity) saith ; That these flowers were like blue and yellow and red flowers in the corn, which make a pleasant shew to those that look on, but they hurt the corn.

8. Sir Edward Cook, being vehement against the two Provincial Councils, of Wales and the North, said to the King ; There was nothing there but a kind of confusion and hotch-potch of justice : one while they were a Star- Chamber ; another while a Kings-bench; another, a Common-place ; another, a Commission of Oyer and Terminer. His Majesty answered ; Why, Sir Edward Cook, they be like houses in progress, where I have not, nor can have, such distinct rooms of state, as I have here at Whitehall, or at Hampton-court.

9. The Commissioners of the Treasure moved the King, for the relief of his estate, to disafforest some forests of his ; explaining themselves of such forests as lay out of the way, not near any of the King's houses, nor in the course of his progress ; whereof he should never have use nor pleasure. Why, (saith the King) do you think that Salomon had use and pleasure of all his three hundred concubines?

10. His Majesty, when the committees of both Houses of Parliament presented unto him the instru ment of Union of England and Scotland, was merry with them ; and amongst other pleasant speeches, shewed unto them the laird of Lawreston, a Scotch man, who was the tallest and greatest man that was to be seen ; and said ; Well, now we are all one, yet none of you will say, but here is one Scotchman greater than any Englishman ; which was an ambiguous speech ; but it was thought he meant it of himself.

390 APOPHTHEGMS

11. His Majesty would say to the lords of his coun sel, when they sat upon any great matter, and came from counsel in to him ; Well, you have sit, but ivliat have you hatched?

13. Queen Elizabeth was importuned much by my Lord of Essex, to supply divers great offices that had been long void ; the Queen answered nothing, to the matter ; but rose up on the sudden, and said ; I am sure my office will not be long void. And yet at that time there was much speech of troubles and divisions about the crown, to be after her decease ; but they all vanished ; and King James came in, in a profound peace.

17. King Henry the fourth of France wras so punc tual of his word, after it wras once passed, that they called him The King of the Faith.1

18. The said King Henry the fourth was moved by his Parliament to a war against the Protestants : he answered; Yes, I mean it; I will make every one of you captains ; you shall have companies assigned you. The Parliament observing whereunto his speech tended, gave over, and deserted the motion.2

21. A great officer at court, when my Lord of Essex was first in trouble ; and that he and those that dealt for him would talk much of my Lord's friends and of his enemies ; answered to one of them ; / will tell you, I know but one friend and one enemy my Lord hath; and that one friend is the Queen, and that one enemy is himself.

27. The Lord Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon, was asked his opinion, by my lord of Leicester, concerning

i Lamb. MS. p. 18. (see above, p. 321.) a Id. ibid, (without the last sentence).

FROM THE RESUSCITATIO, 1GG1. 391

two persons whom the Queen seemed to think well of: By my troth, my Lord, (said he) the one is a grave counsellor ; the other is a proper young man ; and so he will be as long as he lives.

28. My Lord of Leicester, favourite to queen Eliza beth, was making a large chase about Cornbury-Park ; meaning to inclose it with posts and rails ; and one day was casting up his charge, what it would come to. Mr. Goklingham, a free spoken man, stood by, and said to my Lord, Methinks your Lordship goeth not the cheapest way to work. Why, Goldingham? said my Lord. Marry, my Lord, said Goldingham, count you but upon the posts, for the country ivill find you railing.

36. There were fishermen drawing the river at Chelsea : Mr. Bacon came thither by chance in the afternoon, and offered to buy their draught : they were willing. He asked them what they would take ? They asked thirty shillings. Mr. Bacon offered them ten. They refused it. Why then, saith Mr. Bacon, I will be only a looker on. They drew, and catched nothing. Saith Mr. Bacon ; Are not you mad fellows now, that might have had an angel in your purse, to have made merry withal, and to have warmed you thoroughly, and now you must go home with nothing. Ay but (said the fishermen) we had hope then to make a better gain of it. Saith Mr. Bacon ; Well, my masters, then I'll tell you, hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad sup per.1

36. A lady walking with Mr. Bacon in Gray's Inn walks, asked him, Whose that piece of ground lying next under the walls was ? He answered, Theirs. Then she

1 See Lamb. MS. p. 1. where the story is set down almost exactly in the same words.

392 APOPHTHEGMS

asked him, if those fields beyond the walks were theirs too ? He answered, Yes, Madam, those are ours, as you are ours, to look on, and no more.1

37. His Lordship, when he was newly made Lord Keeper, was in Gray's Inn walks with Sir Walter Raleigh. One came and told him, that the Earl of Exeter was above. He continued upon occasion still walking a good while. At last when he came up, my Lord of Exeter met him, and said ; My Lord, I have made a great venture, to come up so high stairs, being a gouty man. His Lordship answered ; Pardon me, my lord, I have made the greatest venture of all; 2 for I have ventured upon your patience.

38. When Sir Francis Bacon was made the King's Attorney, Sir Edward Cooke was put up from being Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, to be Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench ; which is a place of greater honour, but of less profit ; and withal was made Privy Counsellor. After a few days, the Lord Cooke meeting with the King's Attorney, said unto him ; Mr. Attorney, this is all your doing : It is you that have made this great stir. Mr. Attorney an swered; Ah my Lord! your Lordship all this ichile hath groivn in breadth; you must needs now grow in height, or else you would be a monster?

39. One day Queen Elizabeth told Mr. Bacon, that my Lord of Essex, after great protestation of penitence and affection, fell in the end but upon the suit of re newing his farm of sweet wines. He answered ; I read that in nature there be two kinds of motions or ap-

1 Lamb. MS. p. 1. (told more compactly). The number 36 is repeated in R.

2 the greater venture. Lamb. MS. 3 Lamb. MS.

FROM THE RESUSCITATIO, 1GG1. 393

petites in sympathy ; the one as of iron to the adamant, for perfection ; the other as of the vine to the stake, for sustentation ; that her Majesty was the one, and his suit the other.1

40. Mr. Bacon, after he had been vehement in Par liament against depopulation and inclosures ; and that soon after the Queen told him that she had referred the hearing of Mr. Mill's cause to certain counsellors and judges ; and asked him how he liked of it ? an swered, Oh, madam ! my mind is knoivn ; I am against all inclosures, and especially against inclosed justice.'2'

41. When Sir Nicholas Bacon the Lord Keeper lived, every room in Gorhambury was served with a pipe of water from the ponds, distant about a mile off. In the lifetime of Mr. Anthony Bacon, the water ceased. After whose death, his Lordship coming to the inheritance, could not recover the water without infinite charge. When he was Lord Chancellor, he built Verulam House, close by the pond-yard, for a place of privacy when he was called upon to dispatch any urgent business. And being asked, why he built that house there ; his Lordship answered, That since he could not carry the water to his house, he would carry his house to the water 2

42. When my Lord President of the Council came first to be Lord Treasurer, he complained to my Lord Chancellor of the troublesomeness of the place ; for that the Exchequer was so empty. The Lord Chancellor answered ; My Lord, be of good cheer, for now you shall see the bottom of your business at the fast*

43. When his Lordship was newly advanced to the

i Lamb. MS. p. 8. 2 Id- p. 8.

s Id. p. 9. (told more shortly). 4 Id- p. 10.

394 APOPHTHEGMS

Great Seal, Gondomar came to visit him. My Lord said ; That lie ivas to thank Grod and the King for that honour ; but yet, so he might be rid of the burthen, he could very willingly forbear the honour ; and that he formerly had a desire, and the same continued with him still, to lead a private life. Gondomar answered ; That he would tell him a tale; of an old rat, that would needs leave the world; and acquainted the young rats that he would retire into his hole, and spend his days solitarily ; and would enjoy no more comfort : and commanded them upon his high displeasure^ not to offer to come in unto him. They forbore two or three days ; at last, one that was more hardy than the rest, incited some of his fellows to go in with him, and he would venture to see how his father did ; for he might be dead. Tliey went in, and found the old rat sitting in the midst of a rich Parmesan cheese. So he applied the fable after his witty manner.2 44. Rabelais tells a tale of one that was very fortu nate in compounding differences. His son undertook the same course,3 but could never compound any. Whereupon he came to his father, and asked him, what art he had to reconcile differences ? 4 He an swered, he had no other but this : to watch when the two parties were much wearied, and their hearts were too great to seek reconcilement at one another's hands; then to be a means betwixt them, and upon no other terms. After which the son went home, and pros pered in the same undertakings.5

1 upon his blessing. Lamb. MS. p. 4.

2 so if he left the world he would retire to some rich place. Lamb. MS.

3 So Lamb. MS. p. 63. R. has " said course."

4 what trick he had to make friends. Lamb. MS.

5 he would even be the means betwixt them. After which time the son prospered in the trade. Lamb. MS.

FROM THE RESUSCITATIO, 1661. 395

62. There was an agent here for the Dutch, called Caroon ; and when he used to move the Queen for further succours and more men, my lord Henry How ard would say ; That he agreed well with the name of Charon, ferryman of hell ; for lie came still for more men, to increase regnum umbrarum.

63. They were wont to call referring to the Masters in Chancery, committing. My Lord Keeper Egerton, when he was Master of the Rolls, was wont to ask ; What the cause had done, that it should be committed?

64. They feigned a tale, principally against Doctors' reports in the Chancery ; That Sir Nicholas Bacon, when he came to heaven gate, was opposed, touching an unjust decree which had been made in the Chan cery. Sir Nicholas desired to see the order, where upon the decree was drawn up ; and finding it to begin Veneris, etc. Why, (saith he) I ivas then sitting in the Star-chamber; this concerns the Master of the Rolls; let him answer it. Soon after came the Mas ter of the Rolls, Cordal, who died indeed a small time after Sir Nicholas Bacon ; and he was likewise stayed upon it ; and looking into the order, he found, that upon the reading of a certificate of Dr. Gibson, it was ordered, that his report should be decreed. And so he put it upon Dr. Gibson, and there it stuck.

65. Sir Nicholas Bacon, when a certain nimble- witted counsellor at the bar, who was forward to speak, did interrupt him often, said unto him ; There is a great difference betwixt you and me : a pain to me to speak, and a pain to you to hold your peace.

66. The same Sir Nicholas Bacon, upon bills ex hibited to discover where lands lay, — upon proof that they had a certain quantity of land, but could not set

396 APOPHTHEGMS

it forth, was wont to say ; And if you cannot find your land in the country, how will you have me find it in the Chancery?

67. Mr. Houland, in conference with a young stu dent, arguing a case, happened to say ; / ivould ask you but this question. The student presently inter rupted him, to give him an answer. Whereunto Mr. Houland gravely said ; Nay, though I ask you a ques tion, yet 1 did not mean you should answer me ; I mean to answer myself.

91. Archbishop Grindall was wont to say ; That the physicians here in England ivere not good at the cure of particular diseases; but had only the power of the Church, to bind and loose.

123. Titus Quinctius was in the counsel of the Achaians, what time they deliberated, whether in the war then to follow between the Romans and King An- tiochus, they should confederate themselves with the Romans, or with King Antiochus ? In that counsel the JEtolians, who incited the Achaians against the Romans, to disable their forces, gave great words, as if the late victory the Romans had obtained against Philip king of Macedon, had been chiefly by the strength and forces of the jiEtolians themselves : And

O

on the other side the embassador of Antiochus did extol the forces of his master ; sounding \vhat an in numerable company he brought in his army ; and gave the nations strange names ; As Elymaeans, Ca- ducians, and others. After both their harangues, Titus Quinctius, when he rose up, said ; It was an easy matter to perceive what it was that had joined An tiochus and the ^Etolians together ; that it appeared to be by reciprocal lying of each, touching the other's forces.

FROM THE RESUSCITATIO, 1661. 397

124. Plato was amorous of a young gentleman, whose name was Stella, that studied astronomy, and went oft in the clear nights to look upon the stars. Whereupon Plato wished himself heaven, that he mought look upon Stella with a thousand eyes.

153. Themistocles, after he was banished, and had wrought himself into great favour afterwards, so that he was honoured and sumptuously served ; seeing his present glory, said unto one of his friends, If I had not been undone, I had been undone.

214. A certain countryman being at an Assizes, and seeing the prisoners holding up their hands at the bar, related to some of his acquaintance ; That the judges were good fortune-tellers ; for if they did but look upon a man's hand, they could tell whether he should live or die.

216. A seaman coming before the judges of the Ad miralty for admittance into an office of a ship bound for the Indies, was by one of the judges much slighted, as an insufficient person for that office he sought to obtain ; the judge telling him ; That he believed he could not say the points of his compass. The seaman answered ; That he could say them, under favour, bet ter than he could say his Pater-noster. The judge re plied ; That he ivould wager twenty-shillings with him upon that. The seaman taking him up, it came to trial : and the seaman began, and said all the points of his compass very exactly : the judge likewise said his Pater-noster : and when he had finished it, he re quired the wager according to agreement ; because the seaman was to say his compass better than he his Pater-noster, which he had not performed. Nay, I pray, Sir, hold, (quoth the seaman,) the wager is not

398 APOPHTHEGMS FROM THE RESUSCITATIO, 1661.

finished: for I have but half done: and so he imme diately said his compass backward very exactly ; which the judge failing of in his Pater-noster, the seaman car ried away the prize.

239. A certain friend of Sir Thomas Moore's, taking great pains about a book, which he intended to publish, (being well conceited of his own wit, which no man else thought worthy of commendation,) brought it to Sir Thomas Moore to peruse it, and pass his judg ment upon it ; which he did ; and finding nothing therein worthy the press, he said to him with a grave countenance ; That if it were in verse, it would be more worthy. Upon which words, he went immediately and turned it into verse, and then brought it to Sir Thomas again ; who looking thereon, said soberly ; Yes, marry, now it is somewhat, for now it is rhyme ; ivhereas before it was neither rhyme nor reason.

247. A gentleman that was punctual of his word, and loved the same in others, when he heard that two persons had agreed upon a meeting about serious af fairs, at a certain time and place ; and that the one party failed in the performance, or neglected his hour ; would usually say of him, He is a young man then.1

249. His lordship when he had finished this collec tion of Apophthegms, concluded thus : Come* now all is well : they say, he is not a wise man that will lose his friend for Jus wit; but he is less a wise man that will lose his friend for another mans wit.2

1 "He broke his promise," said Sir Ralph, " he is a young man, then, under twenty years old: and no exception to he taken." — Lamb. MS.

2 " When Sir John Finch and myself had gone over my lord's apoph thegms, he said, ' Now it is well : you know it is a common saying that he is an unwise man who will lose his friend for his jest: but he is a more unwise man who will lose his friend for another man's jest.'" — Lamb. MS. p. 10.

APOPHTHEGMS

PUBLISHED BY DR. TENISON IN THE BACONIANA.1

1. PLUTARCH said well, It is otherwise in a com monwealth of men than of bees. The hive of a city or kingdom is in best condition when there is least of noise or buz in it.

2. The same Plutarch said of men of weak abilities set in great place, That they were like little statues set on great bases, made to appear the less by their advancement.

3. He said again, Good fame is like fire. When you have kindled it, you may easily preserve it ; but if once you extinguish it, you will not easily kindle it again ; at least, not make it burn as bright as it did.

4. The answer of Apollonius to Vespasian is full of excellent instruction : Vespasian asked him, What was Nero's overthrow ? He answered, Nero could touch and tune the harp well; but in government sometimes he used to wind the pins too high, sometimes to let them down too low. And certain it is, that nothing destroy- eth authority so much as the unequal and untimely interchange of power pressed too far, and relaxed too much.

1 See Preface, pp. 317. 321.

400 APOPHTHEGMS

5. Queen Elizabeth seeing Sir Edward - - in her garden, looked out at her window, and asked him in Italian, What does a man think of when he thinks of nothing ? Sir Edward (who had not had the effect of some of the Queen's grants so soon as he had hoped and desired) paused a little, and then made answer, Madam, he thinks of a woman's promise. The Queen shrunk in her head ; but was heard to say, Well, Sir Edward, I must not confute you. Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor.1

6. When any great officer, ecclesiastical or civil, was to be made, the Queen would inquire after the piety, integrity, learning of the man. And when she was satisfied in these qualifications, she would consider of his personage. And upon such an occasion she pleased once to say to me, Bacon, how can the magistrate main tain his authority when the man is despised ? 2

7. In eighty-eight, when the Queen went from Temple-bar along Fleet-street, the lawyers were ranked on one side, and the companies of the city on the other ; said Master Bacon to a lawyer that stood next him, Do but observe the courtiers; if they bow first to the citizens, they are in debt ; if first to us, they are in law.3

8. King James was wont to be very earnest with

1 Queen Elizabeth saw Sir Edward Dier in her garden, she looking out at window, and asked him in Italian, What does a man think of when he thinks of nothing ? Sir Edward Dier, after a little pause, said in Italian, Madam, of a woman'' s promise. The Queen shrunk in her head and shut the window. — Lamb. MS. p. 21.

2 My Lo. St. Albans hath often told me that Queen Elizabeth when she was to make a bishop or a great officer, besides his learning, piety, and in tegrity, she would have some respect to the person of the man. — Lamb. MS. p. 34.

3 Lamb. MS. p. 35.

FROM THE BACONIANA. 401

the country gentlemen to go from London to their country houses. And sometimes he would say thus to them ; Gentlemen, at London you are like ships in a sea, which shew like nothing ; bat in your country villages you are like ships in a river, which look like great things.

9. Soon after the death of a great officer, who was judged no advancer of the King's matters, the King said to his solicitor Bacon, who was his kinsman ; Noiv tell me truly, what say you of your cousin that is gone ? Mr. Bacon answered, Sir, since your Majesty doth charge me, I'll e'en deal plainly with you, and give you such a character of him, as if I were to write his story. I do think he was no fit counsellor to make your affairs belter ; but yet he ivas fit to have kept them from growing worse. The King said, On my so'l, man, in the first thou speakest like a true man, and in the latter like a kinsman.

10. King James, as he was a prince of great judg ment, so he was a prince of a marvellous pleasant humour ; and there now come into my mind two in stances of it.

As he was going through Lusen by Greenwich, he asked what town it was ? They said Lusen. He asked a cood while after, What town is this we are now in ?

O

They said, still 'twas Lusen. On my so'l, said the King, 1 will be King of Lusen.1

11. In some other of his progresses, he asked how far it was to a town whose name I have forgotten.

1 King James was going through Lusen by Greenwich. He asked what town it was. They said Lusen. He asked about half an hour after. 'Twas Lusen still. Said the king, / will be king of Lusen. — Lamb.

MS. p. 84.

VOL. XIII. 26

402 APOPHTHEGMS

They said, Six miles. Half an hour after, he asked again. One said, Six miles and a half. The King alighted out of his coach, and crept under the shoulder of his led horse. And when some asked his Majesty what he meant ; I must stalk, (said he) for yonder town is shy and flies me.1

12. Count Gondomar sent a compliment to my Lord St. Albans, wishing him a good Easter. My Lord thanked the messenger, and said, He could not at present requite the Count better than in returning him the like ; That he wished his Lordship a good Passover?

13. My Lord Chancellor Elsmere, when he had read a petition which he disliked, would say, What! you would have my hand to this now ? And the party answering, Yes ; he would say further ; Well, so you shall. Nay, you shall have both my hands to it. And so would, with both his hands, tear it in pieces.3

14. I knew a wise man, that had it for a by-word, when he saw men hasten to a conclusion, Stay a little, that we may make an end the sooner.

1 He asked how far to a town. They said six miles. Half an hour after he asked again. One said six miles and an half. He lighted from his coach and crept under his horse's shoulder. Some asked him what his M. meant. He said he must stalk, for yonder town fled from him. — Lamb. MS. p. 84.

2 Lamb. MS. p. 72. Gondomar, I presume, was about to return to Spain. I cannot believe that his message was meant for an insult, as has been supposed; though I can well believe that the popular hatred of Spain and everything Spanish was apt enough to put that construction upon it. But there are no traces of any un kindness between Gondomar and Bacon. These compliments may have been exchanged at Easter-tide in 10-22. Easter-day fell on the 21st of April that year, and a new Spanish ambassador arrived a week after. — See Court and Times of James I., ii. 309.

3The party would say an it like your Lp. He would answer, you shall have both my hands to it, and so would rend it. — Lamb. MS. p. 60.

FROM THE BACONIANA. 403

15. Sir Francis Bacon was wont to say of an angry man who suppressed his passion, That he thought worse than he spake ; and of an angry man that would chide, That he spoke worse than he thought, -1

16. He was wont also to say, That power in an ill man was like the power of a black witch; he could do hurt, but no good with it. And he would add, That the magicians could turn water into blood, but could not turn the blood again to water.

17. When Mr. Attorney Cook, in the Exchequer, gave high words to Sir Francis Bacon, and stood much upon his higher place ; Sir Francis said to him, Mr. Attorney, the less you speak of your own greatness, the more I shall think of it : and the more, the less?

18. Sir Francis Bacon coming into the Earl of

O

Arundel's garden, where there were a great number of ancient statues of naked men and women, made a stand, and as astonished, cried out, The resurrection?

19. Sir Francis Bacon (who was always for moder ate counsels) when one was speaking of such a refor mation of the Church of England as would in effect make it no Church ; said thus to him, Sir, the subject we talk of is the eye of England; and if there be a speck or two in the eye, we endeavour to take them off ; but he were a strange oculist who would pull out the eye.

20. The same Sir Francis Bacon was wont to say, That those who left useful studies for useless scholastic

1 If one suppresseth his anger he thinks worse than he says; but when he chides, then he says worse than he thinks. — Lamb. MS. p. 24.

2 When Mr. Attorney Cooke gave in the Exchequer high words to Mr. Bacon, he replied, Mr. Attorney, &c. — Lamb. MS. p. 7.

8 My Lo. St. Albans coming into the Earl of Arundel's garden where there were many statues of naked men and women, made a stand and said, " The resurrection." — Lamb. MS. p. 65.

404 APOPHTHEGMS

speculations, were like the Olympic gamesters, who ab stained from necessary labours, that they might be fit for such as were not so.

21. He likewise often used this comparison ; The Empirical philosophers are like to pismires ; they only lay up and use their store. The Rationalists are like to spiders ; they spin all out of their own boivels. But give me a philosopher, who like the bee, hath a middle faculty, gathering from abroad, but digesting that which is gathered by his own virtue.

22. The Lord St. Alban, who was not over hasty to raise theories, but proceeded slowly by experiments, was wont to say to some philosophers who would not go his pace, Crentlemen, Nature is a labyrinth, in which the very haste you move with, will make you lose your way.

23. The same Lord, when he spoke of the Dutch men, used to say, That we could not abandon them for our safety, nor keep them for our profit. And some times he would express the same sense on this man ner ; We hold the Belgic lion by the ears.1

24. Sir Francis Bacon said upon occasion (meaning it of his old retinew) That he was all of one piece : his head could not rise but his tail must rise too.2

1 My Lo. St. Albans was wont to say that it was our greatest unhappi- ness, that we could not abandon those for our safety who were the greatest enemies to our profit. — Lamb. MS. p. 85.

2 So Lamb. MS. p. 5. In the Baconiana it is given thus: "The same Lord when a gentleman seemed not much to approve of his liberality to his retinue, said to him, *S7r, I am all of apiece ; if the head be lifted up, the in ferior parts of the body must too." It will be observed that Rawley's notes of these apophthegms are in almost every case better than Dr. Tenison's version, by whom they have evidently been dressed for company. In this case I thought the improved version too bad, and made the note and the text change places. That such an alteration could have been sanctioned by Bacon is utterly incredible.

FROM THE BACONIANA. 405

25. The Lord Bacon was wont to commend the advice of the plain old man at Buxton, that sold be soms. A proud lazy young fellow came to him for a besom upon trust ; to whom the old man said, Friend, hast thou no money f borrow of thy back, and borrow of thy belly ; they'll ne'er ask ihee again, I shall be dunning thee every day.1

26. Solon said well to Croesus, (when in ostentation he shewed him his gold) Sir^ if any other come that has better iron than you, he will be master of all this gold.

27. Jack Weeks said of a great man (just then dead) who pretended to some religion, but was none of the best livers, Well, I hope he is in heaven. Every man thinks as he wishes ; but if he be in heaven, "'twere pity it were known?

1 The old man at Buxton that answered him that would have been trusted for brooms : Hast thou no money ? borrow of thy back and bor row of thy belly: they'll ne'er ask thee again: I shall be ever asking thee. — Lamb. MS. 5.

2 Jack Weeks said of the Bishop of London, Montagu ; I hope he is in heaven. Every man thinks as he wisheth ; but if he be there 'twere pity it were known. — Lamb. MS. p. 55.

SOME ADDITIONAL APOPHTHEGMS

SELECTED FROM A COMMON-PLACE BOOK IN THE HAND-WRIT ING OF DR. RAWLEY, PRESERVED AT LAMBETH.

MSS. No. 1034.1

[THE manuscript from which the following apoph thegms are selected bears no date or title. But the

<T>

contents show that it was a common-place book in which Dr. Rawley entered memoranda from time to time ; and a few dates occur incidentally ; the earli est of which is 8 September 1626, (five months after Bacon's death,) and the latest is 25 May 1644. The memoranda are of various kinds, many of them relat ing to Bacon and his works, many to Dr. Rawley's private affairs. Among them are a number of anec dotes, some very good, but not stated to be derived from Bacon or otherwise connected with him, and therefore not noticed here. It is true that several of the apophthegms printed by Tenison in the Baconiana are set down in this manuscript without any hint that .Bacon had anything to do with them. It is possible therefore that they too may have been of Dr. Rawley's own selection ; who seems to have had a taste for good stories, and seldom spoiled them. But judging by the style, I think it more probable that most of them were copied from Bacon's own notes.]

1 See above, p. 322.

FROM RAWLEY'S COMMON-PLACE BOOK. 407

1. Apophthegms. My Lo. :l I was the justest judge that was in England these 50 yeares : But it was the justest censure in Parliament that was these 200 yeares.

2. The same Mr. Bacon2 went towards Finchley to take the air. There had been growing not long before a pretty shady wood. It was then missing : Said Mr. Bacon, Stay, I've not lost my thoughts in a wood, but methinks I miss a wood here. Saith a country fellow, It is newly cut down. Said Mr. Ba con, Sure he was but a churl that ought it, to cut down a wood of great pleasure and to reap but small profit into his purse. Said the fellow, It was the Bishop of London.3 Then answered Mr. Bacon, Oh, was it he : he's a learned man : it seems this was an obscure place before, and the Bishop hath expounded the text.

3. A flattering courtier undertook to make a com parison betwixt my Lord St. Alban and Treasurer Cranfield. Said he, My Lord St. Alban had a pretty turning wit, and could speak well : but he wanted that profound judgment and solidity of a statesman that my Lord of Middlesex hath. Said a courtier that stood by : Sir I wonder you will disparage your judgment so much as to offer to make any parallel betwixt these two. I'll tell you what : when these two men shall be recorded in our chronicles to after ages, men will wonder how my Lord St. Alban could

1 That is, " my Lord St. Alban said of himself." This is the first entry in the book, and is set down in a kind of cipher; the consonants being written in Greek characters, and the six vowels represented by the six numerals; 1 ^ a; 2 e; 3=i; 4 = o; 5 = u; 6 = y.

2 In the MS. this follows the story of Bacon and the fishermen at Chel sea. Rawley's Collection, No. 36.

s Bishop Aylmer, probably; who died in 1594. See Nichols's Progr. Eliz. iii. p. 369.

408 APOPHTHEGMS

fall ; and they will wonder how my Lord of Middle sex could rise.

4. There was one would say of one that he thought

«' O

every man fit for every place.1

5. My Lord Chancellor told the King, that if he bestowed 7000/. upon Paul's steeple, he could not lay out his money where it should be more seen.

6. When they sat in commission about reedifying Paul's steeple, some of the rich aldermen being there, it was motioned to build a new spire upon it. A rich alderman answered ; My Lords, you speak of too much cost : Paul's is old : I think a good cap would do well. My Lord Chancellor, "who was for the spire, answered: Mr. Alderman, you that are citizens are for the cap ; but we that are courtiers are for the hat and feather.

7. [There was] an old woman whom the minister asked, How many commandments there were. She an swered, it was above her learning : she was never taught

7 O O

it. Saith the minister, there are ten. Good Lord (said the old woman) a goodly company. He told them her particularly, and then asked her if she had kept them all ? Kept them ? (said she :) alas master, I am a poor woman : I have much ado to keep myself.

8. Sir Harry Mountague came to my Lord Chan cellor before he went to the court to Newmarket, and told him ; My Lord, I come to do my service to your Lordship : I am even going to Newmarket and I hope to brino1 the staff2 with me when I come back. Mv

O V

Lord (said my Lord Chancellor) take heed what you do : I can tell you wood is dearest at Newmarket of any place in England.

1 This sounds to me very like a note of Bacon's; though his name is not mentioned.

2 The Lord Treasurer's staff.

FROM RAWLEY'S COMMON-PLACE BOOK. 409

9. When the said Lord lost his Treasurer's place, he came to my Lord St. Alban, and told him how they had used him ; that though they had taken away the Lord Treasurer's place, yet they had made him Lord President of the Counsel : Why, saith my Lord St. Alban, the King hath made me an example and you a president.1

10. When Sergeant Heale who is known to be good in giving in evidence, but otherwise unlearned in the law, was made the Queen's sergeant, Mr. Bacon said ; The Queen should have a sergeant de facto et -non de jure.

11. At the King's Bench bar, Sergeant Heale, be fore he was the Queen's sergeant, contended with Mr. Bacon to be first heard ; and said, Why I am your ancient : Mr. Bacon gently answered, Not in this place ; for I staid here long, and you are come but riffht now.

O

12. There was a tall gentleman and a low gentle man were saying they would go to the Shrive's to din ner ; Go, saith the one, and I will be your shadow. Nay, saith the other, I will be your shadow. Mr. Bacon standing by said, I'll tell you what you shall do : Go to dinner and supper both ; and at dinner when [the shadows are] shorter than the bodies, you shall be the shadow ; and at supper you shall be the other's shadow.2

1 So precedent was usually spelt in those days.

2 So the MS. It should be " the other shall be your shadow."

But the thing is better told in a common-place book of Bacon's own (Harl. MSS. 7017.). " The two that went to a feast both at dinner and supper, neither known, the one a tall, the other a short man; and said they would be one another's shadows. It was replied, it fell out fit : for at noon the short man might be the long man's shadow and at night the contrary."

410 APOPHTHEGMS

13. He thought Moses was the greatest sinner that was, for he never knew any break both tables at once but he.1

14. He said he had feeding swans and breeding swans ; but for malice, he thanked God, he neither fed it nor bred it.2

15. At the Parliament, when King James spied Mr. Gorge, one of my Lord Chancellor's men, who was somewhat fantastical, and stood by there with one rose white and another black ; the King called my Lord unto him, and said easily in his ear; My Lord Chan cellor, why does your man yonder wear one rose white and another black ? ' My Lord answered ; In truth, Sir, I know not, unless it be that his mistress loves a colt with one white foot.

16. Sir Walter Coape and Sir Francis Bacon were competitors for the Mastership of the Wards. Sir Francis Bacon certainly expecting the place had put most of his men into new cloaks. Afterward when Sir Walter Coape carried the place, one said merrily that Sir Walter was Master of the Wards, and Sir Francis Bacon of the Liveries.

17. My Lord St. Alban said, that wise nature did never put her precious jewels into a garret four stories high : and therefore that exceeding tall men had ever very empty heads.3

18. My Lord St. Alban invited Sir Ed. Skory to go with him to dinner to a Lord Mayor's feast. My Lord sate still and picked a little upon one dish only.

1 This is written in cipher.

2 This saying is alluded to by Rawley in his Life of Bacon.

3 I have seen this quoted somewhere as Bacon's answer to King James whon pressed for his opinion as to the capacity of a French ambassador who was very tall.

FROM RAWLEY'S COMMON-PLACE BOOK. 411

After they returned to York-house, my Lord wished him to stay and sup with him : and told him lie should be witness of the large supper he would make : telling him withal : Faith, if I should sup for a wager, I would dine with a Lord Mayor.

19. Sir Robert Hitcham said, He cared not though men laughed at him : he would laugh at them again. My Lord St. Alban answered, If he did so he would be the merriest man in England.

20. My Lord St. Alban would never say of a Bishop the Lord that spake last, but the Prelate that spake last. King James chid him for it, and said he would have him know that the Bishops were not only Pares, as the other Lords were, but Prcelati paribus.1

21. He was a wise man 2 that gave the reason why a man doth not confess his faults. It is, Qida etiam nunc in illis est.

22. Will you tell any man's mind before you have conferred with him ? So doth Aristotle in raising his axioms upon Nature's mind.

23. Old Lord Keeper Sir Nicholas Bacon had his barber rubbing and combing his head. Because it was very hot,3 the window was open to let in a fresh wind. The Lord Keeper fell asleep, and awaked all distem pered and in great sweat. Said he to his barber, Why did you let me sleep ? Why, my Lord, saith he, I durst not wake your Lordship. Why then, saith my

1 This I think must be misreported. It must have been Bacon who defended himself on this ground for preferring " Prelate" to "Peer: " for so Prelate would imply Peer, whereas Peer would not imply Prelate.

2 Seneca, Ep. 53.

8 " The 4 of February [21 Eliz. i. e. 1578-9] .... fell such abundance of snow, &c. ... It snowed till the eight day and freezed till the tenth.

Then followed a thaw, with continual rain a long time after The 20

of February deceased Sir Nicholas Bacon." — Stowe's Chronicle.

412 APOPHTHEGMS

Lord, you have killed me with kindness. So removed into his bed chamber and within a few days died.

24. Four things cause so many rheums in these days, as an old country fellow told my Lord St. Al- ban. Those were, drinking of beer instead of ale ;

usinii a'lass windows instead of lattice windows ; Wear- CD o

ing of silk stockings ; missing of smoky chimneys.

25. King James and Gondomar were discoursing: in

O O

Latin. The King spoke somewhat of Tully's Latin. Gondomar spoke very plain stuff. Gondomar laughed. The King asked him, Why he laughed ? He an swered, Because your Majesty speaks Latin like a scholar, and I speak Latin like a King.

26. Gondomar said, Compliment was too hot for summer, and too cold in winter. He meant it against the French.

27. King Henry the fourth of France having an oration offered him, and the orator beginning u Great Alexander," said the King, Come let's begone.

28. The beggar, that instructed his son, when he saw he would not be handsome, said, You a beggar ! I'll make you a ploughman.

29. Marquis Fiatt's first compliment to my Lord St. Albans was, That he reverenced him as he did the an gels, whom he read of in books, but never saw.1

1 Bacon being ill and confined to his bed, so that though admitted to his room he could not see him. Compare Rawley's Life of Bacon, Vol. I. p. 56. Tenison (Saconiana, p. 101.) makes Fiatt say, "Your Lordship hath been to me hitherto like the angels, of which I have often heard and read, but never saw them before : " (the words ''hitherto" and "before" being his own interpolation, and entirely spoiling the story;) and proceeds, " To which piece of courtship he returned such answer as became a man in those circumstances, ' Sir, the charity of others does liken me to an angel, but my own infirmities tell me I am a man; ' " of which reply there is no hint in Rawley, either in the common-place book or in the life : an addition, I suspect, by a later hand.

FROM RAWLEY'S COMMON-PLACE BOOK. 413

30. My Lord Chancellor Ellesmere's saying of a man newly married ; God send him joy, and some sorrow too, as we say in Cheshire. The same my Lord St. Alban said of the Master of the Rolls.

31. My Lord St. Alban said, when Dr. Williams, Dean of Westminster, was made Lord Keeper ; I had thought I should have known my successor.

32. My Lord St. Alban having a dog which he loved sick, put him to a woman to keep. The dog died. My Lord met her next day and said, How doth my dog? She answered in a whining tone, and putting her handkerchief to her eye, The dog is well, I hope.

33. The physician that came to my Lord after his recovery, before he was perfectly well. The first time, he told him his pulse was broken-paced ; the next time, it tripled ; the third day, it jarred a little. My Lord said, he had nothing but good words for his money.

34. Mr. Anthony Bacon chid his man (Prentise) for calling him no sooner. He said, It was very early day. Nay, said Mr. Bacon, the rooks have been up these two hours. He replied, The rooks were but new up : it was some sick rook that could not sleep.

35. [The following is not given in any of these col lections, but comes from a letter of Mr. John Cham berlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, 11. Oct. 1617. See Court and Times of James I., ii. p. 38.]

The Queen lately asked the Lord Keeper [Sir F. Bacon], What occasion the Secretary [Sir R. Win- wood] had given him to oppose himself so violently against him : who answered prettily, " Madam, I can say no more, but he is proud, and I am proud."

414 NOTE TO THE APOPHTHEGMS.

NOTE.

There remain sixteen apophthegms which appear to have been introduced into the collection without any authority, and have no right to be there. But as they are to be found in all editions of Bacon's collected works, and readers may wish to judge for them selves, I add them here ; with references to the book from which they were taken.1

1 See above, pp. 315, 316, 322.

SPURIOUS APOPHTHEGMS,

INSERTED BY THE PUBLISHER OF THE THIRD EDITION OP THE RESUSCITATIO ; 1671.

1. SIR Nicholas Bacon being appointed a judge for the northern circuit, and having brought his trials that came before him to such a pass, as the passing of sentence on malefactors, he was by one of the malefactors mightily importuned for to save his life; which, when nothing that he had said did avail, he at length desired his mercy on account of kindred. "Prithee," said my lord judge, "how came that in? " " Why, if it please you, my lord, your name is Bacon, and mine is Hog, and in all ages Hog and Bacon have been so near kindred, that they are not be separated." "Ay, but," replied judge Bacon, "you and I cannot be kindred, except you be hanged; for Hog is not Bacon until it be well hanged." *

2. Two scholars and a countryman travelling upon the road, one night lodged all in one inn, and supped together, where the scholars thought to have put a trick upon the countryman, which was thus: the scholars ap pointed for supper two pigeons, and a fat capon, which being ready was brought up, and they having sat down, the one scholar took up one pigeon, the other scholar took the other pigeon, thinking thereby that the country man should have sat still, until that they were ready for the carving of the capon ; which he perceiving, took the capon and laid it on his trencher, and thus said, " Daintily contrived, every one a bird." 2

3. A man and his wife in bed together, she towards morning pretended herself to be ill at ease, desiring to lie on her husband's side ; so the good man, to please her, came over her, making some short stay in his passage over; where she had not long lain, but desired to lie in her old place again: quoth he, "How can it be effected?" She answered, "Come over me again." '* I had rather," said he, " go a mile and a half about." 3

4. A thief being arraigned at the bar for stealing of a mare, in his plead ing urged many things in his own behalf, and at last nothing availing, he told the bench, the mare rather stole him, than he the mare; which in brief he thus related: That passing over several grounds about his lawful occa-

1 Witty Apophthegms, 10. 2 id. n. 8 id. 30.

416 SPURIOUS APOPHTHEGMS.

sions, he was pursued close by a fierce mastiff dog, and so was forced to save himself by leaping over a hedge, which being of an agile body he effected; and in leaping, a mare standing on the other side of the hedge, leaped upon her back, who running furiously away with him, he could not by any means stop her, until he came to the next town, in which town the owner of the mare lived, and there was he taken, and here arraigned.1

5. A notorious rogue being brought to the bar, and knowing his case to be desperate, instead of pleading, he took to himself the liberty of jesting, and thus said, " I charge you in the king's name, to seize and take away that man (meaning the judge) in the red gown, for I go in danger of my life because of him." 2

6. A rough-hewn seaman, being brought before a wise just-ass for some misdemeanor, was by him sent awuy to prison, and being somewhat refrac tory after he heard his doom, insomuch as he would not stir a foot from the place where he stood, saying, " it were better to stand where he was than go to a worse place:" the justice thereupon, to shew the strength of his learning, took him by the shoulder, and said, "Thou shalt go noyus voyus" instead of nolens volens.8

1. A debauched seaman being brought before a justice of the peace upon the account of swearing, was by the justice commanded to deposit his tine in that behalf provided, which was two shillings; he thereupon plucking out of his pocket a half crown, asked the justice what was the rate he was to pay for cursing; the justice told him six-pence: quoth he, " Then a pox take you all for a company of knaves and fools, and there's half a crown for you, I will never stand changing of money.''4

8. A witty rogue coming into a lace-shop, said he had occasion for some lace; choice whereof being shewed him, he at last pitched upon one pat tern, and asked them, how much they would have for so much as would reach from ear to ear, for so much he had occasion for. They told him, for so much: so some few words passing between them, he at last agreed, and told down his money for it, and began to measure on his own head, thus saying: "One ear is here, and the other is nailed to the pillory in Bristol, and I fear you have not so much of this lace by you at present as will perfect my bargain: therefore this piece of lace shall suffice at present in part of payment, and provide the rest with all expedition." 5

9. A woman being suspected by her husband for dishonesty, and being bv him at last pressed very hard about it, made him quick answer with many protestations, "that she knew no more of what he said than the man in the moon." Now the captain of the ship called the Moon, was the very man she so much loved.6

10. An apprentice of London being brought before the Chamberlain by his master for the sin of incontinency, even with his own mistress, the Chamberlain thereupon gave him many Christian exhortations ; and at last he mentioned and pressed the chastity of Joseph, when his mistress tempted

1 Witty Apophthegms, 31. 2 M. 33. 3 M. 43.

4 Id. GO. 5 id. 74. 6 Id. 88.

SPURIOUS APOPHTHEGMS. 417

him with the like crime of incontinency. "Ay, Sir," said the apprentice; •' but if Joseph's mistress had been as handsome as mine is, he could not have forborne." *

11. A company of scholars going together to catch conies, carried one scholar with them, which had not much more wit than he was born with; and to him they gave in charge, that if he saw any, he should be silent, for fear of scaring them. But he no sooner espied a company of rabbits before the rest, but he cried aloud, Ecce multi cuniculi, which in English signifies, "Behold many conies:" which he had no sooner said, but the conies ran to their burrows: and he being checked by them for it, answered, " Who the devil would have thought that the rabbits understood Latin? " 2

12. A man being very jealous of his wife, insomuch that which way so ever she went, he would be prying at her heels; and she being so grieved thereat, in plain terms told him, "that if he did not for the future leave off his proceedings in that nature, she would graft such a pair of horns upon his head, that should hinder him from coming out of any door in the house." 3

13. A citizen of London passing the streets verv hastilv, came at last where some stop was made by carts ; and some gentlemen talking together, who knew him; where being in some passion that he could riot suddenly pass, one of them in this wise spoke unto him : " That others had passed by, and there was room enough, only they could not tell whether their horns were so wide as his." 4

14. A tinker passing Cheapside with his usual tone, " Have you any work for a tinker?" an apprentice standing at a door opposite to a pil lory there set up, called the tinker, with an intent to put a jef.t upon him, and told him, "that he should do very well if he would stop those two holes in the pillory; " to which the tinker answered, "that if he would but put in his head and ears a while in that pillory, he would bestow both brass and nails upon him to hold him in, and give him his labour into the bargain." 5

15. A young maid having married an old man, was observed on the day of marriage to be somewhat moody, as if she had eaten a dish of chums, which one of her bridemen observing, bid her be cheerv; and told her moreover, " that an old horse would hold out as long, and as well as a young, in travel." To which she answered, stroking down her belly with her hand, " But not in this road, Sir." 6

16. A nobleman of this nation, famously known for his mad tricks, on a time having taken physic, which he perceiving that it began well to work, called up his man to go for a surgeon presently, and to bring his instru ments with him. The surgeon comes in all speed; to whom my Lord related, that he found himself much addicted to women, and therefore it was his will that the cause of it might be taken away, and therefore com manded him forthwith to prepare his instruments ready for to geld him;

i Witty Apophthegms, 108. 2 id. 134. 8 Id. 149.

4 Id. 153. 6 M. 160. 6 id. 166.

VOL. xiii. 27

418 SPURIOUS APOPHTHEGMS.

so the surgeon forthwith prepares accordingly; and my Lord told him that he would not see it done, and that therefore he should do his work the back way; so both parties being contented, my L. makes ready, and when he perceives the surgeon very near him, he lets fly full in hi? face: which made the surgeon step back; but coming presently on again, "Hold, hold (saith my Lord) I will better consider of it: for I see the retentive faculty is very weak at the approach of such keen instruments." l

l Witty Apophthegms, 176.

END OF VOL. XIII.

CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY n. o. HOUGHTON.

B 1153 1860 v.13 SMC

Bacon, Francis,

The works of Francis Bacon

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